Japan vs Australia: part 2

Here are more differences I noticed when I came back to Australia:

I had been telling people that public transport, though woeful here, is at least quite cheap. None of this 'pay extra if you go a few extra stops' business. But actually, public transport is NOT cheap any more. Just hopping a bus costs over $4, even if you're only taking it for five minutes.

I had occasionally resented things in Japan for closing so early, but to be fair, some things do here, too. At 5 or 5:30, all the shops and department stores are closing up. Even my local national park, where I'd like to sit in the sunny early evening, closes at 5.

As I thought, Australians try to wear as little as possible. Even when the air is actually quite chilly, if the sun is out, people will be out in it, in their t-shirts. If the temperature goes up a few degrees, it's out with the short shorts and tank tops. Quite a few people's normal casual gear here would rarely be seen in Japan except at the beach. And if you went to Japan in similar weather, in spring or autumn, wearing these clothes, people would constantly ask you if you were cold. In Japan, you dress for the seasons, and it tends to be mostly long sleeves for 3 seasons of the year.

A friend who visited Australia remarked to me that in Australia, 'the lights change really fast'. I had always thought the same thing about Japan. But coming back, I realised it's very true.
We have a different style.
In Japan, the green man shows for quite a long time, long enough to almost entirely cross the street. Then, when the man starts to flash, you have only a couple of seconds to make it the rest of the way. So if you're only a short way across, and it flashes, you'd better sprint!
In Australia, the green man sometimes shows for only a couple of seconds, then the flashing red man. However, from the point when the man starts to flash, it you've usually got enough time to cross the road in full. Basically, if you weren't crossing when the red man started to flash, you shouldn't start.
I guess both systems have their pros, but I have found that under the Japanese system, I am more likely to sprint, as I don't know when the green light started. (Mind you, I did use pedestrian crossings far more often in Japan than here in Oz.)