The Other Side of the Road

Last night Erik and I attended our first Grand Final party.  The Grand Final is basically the equivalent of the Super Bowl (though Meat Loaf as a performer probably does not live up to some of the high profile musicians who have performed at the Super Bowl), with the two best teams in the Australian Football League playing for the AFL Championship.  The party was hosted by one of Erik's co-workers and was certainly a multicultural event, with representatives from the USA (we were referred to as Yanks), Italy, Ireland, and of course Australia.  We attempted to make chicken dip with Aussie ingredients (which means no Franks wing sauce and no blue cheese or proper ranch dressing), and I think it went over quite well.  It did not taste totally "normal", but it was a good first attempt.  We had a great time watching the game (Geelong won over the often-hated Collingwood Magpies, which was fun for us because that was a rematch of our first footy game), eating amazing food, and enjoying great company.  

When the time came to leave, the wonderfully generous host (and also a colleague of Erik's), Jess, offered to let us have her car to drive home.  With public transport it would have taken us about 45 minutes to get home at that time of night, and it would be less than 15 with the car.  Obviously Erik drove since I had been enjoying a few drinks during the course of the game, but then again even if I had been sober I don't know that I would have been ready to jump in the car to drive.  Of course I instantly walked to the wrong side of the car to get in as a passenger!  Erik did pretty well, though he did almost turn into the wrong lane of traffic once. :)  It was very strange for me sitting in the car on the left side and not having a steering wheel in front of me.  I kept pressing my feet into the car floor as if I could control the gas and break (no, I was not drunk!).  The car is a manual, so shifting with the left hand is a very strange sensation according to the hubby.  Also, the blinkers are on the right side of the steering wheel instead of the left.  Jess let us keep her car until midday today, which was awesome because we used it to go grocery shopping this morning.  I cannot begin to explain how wonderful it is to fill a trunk full of groceries instead of having to try to manage carrying several bags on a bike or on public transport.  I must say that this morning Erik displayed great confidence in his driving-on-the-other-side-of-the-road skills, and I was impressed with his abilities.

Later in the day we ventured out on a bike ride to Williamstown, which is affectionately known as "Willy" by many of the residents.  Initially I wanted to live in Willy because I read a lot about how it was one of Melbourne's best suburbs, but Erik thought the bike from school would be too long.  After today's bike ride, I understand his stance. :)  Here are a few images from our trip:

Normally we might not get so excited about being close to a container ship, but when basically everything you own came into the country this way, it makes you have a greater appreciation for the hugeness of the ship!

Our modes of transport these days.  Erik's bike is new and is a "fixie", meaning that it has only one speed (which is HARD!).  My bike is an old school Trek hybrid bike that we found in a classified ad online.

Williamstown Beach

Hobsons Bay with the CBD in the background

Last week was a really fun week for us in general.  In addition to the Grand Final party, we had a great time (not necessarily a great score) at Trivia Night on Tuesday, which is beginning to become a bit of a regular thing.  We got involved in trivia through a friend of a friend sort of thing and ended up becoming actual friends with some great people who formerly lived in DC and moved to Melbourne a few months ahead of us. 

On Thursday we headed over to Richmond, a suburb known for great food, to have our first Vietnamese dining experience in Melbourne.  We met one of my friends, Ben, and his wife, Amber, at a place called Thy Thy 1 (yes, there is also Thy Thy 2!), and the food did not disappoint.  I met Ben in 2004 on my Contiki tour of Europe and had not seen him since.  It was really great to catch up and also to hang out with a few "locals", and I hope that we can get together with them again soon!