Mufti Day, Shopping, This and That

Mufti Day

Today was a "Mufti Day" at Erin's school. In Australia, a mufti day means that the kids do not have to wear their school uniforms (which has moved into the cooler weather dress of a gray and red plaid skirt, white polo and red v-neck sweatshirt, aka, a "jumper"). The purpose of this particular day at Erin's school was to raise money for a nebulizer for a boy in the school who has cystic fibrosis- and it was suggested that the kids dress as their favorite sports identity or in their own sports uniform. They were asked to bring in a "gold coin donation"- a giving amount that refers to the $1 and $2 coins here, both of which are gold. This is a popular way of suggesting a donation amount for a special morning tea, a speaker or the like.

In America, such a day would have resulted in lots of baseball and basketball players, with a smattering of other sports for girls like gymnastics or cheerleading. What I saw today were lots of soccer, rugby and cricket players, with some gymnasts, tennis players, and at least one WWF wrestler (makes me so proud to be an American...). Erin decided to go as an Olympic runner (mostly because that's what Mommy and Daddy could pull together!)- Dad made up the number with the Sydney 2000 Olympic symbol and mom supplied the hat that said "run". At least we had beautiful weather for the outfit!

Shopping

Months ago, I promised an entry about our experiences with shopping in Oz. Let me first qualify things by saying that my observations are based solely on my limited experience here in the suburbs of Sydney- I cannot speak for shopping experiences in the smaller towns and country. But I know there are some things that must be universal….

Lachlan and I spent this morning shopping for food, diapers, healthy and beauty goods, etc. This means that we went to the closest "shopping centre". The shopping centre is much like a typical American mall, except that it also includes many bigger stores that in the US would usually be freestanding- for example, large chain grocery stores. My experience has also been that these centres are very alive with all ages of people throughout the day. They usually have some comfortable places to sit scattered about, lots of coffee places with seating around in the common areas, and little areas where kids can play. The parking situation at these places is generally terrible- they have multilevel parking areas, and they seem to always be packed.

Grocery stores are where we first experienced what we find to be one of the most baffling pieces of equipment- the shopping trolley, or as we would say in the US, the shopping cart. Here, for some reason, all four wheels go every which way, rather than the two back wheels staying set, like they do in the U.S. This results in an absurd inability to control the trolley- I have in fact watched one elderly woman spin completely around in a circle in the parking lot (here called a car park). Quite often you see someone headed sideways down the supermarket aisle, trying desperately to regain control of the trolley. It seems like such a simple concept, and no one has yet to give us any good explanation for it, or, for that matter, any explanation at all.

Grocery stores also seem to be a bit ahead of the US in their use of reusable shopping bags. They offer the bags made of recycled plastic bottles for a nominal fee of $1 or $2. And it is very common to see people actually using these reusable shopping bags. This seems to correspond with what seems to be a little more advanced environmental awareness here in general, most likely because Sydney is under water restrictions because of drought, and because of the hole in the ozone layer that is over this area.

There are two mainline supermarket chains in New South Wales- Coles and Woolworth’s (more affectionately known as “Woolies”). Circulars don’t come in the local newspapers- they are distributed straight to your post box. So, if your post box has a “no junk mail” sign on it, you are out of luck (but isn’t it nice that you can actually post a sign that says “no junk mail” and you don’t get it?)

As a general rule, I’m finding things to be more expensive here than they were in Cheshire. In fact, I was talking to a woman in the grocery store car park, and I was overheard by a couple from the US who were visiting their son who had just moved here. Their one question for me was whether I had found anything cheaper so far. And honestly, the only thing I could think of was a haircut.

Some of our kid staples are no longer available to us, or, the kids find the taste different enough to refuse them. We no longer have access to plain old Cheerios, Wheat Thins, graham crackers, big jars of applesauce and Goldfish. I am having a very difficult time finding a cheese that is mild enough so that the kids will eat it plain, and there is something about the milk that makes Erin whine (or whinge, as Aussies say) every time she drinks it. However, we have discovered some new things to soften the blow, including sausage of every imaginable variety, lots of high fat, creamy yogurt, Tim Tams (amazing chocolate covered wafer biscuits) and wonderfully flavoured thin rice crackers.

As for shopping beyond the grocery store, Australia's answer to Walmart is "Big W"- a store that I thought might be related to Walmart because of the W and because they use terms like "rollback". In fact, it's owned by the Woolworth company. Kmart is here (and seems nicer than in the US). Target is here as well, although, interestingly, it is not related to Target in the US. The stores are almost identical in the types of items they sell, the look, even the colors and the Target symbol. In fact, we thought it was the same Target as in the US (and quite honestly, it made me feel at home when we were here back in 2004) until we got into a discussion with Rick's sister, who was an executive at Target, and she insisted Target had no stores in Australia. We did some research, and discovered that they are indeed, completely different, and the Target here has an agreement with the US Target to use the symbols, etc.

One last comment on shopping. Except for grocery stores, the stores are not open on any nights except Thursday! It's kind of refreshing, once you get used to it....

This And That

Weather: Many of you have asked about the weather that we are experiencing. The seasons in Australia are the opposite those in the United States, given that it is in the Southern Hemisphere. It is very strange to have autumn in May. The weather is definitely milder than what we experienced in New England- although last week it was rainy and in the low-60s (they measure in celsius here, and I have not attempted to get used to it yet), this week has been beautiful- sunny and "fine" and in the low to mid-70s. I am finding the weather hard to dress for. It can be cool in the shade compared to the intense sunshine. I think that is the reason that so many people wear cropped pants here- you just can't make up your mind whether to go long or short!

Some Fun Terms: I've mentioned many terms as I go along, but there are two in particular that I heard this week that I wanted to highlight. I experienced the first at church this week, when the church announcements noted that "[d]uring the past few weeks the arms for the wheel chair have gone walk about." Isn't that great?! So much more expressive than "are missing." Australians have some wonderfully refreshing colloquialisms.

The other I heard just today, while waiting with some other "mums" for school to let out. One mother was talking about seeing some black smoke rising from a house as she was walking along to the bakery the other day. She said that all sorts of "stickybeaks" were coming out to see what was happening. I had to think about that one for a while, and I finally asked her a few minutes later, "Did you say stickybeaks?" Turns out that is the term for a "nosy person." As I reflected on it with Rick later in the day, he said that he has heard it quite a bit since we have been here. I guess that, in a church setting, you might have more conversation about the resident stickybeaks....

Anne