American mum living in Brisbane causes online controversy after revealing bizarre list of things she hates about Australia

Sky News AU

2 days ago

An American expat residing in Brisbane has sparked a lively online debate after listing her top grievances about Australia, including difficult shopping trolleys and a puzzling highway system.
Lex, a social media content creator whose account provides an American perspective on integrating into Australian culture, posted the video to TikTok and listed her five top issues with her adopted homeland.
Number one on the list was that Australian shops close their doors far earlier than those in America, with the former Houston-based mum admitting 'it was a little strange at first'.
'The shops close early here, I'm used to it, I've been here nine months, but it was a little strange at first, but I understand it, because there can be a duality with things like that'.
An American expat residing in Australia has sparked a lively online debate after listing her top grievances about life down under. Picture: NewsWire /John Appleyard.
The popular user then claimed in the US 'supermarkets are pretty much open all of the time'.
However one user questioned, 'the shops close early where you are? Come to Victoria, the shops are open very late here'.
The Brisbane mum's second bugbear was that Australian shopping trolleys are 'challenging to steer'.
'Shockingly 90 per cent of Aussies are in agreement with me on this," wrote Lex, adding she was "challenged with this nine months in'.
The Brisbane mum was more confidant about her second bugbear, that being the unruly nature of Australian shopping trolleys. Picture: Bev Lacey/NCA.
She conceded, 'you really have to put you body into it', with a raft of Australians taking to the comment section to encourage Coles and Woolworths to apply a generous portion of WD-40 to the aging fleet.
'You don't push a trolly here, you manage it' one person said.
However another user claimed US trollies were far worse, writing "I HATE American trollys I go to Costco and it's infuriating."
However, a more contentious compliant from the women was that 'Mexican food is pretty bad here' and was far inferior to that served in Texas.
'The Mexican food is not great, and I don't expect it to be great, it's just hard because in Texas the Tex-Mex is so good, I crave it'.
One person said, 'the Mexican thing is true, but we're about as far from Mexico as you can get', whilst another disgruntled user asked, 'do you have a Guzman y Gomez in Brissie because that's pretty good?'
"In Melbourne we have fabulous Mexican restaurants," shot back another commenter.
However, a more contentious compliant from the women was that 'Mexican food is pretty bad here'. Picture: Guzman y Gomez via NCA NewsWire.
The expat also unloaded on Australian motorways, and that they were almost impossible to understand. Picture: Nigel Hallett/NCA/
The expat also unloaded on Australian motorways, claiming they are almost impossible to navigate as opposed to the gigantic American interstate highway system.
'The highways here are a bit of a challenge, and I don't exactly know why, we turn around easily and take the wrong exit, and I can't figure out if it's the signage, the signage is different for sure,' the women said.
'The name of the highways aren't as prominent as Houston, the name of the highways are blatantly big in Texas and so that took me a minute. I had to get used to searching for the name of the highway which is what I was used to'.
One user pointed out that 'the moment you use a tunnel in Brisbane [Google] maps no longer works', with another bemoaning that 'if you get off on the wrong exit, so often you can't just get back on! You're stuck!'
Whilst admitting her last irk was 'so petty' the women was shocked that Australian restaurants and cafes make customers pay for condiments and sauces and stated this was the biggest culture shock of all.
'You have to pay for condiments here, in the states if you want 50 sauces then that's that, it goes to the other direction where it's wasteful, but yeah you have to pay for condiments here so that was an adjustment."
However one follower fired back: "Surely you now need to expose how GREAT our sauce packets are? Squeeze to dispense - no ripping a packet - use again later in the meal - the best!"