sydney

When travelling, I always enjoy being able to catch up with old acquaintances, not just because they are people I like, but also because they can add so much to the experience in a place through their insights. So I was delighted to have the opportunity to sit down in a bar with my old work colleague from Paris. We left Paris within a month of each other, as I went on to London for the PhD and she decided to return home. I think we both had got fed up with France, for similar reasons. After catching up on the past 3.5 years of our lives, I took advantage of Johanna’s native Sydney/Australian status to quiz her about some matters that had been on my mind. Since returning to Sydney, she has done well in the local theatre scene, of which I had heard many good things. She described it as “small by intense” which I suppose is enough to keep one stimulated. She confirmed and complained about the beer scene, claiming she and her friends avoid the city centre and certain other areas on weekend evenings. According to her, there just isn’t that much to do in Sydney in the evening if you have no personal or cultural interests (such as the theatre, or cinema). So, guys get blasted and get in their convertibles and drive around the city in circles, honking at women and mates whom they happen to encounter. They then move on to pubs where they get even more hammered. I had gathered this myself, based on the strange signs I kept seeing on pubs saying things like “entry and reentry forbidden between 2 and 6am.” Next I asked about the Chinese. There are really a lot of them in Sydney. Walking around with my father and his friends, we often found ourselves the only white people in the area. At one point Bob (one of our travelling companions) asked if there was anyone left in China, at which point I reminded him that there are after all 1.3 billion of them. Yet when I asked Johanna what the draw of Australia was for Chinese, she looked uncomfortable and whispered it wasn’t PC to talk about such things. She then went on to say that most were not tourists, but often students living and studying in Sydney. I personally found the Asian presence in Sydney fascinating. I wandered into one bookshop in the centre and found myself surrounded by more manga than I had ever even imagined existed. One half of the shop was in Chinese, the other half in Japanese. If I lived in this part of the world, I would totally make the effort to learn one of those two, it seems like such a great opportunity, especially as you could clearly actually use the languages. I asked Johanna if Australians went to Asia much. It seems Fiji is a popular destination, although I have difficulty imagining why given that Australia’s own beaches are lovely. Hong Kong is a major destination as well. Some of her friends had gone to Tokyo, but she bucked the trend and recently went to New Caledonia instead, wanting to hear some French again. Through our conversation, I think I gained some better insight into Sydney, and I am grateful for having such connections in odd places to allow for that. I can see the appeal of living here. The living standard is much higher than, for example, in Britain. The flats are MUCH better built, the transport system is better (not a big achievement there though) and there are fresher and cheaper fruits and vegetables than we get in most of Europe. The climate is certainly better, and the people look much healthier. They have an excellent sports infrastructure, and athletics is something they take very seriously. The nature is beautiful naturally, but also beautifully maintained. There were exquisite botanic gardens in every Kiwi and Aussie town I visited, and they were all being actively enjoyed by the locals. The beaches are gorgeous and, like in Brazil, they belong to everyone- there are no private beaches, so the rich cant try to hog the best of nature. Furthermore, it is in many ways an egalitarian society, which I also like. I couldn’t imagine living in New Zealand (too end of the earth) but I could see Sydney….for a year or two. Yet I don’t know if I could ever live in a place like this permanently. Is it perhaps too close to perfection, like Canada? Too sterilized? I really don’t know.