Living in the DEEP South: On the wrong side

mnkyking — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:19:04 +0000

As you may have gathered from the literally thousands of bits of personal information I have scattered throughout the internet, I am an American by birth, living now in the island continent of Australia. What you may not know is that I originally hail from the South in America, North Carolina to be specific.

Being a transplanted “Yank” (oh, the irony of a Southerner being called a Yank), I often find myself presented with situations, customs, and products that confuse (and sometimes frighten) me here in “the Deep South”, as I call it. I plan to post one of these every so often, in an attempt to share with you wonderful people the joy, the heartache, the overwhelming confusion that is living Down Under.

Today’s Post:

Traffic

In Australia, driving is very different from in the US, not least of which is the fact that traffic moves on the left-hand side of the street. While you may think this is a small change to adjust to, you may fail to realize that this also means that every control (turn signal, wipers, even the radio knobs) in your car is reversed from what you are used to. I’ve been here, actively driving for years now, and I still occasionally come to a turn and proudly activate my wipers instead of my signal. Other drivers seem to enjoy this, judging by the honking and waves I get. Unfortunately, I figured out that it is probably harder for them to tell which direction I’m going based on my wipers being moving or not (it’s a guessing game, really), so I try to avoid this wherever possible in the interests of staying alive.

Pictured: Australian motorist, happy at my alternative signalling method

Another interesting quirk of Australian driving is the pervasive use of what we in the US call “traffic circles” and here they refer to as “roundabouts”. Whatever you call them, these doughnuts of asphalt (often with raised islands in the middle to scrape against and for the pedestrians to take their lives in their own hands watching from) are tricky to navigate at first. The main concern someone like me has is that these circles are used in place of stoplights or stop signs at intersections that the city planners feel are low traffic. The way I was told to use them is like this: you yield to your right, watching the driver’s signal to tell if they’re passing in front of you or if you can pull out in front of them. You’re also not supposed to stop and look beforehand if you can help it, Australians preferring to use these circles as minor speed bumps in most cases. The cumulative effect is that you feel you’re pulling out in front of someone every time you cross the road in some neighborhoods.

To come later: More about driving, meat in cans (trust me), and funny signs

Adventures in the DEEP South

Living in the DEEP South: On the wrong side