Which way do you turn?

Okay, here's one that baffles me.

So there is a great deal about driving in Miami that is adventurous.  Many people will tell you that half the folks here are driving they way they were taught in their native countries.  Or teaching their children to drive the way they were taught (or never taught) in their native countries... but there's one practice that bollixes my mind every time.

No, its not the fact that there is no such thing as faster cars staying to the left.  No, its not that turn signals seem to be optional in Miami.  It the way folks make left turns.

So if I'm driving along and want to make a left turn, normally I would turn left and hug the right side of the area/intersection in order to complete the turn. In other words, I would swing wide, to stay on the right side of the road.   A person coming the opposite way on the street would do the same.  When making their left turn, they would also swing wide to be on the right side of the road to complete their turn.

Not so in Miami.  Here you just turn left right into the lane that is technically facing oncoming traffic.  You hope and pray that you'll get through the intersection before those cars which are now facing directly toward you start to move.  Why do you do this, you might wonder?  Well, you have to... because everyone else does it.  There are a ton of left turn arrows here and maybe this is why.  On my way home from work, the route I generally take, there is a left turn with no arrow.  I find myself faced with this dilemma every single day.  Each day, my instincts take over and I pull to the right.  Almost every day I find myself in a nose-to-nose standoff with a car from the opposite direction trying to turn into the exact spot where I'm sitting.  They are waving their arms and cursing me in their car.  Huh?  How is this happening?  So let's say that I can accept this as a Miami thing (I haven't, but let's say I can.)  What happens when these drivers visit other cities? Which way do they turn?  Do they carry this bizarre habit with them to wreak havoc on traffic in all the spots they visit?

I'm the oddball, yet again.  I mention this to folks  all the time and they laugh and know exactly what I'm talking about. But they do it too, I do it as well, just not as often as I should.  Ah well.  They said I would acclimate.  I didn't realize it meant driving on the wrong side of the road.  Go figure.  When in Miami...