http://www.collegian.com/2016/03/australia-abroad-convert-your-thinking/157199/
Australia Abroad: Convert your thinking to the metric system
I have done a pretty good job taking care of myself here. Most of my meals
are either grilled cheese sandwiches, quesadillas or noodles with chicken
if I am feeling fancy. Ive had to compromise on what I eat because the
kitchen is not fully stocked with appliances, since we are all only here
for four months.
One night, my roommate and I decided we were going to cook chicken bow-tie
pasta for everyone in the house.
First, we went to the grocery store to buy all of the ingredients except
one cilantro. They didnt have cilantro. We even asked someone in the
store where the cilantro was, and she answered back, What is cilantro? Our
jaws fell to the floor with shock.
How were we supposed to cook this meal without the most important
ingredient? This wasnt the only set-back we had. Once we got home, we got
out the recipe for the delicious meal and read through the instructions.
The first thing it said to do was to preheat the oven to 325 degrees, so
with confidence we went to the oven only to realize the maximum
temperature was 225 degrees.
What were we supposed to do? The meal ended up working out, but we
definitely had some challenges getting to the finish line.
After a couple of days went by, I came home from class and my roommate
said sternly, Michelle. Then he paused. I was worried something had gone
terribly wrong. He continued, The oven is in Celsius, not Fahrenheit. We
both just looked at each other in astonishment and bursted out laughing.
How could we be so oblivious?
I have encountered this kind of situation a lot while I have been here. At
the gym, the weights are in kilograms, so I either have to get a converter
out or just guess the approximate weight by picking them up. The treadmill
speeds are in kilometers per hour, not miles per hour. You can only
imagine how I found that out.
The two simplest activities for me to do in the States have just become
the most challenging.
You dont know how many times I have been on Google to convert measurements
and distances. I continue to struggle with the metric system and quite
honestly probably wont be able to learn it by the time I leave, but Im
willing to try.
Cheers.
Collegian Australia Abroad Blogger Michelle Buser can be reached online at
[email protected] or on Twitter @buser_Michelle.
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