I had my first tram offloading this morning which reminded me of home which reminded me of the blog and how all the handelblog fans out there must be clamoring for a new post. So for your edification (ha!) here are some random observations.

I’ve been in Melbourne for about 7 weeks now and got called on picking up the lingo for the first time. Some words and phrases seem to have wormed their way in without my consent! I find myself calling things “lovely” and saying how lovely it was to meet someone. I also plan on getting to things “straight away” and I can’t remember what I used to say instead. Other things like “How’re you going?” make so little sense to me that I don’t know how to answer them much less use them myself. I am not going anywhere? anything? anyhow? I am doing quite well though, thank you very much.

My tram commute has many similarities to my metro commute of yore including the aforementioned offloading – boo! – but it has its own new and exciting challenges too. For one thing, there are many different tram types and this isn’t old vs new metro car stuff. Some of the trams are ancient and little more than a bus on a track. Other trams are fancy and conjure up memories of The Simpsons Monorail. The seating configuration varies drastically (pics to be posted later) and if you are on anything but the very newest of trams, don’t count on knowing when you are at your stop. They don’t announce most stops, the maps don’t include all stops, and the stops are tiny for the most part so no big sign poles let you know where you are. Fortunately, my tram route mostly runs the newest trams so I’ve only missed my stop once or twice.

I’ll leave you with a couple of things that have been hard to get used to…

People here are supposed to walk on the wrong side (left) and most do, but a stubborn bunch holds on to walking on the right side as though that is the absolute correct thing to do. This is more than just the chaos of walking in a crowded place, this is everywhere – running trails where I’ve seen people run along on the right, move to the left when someone approaches from the other direction and then they go straight back to the right. Sigh.

Service industry workers, waiters, bartenders, etc., are paid a decent wage here and do not expect tips. To compare prices to the US, you have to think about what something cost with tax and tip and I never thought about the whole cost of things that way. I feel like I’ll be a better consumer when I return. No more fooling me with your artificially cheap prices! That said, I think eating out might be more expensive here. I’m just not sure.