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Yesterday was a busy day. I logged 10 miles of walking! I walked to the Town hall arcade and enrolled in Medicare, the national healthcare cover scheme, which provides free public healthcare at public hospitals to all Australians. Australia's public hospital system is funded jointly by their governments. Under a special provision, Fulbright scholars are allowed to enroll in the program. While I was in the arcade, I found a store having a sale and bought two really nice fleece jackets. So now I'll be nice and warm in stylish Australian clothing. Oddly, the zippers are on the opposite side. I'm used to them being on the right, but they're on the left here. Actually, out of the jackets I bought, one has the zipper on the right, and one has it on the left. I asked the people in the store about it, and they were baffled. I even double-checked to make sure they were both men's jackets. I guess they just can't make up their minds on which side the zipper goes. When I bought the jackets, I tested out my new bank card that came in my welcome packet. The cashier asked, "Credit or Savings?" I wasn't really paying attention, and I said, "Debit." He looked at me funny and rang it up. When he finished, he said, "Next time someone asks you, say savings." He then said he liked my camera. That's the third person who's commented on my camera. Australians seem to know their cameras. Or they just dig Leicas. There are sales all around here, so now is a good time to stock up. It's the end of their financial year, so everyone is having sales. It's one of the biggest sales times of their year. While I was around town hall, there was some fund-raising group selling food and other stuff. They were trying to pack up for the day, so they marked down their prices. The man kept yelling, "Sausage sandwiches, two for a dollah." I was starving at that point, so I decided not to pass up a cheap meal. They were grilled polish sausages on a hoagie-type bun with cheese and sweet chili sauce. They were good. They were also selling "lucky dips." They were two dollars for various mystery items that were gift-wrapped. I bought one just out of curiosity. I chose one of the items wrapped in goofy pirate wrapping paper. Inside, I found a coffee mug with Nestle Milo (some type of chocolate energy drink mix that you put in milk. I haven't tried it yet), some gummi bears, Vege Chips (which cost $2 alone. I haven't tried them yet either), some onion soup mix, and a pedometer. I think it was worth it. Now I wonder what was in the other boxes. Right across the street from town hall is the Queen Victoria Building (QVB). I ventured over to peek inside since it was a nice, big Victorian-era building. Inside, I found a massive, modern five-floor mall. I wasn't expecting to find a mall in this old building. It was renovated back in the 80's and transformed into what it is today. It's really a cool place. I made my way through most of it, and then somehow wound up in the Myer department store adjacent to it. I found a cool reversible jacket on sale in Myer, so I got it as well. I don't have to worry about keeping warm now. The thing I like about buying things in Australia is that the tax is included in the marked prices, so whatever you see on the tag is exactly what you pay at the register. These Australians have the right idea for a lot of things. Watching TV is a bit interesting here. There's a good mix of US shows and Australian shows. Australians are exposed to a great deal of American media, while Americans really don't see much about Australia. One of the morning shows here had a video chat with an Alabama man who was counting to a million and broadcasting himself on the internet. I thought that was pretty funny. Good ol' Alabama.
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