I remember being horrified at the cost of things at the grocery store. When we arrived in 2009, the Canadian dollar was higher than the Aussie dollar, so I comforted myself by converting prices into Canadian dollars and telling myself that it really wasn't so bad. Of course, the Aussie dollar skyrocketed just in time for us to spend a couple of years paying international tuition fees with our Canadian loans. Then, when we got paying jobs and needed to pay back the loans, the Australian dollar plummeted!
Which brings me to something that I definitely won't get used to - transferring thousands of dollars to Canada each month to pay off said loans. We are at a place in our lives now that we could think about buying a house - oh wait, no, the down payment is all being transferred away! Every single month - and the Australian dollar has been sitting at 91 - 93 CAD which means we're basically just throwing money away on the exchange rate, as well as the $22 transaction fee for every transfer.
Okay, this has taken a turn for the negative. Let's get back on track. I never thought I would get used to the word 'capsicum' but now I casually throw it into my Subway order like I've been using the word all my life!
Amusing story about capsicum: my brother Shane was visiting from Canada. On his second day here, we headed out to The Brewhouse for some dinner and trivia with friends. He was tired and probably still a little jet-lagged. He ordered a pizza, but they had run out of capsicum so the waitress came back and said "I'm sorry, we're out of capsicum, would you like something else instead?" He stared blankly at her for several seconds, not understanding what the word capsicum meant, until I interjected and said "She means green pepper". He gave her a puzzled look and said: "Oh...okay. I'll have onion instead - do you call it that? Onion??" Bahahaha. Another Shane classic - we went to the 'petrol' station to get him a card to use on public transit. When the clerk was ringing it through, he asked "Any fuel?" Now, this man was from another country and had a thick accent and was definitely hard to understand. Not to mention, in Canada, we would generally not say fuel, we would say 'gas'. Shane looked at him, confused, and asked him to repeat himself. The man said it again, and Shane still didn't understand. Things were beginning to get awkward. Shane took matters into his own hands and politely said "I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that". Omg, I was dying.
I think I've adapted pretty well, but here are a few things that I probably won't get used to:
- 40+ degree days
- Not living down the road from my brother Ronan
- Not getting to celebrate holidays (Christmas, etc) with my family
- Ridiculously long flights any time we go back to Canada (or most other places in the world!)
Lol. Love the story about your brother... I'll have onion instead... do you call it that? Lmao! Poor guy! Haha. I hate when you don't know what someone has said yet you've already said "what?" one too many times & now you've gotta come up with something to say in reply and hope you guessed right. Lol.
ReplyDeleteI'll never forget the day I went to buy coffee for myself and a friend in the office. When it was ready, I walked over to collect it. The barista asked me to taste it. So I made sure I knew which one was the mocha and I tasted it. It was good, and I said so. Again, he asked me to taste it. I repeated that it was good. He repeated his request for me to taste it. I knew at this point that I must be making a fool of myself because obviously I had no idea what he was saying. The woman behind me says, "He's asking if you need a tray." OMG. I was so embarrassed. So I just said, "No, thank you," and left.
ReplyDeleteHahahahaha! He was probably quite befuddled...that is hilarious!
DeleteWe're paying student loans off as well, and it kills me to read about the currency every day. We arrived when the Aussie dollar was $1.06 to the American $1, so we lost a bunch of money, and now that we're earning, we're losing because the Aussie dollar is falling pretty steadily. Try using Ozforex. If you transfer anything over $10k, it's free, and if you join American Expats in Sydney group on FB, even if you're Canadian, Ozforex will give you two free transfers (regardless of the amount).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice, Jackie! I'm crossing my fingers for the Aussie dollar to bounce back - but it's pretty doubtful!
DeleteI use some of the local lingo, but it doesn't feel natural. I don't think I'll ever get used to the heat either.
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