I thought it was also supposed to reflect native pronounciation, since several Australians have corrected me when I've begun the name with the same sound as in Austria.

odd. I say Os-tralia, Not Oz-tralia.

Which is why I'd shorten it as Aus, or Aust, if I had to do so.

Oz to me is indeed over the rainbow, rife with little people and.. provider of mythology on which Buffy theory may be based.

See, here hot cross buns are as ubiquitous as Easter Eggs. (Except I think they're officially a Holy Week food rather than an Easter food.)

I've also heard tales of the tube just randomly breaking down and stopping, full of people, and waiting 20 minutes before starting again. The reason? "Leaves on the tracks"

I've been on them when that happened. All the regular travellers are very calm, because it happens all the time, and the ones who aren't used to it start to rant.

OTOH, the London tube can be very good. When it works, it works well, and the more modern parts can be excellent. It's just that the parts that aren't stick in your mind, and those are the stories you tell people, because 'the journey was fine' isn't worth reporting.

From what I've heard, it's Oss-tralia, but the people are Ozzies (spelled Aussies).

Edit: And I rode the Tube and it was fine! t /boring-story-teller

I noticed hot cross buns when grocery shopping this past weekend. Holiday thing.

Florida public transportation is awful. They are working on it, but a car is essential. I did manage to go almost 3 years with rarely driving when I lived in downtown Fort Lauderdale, I biked to work and shopping. Only used the car when leaving town.

From what I've heard, it's Oss-tralia, but the people are Ozzies (spelled Aussies).

Correct.

Leaves don't bother the buses, but they are known to stop to gawk at car accidents and have hit police cars - something that results in all passengers having to remain on the bus to give statements, esp when the driver takes off immediately after ramming the cop's car.

In DC there are any number of reasons for the trains to be backed up...sometimes during rush hour, it's just that you're too close to the next train, so you have to pause. Or occasionally, it's some kind of freakish malfunction. Sometimes bad things, like a train that jumped the tracks, or a guy who jumped onto the tracks...They stopped running the trains when we had the blizzard this year, but that was mostly understandable...

The London Tube freaked me out a little because it was so obviously old and the ceilings felt really low (edit: I was only in a few stations, so I have no idea if that's typical)--I guess I've spent too much time in DC, which is overly concrete-bunker-looking, but roomy!

My theory about the D.C. Metro is that everyone would like it a lot more if they brought a few classes of kindergarteners in to paint murals on all those acres of concrete. It'd really brighten up the place.

Also if it didn't smell like pee on a regular basis.

The Boston T is wicked slow and loud, and is full of quirks, but it hardly ever smells like pee.