Living abroad, as opposed to being a tourist means that probably at some point in time you will want to buy a book (if ebooks haven't taken over by this post). You might not have alot of choice if you want to buy a tourist book to send to friends and for authenticity's sake you might have to buy local. You have to admit it would be kind of cheezy to buy something that could easily be obtained online back at your friend's place of living.
Here in Australia, the price markups are huge and it isn't just GST. I've seen books that are listed for $18 US be sold at stores in Australia for $70+ AUD. If you take the strong Aussie (dollar) into account it's worse. Ahhh but now the temptation is to immediately go to Amazon.com which charges $4.99 per order and $4.99 per item shipping internationally. But you also have another option: bookdepository.com which claims to have free shipping. The thing about bookdepository.com is the prices, while nowhere nearly as bad as Australia, are often higher prices than the prices of Amazon.com - sometimes high enough to make going through Amazon.com better. It can also depend on the mix of books you want. On the other hand, strangely enough, some prices at bookdepository.com are lower than Amazon's - without even including Amazon's shipping.
So there's always the question of value of time. If money isn't that much of an object for you but you still want to feel like you are being frugal go through Amazon.com or bookdepository.com - instead of off the shelf from Australian book sellers (Sorry Readings, even you get undercut too). If you want to save even more money then I'd do the price computations between bookdepository.com or Amazon.com. Anyone have a better online store? do let me know.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
The relativeness of weather.
I have managed to wear long pants a grand total of 3 times since arriving on November 19th. I wore jeans one day in November (it was a mistake I ended up sweating alot), then dress slacks for a 2 hour meeting in January, and then jeans again last week but then again that was for only the morning.
It was a little strange to be walking around in shorts when you see all the Aussies wearing scarves, sweatshirts, etc. Though actually the scarves are more dressy in style here than for warmth, I did manage to look a bit out of place. You can't blame them for bundling up when the weather drops below 60F. It never snows here!
It was a little strange to be walking around in shorts when you see all the Aussies wearing scarves, sweatshirts, etc. Though actually the scarves are more dressy in style here than for warmth, I did manage to look a bit out of place. You can't blame them for bundling up when the weather drops below 60F. It never snows here!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Retail: Australia vs. U.S.
Now this is a very biased view but here's what I observe when you walk into a "decent sized" chain store (whatever that is but we're not talking about a specialty store where it's so small that basically the owner/operator is right there all the time).
At the entrance:
Australia: a loss prevention person is there to check your bags to see if you are shoplifting
U.S.: a person is there to greet you and to ask you "Hi how are you today..." of course this isn't simply to be nice it's to start engaging you towards making a purchase (i.e. the personal pressure is on).
In the store:
Australia: no one is around for you to ask if you have a question about a product or where to find something... they are busy at the cashier or at the entrance.
U.S.: there area a few people around to immediately ask how they can help you (note it's not a yes or no question), to immediately start backing you into a corner where social graces would indicate that you have no excuse not to buy something... When's the last time you had someone just say, "Hi, I'm _____, if you have any questions while you are here, just ask."
Background music/store theme music - both countries: really bad.
At the Cashier -
pretty much the same, except in supermarkets Australia is big on self checkout - which is incredibly slow because the loss prevention settings are set on high... it basically thinks that half the time you didn't place an item in the bagging area when you did etc. In Australia I recommend going to the cashier 99% of the time... even if you have one item and have to wait... it's that much faster. That being said, self checkout is slower than the cashier in both countries.
It would be nice if the two retailing systems could kind of meet half way in the middle.
At the entrance:
Australia: a loss prevention person is there to check your bags to see if you are shoplifting
U.S.: a person is there to greet you and to ask you "Hi how are you today..." of course this isn't simply to be nice it's to start engaging you towards making a purchase (i.e. the personal pressure is on).
In the store:
Australia: no one is around for you to ask if you have a question about a product or where to find something... they are busy at the cashier or at the entrance.
U.S.: there area a few people around to immediately ask how they can help you (note it's not a yes or no question), to immediately start backing you into a corner where social graces would indicate that you have no excuse not to buy something... When's the last time you had someone just say, "Hi, I'm _____, if you have any questions while you are here, just ask."
Background music/store theme music - both countries: really bad.
At the Cashier -
pretty much the same, except in supermarkets Australia is big on self checkout - which is incredibly slow because the loss prevention settings are set on high... it basically thinks that half the time you didn't place an item in the bagging area when you did etc. In Australia I recommend going to the cashier 99% of the time... even if you have one item and have to wait... it's that much faster. That being said, self checkout is slower than the cashier in both countries.
It would be nice if the two retailing systems could kind of meet half way in the middle.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
A month
This has to be quick because I really have to get some sleep... wow I've been in country for a month... it's flown and yet crawled by... I figure if I made it for a month, hopefully things will get a bit easier...knock on wood heavily. I have also counted on one hand the number of days it hasn't rained.... wow.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
A quick note on Visas
I learned the hard way that applying for a new visa when you are already in a country is in some ways more difficult than applying from the outside. If you are applying for a visa that will replace the one you currently have, make sure you specify when you want it to take effect... otherwise it might take effect immediately and wipe out the other one for good. Not all visas are created equal...the new one might revoke privileges (e.g. like work privileges) that you are relying upon.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Queen Victoria Market
Queen Victoria Market
On the corner of Elizabeth and Victoria Streets
Open generally on Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun
http://www.qvm.com.au/
The Queen Victoria Market... for all intents and purposes is awesome. While it's trading hours are from 6-2 on weekdays (except closed on Wednesday), usually the massive food sections are the ones that open at 6 and the other retail parts open later. Everything looks like a good deal... but don't jump at things immediately, the strawberries at 2 packages for 3 dollars might be undercut by a nearby vendor who is offering 2 for 2. You could bring a huge suitcase and 200 AUD and easily fill it with goodies ranging from food to wigs, to shirts, souvenies, shoes, other bags, and most any other goodies you can think of... ok so they don't sell Lawn mowers and yes you could by the really expensive item here and there... but that's not what you are at the Queen Victoria Market for. You're there for good bargains on things you need to live on and to beat the price on things you'd like to send home to friends and family (T-shirts - 5 to 8 dollars). You could easily spend a day there just to look over all that's being sold....
I will say, you should bring cash because may of the vendors don't accept credit (nor are in a position to take a card and process it - would you want someone in the meat section to handle your card with his bloody hands?).
Don't forget... Wednesday nights in the summer, part of the Market opens for fun and festivities...
On the corner of Elizabeth and Victoria Streets
Open generally on Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun
http://www.qvm.com.au/
The Queen Victoria Market... for all intents and purposes is awesome. While it's trading hours are from 6-2 on weekdays (except closed on Wednesday), usually the massive food sections are the ones that open at 6 and the other retail parts open later. Everything looks like a good deal... but don't jump at things immediately, the strawberries at 2 packages for 3 dollars might be undercut by a nearby vendor who is offering 2 for 2. You could bring a huge suitcase and 200 AUD and easily fill it with goodies ranging from food to wigs, to shirts, souvenies, shoes, other bags, and most any other goodies you can think of... ok so they don't sell Lawn mowers and yes you could by the really expensive item here and there... but that's not what you are at the Queen Victoria Market for. You're there for good bargains on things you need to live on and to beat the price on things you'd like to send home to friends and family (T-shirts - 5 to 8 dollars). You could easily spend a day there just to look over all that's being sold....
I will say, you should bring cash because may of the vendors don't accept credit (nor are in a position to take a card and process it - would you want someone in the meat section to handle your card with his bloody hands?).
Don't forget... Wednesday nights in the summer, part of the Market opens for fun and festivities...
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
I've done it
I'm pretty busy getting started at moment... despite the odds I managed to find housing in 1/2 the time it normally takes - 2 weeks instead of 4... and that's with the University housing database totally breaking down and being of no use. I hope this bodes well for the rest of my stay here.
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