I realise that I have not blogged for a few days - this does not mean that I am dead, it just means that I am basically going to work, working, coming home from work, watching Australian Masterchef and going to bed.
The work is going well, but we have set ourselves quite a high number of outcomes for this research period - hoping for at least three articles - and I am also getting some stuff done on my separate suffragette book in spare moments.
Here is the advert for the seminar we are all doing later this month. http://www.canberra.edu.au/events/view/10367
Australian Masterchef v. good, by the way. And much less use of the sous vide than the British version.
Getting much more used to life 'down under', although am still confused by the oddest things.
Such as money. Australian money is dollars and cents, which is fine. Two dollars (a teeny tiny coin) is about one pound. There are £50, £20, £10 and £5 notes and then coins - two dollars, one dollar, 50 cents, ten cents five cents.
As far as I know, five cents is the smallest you can get.
But here's the thing - prices are still things like $3.99. If you buy something for $3.99 you just hand over $4 and walk away. It is really $4. So if you stand there, like me, with your hand out for the change, you look a fool.
I am looking a fool a lot at the moment.
And it is not even that I want the one cent - I understand that one cent is a very small amount of money and I wouldn't be able to buy anything with it. But I still automatically assume I will get change if I hand over more than the amount requested.
I am presuming that if I was paying by card then my card would be charged $3.99 - although I don't know this for sure.
Frederik put me on to your great blog, Sarah--it's most interesting and makes Canberra in winter sound almost good. And yes, your credit card would be charged $3.99. Cash prices have to be rounded to the nearest five cents to allow change to be given, so if the item was $3.92 you would only be charged $3.90. And the rounding is only on the final total when there are multiple items. It pretty much evens out in the end, and we are rid of pesky one- and two-cent coins. It is weird that they still advertise prices ending in 99, but presumably market research shows they fool us.
ReplyDeleteFrederik put me on to your great blog, Sarah--it's most interesting and makes Canberra in winter sound almost good. And yes, your credit card would be charged $3.99. Cash prices have to be rounded to the nearest five cents to allow change to be given, so if the item was $3.92 you would only be charged $3.90. And the rounding is only on the final total when there are multiple items. It pretty much evens out in the end, and we are rid of pesky one- and two-cent coins. It is weird that they still advertise prices ending in 99, but presumably market research shows they fool us.
ReplyDeleteAh, now that makes more sense Paul - thanks for letting me know! Canberra in winter is COLD though - I had no idea it would be this cold.
ReplyDeleteIt's inland, so there is not the moderating effect of the sea on temperatures which most Australians enjoy, being coast-huggers. Canberra can also be fiercely hot and dry in summer. For some reason, perhaps because winters really are quite short, Aussies have designed their housing more with a view to coolness in summer than warmth in winter. I felt snugger in Toronto when it was -20C outside than you would in Melbourne when it is 10C. Anyway, it's good to hear that you are enjoying your stay, and that you've had a chance to see Melbourne (world's most livable city) and Sydney.
DeleteYou might like to catch a great Australian singer, Geoffrey Gurrumul, who is currently touring (Canberra on 10 August I think). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Gurrumul_Yunupingu