things i miss about america, part 5

i figure this post needs to be made now before it gets too cool to make much sense. these days it's not quite so bad, but when i sit in a room sweltering, i can't help but think about how my bedroom back in america has a nice wonderful air conditioner (the whole house has a/c but i also have a window unit because it gets way too hot in there. i'm not wasteful though, once i got the window unit i closed the vent.) and it's always nice and cool in there. another thing i miss is how come july, everywhere you go is nice and cool.

every building having air conditioning

once it gets to the ridiculously hot part of summer (granted it isn't as hot here) and the high's like 40c/104f every day, it's so wonderful to be able to walk into any building - a store, restaurant, anywhere and be greeted with a wonderful whooshing wall of cool air.

i'm not one to really complain about the heat (or the cold really, because i know in six months' time i'll be wishing for the opposite of the current weather) but memphis summers are brutal. yeah it gets hotter elsewhere, but the desert summers are much more tolerable (i know this, i went to vegas one august) because it's a dry heat.

people throw that phrase around a lot, but coming from somewhere where it isn't a dry heat, trust me. there's a huge difference. i can imagine summer just thinking about it. it gets so hot, humid, and muggy that as soon as you take a step outside, any oil on you (and believe me, you may think your skin is dry, but you'll soon be mistaken) comes out of your pores and sits on top of your arms, face, etc. you could've just taken a shower but now you want to take another one.

it's brutal. everything definitely needs to have air conditioning there. without getting into a bunch of social commentary or anything, there are people in memphis that don't have it and every summer, there's always deaths as a result of this. it's horrible.

anyway, there it's a necessity. here it's definitely considered a luxury item, which is sad. as i said it's better now, but a month or two ago it was torture to be out walking, getting hot and sweaty. then i go to walk inside somewhere and out of habit expect it to be cool, but finding it's usually even hotter than it is outside. plus it's just stupid business practices.

as i walked around doing christmas shopping, 95% of stores (i should point out too i was at the mall, walking in stores that are chains) had no air conditioning. it was ridiculous. i wanted to spend as little time in the stores as possible, and as a result would usually walk out without buying anything. instead of trying to decide if i should buy one thing (or trying to decide between multiple items), i'd just walk out empty-handed. that's lost money for them. i don't blame the stores, though. they just lease the space, they don't own the building. i blame the cheapskate mall developers. they sit in their air conditioned offices, ordering things out of catalogues, online, or if it involves a brick and mortar store, having their assistant do it, they're out of touch with reality. i should stop there or i could go on forever.

in conclusion, people like feeling comfortable! not everyone has the same opinion as to what comfortable is (i've worked with people who were freezing when i was still breaking a sweat - no exaggeration), true. but the great majority tend to find something in the high 60s/high teens as at least somewhat comfortable. make it that temperature year-round, people will linger more. of course when the weather's gorgeous, turn the a/c off and open the door. but in the extreme summer and winter, some climate control is essential.

things i enjoy about nz, part 3

given what i heard on the news it only seems appropriate i discuss this today. one benefit to living in another country, particularly new zealand, is the exchange rates. currently 1 usd can equals 0.73 nzd. while sometimes things can be more expensive as a result, it can also mean savings when your money is based in usd.

exchange rates

one way this is favourable is my student loans. since i am american and thus am using financial aid from america, it means i'm getting a savings. though my exchange rate wasn't determined when the nz dollar was this low (close enough, though), i'm basically getting 25% off tuition.

when you're borrowing as much as i am to go to school internationally, any little bit helps! you'd think with how much my tuition is i'd get on campus accommodation or at least free books, though.

nzd vs. usd

on a similar note, another positive of the new zealand currency over united states currency is how much better it looks. first, i'll assume readers do not know what denominations either country has.

united states

coins: 1¢ (penny), 5¢ (nickel), 10¢ (dime), 25¢ (quarter), $1 (i actually didn't know they still made these, so they're rare)

bills: $1, $2 (awesome, but rare), $5, $10, $20, $50, $100

new zealand

coins: 10¢, 20¢, 50¢, $1, $2

bills: $5, $10, $20, $50, $100

okay. one pro the us has is that we've always been decimalised, though now that pretty much everyone is it's really a moot point. but i do like that we have a 25¢ piece, i find i need a quarter far more than two dimes. another plus is we have names for our coins. penny rolls off the tongue so much easier than "1 cent coin (or piece)". but it really ends there.

for starters, new zealand has $1 and $2 coins. the us has $1 coins too but please, the fact that i didn't even know they still made them is telling. most vending machines and other machines that takes coins doesn't take $1 coins in the us. another thing is sizes.

see, size does matter. in america, the size from one coin to the other is completely arbitrary. the penny is small, the nickel is bigger than the penny, yet the dime is smaller than than everything else (including the penny), and the quarter's the biggest of them all. including the no longer made 50¢ coin, it's even bigger than the $1 coin. i haven't held a $1 coin in a long time (10 or 11 years) and i can't remember if it's bigger than the quarter or not.

however, in new zealand, it all makes sense. the larger the denomination, the bigger it is. from smallest to largest, 10¢, 20¢, 50¢. the $2 coin is bigger than the $1 coin, and both are gold and far thicker, so there's no confusion. even the bills are like this, as the denomination increases so does the bill's size. it's brilliant. plus the bills are all different colours. while america is slowly adding colour to our rather drab dollar bills, the predominant colour is still green (hence the nickname greenback). another plus is not only does it make it easier for visitors or new immigrants to get used to a new currency, but if you're blind or visually impaired, you can actually tell the difference. i feel bad for any blind americans who hold a garage sale or something.