is this really different than the us???

YES it really is a lot different. At first it didn't seem all that different, they speak English, and have a lot of the same brands, etc. BUT even though they speak the same language, it is more like British English opposed to American English. There are so many words that I just never heard before. The whole driving thing is crazy as well. And the food - beetroot is all over the place, you will never get ice in your water out at a restaurant, you won't ever get fountain soda except for at Mackas (McDonald's) I could go on and on. But with that being said, it is fairly east to adapt to the differences.

G'day Nico!
Yes, it is different in so many aspects.
We are here for 3 months already and on our first month I was in complete shock... now I can't even remember all the things that were so strange to me but I'll name a few.
Australia is all about Australian Made and Owned.
That means that a lot of your WW brands that you think are so obvious to be here - are gone. It is strange in the beginning. I couldn't find too many things I'm familiar with at the supermarkets or the mall.
2nd thing that was strange is the quality and speed of service.
You use to have things with the speed of light and with a great service. Here it takes 3 weeks to get you connected to internet in your house (and in our case, our home which is 4km from the CBD cannot be connected to cables or high speed ADSL!!), the service is very very slow and with although it is done with a smile you can feel the easy going and on some times the lack of professionalism.
The economy here suffered less from the global recession because of some smart moves the government took as well as their dependency on their on production.
In general people here are much more relaxed and easy going so the moving experience, if you take it on the bright side, can be quite an experience but a positive one.
We love it here and now that we are used to the different pace, cannot understand how it can be done differently.
The fact that it is in the end of the world is indeed noticeable but I can't explain how so... I just know I feel it...
And for the driving, I'm sorry to contradict the latest post but it is a piece of cake.
It took me 4-5 times to drive around and I'm all good (and I'm a woman!! (-:  )   They drive like crazy but it is okay and not a problem to get used to.

Anyway, it is great here!!
So as they say,
No worries mate!!

Despite all of the differences in cuisine and so on, (the food is VERY different) the Australian culture is very different to that of the U.S. Australians as a whole practice a very Egalitarian mindset whereas Americans are obsessed with status so, essentially, they're opposites. Where in America you respect strangers by calling them "Sir" and "Ma'am," here absolutely everyone is "mate" regardless of relation. This was VERY off-putting for me at first. If you know anything about Tall Poppy sydnrome, it's like a plague here; anyone who starts to show a bit of ambition or is more successful than their peers is immediately cut down. Australia LOVES an underdog, but will abandon them at the moment of success. It's so different.

There's also an Australian form of humor called "takin' the piss" which is when one person becomes a point of mocking, teasing, and scoffing which most American's would find VERY rude if they didn't understand how this humor works. You're not meant to get all bent out of shape about it, but to fire back with more mocking, teasing and scoffing or to simply mock yourself. A lot of people I first meet will "take the piss" out of me when it comes to the USA. It's hard not to be defensive, but you just have to roll with it. They're not being rude or having any hard feelings by Australian standards so...when in Rome...

I live in rural Australia which is NOTHING like the DFW metro where I'm from. Nothing is open on Sundays. Everything but the grocery store is only open from 9-4/5pm and, if something is open on Saturday, it's only until noon. It's insane. I don't know how much better the capital cities are about this kind of thing but I miss my 24 hr WalMart for sure. If you sleep past 7am here it's considered "sleeping in" even on the weekends....it's a whole new world. I hate it here so far but, if you have the luxury of living in one of the capitals, your life will be a bit more charmed than mine I'm sure.

Just thought I should add that the cost of living is painfully high. Things cost twice the price point on avg. compared to what you would pay in America and sometimes is as much as 4 times more expensive. A can of coke at the local pub costs $2.50. There's no such thing as "free refills" unless you're at an American restaurant (i.e. Subway or BurgerKing) A house that would cost $90k in Texas sells for $650k here. I could go on and on...it's hard to get a job if you don't have some kind of certificate, diploma,or degree even as a receptionist no matter how much experience you have. I could go on and on...

The economy is going strong. I'd say Australia is one of the safest places to be in the world at the moment as far as job security goes. The public healthcare scheme is pretty frickin awesome as well.