Tuesday 3 January 2012

A tale of two cities ( Part one )

One is ''full of uptight, classy, posh people'' The other one is ''full of pot smoker hippies who can't grow up''.

When I asked my friends up in North New South Wales to choose between Sydney and Melbourne they were all unanimous:

'' F*** the city mate, live in the country ''

That's what I was thinking too. I lived in the Aussie countryside for 6 months. 3 months in ''Silk Pavilion'',an amazing B&B in Mount Burrell with wallabies and other interesting species of the bush and 3 months in Murwillumbah, a small country town that I now lovingly call '' Home'' . I loved it.

But it was time for me to move. See another aspect of Aussie culture.
There is a war raging. 2 cities.2 life styles. 1 choice. And I have to choose a side, too.

Because you have to. In Oz, you're either a Melbourne person OR a Sydney person. No REAL other option, I've heard. Because Perth is not really in Australia , it's in ''WA'' , Hobart is in Tasmania ( that will be independent , one day) Brisbane is so hot that your beer won't stay cold for long and they felt so sorry for Canberra that they made it the capital.

Whether you're Spanish, American ,Swedish, Aussie does not matter. The first impression an Aussie will have from you is based on whether you like Sydney OR Melbourne.

That’s, I suspect is even something you can put on your resume

Hobbies:
Likes surfing, Vegemite , cricket , French cuisine, Melbourne (OR Sydney).


I ve never tried surfing, still can't stand Vegemite (I tolerate it with cheese though) I still don't understand cricket but I love to listen to Aussie men talking about it. I'm French but I can't cook for my life and.... I have yet to choose between Sydney and Melbourne.

I know my choice will be hard to make. Why? Because I HATE most big cities. As a person who grew up in a country town in the North East of France I naturally despise cities. Yes, even Paris. Especially Paris. That's what most non Parisian French do best. We hate Paris. You know what you usually think of most French people? The ‘’arrogant, patriotic, smug’’ thingy? It just really ONLY applies to Parisians. We (the rest of France) are lovely people.

The French equivalent to ''Sydney vs. Melbourne'' would be Paris vs. the rest of France. A VERY important decision to make. It can influence your WHOLE life.

So I decided to spend some time in Sydney (on a budget. Check my Facebook page called ''citizen of the world'' to follow my financial situation) and some time in Melbourne (on the budget I have left), and at the end of January, pick one. Yes, you're allowed to give me your point of view, pass this page on to your friends, try to bribe me, sponsor me, it could work, who knows.

First stop Sydney . I’m staying with 2 Aussie male friends who just had an interesting conversation as I was telling them about my ''Sydney vs. Melbourne'' challenge

Friend 1 : ‘’ Beaches are f**** freezing in Melbourne and they’re soooo remote , it’s insane mate. So much better here in Sydney’’
Friend 2 , agitated : ‘’ What are you on about, mate? How long did it take us to go to Bondi yesterday? F**** ages!!! ‘’

Wanna know what is REALLY cool about this conversation? Friend 1 is from Melbourne. Friend 2 lives in Sydney.

I’m going to love this game…




To be continued.....

1 comment:

  1. came here via CS - I love the sporting events in Melbourne, the small city feel and affordable housing - but the weather is a spoiler - which is why I don't mind visiting Melbourne but would prefer to live in Sydney.

    ps: Nice title for your blog ;-)

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