TikTok video from US backpacker reveals the weirdest Aussie habits

A US woman living in Newcastle has listed the things she’s noticed about Australian culture – including a text habit no one has in the States.

An American backpacker currently living Down Under has shared the weird things she’s noticed about Australians since moving here.

Katie Payne, 22, spent four months in Newcastle, NSW, in 2019 and liked it so much, she returned in January 2020, just before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

But the backpacker, who is originally from Iowa, has noticed some unusual quirks about the Australian way of life since moving here, listing them all recently in a TikTok video.

Katie revealed she’d noticed Aussies have an “obsession” with KFC, love to sign off texts with “kisses” and use the word “lollies” for what Americans call “candy”.

RELATED: US expat lists ‘strange’ Aussie slang

US backpacker Katie Payne has revealed weird Aussie habits. Picture: TikTok/itskpayne

She says she ‘dies’ when she gets a ‘x’ at the end of texts. Picture: Instagram/itskpayne

“If you text me with an ‘x’ at the end of the message, I’m a die (sic).

“I can feel your kiss through the phone,” she says in the video.”

Katie also lost it over the use of the term “lollies”, her voice going extremely cutesy as she explained the “cute” term which is different to what is used in the States.

And don’t get her started on the love of KFC here, with Katie revealing it is a fast-food option that “we forget about in the US”.

“It’s kind of like – ‘oh, KFC’ – but you guys f***ing love it, and that’s cute,” she said.

She also said Australians are obsessed with KFC. Picture: Instagram/itskpayne

Her video, which has been viewed 333,000 times since it was posted on Sunday, has amassed heaps of comments from Australians, many who had opinions on Katie’s thoughts.

“OK but Aussie KFC is unbelievably SUPERIOR to any other KFC,” one person wrote.

“Not everyone ends their texts with an ‘X’?” another asked.

“Australian lollies are so much yummier than American candy,” someone else replied.

In an earlier video, Katie listed a few other “weird” differences between Australian and American culture, highlighting the word “goon” that we use for wine was a little troublesome.

“You know if you say goon in the US, that means someone’s like, ‘you know you’re a goon’ – no,” she said.

@itskpayne

A cultural lesson ##kfc ##goon

♬ original sound - itskpayne

Other things she pointed out that were different were “washing” which she said she called “laundry” and “granola” that she translated to “muesli”.

Recently a Dutch woman living in Sydney took to TikTok to air her confusion over a term her Australian boyfriend had used – a shower beer.

Evelien, who goes by the name @eefexplores on TikTok, revealed in a video she’s recently started dating an Aussie guy.

“When I was at his place for the first time and I went to the bathroom, I saw this,” she said, moving her camera around to show an empty Corona bottle on top of the bathroom vanity.

“A beer … in his bathroom,” she said, a perplexed look on her face.

Evelien recently uncovered something strange in her boyfriend’s shower. Picture: TikTok/@eefexplores

She saw a beer bottle on his vanity – uncovering the ‘shower beer’. Picture: TikTok/@eefexplores

She goes on to explain she asked him why he has a beer bottle in his bathroom, to which she said he tells her, “Oh, it’s just a shower beer.”

Evelien however had never heard of the beloved Australian penchant for an ice cold one in a steaming hot shower, proceeding to ask all the important questions. “What and why?”

However in a news.com.au poll of over 20,000 readers, 75 per cent said they loved a shower beer, dubbing it “part of our Aussie culture”.

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