Power: 110 volt. Power points have 2 vertical slots on top of a round slot (earth), as opposed to our 2 slanted slots on top of a vertical slot (earth). The power points do not necessarily have on-off switches like the Australian equivalents.
Measurements
- Length: Miles (1.6 km), Feet (30 cm), Inches (2.54 cm).
- Temperature: Fahrenheit ((9/5 * Celcius) + 32)
- Fluid Volume: Gallon (3.78 litres and 0.8326 of a British Imperial gallon), Wet Pint (0.473 litres and 0.832 of a British Imperial pint). Also different is the concept of a wet and a dry pint, as opposed to the single imperial pint. A dry pint is 0.550 litres (still shy of the imperial pint's 0.568 litres). Also note that American's spell "litre" as "liter".
- Weight: Pound (0.45 kg), Ounce (28.3 grams
| Category | System | Quick Conversion | Example |
| Women's clothing | US vs UK. | Add 2 to the US size to get the UK equivalent. | 10 (US) is 12 (UK). |
| Women's shoes | US vs UK | Minus 1.5 from US size to get UK equivalent. | 8 (US) is 6.5 (UK). |
| Men's shirts | US vs European | Inches to centimetres (ie multiply US by 2.54) | 17 (US) is 43 (EUR). |
| Men's shoes | US vs UK | Minus 1 from US size to get UK equivalent. . | 12 (US) is 11 (UK) |
- Drive on the other side of road (ie the right-hand side). This means that controls like wipers and headlights are on the opposite side of the steering column to what we're used to. When driving in the US for the first time (or is that for the first 100 times) expect to see your wipers go on whenever you want to change lanes :-)
- As a pedestrian you will also need to walk on the opposite side of the footpath [sidewalk]. That is, keep to the right and let people pass you on your left.
- Crossing the road means looking to the left FIRST. This is very important to remember.
- Dates are written Month/Day/Year (as opposed to Day/Month/Year)
- Telephones have letters on the dialpad. There are 3 letters per digit starting with "ABC" on the "2" and finishing with "WXY" on the "9". Companies generally have toll free numbers that spell words such as 1800 DIALME (I don't think this is a real number). When quoting a phone number you may be pulled up if you say the letter "O" when you mean the number "0". Also worthy of note is the number to dial in case of emergency is 911 (not 000).
- The format of VHS videos in the USA is NTSC [its PAL in Australia]. This means that unless you have a dual standard VCR you won't be able to exchange videos between the two countries.
- Currency:
- Notes [bills] are all the same colour and shape. They can only be distinguished by looking at the number or the president.
- The 5c coin (Nickel) is bigger than the 10c coin (Dime). As one reader pointed out this is similar to our $1 coin being bigger than our $2 coin.
- Although 50c and $1 coins exist they are not widely used. The coin of highest denomination that is actually used is the 25c (Quarter).
- Similarly it is rare to see any note higher than a $20
Additional random differences:
Doors to buildings (offices, restaurants etc) open outwards. This is for safety reasons.
Light switches are upside down compared to ours (ie down is off and up is on). The electrical outlets also all have switches to turn or off to save energy.
The fridge also beeps loudly when opened for a certain period of time and doesn't stop until the door is completely shut!
Numbering scheme for floors to buildings always start from 1 (whereas Australia has many buildings that use the English system of Ground and Basement floors below the 1st floor).
Although its obvious that the education system differs between the 2 countries--
Americans continue their general education for an extra four years. Consequently they are about 2-6 years behind the rest of the world in the time it takes to get a professional qualification. Their Year 12 is about equivalent to an Australian Year 10. The American Bachelor Degree is a 4 year general degree where the "major" accounts for only one quarter of the work and is equivalent, in many cases, to the work which Australians do in Years 11 and 12.
Just thought I'd share---now back to researching! - Notes [bills] are all the same colour and shape. They can only be distinguished by looking at the number or the president.
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