A few random observations

A few random observations I’ve recently made about Australia. Life sure is confusing here sometimes!

1. Aussies don’t “wait in line”, they “form a queue”. This is particularly confusing at my bank, where there is a sign up saying “Q here”. Cute, but terribly unclear to newbies like me.
2. Q tips are called cotton tips or cotton buds. Terribly unclear to the poor grocery clerk who has no idea what I am looking for.
3. Basil is pronounced “ba-sill”, where the ba sounds like the beginning of the word ‘bat’. My uncle tells me I’m still allowed to call it bay-sill if I want.
4. Cars are allowed to park in traffic lanes during certain times of the day. That is, you could be driving down a two-lane street and hello, there is a row of cars parked in your lane, rendering your lane useless. No-one else seems to be bothered by this.
5. Aussies like to say “yes” to everything, even if they really mean no. Example:
Person 1: “Are you free to see a movie on Sunday afternoon?”
Person 2: “Yeah, no I’m busy.”