Zed's NOT dead, baby!

We recently wrote about some American things we miss. We're also really enjoying many Australian treasures of life.

We really like saying the ABCs. H becomes haych. Z becomes zed. So follow along: A-B-C-D-E-F-G-Haych-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y and ZED. Love listening to the boys try it out!

Our car has a petrol saving feature. When you're stopped in traffic, if you push the brake pedal in ever so slightly the car will shut itself off to save fuel. When you're ready to go again, just lift your foot off the brake, the engine is back on and off you go. It's a little depressing to see how many hours we've spent sitting in traffic over the last month or so, but it's really awesome to see how much petrol we've saved. I don't think this feature is unique to just Subaru here. I've heard many engines shutdown like this at a stop in traffic. Get on the bandwagon, M'rica!

Our electrical outlets all have on / off switches. Whaaaat?!? This is so awesome. I'm so obsessed. When I'm not using the washer or dryer (almost never these days!) I keep them switched off. When I'm not charging an iPad / phone / computer, the cords can stay plugged in but the switch can be off. No vampire electricity draining! No overcharging electronics!

A huge (I mean HUGE) driving no-no here is blocking the box. Y'all! Aussies are so civilized about this. Americans would be inching up more and more to make the light, block the box, then pretend like they don't see all the pissed off cross-traffic drivers that are stuck because of them.

This is my view from the car at the intersection with a green light.

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign. We pass this one on the way to Micah's campus each morning. I really enjoy it. We've yet to see a possum since they're nocturnal but I just love that this is necessary here.

We are who we are -- Americans -- but we're really enjoying these little tidbits and additions to our lives. We're still learning the ins and outs of life here, like the swirl of the toilet. Americans seem fascinated by this. We'll explore that next. Cheers, mate!