BRITISH MONEY

Odd dealings with currency and such over here.

Of course, it could be that I am odd - not the currency - but I prefer to think it's the former situation. Let me illustrate my reasoning. For example, why is the British 10 pence piece nearly identical (in size, shape and heft) to the Canadian quarter? Who designed theirs first? (I somehow expect that the UK beat Canada to the punch on this one). This particular coin has caused me numerous troubles when trying to get out the correct change. I grab a handful of the 10 pence pieces, and am shocked when the cashier regards me dully and demands more money. The ironic thing is that with the currency conversion, 10 pence is worth very close to 25 Canadian cents.

I am getting used to UK denominations, albeit slowly. For my friends and family back home who have yet to experience British currency, you might find it interesting to note that they don't have quarters; rather, they have 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 pence pieces. Still have yet to find a truly useful way to spend the 2 pence coins, and Ray and I are in negotiations as to whether 2 pence is a "tuppence" or simply 2 pence. I have a feeling that Ray is correct on this one but musn't let him know that yet!

Aside from simply figuring out the coinage here, I have been bank account-less now for 6 weeks. This is particularly annoying as I get the feeling that without a bank account a person is a non-entity here. I have also developed a theory that the extreme difficulty in obtaining bank accounts and other essentials such as electricity/gas/telephone accounts is a ploy to minimize the amount of immigration into the UK. Truly, without Ray - who, because of his student status, gets a head start on all the paperwork - I would be penniless, without power and a way to telephone anyone to help me out.

Today's entry is a rant-ish sort of post. Couldn't be helped after yet another appointment with a bank as I try to set up an account, only to be told that they "lost" all of my original paperwork. Erg!!