
AE 1322
11 Weird Australian Culture Shocks From an Argentinian's Perspective
Learn Australian English in this episode of the Aussie English Podcast.
These episodes aim to teach you common English expressions as well as give you a fair dinkum true-blue dose of Aussie culture, history, and news and current affairs.
In today's episode...
G’day legends! Ever wondered what Aussies do that might seem a bit bonkers to the rest of the world?
This week on Aussie English, we’re having a laugh reacting to a video about 11 things the Living Simply in Australia from Argentina found totally weird about living Down Under.
From separate dunnies (that’s toilets, for all you non-Aussies!) and the mysterious Vegemite, to footy fanatics and those crazy school hats, we’re diving headfirst into the quirks and oddities that make Australia, well, Australia. Pete shares his own hilarious takes and experiences, so get ready for some classic Aussie banter.
We’ll also chat about the differences in healthcare, drinking culture, and even how we deal with our unique wildlife (kangaroos on the road, anyone?).
So, if you’re keen for a bit of a giggle and a peek into Aussie life, chuck on your headphones and give this episode a listen!
What do you find weird about Australia? Let us know! Catch ya later!
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Transcript of AE 1322 - 11 Weird Australian Culture Shocks From an Argentinian's Perspective
G'day, you guys! Pete here. Welcome to this episode of Aussie English. Today we're going to be reacting to a video titled 11 Weird Things I Had Never Seen Before Coming to Australia from the channel Living Simply in Australia. Before we get into it, don't forget you can listen to these episodes on the Aussie English Podcast. You can access this for free via any good podcast app. The link for this episode and the podcast will be in the description. Let's go!
In this video, we're going to talk about the weirdest things I've found in Australia that I had never seen before. The first thing is separate toilets and no bidet. In Australia, many houses are usually designed with the toilets separate from the main bathroom. So basically you have a little room just for the toilet and then a bathroom where you wash your hands. You have the mirror, the shower and based on my research historically, this was done for practical reasons. To allow one person to use the toilet, while another uses the bathroom, etc. And another reason, of course, is hygiene and privacy.
That's a good one. We've got both in our house. So we would have an ensuite in our main bedroom and that has everything in there. So you've got the sink, the toilet and a shower. Then we've got our sort of like, I guess it's the secondary bathroom and you've got a separate toilet room and the bathroom with a bath and a shower and the sink in it. But we have both, yeah. So it's not really a big issue, I guess you can, I guess to some degree it makes sense. Like that you could go and do number ones and twos while someone else is washing their hands if they're a guest or having a bath or something. Although, you know, what do you do if someone's having a bath and you, you do ones and twos and you want to wash your hands afterwards. If you're a guest at the place, you just have to wait, I guess. Or maybe go in with your eyes closed.
In the ensuite, well, you just got to get used to doing it in front of your partner! Our ensuite is a walk in en suite and you don't even have a door on the toilet. So, yeah, you just get to enjoy. You get to enjoy each other's, um, toiletry habits.
Um, this is something super surprising because in my country, I'm originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in my country, separate toilets don't exist. So when I first came here, especially, I was living in a share house. And yeah, I found it very it very interesting, but at the same time, again very practical. Especially if you're living in a house with a lot of people, perhaps a big family with children, you don't have to wait for your turn to use a toilet. You just can go. And then another person can have a shower in the separate bathroom.
I think she mentioned bidets at the start here, too. She may have said "bidets" or something, but yeah, it's a French word. We would say /bidet/. I remember that, that scene from Crocodile Dundee where he goes to America and he's stuck in the hotel room and he's like: "Some nitwit's put two dunnies in here." "One dunny, one bidet." "Bidet." His partner at the time was just like, "It's for, um, after you, uh, you know, you figure it out." And as she's walking out of the hotel, he yells out the window: "For washing your backside, right?!" Yeah. So they're very uncommon in Australia. We had one, once, when we were renting a room in Canberra. We were living there and we were living in the old Pakistan Embassy, so there were like ten bedrooms. This old lady was lady was renting out the entire embassy, the building, to different people living in these different. It was really interesting. I have to tell this story at some point because there was some eclectic units at this place. Anyway, we were living in the main suite and it had, its had its own bathroom and everything with a massive bidet. And I remember being like, why? But it's an Islamic thing, apparently. So yeah. Anyway, never used it. Never used it, freaked me out.
In my country, Argentina, they are basically an essential part of the bathroom. And in many European countries, this is the case as well. But yeah, in Australia they don't exist. And I remember I was so surprised that I told my friends about it and they were like, Oh, that's disgusting. How come they don't have 'bidets'? Then I told my Aussie friends about the bidets and they find disgusting the fact that we have the beds as well.
This is such an interesting one to talk about, right? Because I think there are these two main cultural differences between loads of different countries. Do you clean your butt with paper? Or do you clean it with water? When I went to Indonesia back in the day when I was doing my PhD, I did some research in Sulawesi, in the jungles, and I remember we were going to a lot of these bathrooms there in Indonesia, and they would have just this huge plastic garbage bucket thing with like water in it and a scoop next to the toilet. I was always like, why is there are people doing their washing up there? Is that where you wash your hands? Like, what is it for? And I remember the Indonesians that were working with us just laughing and being like, you wash your bum with it, mate, like, what are you? And I remember being like, but but but how? With the trowel. Like what? You just pour the water over your butt and he's like, no, you get in there.
And I'm like, why? Why would you do that? Like at least the the paper for us, it's like it acts as a barrier, right? It acts as a barrier. I think Australians would find bidets a bit weird because we're not used to culturally getting wet when we go to the toilet. Unless you're a man and you've got particularly bad aim and a powerful stream, then you might be. But it would be weird to like, clean your butt with a fountain of water, get all wet, and have it going everywhere over your backside, and then having to use paper to dry your butt anyway. Or do you not dry your butt and you just pull your pants up?
And this was one of these cultural things where when I was at the museum. So I was doing my PhD back in Australia at the museum. One of the Indo, Indonesian dudes, professors came over and was doing some work with us here, and he would always take a water bottle to the toilet. And I remember being like, are you just dehydrated? Why are you taking a water bottle to the toilet, mate, what's going on? And you would go in there after he'd been in one of the cubicles, would have water all over the toilet seat, all over the ground. There would be water everywhere.
And I remember just being so confused. And then I asked my supervisor, I was like, and he was like, he's cleaning his butt with it, mate. He's not using the toilet paper. So massive cultural difference. But it's always so funny talking to either person who uses either of these methods. They tend to find the opposite disgusting. So it is relatively arbitrary I guess. But yeah, if I did a poo that was that bad and I needed to wash my bum, I think I would just have a shower. Who's with me? Aussies, would you do that?
The second thing that I found very weird is Vegemite. Aussies slather Vegemite. And again, this is one of the weirdest things that I've come across. You can put on a piece of toast, crackers, sandwiches and every..
Old mate that was going crazy with it. He was using a lot. The trick with this stuff is to, just a little bit goes a long way. The taste is going to be something very different from anything you're used to, and anything you're expecting to put on toast. Usually things that go on toast are typically sweet. Things like honey, syrup or jam. They're going to be relatively sweet. You'll have savoury stuff like peanut butter, I guess, but the salty and tangy, really weird flavour of Vegemite is going to catch a lot of people off guard. It's savoury. Give it a whirl. It may not be your thing.
Everyone here pretty much loves it because we grow up on it as kids. You don't have to eat it. You can be Australian, you can live here, you can work here and you don't have to eat it. So, don't panic if you don't like it, it's fine.
I remember the first time that I tried Vegemite. It wasn't actually here in Australia, but it was one year before coming here. I was studying English with an Aussie teacher and I remember that he brought Vegemite for me to try. And at the beginning when I looked at it, I hadn't tried it yet. When I looked at it, I thought it was yummy because it reminded me of chocolate, right? Like if you see the colour of Vegemite, it looks like Nutella. And then of course I gave it a try. He put it on a piece of toast. Basically you have just to just to put a bit of butter.
Way too much, man, that is, that's such a little piece of toast for so much Vegemite. He was really, really, really wanting to give this girl a bad time.
Basically you have just to put a bit of butter, then a bit of Vegemite and then tried it and yeah, my face, it was basically lemon face. It was the weirdest thing that I had ever tried in my life. Now I like it. I don't eat it every day, but I do live with my Aussie partner and Vegemite is an essential item in the house, in the fridge. And to give you an idea, it basically tastes very salty, kind of bitter as well. And an interesting fact as well is that Vegemite apparently was born in the 1920s in Melbourne, and it was an attempt to replicate the British Marmite, which I haven't tried.
Yeah. See, look, look at the bread over here in the image and you will see there is a lot less on that bread and on the biscuits beside it. So just don't go to town with it the first time you try it. And yeah we're effectively ripping off Marmite, I don't know. There is this rivalry between Great Britain and Australia with Marmite versus Vegemite. I've tried both. I like Vegemite, but I'm biased so take it for what it's worth.
Some trolled me because when I read this interesting fact to my partner, he got very offended. Please don't blame it on me. This is on the internet. I don't know whether it is true or not. You can leave a comment below and tell me what you think.
Another thing that caught my attention when I first came to Australia is the fact that alcohol is sold separately. So you won't find alcohol in supermarkets. I remember the first time that I went to a supermarket getting a bottle of wine, and I spent at least 30 minutes going around just looking for the, for the alcohol section, right? And I just couldn't find it. And until I asked, and of course, I realised that there was a bottle shop outside. Apparently this is a measure that they've taken to limit excessive alcohol drinking.
I'm sure it works well. I'm sure it works well. Pretty much every supermarket now, at least BWS, I think, is a subsidiary or company that's owned by Woolworths. And so you pretty much always have a Woolworths and then the BWS or whatever the Coles version of it is beside the supermarket. So you just have to go into one and then into the other there, right there. I don't know how much it makes a difference. IGAs, the Independent Grocers of Australia, is that what it is? They'll typically have it in the same store at least, like you'll have the main store. And then quite often they're just right there next to it and you can walk straight into it. I honestly don't know how much it will have made a difference with excessive drinking.
I've said in other videos, Australia is known for having strong drinking culture and that's why their high taxes on alcohol. And also it seems that that's the reason why they have separate bottle shops. Whereas in my country, in Argentina, as well as in many European countries, when you go to the supermarket, you'll always find the alcohol section right in there.
We don't have separate bottle shops, so that's an interesting difference and something that now I've gotten used to it. But yeah, it's still a bit weird.
I think it's just our cultural thing where we have this kind of macho drinking culture from a young age where when you're in your teenage years, you're sort of expected to with friends, go out and get wasted. And if you're not, you know, you're not very blokey or whatever. It was really interesting. When I went to France when I was a kid, when I was at school and I went to France on a field trip thing. All the French kids didn't really give a shit about drinking. They would have wine with their parents, and they had grown up being surrounded by people, drinking responsibly and having a bit of wine with pretty much every meal. Probably not breakfast. And so when we got there, you could buy alcohol at 16. So all the kids on the trip, we were in Year Ten, I think we were 16 or 17, and they just went and unleashed. I wasn't a drinker at the time, but I remember they were getting soused on the booze that they could buy legally. All the French people were like, just take it easy, man. What's the, what's the deal?
And the thing that caught my attention when I first came to Australia, is the fact that Australians place stuff that they don't want on the street outside their home. And this practice is called a rubbish collection. And most of these items are usually pieces of furniture or appliances that people put outside their homes for other people to come and pick them up, or for...
Other people to come and pick them up. There's sort of two options, right? The photos, the images she's showing seem to be more this is junk that is being hard rubbish. It's going It's going to be collected by the garbos. We get two of these a year, I think, where you can ask the council, you have to ring up or email or whatever it is online and organise a hard rubbish pickup. And they'll do this twice for you for free on an annual basis, where they come around and they pick up all the stuff that they don't want you putting in recycling or in the bin, or that are items that are too big. We do mattresses, I think, separately, and then you'll have the hard rubbish, which, as she shows in the image here, it's like, you know, bits of wood, a chair, some utensils and all that sort of stuff. You will have this happen where it is just junk, like people just pile up rubbish and then you'll have it happen where it is actually like relatively good quality items that people don't want, and they will probably more carefully place these items out for people to pick them up.
They won't just chuck them in a junk pile, and you'll have a mix between these two as well. Sometimes people just don't care. They'll throw everything into a pile. Other times they'll have like the trash that's going to get collected, and then all the nice items that they think the neighbours are probably going to come and see this and want this. It's very common. And in fact, I've had people that are so polite where they'll come past. See that? It's hard. Rubbish. But just to double check, they'll knock on the door and be like, is that bike rubbish? Are you throwing this thing away? Can I take that? And you're like, man, just go for it. It's on the pile. It's next to all the trash. You know, I'd be a bit of a dumbass if I was riding along and just put my bike as I parked it right next to someone's hard rubbish. So go to town, man. Go to town.
So it's very interesting. And to be honest, many of these items are usually in really good shape. I know many people who basically make a living out of that. They go and collect, I don't know, a couch that perhaps is in good condition or just a bit dirty. They clean it up or they refurbish it and then they sell it on Facebook Marketplace and they made a lot of money. So yeah, perhaps it's a good business idea if you want to explore that.
Another thing that I found very surprising when I first came to Australia is the fact that they are very, very hefty fines for putting your feet on public transport seats. And these fines actually go up to 288 AUD. It's insane. And of course it makes sense, right? I don't think anywhere in the world it's polite or respectful to, to put your feet on the seat, right, on the public transport seat where other people are going to sit. It's basic good manners, but I had never seen that they actually fine you for that.
Oh yes, they definitely will. I've seen this in Melbourne when I was going to uni, getting the trams and the trains and everything. It was a common occurrence that you would see, usually a young boy or bloke, probably in his late teens, putting his feet up on the chair in front of him. Quite often we have chairs facing one another, and so you can easily do that. If the ticket inspectors come past and see it. They are quite often pretty irritated about it. One, because it's making the seats dirty, and two, because it can take up the seat and you're preventing someone from sitting down on that seat.
Housewarming parties. Now, I remember the first time that I was invited to a gathering here in Australia, and that was actually a housewarming party. I remember when I got that invitation, I was a bit confused because I was like, what is a housewarming party? I had to Google it, right? And I'm sure that housewarming parties are very normal in many countries, but at least not in mine. So again, for me this was weird. And if you don't know what a housewarming party is, let me explain very quickly. This is basically a tradition where you invite your friends to come see your new home. Basically, when you move to a new house, you have a gathering with rings, finger food, etc. and you show your friends your new place.
It's kind of a 50 over 50. Over the years that I've lived in a house that I've either been renting or now owned. It's probably been about a 50 over 50 of whether or not I've done a housewarming. I think this is more of a when you're young and you're renting a place and you suddenly rent out a new house with friends and you've, you're very social at that age anyway, then it's probably pretty much any excuse for a get together. So I was doing them back then. But then once I had a young family and was married and everything, I haven't really bothered doing a housewarming. I might be like, you know, guys come over that we've just moved into a new place, but I wouldn't make it a huge event with loads of people.
Basically, I feel that it's an excuse to just have a gathering and drink with your mates, and that's perfectly fine. I actually love housewarming parties, so much so that in my previous place, back in 2019, before the pandemic, I hosted a onesie housewarming party. We were 35 adults, all wearing onesies and having snacks, chatting and playing games. It was super fun. And yeah, I since then I love housewarming parties. So yeah, it was a pleasant surprise.
Okay, let's talk about the healthcare system and doctors in Australia because this is something that as well, it really surprised me when I first came here. To be honest, I was a bit confused. Now, if you want to know about the healthcare system in Australia, I have a whole dedicated video about it. I think it's going to make your life easier. Now in my country, in Argentina, and I know many European countries are exactly the same. When you have an ailment, when you're feeling sick, perhaps you have a tummy issue. You usually go to the specialist directly. You go to the gastroenterologist, right? That's the case in my country. Whereas here in Australia your first point of contact is your GP.
That's it. You would usually go to a GP with any sort of issue, and then you get referred to a specialist. And I think it probably just helps control the number of people that are going to these specialists so that they don't get clogged up with too many appointments and everything.
Healthcare in Australia. If you're an Australian, be either a permanent resident or a citizen, and you get free healthcare through a Medicare system. You can also get private health insurance if you want. And there's sort of interesting stuff that happens with our tax regarding whether or not you have private health insurance. Typically, healthcare in Australia is high quality, though, with the amount of recent migration and pressure on the system, with lack of funding for these systems to kind of catch up with the number of new migrants arriving in Australia, there's a lot of strain and stress in the system now and it is degrading a little bit, I've heard.
Basically a doctor that does general practice and not a specialist, but they do everything. It's general medicine. And then perhaps they're going to give you a prescription, refer you for X-rays, etc.. Now if your tummy ache gets worse over time and the issue doesn't get resolved, then your GP is going to refer you to a specialist. But your first point of contact here in Australia is a GP. Another example. If you have to go to the gynaecologist and have a pap smear here in Australia, again you go to your GP first. Whereas in my country, we usually go to the gynaecologist first and you're going to have your own gynaecologist, your specialists, and you have all the tests. The gynaecologist does everything for you. Whereas here in Australia you are going to go to the GP or nurse perhaps, and you're going to do that for you. Something interesting. Again, a huge difference.
Again, another thing that really surprised me when I first came to Australia was Australian football or footy or Aussie Rules or yeah, it has so many names.
You can tell she lives in Victoria. All the new South Welshman and Queenslanders are going to get triggered as hell by the fact that she called Australian Rules football AFL footy instead of rugby.
Anyway, I remember the first time I was here, I got my apartment, I turned the TV on and there was a footy match going on. For me, it was a big surprise to be honest. At the time I hadn't even heard about footy. Yeah, it was a mix of rugby and soccer but I wasn't really sure what was going on. It's basically neither. It's just a unique sport, very unique again to Australia and Aussies love it, especially here in Melbourne. Most of my of my Australian colleagues as well. They are super fans of Collingwood, Richmond, Essendon. It's very interesting. I've been to two footy matches. What I really liked is the family environment. It's very family oriented. Rivals can sit next to each other.
That's one of the things that is really interesting in Australian football culture doesn't tend to be very violent, at least from what I've experienced. You don't have these kind of like rival factions that have to be seated at the opposite ends of the football ground, or there will be a riot with, you know, violent bashings and all that sort of stuff. I mean, I'm sure that sort of stuff happens in isolated events, but compared to places like Britain where you hear about the football hooligans and everything, it's such, it's such a weird kind of contrast. You're just like, why would you bash people over them going for a different team? That's so weird.
Well, at least in my opinion, when I compare it to the Argentinian team or when you compare it to England, they're much more. Yeah, it's another, another kind of passion if you want. But here in Australia it's more family oriented. And that's something that, yeah, I really appreciate and I do like.
I think you would like AFL if you want a lot of action happening during a game. There's lots more people on the field. The field is a lot bigger. The ball is moving back and forth a lot more and big distances at a time. There's many more points being scored. I think that's why a lot of people like it compared to a game like soccer or football traditionally, because there's a lot more scoring that's happening, right? It's common for goals or points to be scored up to, you know, past 100 points in a game.
Another thing that surprised me about Australia is the fact that it's compulsory for school kids to always wear some protective hats outside. Of course, the reason for this is that Australia has some of the highest UV levels in the world, so it's a measure again, that for me was surprising because when I was in school, I didn't have to wear a hat. It wasn't compulsory. But at the same time, yeah, it makes complete sense. So it's actually really, really good. And then..
This is something that came in when I was at primary school in the 90s. It was No Hat, No Play. You had to wear a wide brimmed hat. So we had that full, wide brim around your head. You had to have sunscreen on as well. And a big reason it came through is because the kids that grew up in the 50s, 60s 70s, got so much more exposure to sun when they were young. Loads of sunburns. I think my dad said many times that his mum's advice was always go and get sunburnt and get a tan so that you won't get sunburnt in the future. And it was like, great. So now my dad has constant little skin cancers popping up on his face that he has to put cream on or have removed surgically and everything because of that amount of UV exposure at a young age. So we're very conscious of that in Australia.
And it would be weird if you go to places like Bondi around Sydney, the number of skin cancer, plastic surgeon, specialist businesses that are just everywhere. Obviously removing skin cancers all the time from people. It was, that was shocking for me. I was just like how, there's one on every street corner, like a milk bar. It was just insane.
Another thing in relation to the Australian school dress code, if you want, is the fact that school kids have to carry very big bags.
I was expecting her to say a school uniform. That's one that always seems to get people from places like Europe, France, America. They're quite often like what you've got, like compulsory uniforms? You can't just wear casual clothes. And it's like, no, we pretty much every single school will have. In fact, I think even private schools, every school has some kind of a uniform. Primary schools, secondary schools. It's only once you get to university that you get to wear whatever you want. There might be the odd day here and there that you have a casual clothes kind of day at school, but by and large, it's yeah, you have to wear a uniform. And if you go to a private school, you have to wear a pretty, you know, sort of snobby kind of uniform. I remember having to wear a tie, having to wear long socks that I had to pull up all the time. It was great fun.
So you see the little seven year old carrying a bag that is almost bigger than them and I don't know, I it's weird. In my uneducated opinion, and I'm not a health professional. I'm not a chiropractor, so I'm not sure. But in my opinion, carrying a lot of weight at that age probably poses some kind of risk for the kid's posture. I'm not sure.
I would say it depends on how long they're carrying it, right? If they're walking to school with it on one shoulder and it takes an hour to get there, and an hour to get home, and they're doing that day after day after day, maybe. But if it's like they're carrying it from their car when they're being dropped off at school into the classroom and then chucking it on a bench, or they're carrying it on both shoulders, it's probably fine. I reckon the reason we would use it, especially down here somewhere like Melbourne, is because the weather changes so much. You always need kind of like all different types of clothing. You need a jumper just in case it gets cold. You need pants, you've got books in there, you've got your lunchbox. Pretty much everything is just tossed into this one bag. So it's probably just the fact that we keep it all in one place, as opposed to carrying a lunchbox and a drink bottle separately from our bag. And, you know, having less clothing, maybe.
You can leave a comment if you know more about this. Growing up, in my case, all kids have their wheelie bags. We basically use that. So yeah, that was another thing that I found weird, surprising. I don't know if it's good or bad, but..
I feel like if you were to show up at school with a wheelie bag, people would be like, did you just get off the plane? Like, were you travelling overseas? Where are you guys going? Are you going on holiday? That would probably definitely be a way of being targeted for bullying.
It's interesting, I guess. Okay. Another thing that I think it's weird, surprising is the unique wildlife here in Australia. Of course, before coming here, you always hear about the kangaroos and the koalas. And these are very unique animals indeed. I don't think there are animals like these marsupials anywhere else in the world. But..
Yeah, you got marsupials over there in South America. Not as many, but they're hiding there. And there's some in North America. You've got that weird possum that is just like, gross, right? I don't know how you guys got that ugly possum and we got the really cute stuff. But yeah, in Australia, anywhere that you go, that's like near bushland, if there's a lot of natural reserves and that sort of stuff, you're going to see things like this. Kangaroos in the middle of the road, koalas crossing the road. There's loads of birds everywhere. Reptiles are all over the shop. You're going to get spiders in your house. It happens more in the hotter and the more humid parts, the further north you go. It is something that we just sort of get used to.
And you got to be careful. One of the things you have to know about is that, like if you're driving at night time in regional, rural kind of areas, always have your lights on high beams when there are no other cars around, because kangaroos can just come out of nowhere and totally clean up the car. You've got to be careful. And that's why you'll see so many people with bumper bars on the front of their cars.
And something that not many people know, and I include myself when I first came here, is that there are many more unique animals. Beyond the kangaroo and the koala, there are wallabies, quokkas, wombats. So every time I go hiking and every time I come across one of these animals, I can, i find it very fascinating. It kind of tells you about the unique geography and diversity in Australia. I know that the quokkas are unique, for example, to Western Australia. So yeah, it's very interesting. And to be honest, even when I see a kangaroo or a wallaby, I still get very excited even again after so many years of living here. Yeah, it's fascinating and it's very, very unique.
Another thing that really surprised me about Australia, and perhaps it shouldn't have, considering how important the beach lifestyle is for this country, is that they have a beach safety education program called Nippers. This is basically a program where kids as young as five years old learn about beach safety and rescue techniques.
Yeah. Little Nippers. We had this growing up, pretty much every Surf Lifesaver Club around the country. If they have enough kids nearby, I imagine we'll have this kind of a program where they're teaching kids how to swim, how to be able to save people in the surf. Probably CPR. All of that sort of stuff. And there's a sort of progression where they can end up working for the Surf Life Saving Club, or volunteering as Surf Lifesavers to rescue people on the beach. And you'll see the flags on these beaches.
So yeah, if you're in Australia, pretty much always be very careful in near water because there are so many foreigners that drown every single year. Swim between the flags and yeah, focus on beaches that have Surf Life Saving Clubs with Surf Lifesavers there.
So if you're at the beach, at any coastal town in Australia, usually in the morning during weekends, you are probably going to come across all these kids being trained for the nippers program, basically being trained on life saving techniques and as I said, beach safety, etc.. So yeah, it's something that I would have loved to be able to have when growing up. I find it amazing. And of course, again, this reflects the importance of knowing how to swim here in Australia. That's super important. That's the one..
I'm surprised she didn't mention that where, that would have been I imagine a cultural difference between Argentina and Australia, and probably a lot of other countries where our focus on learning to swim is so, so, so emphasised. Like my wife's Brazilian, she came over here and I remember we enrolled our babies when they were probably six months old, maybe, maybe a year old in swimming lessons. And she was just like, what? Why would you do that? And I'm like, everyone learns to swim here. And she, she was like, no one in Brazil where I'm from, learns to swim, you know, I mean, unless they want to learn to surf or whatever, they might do it by themselves, get private lessons. But here for kids, it's like everyone does it. It's very rare that you'll meet an Australian born and raised kid that has never learnt to swim.
Cool! So that's the episode you guys will have to let me know. What do you find weird about Australia, and Australian culture? Besides that, go and check out this episode on the podcast and also YouTube reckons you're going to enjoy this video and I'll see you there. Tooroo!

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