A few nuggets from the orientation
Slip, Slop, Slap. Australia’s cancer rate astounds: at least 1 in 3 Australians get it in their lifetime. (Of 3 employees at the IEP office I casually spoke with, 2 had skin cancer removed. Both were under 30.) The Government tries to combat this trend with a campaign it calls “Slip, Slop, Slap”: Slip on a shirt, Slop on some sunscreen, Slap on a hat.
Emergency dialing. The number for emergencies in Australia is triple zero (000). Americans need not be troubled to remember this, Nikki explained, because 911 works as well. The reason: imported American TV, from Rescue 911 through to the soaps (“She’s not breathing! Quick, Rocco, call 911!”) means Australian youth are similarly indoctrinated with our number…
Visa limitations. I’ve been issued a 4 month “Working Holidaymaker” visa, the shortest duration among the groups IEP administers; Canadians, Danes, and Germans are all given 12 month visas (albeit with a requirement that they switch jobs every 3 months.) This lack of parity seems a tad unfair until one realizes what the USA offers Australian youth: a 4 month visa, for current full-time students only, to work exclusively at summer camps. Recently the visa was further restricted to allow participants to enroll just once per lifetime. As staffmember Tim explained it, “The USA is the hardest country to get into. They give us 40,000 slots a year but we can only fill 7,000 because the requirements are so strict.”