Australia was colonised by the British (English) a couple hundred years ago. As a white Australian woman who has a heap of ancestors from this part of the world, I think I subconsciously expected England to be very similar to Australia.
Of course, it has many things on common, language being one of them.
But their people are more polite and even formal than us Aussies. (At least, the well educated, middle class folks we've been hanging out with are.)
It's interesting to hear the same things come out of my mouth as I would say at home, as I authentically express myself and observe different reactions than I'd get in Oz.
Not bad, just different.
Of course, when I travel to destinations that are culturally very different from home I am far more mindful and measured in how I communicate. This is often necessary to avoid offense and not stick out like a sore thumb.
But here in England I've been behaving a lot more like I do at home.
And sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't.
There are little things catching us out all the time. From the narrow roads to the strange parking rules that allow people to park on the road in such a way that it actually blocks the traffic, to the tiny differences with how the traffic lights (signals) operate.
It can be stressful when we're trying to get from A to B when we're already tired, but as long as we don't make Australia's way "right" and what we're seeing here "wrong" then it all just becomes an interesting process of discovery.
I can probably think of a thousand tiny examples of small, unexpected differences between here and home.
Same: Walking through small parks and gardens.
Different: Squirrels running around!
Same: Areas with lots of greenery.
Different: Almost every plant and tree; I barely recognise any of them.
Same: They measure the temperature in degrees Celsius.
Different: They measure physical distances in yards and miles.
We're about halfway through our short journey through England and no doubt we'll discover more new things around each corner.
And you know what? I think I'm okay with that.
After all, this is why we travel.