an iced coffee cafe four doors down from claire's
4 sep 00, 12.30
ok, we're going to talk about terminology here for a bit. i've now been bitten twice by this. it's ok to invent new words or phrases for things. it's not ok to reuse words to label something different. "college", at least in sydney uni(versity) terms, means a dorm - on- campus housing. that caused a little conversational gaffe, cleared up later.

now I have sitting in front of me an iced coffee. an _australian_ iced coffee. this thing is a full dessert. described in american terms, it's a coffee float. a latte with ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate powder on top. not exactly the austere black coffee and a couple ice cubes I was expecting. i'd have liked to have seen my face when it was set in front of me. I know the face I made; it was pure incomprehension.

but it's darn good. the motto of this trip is "roll with it," after all. it's got me suitably jacked, and it is sweet, creamy, and delicious.

I worry sometimes that my infatuation with "difference-finding" is mistaken for complaining. I blew it last night when the pizzas arrived and I blurted out "you call those *larges*?" "what, you're from texas?" was one sydneysider's reply. granted, poking fun at foreign nationals is common practice around here, but i've heard the stupid american stories and I don't want to become another.

I suppose i'd get a little bored if someone started telling me my light switches operated backwards too. but I find these things fascinating. someone decided to do the same thing in a different way, and I want to know the reasons why. I want my assumptions challenged.

now, I disagree that flicking a switch down should be "on". the better way, seems to me, is to have gravity assist safety; "off" following the downward motion of the hand. but never knowing there was an option, I never thought through the reasons behind it.

maybe i'm stuck with the little things because, at least in the big cities, the culture hasn't been all that different. metropolis is metropolis. maybe i'm just predilected towards minute technical details. i'm sure seeing central australia will bring more interesting things to comment on. and hell, japan will be a couple orders of magnitude bizarre.