Cycling
Quite a lot of young Europeans think that Australians are tanned, sporty (surfers) and drink a lot of beer. This actually is very true. Sport here is not a hobby, it's a lifestyle. People run, swim, bike, paddle, surf and go to the gym a lot, and I can tell you that there is nothing leisurely about the way how they go about it. In the recent City to Surf run a great chunk of my co-workers ran either half-marathons or 12 km. I think it's all great, but it makes me question: why does everybody then drive to work?
I recently obtained a bike, and living a short cycling distance away from my work I started attempting to get to work by bike... but there are no bike lanes. Or there are bike lanes, but they suddenly end and the cyclist is forced to drive with the cars who really do not give space to cyclists (let alone pedestrians, even in tiniest roads with pedestrian crossings). So every day I've taken a different route to work, trying to find a way to cycle the distance so that it's not stressful. I've previously cycled with the traffic in Europe, and it's not an issue there. Here, it's impossible!
Also, the secure bike parking provided for a big building of maybe 300 workers is 20 spots. It is possible to salary sacrifice to pay for your car parking and to buy a car (so that you don't have to pay income tax on that money), but not for paying for a bike or public transport. This is definitely a city of cars, and it's not going to change anytime soon.
Reality TV
A lot of TV here is reality TV; MasterChef, Biggest Loser, Renovators, the Block, Next Top Model, X-Factor, you name it, there is an Australian version of it. Some of these programs actually have been pretty good in other countries - for example I loved the British MasterChef to bits- but here everything is made to take five times longer. So MasterChef UK was an hour a week for maybe 15 weeks. MasterChef Australia was 6 nights a week for the same period! An hour-long episode would usually consist of 15 minutes of ads, 15 minutes of "what will happen in this episode / after commercial break / happened before the break / will happen in the next episode", 15 minutes of how the contestants were feeling and maybe 15 minutes of the actual cooking and tasting the food. And still I ended up watching a lot of those episodes...
It seems that the main point of the programs is shifted from the actual competition to the people competing in it - their feelings, their interactions and relationships. MasterChef loves people who get along and cry together when one of them has to leave, and the Top Model loves girls who are bitchy and start fighting.
And this reflects to the politics too. It seems that people are interested in two things: paying as little tax as possible and scandals. Who cares how the prime minister has been running the country - there was someone in her party who cheated a big sum of money from the tax payers into his own pockets! Everything is made very personal it seems, and the closer the politics are to a Big Brother house, the happier the people are to talk about it. On the other hand, it is the only country where I've seen the PM (and the opposition leader) go in front of a live audience to answer people's questions on a regular basis.
Feminism
One day over lunch I was chatting to some of my co-workers and the conversation turned to women and their rights. And shockingly enough, there were a few young women who seemed to think it was progressive for women not to submit to men. I can see that there are still work to be done in women's rights if this is progressive thinking for Australia!
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Monday, 15 August 2011
One year on the road!
I just realised that it has been exactly one year today that I left from home. Just one year?! Already a year?! I don't know what to say. Happy birthday to my travels I guess!
In the other news, me and my boyfriend moved yesterday. Our previous houseshare came to a sudden end as our housemate decided to move, taking all the furniture with her, but kindly offering us an option to move with her. After some pondering and checking out the market, we came by a lovely two-bedroom flat in an area that has vastly better access to public transport (train), shops and restaurants, beach and my work... so we decided to move last Monday and then actually moved on Saturday! It's been amazing having a little flat of our own, not worrying about waking up housemates or leaving too much mess in the kitchen. Somehow it still feels bit like someone else's place though, but I guess it won't be long until I start thinking about it as my home.
In the other news, me and my boyfriend moved yesterday. Our previous houseshare came to a sudden end as our housemate decided to move, taking all the furniture with her, but kindly offering us an option to move with her. After some pondering and checking out the market, we came by a lovely two-bedroom flat in an area that has vastly better access to public transport (train), shops and restaurants, beach and my work... so we decided to move last Monday and then actually moved on Saturday! It's been amazing having a little flat of our own, not worrying about waking up housemates or leaving too much mess in the kitchen. Somehow it still feels bit like someone else's place though, but I guess it won't be long until I start thinking about it as my home.
Monday, 8 August 2011
Melbourne.
There are good and bad sides to working; the worst one is that you don't get to travel, and the best one is that you get to travel! So we had an opportunity of spending a week in Melbourne for my work, so of course we went! Melbourne was very European, had reasonable public transport (unlike Perth), had a lot of museums and theatres, and had the best cafes and bars. Here's some pictures, and as always, click to view a larger version and copyright my boyfriend.
The Central Business district (CBD) viewed from the South Bank during the day.
The Central Business district (CBD) viewed from the South Bank during the night. The well-lit building at the front is Flinders Street Station.
Another day view of the CBD from South Bank. The tall building on the left, Rialto, had a brand Lui Bar on the 55th floor where we had the pleasure of drinking beer and looking at the city lights.
CBD from 55th floor. Flinders St Station on the right next to the river.
South Bank from 55th floor. Most of this picture is Crown Casino Entertainment Complex which had a Hong Kong / Las Vegas -feel to it inside. In the horizon the lights of St Kilda Pier are visible.
Docklands from 55th floor.
We spent a day off exploring the Botanical Gardens. Not very many of the local plants were flowering in the middle of the winter!
The day was a sunny one, maybe 20C.
After the Botanical Gardens we took a tram to Chapel Street. The tram network in Melbourne is supposedly the most extensive in the world!
Chapel Street area had a lot of elaborate graffiti on the side streets. It also had a lot of small boutique shops, bars and restaurants. I bough a pair of shoes and we enjoyed a Moroccan dinner at Mama Ganoush. We also checked out St Kilda after the sunset, but unsurprisingly the beach esplanade would've been better during a summer's day!
Yet another night-time pic of central Melbs! Beautiful!
On our final day we went to Fitzroy area (Brunswick Sq) which similarly to Chapel St has a lot of cafes, bars and little independent shops. The houses were old yet lovely, and the atmosphere very friendly.
The sidestreets had lots of funky graffiti.
And this dim-lit picture is from my favourite bar/restaurant ever, Naked for Satan. The bar was housed in an old distillery, and derives its name from a secret code for making illegal vodka in the heat of the summer. The bar was decorated with all kinds of lamps (like the bottlecase-lamp shown in the pic) and tasteful pin-up pictures. They served their in-house brewed beer as well as delicious pintxos. I could've sat there for days!
The Central Business district (CBD) viewed from the South Bank during the day.
The Central Business district (CBD) viewed from the South Bank during the night. The well-lit building at the front is Flinders Street Station.
Another day view of the CBD from South Bank. The tall building on the left, Rialto, had a brand Lui Bar on the 55th floor where we had the pleasure of drinking beer and looking at the city lights.
CBD from 55th floor. Flinders St Station on the right next to the river.
South Bank from 55th floor. Most of this picture is Crown Casino Entertainment Complex which had a Hong Kong / Las Vegas -feel to it inside. In the horizon the lights of St Kilda Pier are visible.
Docklands from 55th floor.
We spent a day off exploring the Botanical Gardens. Not very many of the local plants were flowering in the middle of the winter!
The day was a sunny one, maybe 20C.
After the Botanical Gardens we took a tram to Chapel Street. The tram network in Melbourne is supposedly the most extensive in the world!
Chapel Street area had a lot of elaborate graffiti on the side streets. It also had a lot of small boutique shops, bars and restaurants. I bough a pair of shoes and we enjoyed a Moroccan dinner at Mama Ganoush. We also checked out St Kilda after the sunset, but unsurprisingly the beach esplanade would've been better during a summer's day!
Yet another night-time pic of central Melbs! Beautiful!
On our final day we went to Fitzroy area (Brunswick Sq) which similarly to Chapel St has a lot of cafes, bars and little independent shops. The houses were old yet lovely, and the atmosphere very friendly.
The sidestreets had lots of funky graffiti.
And this dim-lit picture is from my favourite bar/restaurant ever, Naked for Satan. The bar was housed in an old distillery, and derives its name from a secret code for making illegal vodka in the heat of the summer. The bar was decorated with all kinds of lamps (like the bottlecase-lamp shown in the pic) and tasteful pin-up pictures. They served their in-house brewed beer as well as delicious pintxos. I could've sat there for days!
When we were finally in a taxi headed back to the airport, we spotted a full 180-degree double rainbow over Melbourne. What does it mean? I thought to myself. Maybe Melbourne wants us to stay? Or maybe it means that it rains a lot in Melbourne and that the sun shines from a low angle!
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