Life in a Banana Republic

Hejsan

Well its old news now in Kangarooland but when I went to the supermarket (Felipe, supermarkets are much like your donkey and taco markets, except we trade currency instead of bottles of tequila for goods) to buy some bananas, it reminded me of the Lund and how there is no substitute for a good banana. In Kangarooland we try to keep inflation (Felipe, inflation is like when you need to trade an increasing number of bottles of tequila per donkey) low, but as we have strange weather patterns and mysteriously feeble flora and fauna, inflation has risen because a cyclone last year ruined our bananalands. Australia is scared of how dirty South and Central American bananas (or "Gypsiebananas" as they are known here) could poison our native animals, so we don't allow imported bananas. This means we are now paying $14 per kilo for bananas (around 8 Euros or 2 bottles of Gypsie tequila) and as there are no substitutes for bananas, the central bank raised interest rates to stop the inflationary pressure. Crazy!

Okay, well apart from complaining about banana prices very little has been happening for me in Kangarooland. I'm still without a job, though this is mainly due to the incredible government bureaucracy involved with appointing people for government jobs. I applied for a job in late June in the government department I used to work in (the Department of Industry and Resources), I was interviewed twice and accepted for job, but they haven't been able to sort out the paperwork and I won't start until October, at the earliest! Meanwhile the government department responsible for giving me unemployment benefits is hassling me about why I haven't got a job yet!

Still, it's not all bad, I received my diploma from Lund University yesterday, so now I can finally prove that I actually did complete a Masters degree in Sweden, not that anyone really checks up on these things in Kangarooland. In fact, the head of one of our local government councils got his job by inventing a "Masters in Urban Planning" degree on his resume and was given a 300 000 Euro payout when the government found out and decided to terminate his contract. Next year I'm enrolling again at the University of Western Australia to complete some courses so that I can do postgraduate study in Kangarooland. However maybe I should just put on my resume that I have already completed my PhD and save some time and money.

Good to hear from you all and I hope things are going well.

Keep in touch.

Captain B.