Wednesday Evening

[Updated 12 May 08.00 to clarify some text]

We're in an internet cafe waiting for a dinner-club around the corner to open. The place is called "Dracula's" and it's a Rocky-Horror style comedy dinner theater on Victoria St. near Lygon.

Today we took a cruise along the Yarra river. I took lots of photos of random architecture that will likely mean nothing to me when I return home, but at least I can prove I was here.

You know what? The Australian culture is definitely different from the US culture, but it's really hard to put my finger on exactly how or why. That's one of the questions that I'm determined to get answered before I return. Our time so far has been spent in a big city, about the same size as Houston. That always gives a culture a different "flavor," so to speak. Even though I consider myself a "city person," I'm looking forward to getting out of the city tomorrow. Although I must say that I'm still crapping my drawers over the thought of driving.

It's not just that you drive on the opposite side of the road -- in Melbourne, they've developed a whole set of unique driving rules that would make sense nowhere else in the world. For example, some intersections require a "hook turn." When there are tram tracks running parallel to your lane, you must stay to the far left (the typical lane for turning left) if you want to make a turn. The right (center) lane is the through lane. You wait in the far-left lane until your light turns yellow, then you check traffic and scream through your turn, crossing three lanes of traffic (two opposing and one coming from behind you) and two tram lines in the process (plus pedestrians). I've worked myself into a frenzy over this. Valium, anyone?