Update:  I’ve realised that this entry comes off as being terribly anti-American. I’ll admit that its much easier to see humour in ridicule of the flaws than it is to see it in the positives. But America is a great place. I saw lots of good things about it (the quality of the service industries, respect for engineers, etc). There’s also a lot of quirks, which is how I got to writing about the below. So if you’re American, don’t get offended, have a laugh. Giving someone a hard time is an Australian compliment. (If you think the previous statement was sarcastic in any way, go find an Aussie and ask them -- its all about being able to take it).

America is different. Very different to Australia or the UK. Over the last few months living there, I’ve compiled a little list of observations about it.

1. •Driving in the “fast” lane: Americans do it. Even if the “slow” lane is totally empty. The “fast” lane in America is not an overtaking lane, it is a status symbol. It says you are the fastest car on the road. Of course, everyone thinks they’re the fastest car on the road, and so the fast lane is impossibly full, and in fact very slow.
   

2. •Massive cars: An average sized car in America is the same size as a Commodore or Falcon. A large car looks something like a tank or monster truck. I actually saw more than one real monster truck on the road.
   

3. •Four-way stop signs: As the equivalent of a round-about in Australia, America has four-way stop signs. Every entrance to an intersection has a stop sign. Everyone is expected to stop, and the person who arrived there first is expected to go first. This has a few problems: a) its not obvious about who arrives there first when there are lots of people arriving at the intersection. b) it expects everyone to follow the rules. c) it forces you to stop at every intersection (compared with a roundabout which you can usually drive straight through).
   

4. •Lines at stops signs: The line at an intersection has no relevance to whether you have right-of-way or not. In fact, it has more to do with whether you have right of way over the pedestrians who are attempting to cross there or not. (two parallel lines indicates a pedestrian crossing). In order to work out whether you have right of way, you have to check for the presence or absence of a stop-sign. Give-way signs don’t tend to exist.
   

5. •Hybrid cars: In Oregon, Hybrid cars are everywhere. There are more Priuses than any other type of car I could see. They also have SUVs everywhere. In order to appease the concsience regarding their planet-raping nature, it is also possible to buy a Hybrid SUV. Sigh.
   

6. •2WD 4WDs: It seems that 90% of the cars which are SUVs are actually only 2WD. So, they look like 4WDs, but actually only drive two wheels, reaffirming that the things are never used for their intended purpose.
   

7. •Cheques: Yeah. People still actually use cheques over there!
   

8. •Banks: Banks don’t talk to each other. To transfer money from one bank to another, you need to write a cheque (spelt “check” there), or do a wire transfer (which is also initiated by a physical piece of paper). In addition, US Bank took four weeks to give me my checking card, which meant that I didn’t have access to my pay for that amount of time!
   

9. •Plastic surgery: The number of girls with ridiculously large/perky breasts (usually an impossible combination) is much higher than in Aus. I put this down to modern “medical” advances.
   

10. •Tax and Tips: Waiting staff at restaurants are paid much less than minimum wage, and expected to make their living on tips. As a result, if you don’t tip at least 15%, you are frowned upon, given the evil eye, etc. Most people tip 20%. The equivalent tip in Australia would be 5%. This makes splitting bills quite difficult!
    

11. •Terrible coffee: These people drink filtered coffee and like it! (Mostly because they haven’t really experienced Espresso, or if they have, it came from Starbucks).
    

12. •Splitting bills: Because the waiters are so eager to impress, they put up with the hideous inconvenience of splitting the bills themselves. People like their credit cards, so they can end up with 10 credit cards paying < $10 each!
    

13. •Portion sizes: The size of a meal which you order in the states is HUGE.
    

14. •Boxes to go: The portion sizes are enormous, so its not uncommon to end up wtih left-overs. Asking for a box to put your leftovers in is not frowned upon, and the waiter will often ask. Sometimes people even order more than they’ll finish on purpose in order to be able to take the leftovers home for a later meal.
    

15. •No Coasters: Pubs tend not to have coasters on the tables.
    

16. •Entree vs. Appetizer: In Australia, the first part  of a meal is called an “entree”, and the main part of a meal is called the “main”. In America, the first part of a meal is called an “appetizer”, and the main part of a meal is called (wait for it...) an “entree”. Wholly confusing!
    

17. •Corn syrup: America has vast corn fields, and very little sugar cane. As a result, they try to get corn products into everything. The major sweetener is corn syrup, and is used in products like soft drinks, cakes, etc, etc. In fact, pretty much everything.
    

18. •Pint sizes: PInts in America are almost exactly the same size as a schooner in Australia (~473ml), as opposed to a proper British pint which is about 578ml. This makes a big difference when drinking beer (which is really good in Portland!).
    

19. •Granola vs. Museli: Granola and Museli are essentially equivalent, except that granola seems to be sweeter.
    

20. •Carding: The legal drinking age in America is 21. While it is relatively easy to tell the difference between a 27-year-old and a 17-year-old, it is difficult to discern a 27-year-old from some 20-year-olds. As a result, if a person looks like they’re below 30, they have to be asked for ID. This gets annoying.
    

21. •Halloween: Huge. Essentially an excuse for girls to dress like... err... women of ill repute.
    

22. •Loyalty cards: Every supermarket has a card which gives discounts, but is actually a method for them to track your purchasing habits.
    

23. •Light switches the wrong way around: Down is off and up is on.
    

24. •Toilets full of water: The amount of water in the toilets is enormous. They’re designed so that your stuff hits the water, not the bowl. I think this saves on cleaning?
    

25. •Pets everywhere: Pets are in apartments, in stores, in aeroplanes.
    

26. •Cars that beep the whole time: American cars complain if you don’t have your seatbelt in, or have the door unlocked with the key in the ignition, they lock the doors when you put them in gear, etc, etc.
    

27. •Patriotism and flags: someone with a three metre by, say, 30m sign, next to the highway, lit with bright neon, saying “God Bless America”. They don’t seem to realise Jesus was from Palestine in the middle east, right?
    

28. •Law enforcement jurisdiction: a sheriff is not allowed to pull over a car for speeding, for example. That falls under the jurisdiction of the highway patrol, and therefore the sheriff sits idly as you cruise past at 80mph!
    

29. •Passports: only 20% of Americans own a passport. Why would they need to? Why would anyone ever want to leave God’s own country!? But seriously, American people tend not to travel. They cite their distance from the rest of the world as a major reason for this, but when I point out the much larger distances required to travel from Australia, and the relatively large number of people who have seen the world in that place, they shrug and start talking about monetary pressures. (At which point I point out the larger cost of a ticket in Australia and lower salaries). There’s some good reasons for it: there are a huge number of things to see in America. It is a large, diverse country. The result is that most Americans haven’t seen the rest of the world, and aren’t really aware of its existence, beyond their conviction of being the better than them. (This sounds sour, but is grounded in numerous conversations with real-live yanks). I should point out here that the cross-section that we meet in Australia is automatically part of that 20% that owns a passport, and therefore hardly representative.
    

30. •Imperial units: The only real users of the outdated imperial system are the US, Burma, Liberia and some small Caribbean islands. This makes up about 5% of the world’s population. Yes. They should just get on with it.
    

31. •Foot park brakes: The park brake is often a foot pedal rather than a hand operated device.
    

32. •Toilet seat covers: Public toilets (even the toilets at Intel had these) will provide a supply of paper covers which can be placed over the toilet seat in order to avoid any direct contact.
    

33. •Shower baths: Combined showers and baths are commonplace in the US. Also, separate hot and cold taps have been replaced with something that regulates the temperature of the water.
    

34. •Turny light switches: Light switches can be rotational as well as linear. I.e. you turn a knob. It clicks, and the light goes on. You turn it again (same direction) and the light goes off.
    

35. •Pissed != drunk: The people I talked to regarding this topic told me that the world “Pissed” only ever means “Angry” rather than the more common use in Australia: “Drunk”. (See “Pissed as a newt”).
    

36. •Speed traps: Never saw any of them. The legal limit for drink-driving was 0.08, and I never saw an RBT (they’re not allowed to do these, since the cops might discriminate against certain races).
    

37. •Queueing: Americans like to queue. For everything. I guess this comes from the “fair go” mentaility, but results in some inefficiency.
    

38. •Snow plough == Pizza: People learning how to ski are taught the “Piece of Pizza”, not the “Snow Plough”.
    

A friend sent through this link to a Canadian’s blog. Interesting read!