Cultural Adaptation

I’d like to say that we’re just trying to adapt to our new culture, but after passing one too many drive through liquor stores (yes, you read that right, there are drive through liquor stores here), H and I decided to go stock up on some beer. Prior to coming to Perth, a few friends had told us about Little Creatures, a Fremantle (aka local) brewery, and we had enjoyed some of the Little Creatures Pale Ale at our $25 per entrée Vietnamese dinner our first night in town. Yes, $25 for ginger chicken that would cost me less than half of that almost anywhere in the U.S., including Manhattan. But I digress because today I also learned that not only will $25 buy you one entrée at a casual restaurant in Perth, it will also buy you one, yes one, six pack of beer. Now I am left pondering how Western Australians can afford to drink the copious amounts of beer and other equally/more expensive alcoholic beverages that they appear to consume all of time. I mean I’m all for cocktail hour, but pass by any restaurant or bar before lunchtime and every table is drinking beer and white wine. Coffee seems to have found its replacement here.