Speaking American vs. speaking Australian

There's a common misconception that moving to an English speaking country is easy. This is indeed... False. We seem to do ok interacting with people face-to-face, but over the phone is a whole different story. Today I called to set up our TV and the poor Aussie and I could barely understand each other (he quietly giggled every time I spoke). I soon realized that the bulk of what he was saying was, "There ya go," "No worries," "Good on you," "No problem at all," and "Yes, thanks." Once I established that he was going to thank me for every utterance, we were able to move forward with relative ease. This kind gentleman also wanted to make sure I felt at home by proclaiming - "We may be in Australia, but we have heaps of American shows! Heaps of Hollywood and red carpet!" He also wanted to let me know we'd be able to watch "America's Next Top Model" and "American Idol" (which I was secretly happy about). We both survived talking to each other, and now all that's left is waiting a week and a half until a technician can come out and flip the switch.