The pure joy of the familiar - 26° 42' 38" S 152° 55' 02" E
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With Canada and Australia sharing a common language, similar values and even the same Head of State, moving between the two should be relatively straight forward. The cultural change I grappled with when living in Indonesia, where everything was so different, was thought not to be such a big deal in Canada. And it wasn't. But unlike Indonesia, when there was a sense of joy whenever something felt a little familiar, the differences in Canada were so unexpected, I was blindsided. I had been in Canada for about a year and went for a run with a friend on a summer Saturday. We stopped for coffee afterwards and, because it was so warm, I opted for an iced coffee rather than something hot. I was anticipated the tall frosted glass filled with cold milk coffee, the big dollop of ice-cream and the lashings of whipped cream on top when I was presented with a glass of black coffee filled with ice cubes. I was dumbfounded. I just stared at it. I do believe there were tears. It was cultu