An expat from the UK shared six things she wished she knew before moving to Australia.
Taking to TikTok as @Charleedownunder, 25-year-old Londoner Charlie Longden revealed that she has trouble with everything from Australian slang to door locks to traffic lights.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Expat Shares 6 Surprising Facts About Australia
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“If you are thinking about moving to Australia, here are some things you absolutely need to know before you move,” she began her video.
“Because I can assure you, I have followed every website, blog, TikTok account about moving to Australia and living my best life in 2023, and you know what, not one of them fucking mentioned it. . ”
1. “How are you?”
“Now I understand what that means, it means ‘how are you?'” Charlie said of the classic Australian greeting.
“But just say ‘how are you?’ because I think you’re asking me where I’m going.
“When I first came here in November and someone asked me how I was doing, I replied that I was going to the supermarket.
“They looked at me like I was crazy!”
2. Unlocking your door
“Unlocking your door, same for your car door, your front door, no matter what door it is, it’s all the same and it’s all completely wrong,” Charlie began.
“In the UK, most doors are latch-locked.
“I’m not a locksmith, but in every country I’ve ever been to, if you want to unlock your door, you turn the key to the center of the door and the latch goes up.
“Please don’t do this in this country – you look like an idiot and it’s wrong.”
3. Automotive indicators
“It’s one of the things that still confuses me and I’ve been coming here for 10 days now,” Charlie said.
“If you want to point out, your indicators are only on the right side of your steering wheel, you flip them down if you want to turn right, you flip them up if you want to go left.
“Please don’t do what I do and don’t get to the roundabout at rush hour when you’re being followed by a lot of crazy scary Aussies who all want to go home and sit outside in their flip flops and tank tops because when I drive at the roundabout and I press “specify” I turn off the windshield wipers like a fucking lunatic.
“Just don’t do it.”
4. Traffic lights
Charlie said that in the UK, after you stop at a red light, it changes color from red to yellow to green.
But in Australia this only happens when you stop at a red light.
As you take off, “the color changes from red to green, so if you’re sitting there looking at your phone thinking, ‘Oh, I don’t really like Christina Aguilera today, I’m kind of in the mood for a little 50 cents, don’t worry!’
“Because everyone will honk behind you when the green light comes on.”
5. Milk milk chocolate
“They taste like shit!” Charlie announced.
“They taste like Halloween chocolates left outside.
“Do not do that”.
6. Mullet
“Honestly, it’s pretty obvious.”
Reaction
Charlie’s list of strange and unexpected facts about Australia astounded her followers.
“For an Australian, this is so funny,” said one of the subscribers.
Many agreed with her comments, while others couldn’t figure out what the problem was.
Several people have pointed out that the location of the indicator depends on which car you drive, and many European cars have the same location that Charlie is used to in the UK.
As for the amber forward indicator, some have asked Charlie why he needs it.
“Why do you need to know that it is about to turn green? If it’s green, then it’s green, I don’t need to scatter,” said one of the subscribers.
As for Dairy Milk chocolate, one subscriber suggested Whittaker chocolate, calling it “unreal, by the way, sort of a mix of Dairy Milk and Galaxy if you’re looking for an alternative.”
“Here I spent 3 years, my skin turned pale, now I have a mullet,” wrote one emigrant about the terrible mullet.
“Accept this country, stop comparing it, otherwise you will never settle down.”
“By the way, those are thongs, not flip flops,” another remarked.
As for “how are you?”, one TikTok user responded, “I still don’t know what to say when a Brit says, ‘Are you okay?’ So that’s it.”
“Just say good or pretty good, keep moving,” suggested another.
One subscriber was a little confused about the lock situation.
“I think someone flipped your locks if you have to turn them towards the door jamb to open,” they wrote.
Others wanted another video from Charlie dedicated exclusively to Australian slang.
“Oh my god, please make a video about their slang/nicknames for things, I still can’t understand some of them,” pleaded one TikTok user.
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