Perth, Australia (again)

I can't believe I am halfway through my trip. It's always the way. I've been gone a month, but it seems like a week ago at most. And tomorrow the Australia portion of my trip ends. So goodbye sunny beaches and freckled girls, hello mad Asian traffic. Everyone I've met who has been to Bangkok talks about the traffic. There are no real crosswalks, I was told the best way was to close your eyes and start walking at a steady pace and trust the attentiveness of Bangkok drivers to notice you.

The new hostel is nice, I've met many people, maybe three of whom I can name. Last night I went out for the first time in Perth, so I can scratch that off my list. Right now I am just wasting time till we start a bbq in a few minutes. So here are some random observances of Australia:

• Aussie boys are really macho. It's a bit much at times.
• Burger King here is called Hungry Jacks. Same logo and food, only the name is different.
• Australians don't use ketchup. But they give you fries with everything. What is the purpose of fries, but as a receptacle for ketchup?
• They drive on the other side of the road and I still haven't gotten used to it. I keep on looking at cars and thinking "These guys pay no attention to the road!" before realizing I'm looking at the wrong side.
• Everywhere in Adelaide is "Two blocks down, to the left". Every time I asked for directions to get anywhere at all it was "Two blocks down, to the left".
• Pretty much everyone traveling in Oz is working while doing it (bar work and fruit picking are the two most popular occupations). I'm one of maybe four people in this hostel just on vacation.