10 Small Things Americans Do That Still Surprise Me

As an Australian living in America, I’ve come to realise it’s not the big cultural differences that stay with you… it’s the small, everyday habits.

In this episode, I talk through some of the little things Americans do that still catch me off guard — from sending mail from your own mailbox, to turning right on a red light, to traditions like trunk or treat.

They’re completely normal if you’ve grown up in the United States.
 But from an Australian perspective, they stand out in quiet, unexpected ways.

This is a reflection on everyday life in America — the subtle cultural differences between Australia and the US that you only really notice once you’re living inside them.

If you’ve ever lived overseas, or you’re curious about American culture through an Australian lens, this one will feel familiar.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

There are things people do every day here that you wouldn't even think twice about. But if you didn't grow up with them, they catch you off guard. And it's not the big, obvious differences. It's not food or accents or sport. It's the small things. The ones you only notice once you're actually living inside of it. You better take cover. Now I still remember the first time that I saw one. I was walking through the neighborhood and I kept noticing these little red flags sticking up on people's letterboxes. And I just assumed that they meant they had mail. Which makes sense, right? Until I saw the mailman come along, open the box, take something out, drop the flag, and then put mail into it. And I remember thinking, hang on, what's going on here? Because it turns out you can send mail from your own letterbox here in the States. Now you just put it in, lift the flag, and it gets taken away. I had never seen that before. And it was one of those little moments where you realize there are a lot of small things just like that. And the funny thing is, once you notice one, you start noticing them everywhere. Little things that you would have just walked straight past before, suddenly they all stand out. And it didn't stop just there. When we first moved into our place here, we put the garbage bin out the front like you normally would for collection the next morning. I wake up, look outside, and it was gone. Just gone. I remember thinking, someone's stolen our garbage bin. Which felt like a really strange thing to steal, but hey, nothing's impossible either. I could almost picture the headline back home, Aussie in America, first week there, has his bin stolen. You know, it turns out you actually have to pay for the bins separately here in the county where I live. They're not just a part of your property taxes. So no, ours hadn't been stolen. We just hadn't paid for one. Which also explains why no one else's bin had been stolen that day. Because they all actually owned theirs. Another one that caught me off guard was turning right on a red light. I remember the first time I did this, I genuinely felt like I was doing something wrong. Like I'd missed a sign or misunderstood something. It felt kind of naughty. You're just sitting there, looking around, thinking, am I actually allowed to do this? And then one day I did it with a cop right behind me. And I remember thinking, well, this is it, Michael. I turned, waiting for the lights to follow me. And nothing happened. There was no siren, there was no pullover. And in that moment, I realized this is just normal. And it does still feel slightly wrong sometimes, even when I know now that it's not. Now some things are just little language things. I remember asking someone where the car park was, and just getting this really strange blank look. It was like I'd said something slightly wrong, but not wrong enough to correct. And then I realized it's parking lot. Same thing, different word. It completely throws you the first time though. And even now, every now and then, I'll still say the car park. I'll still get that look. And it's one of those moments where you realize you're both speaking English, but not quite the same variety of it. Another one is you're welcome. Now in Australia, you might get it, but not every time. Here it's almost automatic, especially in the south. You say thank you, and it comes straight back. You're welcome. Which it's nice. I remember noticing it at the start and thinking, oh, right, that's just part of what it is here. And another one that took a bit of getting used to was where you actually buy things, like buying beer at a survey. You fill up the car, you walk in, grab a six-pack, pay for it, and away you go. That still feels a bit strange to me. And then seeing Siggy's being sold in a pharmacy, which coming from Australia, feels completely backwards. You sort of expect those things to be separated out, but here it's just normal. Walgreens selling marber reds right next to some quit smoking aids. No one thinks twice about it. Another thing that surprised me in a quieter way was TV. Because back home, free-to-air TV is just a part of life. There's an antenna on the roof. You turn it on and it's just there. Here, you don't really see that. No antennas, just cable, streaming, satellite dishes. And I didn't expect to notice it, but honestly, I kind of miss it. Even the commercials. Sitting there, watching whatever was on, not choosing it, just seeing what comes up. I always thought there was something simple about that because here there is so much choice. It actually feels a bit overwhelming at times. 300 plus channels. You're trying to work out what's on, where it is, what you've got access to and what you don't. And then something you actually want to watch, like the soccer for me. It's on something that I don't have access to. So instead of just turning the TV on, you kind of have to manage it instead. Another one I'd never come across before was something called trunk or treat. People gathering in car parks, opening the back of their cars, sorry, parking lot, and kids going from car to car for lollies. And I remember thinking, haven't we been warning kids about this for years? Don't take lollies from strangers, don't get into strangers' vans. And here it's almost organized. But then you look around and it's all families, it's schools, it's churches. Everyone knows exactly what's going on. You kind of realize it's just another one of those things. It makes complete sense. Once you're inside of it, from the outside, kind of looks strange. But from the inside, it just works.

unknown 6:45

St.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

Patrick's Day. Now I obviously knew that it existed, but I didn't realize how big it was here. Green everywhere, clothes, drinks, whole events built around it. And one year we sent the kids to school not wearing green because we just didn't think about it. Wasn't something even on our radar. And they came home saying that they'd been getting pinched all day, which is apparently a thing. If you're not wearing green, you get pinched. It would have been really good to know this before I sent them to school that day. So the next year, everyone was in green. We didn't make that same mistake twice. Let's look at pickup trucks. Now I knew that they'd be big. I just didn't realize how big they are. Some of them look like they should come with their own zip code. And the first time you stand next to one, you sort of think to yourself, how do you even get in it? Like, it looks like it needs to come with its own stepladder. Back home, you might see fireworks on New Year's Eve or some big public event like Australia Day. Now I used to live in Canberra, which was actually one of the last places in Australia where you could legally buy them. But even that's gotten now as well. So buying fireworks here in the States for the first time, it felt really strange. I had never done it before as an adult. I remember standing there and just looking at all of the choices that you have, not really knowing what any of them did. Slightly nervous about picking the wrong ones and avoiding the really big ones because I had no idea how to use them. Then a few weeks later, Georgia, my 10-year-old and I, we went for a drive through the neighborhood at night, which was, in hindsight, probably not our best idea. Because the road was where everybody was letting them off from. And you've got fireworks going off left, right, and centre, echoing down the street, the smell of smoke in the air, the noise, the explosions, kind of like driving through a war zone. Just sitting there thinking to yourself, is this just normal? But you know what? After a while, it is. And I think that's the thing I've noticed most about living here. It's not the big differences, it's the accumulation of all of these small ones. The things that no one really explains because no one even thinks about them. And over time, you stop noticing the yourself as well. They just become part of your day. But every now and then something will happen and it just reminds you that you didn't grow up here. Piece by piece, moment by moment, you learn it. I talk about a lot of these little moments during the week on the podcast as well, from down under to down south. You can find it on Spotify, iTunes, all the all your players. Just the small things that happen day to day. If you've noticed any of your own, you'll probably enjoy that one too. He roomate. You better take cover.