I’m an Australian living in the US. I love New Orleans, but there have been a few culture shocks along the way.

I fell in love with New Orleans in the US.

Long before my first visit to New Orleans, I fell in love with the US city’s historic culture. As an Australian, I never thought I’d get to call The Big Easy home, but now, I split my year living between the two countries.

Adjusting to life in New Orleans was an eye-opening experience, full of unexpected surprises and plenty of head-scratching moments.

Here are some of the biggest culture shocks I’ve encountered as an Aussie in the US.

I’m still getting used to American coffee

I don’t see much drip coffee in Australia, but it’s everywhere in the US.

I never realized just how serious Australians, especially Melburnians, are about their coffee. I’m used to a certain standard and flavor.

Luckily, there are a handful of places that serve great coffee in the States — but I emphasize the word “handful.”

After five years, it still astounds me to see Americans embrace sugary, syrup-filled drinks that barely resemble what I consider coffee.

Additionally, I can’t believe drip coffee is still a thing here. It’s a rarity where I’m from in Australia.

I thought it was way easier to get a driver’s license in the US

In Australia, getting my driver’s license was a drawn-out process involving learner’s permits, over 120 hours of logged driving with a licensed driver, and a strict test.

In the US, getting my license felt like a breeze by comparison. I just had to sit in a theory class for a few hours and then spend eight hours behind the wheel with an instructor.

After that, my test was driving around the block, parking, using my turn signal, and boom, I had my license. The ease was both impressive and a little scary, considering they were letting me drive on what was recently the wrong side of the road to me.

The rules around getting licenses vary from state to state, and many Americans under the age of 18 have to undergo a more formal course/testing process. But I’m still shocked by how different my two experiences were.

I’m still getting used to linguistic differences around food

In the US, biscuits are warm, fluffy bread, but in Australia, they’re cookies. 

Navigating the language differences between the US and Australia, especially with food, is like playing a guessing game.

Imagine my surprise when I ordered biscuits for the first time in the US and got something more closely resembling scones. I was expecting what I now know to call a cookie.

I wonder if I’ll ever stop ordering some chips and realizing too late that I should have said “fries.” In Australia, both fries and chips are called chips — we just differentiate by saying “hot chips” for fries.

Things also get lost in translation with my accent

My Australian accent has caused some wild misunderstandings in the US.

From getting “Greary” written on my coffee cup instead of “Ree” to a drive-thru worker at Taco Bell thinking I was attempting to order pizza when I just said, “I have a mobile order,” it’s a daily game of “Guess What I Said.”

It keeps things entertaining, to say the least, and it’s also why I love being able to order via an app whenever I can.

Southern food has been a culinary awakening

Shrimp and grits are big in New Orleans. 

New Orleans cuisine is an adventure for the taste buds. I’ve learned to embrace savory grits (I’d usually add sugar and eat them as porridge back home), and I’ve grown to love gumbo’s rich flavors.

I fell in love with Southern food shortly after my arrival in the States. Still, walking into a whole new world of gastronomy was an adjustment.

There are some dishes — like white beans — that I just can’t make my palate enjoy, and I have days when I long for the local fish-and-chip shop back home.

There’s a drive-thru for everything in New Orleans

In New Orleans — and in many cities in the US — you can pull through the drive-thru for pretty much everything, from coffee shops to bars.

The strange looks I got from locals while taking a photo of a drive-thru bank for friends back home were amusing, and the concept of picking up a daiquiri to-go felt wild to me at first.

Now, I’m kind of hooked. It’s the ultimate lazy convenience.

Americans use so much ice

I’m not used to my drinks being so cold all the time.

Compared to what I’m used to in Australia, everything is supersized in the US. A “small” soda feels like a bucket to me.

However, I really don’t understand why Americans love their drinks filled to the brim with ice.

Once you take that out, there’s hardly any liquid, no matter how big the cup is.

Tipping culture is so confusing to me

The first time I came to the US, my biggest worry wasn’t getting through immigration or having the right documents — it was tipping.

It sounds silly now, but I still find the practice of figuring out what percentage of my total I should leave behind confusing.

In Australia, tipping service workers isn’t expected, and base wages are typically higher.