As Above So Down Under

A lack of culture shock during my first week in Sydney

The flight from San Francisco to Sydney made LA traffic appear as peaceful as a hike through Runyon. A total of 17 hours of travel where I watched more Netflix and listened to more podcasts than I care to count.

My travels ended with me curbside at the airport on a rainy night wondering why there were no Ubers available in a bustling cosmopolitan city wreaking havoc on every other driver. I crossed the street toward the taxi pick up, and I looked to my right like I do in California. The sound of the bus horn in my left ear quickly reminded me that Australians drive on the left side of the road, and I jumped back on the curb — and looked to the left. The taxi man helped put my luggage into the van that I had all to myself. He told me Uber is fairly new in Australia. Before I could tell him the third number of my Airbnb address, he interrupted and said he knew where to go. “Lots of tourists stay there. Right in the heart of the city.”

My desperation to not appear as a basic tourist told me to blurt out that I was in Sydney for school and an internship – an integrating experience beyond taking photos in front of the opera house. I didn’t, though. I waited to talk about my reasons for being in Australia. I asked questions about his life, and he told me he was from India and has lived in Sydney for eight years. He dropped me off in downtown at the base of a high-rise. I gave him a tip right before I remembered tipping isn’t standard in Australia.

I settled into my hotel, that’s my home for the next three months. The hotel used to be a wool factory — Australia’s biggest export at one point in time – and is now converted into a hotel with a polished industrial aesthetic. My roommate’s name is Sam, he’s the shy-friendly type. I’ve noticed he’s gone from just smiling at my jokes to letting out a soft chuckle. We’ve still got a ways to go. I threw down my bags and instantly fell asleep with my hoodie still on over my head.

I took a walk the next morning around the surrounding neighborhood, and in the light of day, things looked the same-ish. The plethora of eucalyptus trees, or gum trees in Australian terms, is a familiar backdrop that reminds me of my southern California home behind the bronzed European descendants that landed there generations ago. I notice how bustling the city is, and while it’s much cleaner than any city I’m used to in the states, I don’t necessarily feel like I’m in a new place. It reminds me of bizarro and superman or Gemini twins — just a little off from the usual.

I’m looking forward to finding the nuanced differences between where I come from and my new environment. I like that it won’t be as easy to find differences because it means that I just have to have a keen eye wherever I go.

Cheers!