US expat shares huge gripe with one common Aussie habit

An American expat who just moved down under has revealed the “mind-blowing” common Aussie habit that she just cannot get on board with.

An American expat has revealed the very Australian feature she found “mind-blowing” when she first moved from Texas to Sydney.

Tara Lappan recently went viral on TikTok for sharing some of the biggest culture shocks she had to grapple with when she made the big move from the US to Australia.

She mentioned the confusing license points system, the difficult-to-understand Aussie slang and the fact that we do not celebrate Halloween.

The biggest surprise however was the common habit she would witness “around every corner” — and many Aussies may not even notice it is happening.

“This one was actually mind-blowing. The fact that you guys have pokies on every corner and every pub,” she said.

“That is insane to me. If you’re an American watching this, a pokie is a slot machine.

“And in America, that is just not the case. Casinos, slot machines, you can only find those in certain areas.

“The fact that you guys have them everywhere. No.”

Australia is in the grips of a devastating gambling habit.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare states that Australians lose approximately $25 billion on legal forms of gambling each year, representing the largest per capita losses in the world.

Poker machines are everywhere. While in other countries like the US and UK, one would mostly need to go to casinos to gamble, in Australia, many local pubs, clubs and hotels will have rows of occupied pokie machines.

Tara, originally from the US, loves it in Australia. Picture: TikTok / @texaninaustralia

She dealt with many culture shocks when moving here. Picture: TikTok / @texaninaustralia

“They are more ubiquitous than McDonald’s,” former senator Nick Xenophon told The Washington Post.

“It’s on every street corner. It’s in your face.”

It seems the issue is only getting worse. According to one study, the amount of Australians who struggle with gambling addiction has doubled in the last 10 years.

While Australians might be used to the bright flashing lights and familiar attention-grabbing noises of the pokies being the backdrop on their nights out, this is not the case overseas.

One British expat told news.com.au that the amount of poker machines in Australia and the general attitude towards gambling down under truly left her gobsmacked.

“I was so shocked when I first moved to Sydney,” she said.

“I’d never seen so many slot machines in my life, it’s just not like this in the UK.

“It was genuinely my biggest culture shock when moving here. It is unreal.

“In England, you only really see poker machines at casinos. You really have to seek them out.

“Rarely, some pubs might have one super old machine, but it is always largely ignored. It is just not part of the culture there.

Gambling is a huge issue in Australia. Picture: iStock

“The gambling adverts are insane too. I can’t believe they’re allowed to advertise gambling as being a fun thing to do with your mates, that’s literally illegal back home.

“It’s very tightly regulated.”

A spokesperson for the Australian Institute of Family Statistics (AIFS) told news.com.au that poker machines account for more than half of the total gambling expenditure in Australia – an estimated $25 billion each year across all forms of gambling.

“Pokies harms are significant, especially for young adults,” a report by Dr Kei Sakata, Acting Executive Manager, Australian Gambling Research Centre, stated.

“We surveyed more than 1,000 people who regularly use poker machines, and found that those aged 18-34 years were at greatest risk of harm.

“Indeed, 89 per cent fell into the ‘at risk’ category, indicating (for example) they are stressed about their gambling, or lose more than they can afford.”

Other culture shocks

In addition to the abundance of pokie machines in Australia, there were a few other culture shocks that Tara had to get used to after moving here.

“Another one … demerit points. When I first started driving here I lost about six demerit points immediately,” she revealed.

“When you have a traffic offence, they take away points and when you lose them all, you lose your licence.

“I lost a lot of those because I didn’t realise you guys have speed cameras everywhere.

“It’s not like you learn your lesson straight away. A month later, after you’ve done it five times, they send you a letter in the mail like ‘here are all your fines”.

The pokies in particular draw many people in. Picture: iStock

She also found it hard that Halloween is not celebrated in Australia like in the US, and she also found it very difficult to learn to drive on the other side of the road.

Tara did however love that hospitality staff are paid better in Australia and therefore tipping is not as entrenched in our society like it is in America.

The Texan also had a difficult time learning how Australians speak due to the unique slang that is commonplace.

“It was like learning a new language,” she laughed.

“When I first moved here, I could not understand my husband’s friends.

“But I love it. I think Australia has one of the most unique cultures ever and it really has to do with their lingo.

“They took the English language and switched it up. They shorten words, they’re adding Os to everything, there are some words I don’t understand and I love it.”