Aussie  Habits

Each city in Australian has a different character and habit reflecting the geographic situation and settling. For example, Melbourne is a city without beaches; therefore despite not having the sea, the coastal area in Melbourne is used as a port. The only good sandy beach is located at St.Kilda, about 20 km from the centre of Melbourne. So it can been seen that the beach culture in Melbourne is not as prominent. Their lifestyle, fashion and ways of life are therefore very different from coastal cities such as Sydney, Gold Coast and Perth. In Melbourne, people are more dedicated to working, money and business, and for fun on a weekend, they go to parks, have picnics, play Cricket, Rugby, or Golf. Of course there are people who are into water sports such as Kite Surfing or even Surf in more distant beaches, but the point is that Melbourne is a city based around urban activities: they love eating in restaurants and shopping. This type of atmosphere can also be seen in Brisbane, which is also urban based. In Brisbane, the closest beach is located 1 hour away on the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast.

In coastal cities with beaches, the life style and population habits are completely different. Although cold temperatures in Adelaide and Tasmania during the winter can prevent some outdoors activities (and Sydney which is also really cold in winter.) but in places such as Queensland, Perth and Sydney, the majority of the population have more of a relaxed life style and are not so money orientated. The only exception to this is Sydney, which incorporates both lifestyles.

Everyday Australians used to work from 9am to 5 pm, but this much more flexible now with the exception of government jobs. The great majority of the population wake up early, and many businesses start at around 7 am finishing at 5 pm. If it’s not a weekend or public holiday, most people go to sleep early; around 10 pm. Streets after 9 pm during the week are practically deserted.

Old Australian habits are now changing, people use to have a nice and slow breakfast in the morning with eggs, bacon, potatoes, cereal and juice but now they are leaving to go to work in a hurry, so they get a meat pie on their with a juice or soft drink. At work, the first thing is to get a big cup of coffee (weak) or a tea with a little bit of milk. For lunch, just a sandwich, sushi, chips or a pack of biscuits, fast food, generally any thing fast goes well, mainly due to the fact that the majority of workers only have 30 minutes for a break. Then at night, for dinner they have a real meal followed by desert, but more and more people are buying take away food and pre ready meals in supermarkets. Due to work and domestic tasks, less time is available for leisure, except on the weekends, and even this spare time is shrinking as some people are working in more than one job, or working during the weekends.

Sunday is still the official day for the family. People go to beaches, go shopping, work on gardening, home improvements, car maintenance and even church for the traditional and religious. Sunday is also the day to watch cricket and rugby on TV, and a lot of car racing. Weekends are also the days which has an increase in the consumed alcohol by Australians, with beer still being the most popular drink, mainly in pubs. On Sundays many go out to a restaurant for a meal, so they don’t have to cook or wash dishes. People like taking time off to relax and catch up with friends or family. Smoking is getting very restricted, not only because of the price of this poison, but with the new laws regulating and prohibiting smoking in many public places, shopping centres, restaurants, and even outdoor public areas and even in some beaches. Australians smoke excessively in comparison with some other cultures, but each year the adepts are decreasing.

Note from the author: When I arrived in Australia, I was having a beer in a Pub. I was amazed at the speed Australians drink beer. While I was still on my first cup, my friends were already on their third. I later found out that this was an old habit, adapted from the time that all pubs closed at 6 pm, so people leaving work at 5pm had only one hour to drink. Anyway the drinking speed here is amazing. If they gave a swimming pool of beer to some Australians, for sure, some would die drowned.

Words such as Mate and Cheers are also widely used when an Australian is talking to each other, even with someone they don’t know very well. Australians are very friendly, and they may start a conversation with anyone easily, giving the impression that they are all happy. In school and at home they teach to respect another person, and frequently when we walk in the morning on the beach, we receive at least a dozen of Good Days. The same in relation to the word "Please" and "Thank you", and if you do not ask properly for something, you may be simply ignored. This is the case that education has been incorporated by the habit, and despite many of the young generation not showing good manners, the respect is still very alive in society.