The Adventure Begins
Arriving in Sydney with almost no expectations and wide open to all it has to offer has been the key to this trip for me. Because I had no idea what to expect I don’t feel too much disappointment, surprise, or culture shock overall.
Upon arriving to Sydney and riding through the streets on our way to our first living space, I found that it wasn’t shockingly different than America as far as appearance. Parts of Sydney remind me of different places in America. Newtown reminds me of Adams Morgan, but Newton is less chaotic during the night scene and the streets are a little cleaner. The tour of the Circular Quay, reminded me of Dupont Circle, but Circular Quay didn’t have lots of homeless people laying around, at least none that I noticed. The parks and gardens here in Sydney are very well kept. I was really amazed by the Botanical Gardens and the fact that it is wide open for people to walk through and enjoy. It reminded me of Rock Creek Park, but again in my opinion Sydney’s parks has no competition when it comes to cleanliness and beauty. I found it very interesting that Sydney reminded me of home, but only better.
I’m finding that I didn’t feel any sense of culture shock when I arrived. While walking down the streets I feel peaceful and the weather is gorgeous, the air is fresh and sweet-smelling (from the aromas of the restaurants nearby). I can’t say that I have the same feeling about home, where I am are always alert and suspicious of people. I actually feel quite comfortable here and I have this sense that here in Sydney the culture is a very relaxed, and free-flowing culture. It may be due to being here at a time where everyone is on vacation from work. I was surprised to hear this piece of information about Australia’s culture. I love that they have that option and I wish we had that option back in the states. I feel that this way of living is very supportive of maintaining a balanced and healthy life. If people work all the time and don’t take time to relax and rest their minds and bodies, they become a culture of disconnected people, which I believe is what is the case for America.
I was also surprised that Australia has a diverse population. Even with learning a small piece of the history of Australia, I expected it to only be occupied by the descendants of the British colonists and the Natives. I didn’t expect to see so many Asians, and to learn that some of the chefs aboard the ships of the first fleet were Asian, so they have been here from the beginning of the British invasion. I was also surprised that I couldn’t really distinguish the Australians except through their accent. I do also take into account that we have mostly gone to places with lots of other tourists so there is a lot of people from all over the world here to visit as well. But the diversity within the culture may be another reason why it is so familiar and comfortable to me. I guess I unconsciously expected to stand out as a minority amongst Australians, but I find it to feel like a place I could call home. I was surprised at my own initial idea that I wanted to live in Sydney for a year or two because I didn’t expect to fall in love with Sydney in such a short period of time.
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