How much is "a lot" in American money?

How do you manage your money when you don't know what they are worth?

You're standing in the store, looking at a sweater you really want. The price-tag says "20," and you have a 20-dollar bill in your hand. Can you really afford it? Is "20" a lot, or just a little? How do you tell?

That's what happened to me the first time I came to the United States. I had four 5-dollar bills in my wallet, but I had no idea if that was "a lot" or not. For the first few months, I just paid whatever the price-tag said, and didn't know whether I was spending too much.

5 Norwegian Kroner
(worth 93 cents)
Stylish, but useless - like me.

See, back in Norway we pay in "kroner," and 5 kroner really isn't a lot of money. It's enough to get you a stick of bubble-gum, or a few pencils, but nothing more than that. So in my head, "5" has always been a really small amount of money.

But when i went to the United States, I had to train myself to think that "5" can actually buy you a lot of things. If you've got five dollars, you can get an awesome DVD, an unhealthy meal, a gift for mom, or a whole gallon of gas.

Tourists struggle with this problem all the time; the number on their money doesn't mean what they're used to. When I was in Italy, my friend and I paid 100,000 Lire for a hotel-room, which sounded like a fortune to us! In fact, we were really paying about 75 dollars.

...which I'll admit was still a fortune.

How much is 1 US Dollar worth?

• EU - 0.68 Euros
• China - 6.50 Yuan
• Britain - 0.60 Pounds
• Trinidad and Tobago - 6.52 Dollars
• Norway - 5.33 Kroner
• Sweden - 6.07 Kronor
• Denmark - 5.11 Kroner
• South Korea - 1081.30 Won
• Japan - 82.03 Yen
• Vietnam - 20865 Dong

How to find out what is "a lot" or not.

The first thing you should do is figure out the exchange rate between US Dollars and the money in your country. In other words, if a sandwich costs $2 in the United States, how much would you pay back home?

There are lots of websites that make this easy, such as this one. Just type in the amount in dollars, select your own currency, and it will tell you. You can also just ask Google, like I do.

Once you've done this a couple of times, you'll begin to develop a "feel" for how much your new money is worth, the same way you did back home.

When you figure out that the sweater actually costs 107 kroner, or 130元, you might go ahead and buy it anyway. But at least you'll know whether it's "a lot of money" to you, and whether you can afford it.

Pray For Japan: a fundraising effort on campus

I couldn't believe it happened when I first checked the online news on Friday.

Probably most people would have thought it's just a seasonal earthquake that we have in Japan, yet unfortunately it did turn out to be one of the worst natural disasters that happened in decades around the globe.

I was fortunate that I was able to contact my family the next day via Skype - though most telecommunications were completely paralyzed due to the excessive access to the main cellphone lines, and still I couldn't get my eyes from the NHK news for almost all weekend. I was anxious and didn't know what to do about it until the point that I decided to run the fundraising event on campus.

The nuclear reactor explosions in Fukushima happened just 300km away from Tokyo and there are still many health concerns about the amount of radiation produced so far. It's time for us to step back and think about the histories that we had - No more Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Not only Japan, but other nuclear power plant accidents that had been discussed in terms of safety around the globe. You can check the global nuclear event scales here.

I was listening to NPR at some point and they were talking about how the U.S should learn from Haiti, Katrina and Japan. We don't really know when disasters happen - it is vital to make an emergency preparation. According to the BBC website, the confirmed death toll from the quake and tsunami is up to 8,450, with nearly 13,000 people missing.... Japan still needs your help!

"Actions speak louder than words " - There is something that you can do at PLU

Donation Tabling till 23rd on Wednesday

From 10:30 am to 7:30 pm in front of Old Main Market @University Center

• Cash is preferable, but checks are also acceptable at SIL desk(the basement of University Center).
• All donations will be proceeded directly to American Red Cross.

For more info visit our Facebook page:

Thank you for your support and concerns!

Love and Peace,

Tomomi

Spring Break

Spring Break : wow, exciting! This is my first sense of this holiday. It is time to relax a while and hang out with my friends. I already planned where I go before spring break. I might just have 3 times to spend spring break in the United States so I cherish this time very much. I try to travel to some places around here. This spring break I will probably go to Woodburn (not sure). It is located in Oregon. I went there several times before. It is a big shopping place. The main reason I love to go there is NO TAX! Before summer holiday is the greatest time to go shopping there. I will be back China this June so I need to buy some gifts for my family members and friends. It is a cool place to go! I'll show you the picture which I took before. One last thing I need to say "Pray for Japan"!!!

-Meng

Meet Daniel

If you see this man with
a notebook, run for your life.

Hi, my name is Daniel and I am a recovering Norwegian.

I came to PLU on a sunny August afternoon in 2009. You may have seen me; I was the guy trying to carry a huge box of bedsheets without falling asleep.

I am currently pursuing a major in Communication with a concentration in Journalism and a minor in Procrastination. I'm a frequent writer for the student newspaper, and my articles have been described as "wonderful" by my mom.

I'm usually found in the cafeteria anytime mashed potatoes are on the menu. If you don't see me there, I'd suggest you friend me up on Facebook or follow me on Twitter

Mid-term is coming

Mid-term is coming. It is a busy time for every student. We need to prepare for papers, exams and presentations. As a non-English speaker, I will need much more time than other students to work hard. This semester I am taking Psychology 101 and English 213 - both  for general university requirement (GUR). When I heard the name "Psychology" I was so afraid of this class, but it is for GUR. English 213 is a literature class. For this class I need to read English novels, and it is hard to read one-hundred pages in one day but it is a way to improve my English. Two other classes are requirements for my major: Advertising and writing class. I feel fine in both of these classes. However, I really felt I learned something after each course. It is a hard process, but caused sweet results!!! Nothing in the world is difficult for one who sets his mind on it!


Meng