I had a pleasant surprise on Monday when I noticed that my income tax refund had been deposited in my bank account. While $676.00 may not sound like a lot, to a student it makes all the difference in the world. Of course, it's my money to begin with so I'm only really getting what I've earned anyway. Am I really any better off? Of course I am. That, combined with a fairly nice payday a few days before means that I have ample funding for me-sen and my adventures.
The first thing I did was get a new rear wheel for my bicycle, whose rear wheel was slightly, but noticeably, bent and the axle broke. I just have to fiddle with the breaks a bit to get it perfect. I also got a set of Allen keys and a mud flap so my pants won't get dirty when I'm riding in the rain.
I've also decided to treat myself to a little vacation. Using my hard-earned money, I booked myself a round-trip to Adelaide with accommodation at the central YHA hostel. I think I deserve it. I'm leaving on the afternoon of Thursday, August 27th and returning to Canberra Monday, August 31st. Because one of my courses won't be running for a few weeks, I won't have class that Monday giving me extra time in Adelaide. I'm going primarily because I've never been and my mother sings the city's praises. This will mean that the only capital cities left for me to explore will be Hobart and Perth. I'll have to catch them some other time.
There are 2 things I wish to complain about, though, the first being the absence I see, from time to time, of the letter "u" in words like colour, harbour, favourite, etc. While this would be acceptable in the USA, I find it very irritating. It's not a matter of American hegemony, rather laziness on the part of the writers. Is it really that hard to set the spell check to English (Australian/UK/Canadian)? I had an exchange on this very topic over the university intranet with someone.
The history of the "u" in those words is actually quite interesting. In the 18th Century there was a move to standardize English spelling and, at the same time, to make it more like Latin; this is where the absurd "non-splitting infinitive" rule came about as well. The idea was the words that entered into English from French would be spelled with a "u" but those that came directly from Latin would be spelled without it. The problem was that it was very difficult most of the time to discern which language was the progenitor of the English word. Hence, 18th Century spellings sometimes would include words like "errour" (error), "terrour" (terror) and "governour" (governor) and "color", "labor" and "harbor". In the 1750s, the first great English dictionary was published by Samuel Johnson and his spellings included the use of "u" now seen in the British/International English. In the American colonies, soon to be independent, the Latinization of English continued to the point we see today, but it is only the American English that has dropped the "u". There are other differences, such as "-fense/-fence", "-lt/-led", "-ise/-ize", and "-er/-re" but I won't labour on them.
The second gripe I have is with the appalling lack of late-night eating facilities in Canberra. This arose out of a discussion with a fellow from India named Varun. Sometimes I like to eat late or I just get a craving and I want something. Unfortunately, there isn't a single pub or anything that serves good food late. Your choices are limited to either pizza stands, McDonald's or the Casino, which does have an alright menu, but it is quite limited. I really don't understand why there isn't at least 1 pub that serves food late. Kitchens seem to close in Canberra around 21:00 and I can't fathom it. Surely there must be a demand for proper late night eating; I'm an example of it. Is a late night food serving pub really too much to ask for? Apparently, in Canberra, it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment