I think you are stressing over the sections which discuss the new language features that enable LINQ (lambda's, expression trees, extension methods, etc). If you just look at the basic query syntax, I think you won't be as confused or see as much difference between the VB and C# implementation. Note that VB has moved to the from...select model in more recent builds. The document in question was written based off of the September 2005 CTP. LINQ has evolved since then. I recommend you check out some of the Channel 9 videos by Anders and Paul/Amanda and see if you still find C# 3.0 that overwhelming.

Jim Wooley
http://devauthority.com/blogs/jwooley/default.aspx