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Sydney vs. London
To stave off the slow death of this blog, I present you with a list that has been a'brewing for the last 7 months and is now ripe for publication: the post-exchange reflection. It's almost midnight so I'll spare you any emotional shit and get right to it. Enjoy!
Reasons why Sydney Dominates:
There are a bunch of things I really took for granted before the big flight over to London, and which I take more notice of today including:
1. Good (and by good I don't mean the restaurants meet national health and safety standards, just that they taste amazing and authentic) Asian food accessible at every corner: Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean and Malaysian to be exact.
2. Greater diversity and integration of cultures- I actually think Sydney's gotten even more diverse since I left it.
3. Friendly enforcement against 'Tall Poppy Syndrome' is well-established, usually by saying 'Fuck ooofffff' to douchebag beahaviour with a smile.
4. Being able to walk down a street, wearing whatever you want, a short skirt, whatever, and know that you won't get accosted by a junkie (in many, but not all parts)- priceless
5. Personal space is not an illusion in Sydney, it's still a reality.
6. Black stuff doesn't come out of my nose here.
7. Being able to afford to go to a swanky-esque bar occasionally and buy a drink without having to sacrifice, say, food for the next week.
Reasons why London Dominates:
There are also many things I've come to miss about London, no matter how much people whinge about it I will always defend it as a city because...
1. Anonymity still remains a valuable commodity for non-celebrities - being able to wear pyjamas down a street in Central London and knowing no one will even glance twice. There's always someone weirder than you anyway.
2. 'Fuck off' enforcement still rife, but the English equivalent is more of a 1 hour criticism session about some celebrity or sell-out musician/football player
3. SNOW. That is all.
4. Being able to walk down a street and point out all the 1000 year old monuments on either side as you walk past.
5. Being the centre of Europe, newsrooms in London have the potential to become much more interesting
6. Live music- someone that's huge in the underground/alternative music scene internationally can always be found playing somewhere on any given night of the week in London. While Londonians talk about these gigs nonchalantly as such non-events, Australian fans scramble for leaked mp3s and youtube videos for years before they'll even bother coming on tour
7. Random huge crowd events like silent disco in Liverpool Street only made possible by London's huge population
[Photo of Opera House sourced from: bernardoh.files.wordpress.com]
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Reasons why Sydney Dominates:
There are a bunch of things I really took for granted before the big flight over to London, and which I take more notice of today including:
1. Good (and by good I don't mean the restaurants meet national health and safety standards, just that they taste amazing and authentic) Asian food accessible at every corner: Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean and Malaysian to be exact.
2. Greater diversity and integration of cultures- I actually think Sydney's gotten even more diverse since I left it.
3. Friendly enforcement against 'Tall Poppy Syndrome' is well-established, usually by saying 'Fuck ooofffff' to douchebag beahaviour with a smile.
4. Being able to walk down a street, wearing whatever you want, a short skirt, whatever, and know that you won't get accosted by a junkie (in many, but not all parts)- priceless
5. Personal space is not an illusion in Sydney, it's still a reality.
6. Black stuff doesn't come out of my nose here.
7. Being able to afford to go to a swanky-esque bar occasionally and buy a drink without having to sacrifice, say, food for the next week.
Reasons why London Dominates:
There are also many things I've come to miss about London, no matter how much people whinge about it I will always defend it as a city because...
1. Anonymity still remains a valuable commodity for non-celebrities - being able to wear pyjamas down a street in Central London and knowing no one will even glance twice. There's always someone weirder than you anyway.
2. 'Fuck off' enforcement still rife, but the English equivalent is more of a 1 hour criticism session about some celebrity or sell-out musician/football player
3. SNOW. That is all.
4. Being able to walk down a street and point out all the 1000 year old monuments on either side as you walk past.
5. Being the centre of Europe, newsrooms in London have the potential to become much more interesting
6. Live music- someone that's huge in the underground/alternative music scene internationally can always be found playing somewhere on any given night of the week in London. While Londonians talk about these gigs nonchalantly as such non-events, Australian fans scramble for leaked mp3s and youtube videos for years before they'll even bother coming on tour
7. Random huge crowd events like silent disco in Liverpool Street only made possible by London's huge population
[Photo of Opera House sourced from: bernardoh.files.wordpress.com]
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