Sydney -one month on.

I come  to Sydney not as a tourist, hungry to savour her beauty, but as a migrant. Yes that oft repeated and hateful word-migrant.

But that does not deter me from enjoying what she has to offer and it also encourages me to look a little bit deeper under her external veneer.
Sydney is a fairly new city by almost all accounts . 

There is almost no mistaking the fact that about 300 years ago it did not exist in any recognisable form other than that of maybe a few indigenous settlements and tribes living ?harmoniously together.Anyway our journey from one of the oldest and indeed most well known city of the modern world to Sydney was uneventful and pretty smooth save for the interminable wait at immigration at Sydney International airport.

Barry was born and bred in Sydney. Barry was my angel. He came to collect us from the airport and settle us into his own flat right in the city centre otherwise known as CBD or Central Business District in australianesque.

On that very same note let me highlight early on one very important fact that would be migrants and other interested people from around the world tend not to realise - though the two nations, England and Australia, purportedly speak the same language English and the Anglo-Saxon descendants of the early settlers are proud of their ancestry, there is very little in common with the two cultures! Surprise! Surprise! Not really.
Australia’s inhabitants are just that – Australians! They speak different, talk different, hear different, drive different, swear different, eat different, dress different and most importantly have a different sense of humour.

Sydney is famed the world over for her stunning Opera House and for her Harbour bridge. Equally stunning is the Anzac bridge I would say. The walk from circular quay toward the Opera House is not only magnificent but also certainly one made for the relaxing tourist.

Central Sydney or should I say Sydney CBD is essentially multicultural with a strong Far Eastern influence. It's vibrant and bubbly with scents that scintillates the senses. A gourmets heaven. One doesn't have to go far to sample cuisine as varied as Spanish and Japanese and Thai and Korean. Capitan Torres offers some great Spanish sea food, while a yummy Taiwanese breakfast burger isn't that far away.

Spirituality and cuisine lie intermingled on Sydney's streets. There's a Scientology church on Castlereagh, a Catholic one on George's and so on and forth one can find a rich variety of houses of worship in a square mile of Sydney's heart.

In Sydney the old and the new lie side by side, skyscrapers easily intermingling with century old, meter thick, stately buildings. In the summer heat the tall buildings enclosing each street turn the streets into hot tubes of sweltering madness- not a pleasant place to be. And I guess that's why Sydney has some beautiful beaches to make it up.

Bondi

Having visited only Bondi I shall limit my comments to it. It's beautiful and blue (other than when it turns red)! But if you've been to North Yorkshires Scarborough, and I have (in fact lived there for a year and a half), then you can see what I mean when I say that Bondi isn't even a tenth as great a beach as Scarborough, if only S had the same sunshine and temp.

But as God doesn't give everything to one person and shares blessings out-Bondi gets the fame and the weather, and Scarborough gets the glory ( at least from me!).

The following is for 'would be' migrants, especially those from the UK.

As I mentioned earlier we are migrants to this city. On the evening of our first day here we ventured out half dazed to get some grub. Did our first woolies shop and met Hungry Jacks - good lad for some refuelling.

What surprised me in our lil night walkabout was that I hadn't heard even a single person speak English on the streets! Also surprised by the almost rarity of Anglo-Saxons. Yes, over the next few days, as we ventured out more along York street etc there were suited and booted Anglo-Saxons about--but far fewer than I would have imagined.  So my point is, Australia is no longer a British colony of Anglo-Saxons. It lies in the east and feels and smells very much like the east, albeit with a Western democracy. I beg no one to take this the wrong way--its simply a statement of fact as I perceived it.

So here I'll summarise my tips and thoughts for would be migrants under three broad headings. It can become ten time permitting but for now its just three. The same I had actually written in one of my posts on Pomsinoz!

Customs

For those of you(like me) who watch border control and are scared stiff of customs my advice is--chillax! They are not too bad. We had tons of meds and food with us--declared them all on the slip we were given from Singapore airport. At customs they asked us to put some of our bags which were piled high down at ground level for their dogs to take a sniff. Guess if there is no animal matter you should get through. They also orally confirmed that the meds were for personal use--they didn’t ask for any prescriptions etc.

The second time I came through customs it was from India and again done the same--declared everything. This time they opened the box, cursory look--I even had pickle in it. They said nothing.

So the bottom line is--Declare if in doubt. Any fresh fruit or stuff like that they are not keen on--even if its stuff from the plane.

At the end of the day they are doing their job and it is our duty not to bring in stuff that would endanger the environment in which we are planning to live in.

People

Sydney, esp central sydney is very multicultural. If we just consider Oz to be an asian country then that would be a good starting point for would be migrants. Yes Australia has a western democracy. But in cities, esp like Sydney the very fabric has a multicultural identity--more so asian. This influence is enriching and neutral. Nothing to worry about and a lot to enjoy and take from. There are again parts of Sydney and certain cultures or behavioural practices that might remind one of parts of London or Birmingham--basically take care of yourself and your possessions as you would do anywhere.

Bulk of the people you meet are just normal everyday people. The grumpy lot, the cheerful lot, the helpful lot and so on. Much less ‘put on’ pleasantness compared to the UK--may be good and bad. Be yourself, and try and get to know people. You might find more people come over and try to get to know you--be they neighbours, co workers etc--they are assessing you as you are them!

You will find some that you want in your life and some that you wouldn’t mind keeping a healthy distance from. Always keep an open mind.

Nature/Landscape

The farthest I've been from Sydney in the past month is Bathurst. Sydney city is beautiful--its tall buildings adding glamour to the lovely beaches. The blue skies are uplifting. As it gets hotter we often have some rains to cool things down. When it rains its not a British rain but a very Asian rain--reminds me of South Indian rains--nice big dollops with a bit of thunder.

As you drive out of Sydney into the Blue mountains the surrounds are more scraggly and patchy green compared to the lushness of Britain. For some reason or another long drives here dont seem to agree with me. I feel hot and nauseous(even with aircon). But that might be just me. Whereas never felt the same in England.

So all in all new migrants to this beautiful land please remember Australia is Australia, more Asian in landscape and weather than European; quite multicultural which I find good, and has breathtakingly blue skies to assuage years of grey sky syndrome.

Dancing lights in Darling Harbour windows