Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

I wake up in the morning, when it's still the night before.

When I go to bed, everyone is getting up.

And no, I'm not on night shift. Just on a different continent, in a different hemisphere.

I shower with products that I've mostly never heard of.

The toilet doesn't flush the same. It doesn't actually twirl though, mostly just shoots straight down.

I use a funny shape plug to use appliances that cost at least twice as what they should, and again, brands I've never heard of.

I leave work and get into the wrong side of the car and drive on the wrong side of the car.

Rush hour is the same worldwide. It sucks. Rainy mornings make it even harder to commute, much less get out of bed.

I arrive to an office where everyone sounds different, yet I'm told I am the one with the accent.

Everyday is a learning experience. Even after doing this for 13 yrs, some days I'm over whelmed with what I have to learn about my new world.

Even punctuation has new names. Ever heard of a full stop? Apparently it's the word here for a period at the end of a sentence. A full stop? That's what my car makes when I come to a stop sign.

Which, there are none of here.

I can't say I miss those dreadful four way stops.

Having said that, round-a-bouts are a part of my daily life. I had never seen one until my late 20's and had no CLUE what the hell it was. I think they are wonderful inventions.

I go to the store and don't reconize hardly any brands. Even when things look similar, they are different. Even if they have the same name (ie, Coke) yet again, they are still different.

Every week I go to a new place. This is exciting, yet terrifying. This caused me to have a mini-breakdown recently.

The TV shows are mostly American tv shows.. but tons of repeats. Thank god for Internet tv and HDMI cables.

Burger king looks the same, only it's called Hungry Jacks.

Big W is a store that hired the Walmart advertising people to do their advertising campaign. IT. LOOKS. THE. SAME. Therefore, I STILL call it "Walmart" only for people to look at me and say "umm..where?"

It's all english, but it's Australian english.

Here you don't say root..that means sex. So no, you don't "root, root, root for the home team" Unless you are a whore.

I have no clue where to buy clothes...still. The sizes for clothes are the same numbers, but the numbers aren't the same size. Bra's have a different number. When I go shopping, I have found ONE store that I can tolerate.. if they have nothing, I. Am. Screwed. I have curves, boobs, and shoulders..... apparently most the retail stores here are worse than American women's clothing stores.

I don't have a checking account. Hardly anyone does. I have a bank account that is a savings account, and a bank card. My bank doesn't have branches. I do all my banking online...or at.... the post office.

I miss my friends and family and the ability to pick up a phone and call them, or hop in a car to see them. Now a phone call is tricky because of the time difference, and the commute to my friends is a 36 hr or more airplane ride.

Somedays it all just feels wrong. OK. Most days it all feels wrong.

But... there is always a but....

No matter how wrong or different my life, there is still one person who with just the touch of his hand makes it all seem ok. He's the reason that no matter how hard things seem, I know I'm right where I belong. I am home.