Instruction manuals can only help so much

July 24, 2011

Somehow I still woke up at 8:30 this morning, so Holly drove me to the Sunday Markets. I couldn’t buy anything because I didn’t have any Australian cash, but it was still fun to look at everything. Holly got some mini pancakes around 11:00 when everyone was packing up and the lady asked her if she wanted an extra one, no charge. Holly looked at me, so I shrugged and told her she might as well since it was free. The lady asked what toppings Holly wanted on it, which I thought was odd since she was already getting maple syrup and cream on the rest of them. Turns out when the lady said one, she meant an entire plate. Luckily another woman came up at that moment and wanted it, so it worked out. 

Bell peppers are called capsicums in Australia.

Since the mall was right there, Holly and I decided to go in and look around. While she was looking at wallets, I found an adapter. Even better, I tried it on my camera battery when we got back and it actually works! To thank Holly for driving me around these past couple days, I made her cookies similar to the Girl Scouts’ Do-Si-Dos or a softer version of Nutter Butters, neither of which are sold in Australia. It wasn’t until I was all done and walked to the library that I realized I was supposed to Skype my parents an hour and a half before. I felt terrible, especially since based on the e-mail they sent me, I can’t have missed them by more than a minute.

After I got back and walked around the campus with Stephanie, I went to the kitchen to wash my blender, which I’d attempted to use today for the first time. My RA saw it and asked if I’d gotten it for $19 at K-Mart because it turns out he has the same one. I told him I had tried it out in my room because I didn’t want anyone to see if I made a fool of myself. He thought that was silly until I admitted that I had showered myself in flax seeds by putting the lid on so that the cutout lined up with the spout to create a hole (meant for easy pouring). His eyes only widened when I tried to joke that it was a good thing there was a warning label on the blade that said not to stick your fingers in it because I might have made this mistake otherwise. I asked if he actually thought I was serious, and he retorted that based on some other questions I’d asked, he had his doubts.