Casual observations

Since I haven't done much that's exciting enough to write about in the past week, I thought I would just pass on some casual observations I've made during my time here:

1.) Having come from the "Windy City," I must say that I have never been to a place as windy as Melbourne, although it's not consistent. Some days I feel as though I can easily be blown back to the US. It's just not something people comment on when coming here.

2.) Turkey is not commonly consumed here. Lots of chicken and TONS of red meat. You can find it, but for sliced deli turkey for example, it costs about $12/pound. Egg whites unheard of in terms of omelettes and certainly not turkey bacon.

3.) Only some people have i-pod's here so CD's are still being purchased in full swing. My video i-pod is quite a novelty that people really enjoy playing with. I can't remember the last time I even bought a CD!

4.) XXXX is a beer and not anything else your imagination may conjure up

5.) Highways here can often be named, for example, Highway 1 down the Queensland Coast is named the Bruce Highway

6.) When getting into a taxi by yourself or with friends, not only is it not uncommon to sit in the front with your taxi driver, it's encouraged and considered normal. So it looks like you're driving around with your buddy. A buddy that charges you, but a buddy nonetheless. Makes it hard to tell if cabs are occupied when flagging one down.

And correction, the gigantic spider mentioned in the previous post WAS a huntsman spider, but not fully grown, thank GOD!