Buzzy--Bee

It occurred to me the other day that there's a lot of things I have got better at since I came to Oz and a lot of things I'm well out of practice in. Some of these are naturally to be expected, however some are a bit of a surprise to me -

Things I have got better at

- Using power tools
- Reversing a trailer
- fishing
- Barbecuing
- Appreciating Coffee
- Conversing with strangers
- not stressing about being late
- knowing my wines
- smiling for no reason
- caring about protecting myself against the sun
- speaking and understanding the Australian dialect

Things I am out of practice with and used to be better at in the UK

- cooking
- parking
- being on time for things


What else have you improved at since you've been here?

Buzzy

asprilla

great thread, tricky one to answer though... will get back to you.

Neil52

Things I have got better at when in Oz

Living on less wages
Staying out of the sun because of the risks
Drinking less because of the price and the taste of Australian beer.
Ignoring the Australian racist comments at work.
swatting bloody flies
Sweating
Swerving hoons on the road
Telling them to piss off when they want to search my bag at supermarket check-outs.
Switching the TV off.
No grass...so no lawn-mowing
Knowing the zzzzzzzzzz of a mozzie as he is about to attack.
Regonising what insects are killers

Things I am out of practice with and used to be better at in the UK

Relaxing
Watching decent football
Drinking in a decent pub
Having a night out and a superb curry to finish
seasons
Banter with me mates.
Driving without fear
Cutting the lawn on a summers day with test cricket on the radio and a beer in my hand.

DeadVim

Better At:
- Parenting
- Husbandry
- Cooking
- Maintaining 4 stroke engines and mechanical stuff in general
- Chainsawing
- Building fires
- Woodworking
- Financial control (by choice, not necessity)
- Ride-on mowing
- Building dog houses
- Pulling down patios and digging out new base for slab
- Defensive driving (this IS a necessity)
- Wearing shorts, hats and thongs
- Appreciating rain
- Appreciating the stars man, the stars
- Shagging

Worse At:
- Keeping in touch with family
- Posting on BE

Buzzy--Bee

Yes I wondered if it would take more than 5 seconds for this sort of response to rock up.

By the way with the exception of the staying out of the sun, I haven't had any of the experiences described above.

Buzzy

Neil52

Lucky you, many do.

DeadVim

How did the other 51 Neils fare?

We need to know, this could save someone making a terrible mistake.

Neil52

Think they all went home.

rocket01

Driving slowly.

spartacus

There are apprently some people who go to sleep one night and then mysteriously wake up the next morning far far away in a place called Australia. I mean how the **** does that happen?!

Neil52

It was only my honest opinion that was asked by the original poster.

Buzzy--Bee

Yes but to say you have got better at sweating? Like you can turn it on and off somehow!

Buzzy

Dreamy

Better at:

Filling in forms
Ride On Mowing (unfortunately our new house is on the side of a mountain so I'll have to get better at pushing a flipping mower again)
Gardening
Talking to check out operators
Not stressing - if its meant to be, it will be, if not, well there's always alternatives.
Calling flip flops thongs.
Remembering Woolies is for food shopping, not pick n mix
Eating pies, but not pork ones
having Christmas in the summer (although its still weird )
Wearing shorts all year round - however we're in the Blue Mountains now so I'll probably have to wear jeans and socks at some point
Dealing with warm rain!
Setting the air con
Parallel parking
Photography

Worse at:
Writing cheques - don't even have a flipping cheque book
Driving in the snow
Setting the central heating
Having a credit card - we made a conscious decision that we were never going down that track again!
Remembering birthdays and being organised enough to get cards and presents to the relevant people
Having time away from the kids - I don't miss a lot from the UK, but I do miss those weekends when they disappeared off to their Gran's house
Remembering to upload pictures so rellies can see them

No different at but should be better:
Haggling. Still can't do it

knockoff nige

Things I've got better at:

Being more outdoorsie
Not driving like I'm trying to get to a burning house
More tolerant with people, as they are with me
Appreciate where I'm living (Sydney, best place in the world


Things I've got worse at:

Calling home
Staying in touch with my brother and sisters
Saving

Neil52

I have learned to take a change of shirt when I go out and control my sweating in the extreme heat by shallow breathing which I was taught by my wife who is a nurse.