Eurotrash

Michele: This picture at the left shows the variety of Euro coins I was given in just two transactions on my first day in Australia. Apparently, I had ‘jet-lagged dumb tourist’ stamped on my forehead that day. Actually, since we couldn’t check into our hotel until 3pm that first day, I probably did. It was frustrating to get these coins. Euro coins are pretty useless in Australia. In fact, you really couldn’t get much farther away from Euro trading countries than Australia.

I could take some solace in the fact that since the Australian economy is so strong, the Euro equals the Australian dollar. So I might have been given the same value of Euro currency as Australian currency. However I was not. The photo at right reveals the evil intent of those Aussie change makers. The 2 dollar Australian coin (center) looks very similar to the 20 cent and 10 center Euro coins. So while I should have pocketed several Aussie $2 coins, I ended up with a pocket of eurotrash. Since that first day I’ve check my change more carefully but no one has slipped me anymore eurotrash. I’m glad that the ‘dumb tourist’ stamp washes off .