Big, Big, Big, Bleh

My last blog talked about adjustment and I promised I would let everyone who constantly clicks for my latest blog update (that means you and only you, Luke) about the adjustment to the beer.

After dinner, Sara decided to ditch our plan to head to the sports bar down the street, opting instead to do Sudoku and watch an old “LOST” episode. Well, it’s new to those in Australia – an idea reminiscent of NBC’s theme for its summer TV lineup years ago, “If you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you!!” Family Guy made fun of this along with Ted Kaczynski later on. But I digress.

I decided to head downstairs to the Euro Bar (connected to our hostel) and try a glass of a different beer. Carlton Draught was on tap and I thought I’d give it a whirl. Sara and her sister, Katie, made it famous (and driven into my head last summer) by singing the version of this commercial…

To make this quick, I was disappointed in my first “new beer” experience. It was different, that was for sure – but I won’t be recommending Carlton Draught to anyone anytime soon. I’d say it’s pretty close to Natural Light, but I’m not even sure I would finish my night with this beer. Not that Carlton Draught has a worse than Natty, it just has a terrible aftertaste that didn’t sit well with me.

It probably didn’t help that the music video “Free Your Mind” by En Vogue was playing on the TVs around the place. Oh well, hope the next venture plays out a little better. What helped was getting that 15% off just for being an international patron. That was nice, but didn’t make the Carlton Draught go down any better.

I also figured out why Australians are so apt to give out discounts on various items. Anyone who has seen the movie “Office Space” knows the plot deals with some office minions who create a program that deposits “fractions of a penny” from their employer. Australia is very similar, and it cracked me up when I realized the comparison.

Australian currency consists of bills and coins, just like American money. Bills range from $5 and up, while there are $2, $1, $0.50, $0.20, $0.10 and $0.05 coins. Here’s where it get interesting… no coins lower than five cents. That’s because every total purchase is rounded to the nearest five cent level – fractions of a nickel, in this case. It’s an amazing concept and I’m kind of surprised the U.S. didn’t implement it first.

It’s unknown what the weekend holds for me, but on Monday begins the very logical point of my trip to the Land of Oz… international student orientation. While we’ve been sitting around being a bit bored with having a lot of time on our hands lately, that changes next week when our 9-to-5, Monday-through-Friday routine sets in.

As for me, it will be welcomed (at least at first) since we spend most of our time just lying around on the bunk bed in our room. I’m sure I’ll want to come back and lounge once the bored and I-can’t-believe-they’re-making-me-listen-to-this-crap feelings creep in next week. But hey, I’m here to learn, not to sit around in a hostel, and I guess the orientation is Step One.

Speaking of learning, I’m a sports journalism student and in my next blog, I want to let you know of a great pattern I’m noticing in the television news in Australia. And it would be a true delight if American TV news would take notes and follow these guidelines. That’s for the next blog.

Love you all in the states, check back for that update.

From the other side of the globe, I’m Kevin Hunt.

If you want to see me soon, start digging.