I have been in Melbourne for a bit more than one month. I think it is time to share my first feelings about Australia and about Aussie people particular.
So close to the UK and at the same time so far from it
As I lived for six months in England, I can notice some similarities: same love for cricket, same taste for spicy food and sunday roasts, same stupid TV shows (vive Jamie Oliver)… Bus as a very recent country, it remains much different in the architecture, the landscapes, the weather (of course) and the way poeple think and live. I will try to find some other examples later.
People are nice, sometimes too nice to be real…
Getting in any shop gets the same as visiting a friend « Hey, How are you doing today? » and the best part is that they really seem interested in how your day is going and in what you have been up to.
« We don’t have the same sun as in Europe »
Come on, stop kidding the sun is always the same, all over the world! I was actually wrong. As son as the sun is out, 15 degrees in Melbourne look like 20 degrees in France. Indeed, Australia is one of the places on earth where the hole in the ozone layer is the biggest. So the sun hits you straight and feels like it is burning your skin. Sun lotion has then become my bestfriend.
« No worries »
Or yet « take it easy », « Just enjoying life man » and « cheers mate ». Nothins is serious. « You do not have a great job so far? Take it easy mate, you’ll find something else » as Guru told me last week. Most of Australian people are very positive: nothing can be perfect, but you have to get your shit together to do your best and if you cannot help it, then it is useless to complain about it. According to me, here is the main difference between French and Aussie states of mind. I do not want to generalise this about Australian people though.
More details about Melbourne to come!
One more frenchie in oz 