Sadly these change depending on the region you are in.

Some people will say "get in" a ship, or "get on" the queue, but a person from another city or who attended a different school in the same town will say "get on" a ship, "get in" the queue.

I think it is funny when people say "get in a car", because I would say "get into a car" or "out of a car" - getting in a car could mean an item found in a car, or an area big enough to fill with a car.

To an extent you can use what you want. Chances are the verb you choose will be correct for some of the people some of the time, maybe it will make them think you are not from here, but English people listen for regionalisms to give hints if a new person is from another part of the city/country/world all the time.

I have hosted a few people.

Hosting people can be fun, and allows you to learn a bit more about yourself and make new friends. I think it is best to stay for 3 or more nights if possible, because then you can relax more and become more comfortable with your host and their community.

It is a little more safe to stay at a couch-surfer's home than a big corporate hostel. But when you are arranging a couch-surf make sure to understand the expectations.

Everybody is different, maybe the host will invite 20 friends over to meet you (who may also share your couch, or guest room), or want to just have a quiet beer or two and watch TV.  I have heard of some hosts offering their bed to their guest, with the host sleeping on the couch. Some hosts will also want you to not tell people you are a stranger, and will prefer you told their mom or landlord that you are a friend of a friend, or that you met years ago online.

Make sure you feel comfortable with the situation.

I can sleep on overnight buses and planes. Also I like to nap when catching buses and trains during the day too.

To get to sleep I close my eyes, then focus on my breathing for a few minutes before relaxing more. Sometimes you need to adjust the headrest, or slump over a tray-table so you do not suddenly wake up from falling, or banging your head on the window or your seat partner.

Michael, I thought smacking was just one hit and spanking was more than one smack.

In the UK, does spanking also mean "walloping" or "beating" usually with an open hand?

"Do me a solid" actually is a shortening of a phrase "Do me a solid service", as in can you do your best on this task for me.

It is a little bit different to "do me a favor", a favor is something you repay, or are owed.

If you do somebody a favor, you can expect a favor in return. If you do somebody a solid, you are just doing a job and shouldn't expect a favor in return.

"Do me a solid" is a bit informal, but in my work for a government department we often use this phrase when we want the person looking over a document, or assessing if a decision is within guidelines to double check things are acceptable.

If we ask somebody to "do me a favor", we often are asking them to specifically help us. Maybe that could be interpreted as not following all the rules, and that you will do them a favor and help them in return. In a government department doing favors can raise issues with fairness etc.

At school I remember being told; a good national flag can be drawn by a 6 year old.

So a bear is a little bit harder to draw than a cross, star, square, circle, stripe or other simple shapes most flags have.

In Australia, corporal punishment by a parent or carer is lawful and is not considered child abuse provided that it is “reasonable”. However, a definition of “reasonable” is not specified, and the courts of each state have interpreted it differently.

There also is a criminal defence of “reasonable chastisement"; that allows parents or parent-like people (ie. teachers and guardians) to use reasonable force to discipline or correct a child. Recently laws that specifically make it illegal for people to use corporal punishment in an educational or child-care setting have been passed.

So, legally you can spank your children and even other children in your care, unless you are an employee or volunteer at a school or child-care group etc.

But I can not think of a reason to spank a child.

A "stray animal" is an animal that has an owner, and is lost, or has escaped it's home.

Any livestock or pet could become stray. I think stray dogs are most common in Australia, but I have seen stray rabbits (pet rabbits that were in  park), sheep and have heard of stray snakes, lions and squirrels.

The law is pretty much, that stray animals should be secured (usually taken to a vet, or local government facility) where they can be returned to the owner. If a stay animal damages or injures somebody their owner is liable, but if you damage or injure a stray animal (ie. hit a stray cow on the highway) you are liable and should compensate the animal's owner.

But also in Australia there are many feral animals, that are non-native animals without owners. Feral animals are a problem that are usually controlled by State governments, i.e. they are hunted, trapped or controlled by spreading diseases, building fences etc.

I am unsure what feral animal is most common, I have seen many feral foxes (even in the city) but also I often see warnings about feral dogs, rabbits, horses, goats, pigs, buffalo, camels, cats, sparrows and carp in my travels.