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DOWN UNDER |
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Not counting dry spells,
it's Paradise Down Under
of TheColumnists.com
The sun shines bright in Australia. Don’t forget sun glasses, or sun screen. But you can leave home without a number of expectations, the ones that involve human interaction. Get ready to be treated really well.
There’s not a lot of land between San Jose and Sydney, but a whole lot of water and the crossing seems endless, with added hours for security that puts even more hassle into the air travel annoyance. But, having recently returned from my venture there, I’d have to say it was all worth it and, with well-tinted glasses, eye-opening.
You’ve probably heard that Sydney is a beautiful city. No dissent there. Sitting on a lovely harbor with the Tasmanian Sea beyond, Sydney exudes charm. Ferries whisk you to nearby towns, suburbs and beaches and each time you leave the harbor you look back at the glory of the landmark Opera House and a bridge that is gaining as much fame as the Golden Gate.
But each time you land in the various ports, the greeting is the same. It seems like a land of thoroughly laid-back unstressed folk, eager to chat and graciously polite to your needs. Waitresses seem to have extra time for conversation about you and them and where we have all been. The waitpersons are an international marvel. We were served by men and women from New Guinea, Poland, Fiji, Scotland, Singapore and other places we couldn’t always decipher. The world’s young seem currently to have made Australia and New Zealand their prime destination and their joy in being there adds to yours.
Doggone it, everybody and everything is friendly. The kangaroos are friendly. About 100 of them filled a golf course in Merimbula early one evening and they seemed willing to talk and hop together. Except for dodging their poop, the golfers just play through.
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And then there's that fabulous Sydney Opera House! |
The kids, prim and proper in school uniforms; the exceedingly fashionable ladies in stylish off-the-shoulder summer gear; the good-natured and curious fellows--everyone seems to have time and interest. There are socials on the streets, outdoor coffee shops shoulder to shoulder in Melbourne (order a “flat white,” now my world-favorite coffee), a sense of glee as the young, dressed-up and glittery, head out for the evening to meet each other, a liveliness that seems strangely innocent to an American.
The Australians do have
some problems. A five-year drought has left parts of the land
burning. There’s some debate as to where all the social
welfare money should be spent. (A small-town chemist told me
that seniors in Australia pay only the first $3 ($1.75 US) on
any prescription. There’s inordinate pride in the academic
achievements of students, well able to deal with education costs
there.)
Aussies are deeply involved in national guilt over past treatment
of the Aboriginals (whose artwork is now prized.) And the massacre
on Bali that killed more than 80 vacationing Aussies, has put
a 9/11-type damper on Australian travel plans, at least to northern
neighbors.
But this is a land that seems to have avoided the cynicism, the anger and some of the tension that grips our own land. We may not always realize we are engulfed in such traits until we travel to where there is a fresher breeze and a constant unexpected civility.
Actually the bright sunshine
Down Under casts a new perspective on the cloudiness back home
and a yearning for life as it used to be--friendly and cheerful
with an abundance of mates who like it that way.
©2003
by Murry Frymer. The Frymer
caricature is ©2000 by Jim Hummel. The illustrations are
from IMSI's Master Clips Collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd. E.,
San Rafael, CA, 94901-5506, USA.
MURRY FRYMER
is one of the four founding "fathers" of TheColumnists.com.
He's based in San Jose, CA, and writes a regular column for SAN
JOSE MAGAZINE.
You can
comment on this column online. Please address your message to
either "The Editors" or Murry Frymer. To send an email,
click here: talkback@thecolumnists.com
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