Today I experienced a “Australian” evening. We went to the Wig ‘n Pen Brewhouse, and spend a good two hours there with the site guys after work. Had a great time, and some of the guys got some Vietnamese takeout, and brought it into the pub. Didn’t have too much to eat, and I was sorta disappointed, since it wasn’t really what I’d call a dinner.

Thankfully, it wasn’t really what the Aussies would call a dinner, either. After a couple hours and a couple beers, some of the site guys were ready to get dinner. Apparently, “going out for a meal” in Australia is an evening-long process, which can take you to a couple locations. The Aussies commented that while Americans consider the meal something to do before your evening plans, for Aussies, the meal is the evening plan, and they enjoy it to the fullest.

The restaurants around here understand how this works. When we first got here, Bob noted the “slowness” of the service in Canberra, but the guys explained that while Americans seem to like to be bothered by their waiters, Aussies consider the constant “can I fill your drink” to be annoying. Most Aussies will get a bottle of wine, and only see the waiter at each course, and when they finally call for the check.

So, this evening, after the Wig ‘n Pen, we walked to the Blue Elephant, but they only served dinner from 6 to 8pm on Thursdays, we went to Sammy’s, which is, we discovered, an amazing Chinese Restaurant. I ordered Roasted Duck Laksa (a spicy soup with coconut milk), and it was incredible. Spend another two hours there enjoying our meal, and walked out fully satisfied. I finished off the evening with a cigar while we walked the six blocks back to the hotel (you don’t really need to drive at all).

This was probably the most enjoyable evening I’ve spent here. As I said before, my irreverant personality goes well with the Aussies, and we all had a good time insulting each others culture for 4 hours.