Aussie men, that's who. Apparently it is completely socially acceptable for men of all ages to bare their hairy white legs and walk around in shorts that my mother wouldn't let me out of the house in. This and many other cultural differences, like walking around barefoot, were on full display as I shopped at the local mall today.
This morning I was asked to come in to Channel Ten News, where I will be doing at least a few days of work experience. I quickly realized that I'd left all work-appropriate clothes at home and would have to do some shopping, ASAP. Turns out that a day spent at the mall would be the biggest cultural challenge yet.
Shopping is always difficult for women, and since I thought I may have an interview this afternoon, I was in a rush. You can imagine how happy I was when I saw that sizes ran in American-style 6, 8, 10 etc, rather than the European system that I still don't understand. Unfortunately it took me three quarters of the morning and a lot of looking in the mirror to see if a small child had affixed itself to my rear before a saleslady told me that an Australian size six was the same as an American size zero, making my size a lot higher up than the 10's I had been trying on.
Sizing and short-shorts out of the way, price was the next shocker. The Australian Dollar is worth about 88 American Cents, so I figured prices would be fairly similar. Not at all. Everything here is so expensive! After being reassured many times that I was not being scammed, I managed to shell out A$4 for a McDonald's coffee, and accept that every skirt in the mall might actually be priced upwards of A$80.
However, I can't complain because one Australian stereotype was true - the people here are very nice so far. Everyone is eager to here why I'm here, and everyone ends the conversation by genuinely saying that they hope I love it in Australia. If people are this enthusiastic, the country must have something good going for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment