Since I’ve been back from ‘down under’, people want to know what it was like. My answer, in general, is that Sydney was rather like New York City, only much, much farther away. The main difference being that the people drove on the left side of the street and some talked with an Aussie accent, but certainly no one spoke like Crocodile Dundee! There was little that was unique and many things quite familiar.
Each morning, I walked past 7-11 to get to Starbucks, which was almost right next door to Subway and right across the street, one block down was McDonald’s. One of the tallest buildings in downtown Sydney was the Ernst & Young building. Everywhere you went, there was familiar signs of ‘home’. So, it didn’t seem like much of a get away.
In attempting to put together my SoFoBoMo book for this year, of which I have about 6 more days to do, I’m finding it difficult to know what exactly it is that I want to say. Of course, I could simply put in 35 pictures and be done, but that, somehow, just wouldn’t suffice. I’m going to spend a bit more time on it today and make a good go to try to finish it or at least get really close. Perhaps I’ll go t my local Starbucks, sit there with my computer, and contemplate. Perhaps that will put me back in the mood of being in Australia. Yeah! That’s it. Starbucks! Reminds me of Sydney. LOL
On my return flight, I spoke to a lady who had been to, it seemed like, most everywhere. She said that most places are starting to look the same. Everywhere you go: McDonald’s, Burger King (Hungry Jacks), Starbucks, and even Walmart is showing, which reminds me that there was news in Sydney about the first Costco that had opened there. The lady even mentioned that when she was in Moscow that she saw in a TGI Fridays! Of course, it was written Cyrillic, but there was no mistaking that it was Friday’s!
Of course, this seems natural, I suppose with satellite television, jet travel, and the need or desire for better income to buy more stuff that countries would start losing their original ‘flavor’ in favor of more commerce and employment opportunities, but it is unfortunate that when you land in a land so very far away that it looks all too familiar.
Oh, well! Next international stop planned: Quito, Ecuador. March 2012!
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Great blog! Nice to see you post something besides horoscopes, P. Diddy!
Indeed, Now the question is…what were the “Native” drinks and candy like. What did they have that was unique? I see the Coca cola above so that doesn’t count.
Overall, I didn’t see anything that was unique. It was all very familiar. I asked around about ‘unique’ Australian food, and all that anyone could come up with was Australian Meat Pie. I tried a couple of those and they were exactly like what we called a pot pie. Admittedly, I didn’t try anything like Vegemite, though. I’d heard from some Aussies that it was not, shall we say, very tasty at all!
Besides, I didn’t see anywhere that they served it, but I wasn’t really looking very hard.
I imagine these days most large cities have many similarities due to the nature of the “beast.” When I think of Australia I think of those places that make it and it’s people to some extent unique..the Great Barrier Reef, Tasmania, Uluru (or Ayers Rock), or the rugged terrain in western Australia to mention a few. It’s places like this I’d expect to find the people most connected to their land/their country and perhaps most unique. Same here. If you really want to know the United States I’m not sure you’d get the most complete picture from a large city.
Agree 100%, Earl. I plan to make another trip to down under; however, this time, I’ll skip the big city, or perhaps make it my point of entry only. It would be nice to go somewhere where they’ve never heard of McDonald’s.
You have hit on precisely why I never even fantasize about traveling to big cities. Exception being made for a handful of unique ones with very special architecture. New Orleans, for example. Buenos Aires to see my brother. Like Earl, I dream of seeing natural wonders. I think about returning to Torrey, Utah or a small town in Kentucky, for the nearby scenery, not the cities or towns themselves. Furthermore, the people in small towns seem so much more real to me. I have come to suspect that there is something about life in the big city life, especially really large ones, that drains people of some of their humanity.
Maybe this is what your book is about—the fact that Sydney looks like everyone’s nearest big city.
I like the small towns myself, Anita. Two of my favorites are: Alamogordo, NM and St. George, UT. Both are very small towns but surrounded by rich photographic opportunities and they don’t look like every place else.
I agree with Earl. Big cities have become so homogenized it’s impossible to get an idea of the true culture of a country. People visiting the USA won’t get a good idea of this country by going to New York City, LA or even DC (currently the “destinations” of most international travelers). I suppose it depends on your expectations when traveling.
I wonder which town could be representative of the US. Certainly, as I’ve traveled across the US, different towns have different flavors. I think that LA and NYC certainly represent on facet of US life. The hustle and bustle, glitz and glamor side. I think that most people who travel, though, want to see the iconic part of the country. We, as photographers, I think, are a bit different in that respect.
If Vegemite is anything like the UK’s Marmite be glad you didn’t try it.
If there had been a language barrier, in Sydney, it would’ve felt a lot different. Ordering at a German McD’s is different. Having three small cubes of ice in the cup of Coke and having to pay for a packet of ketchup and/or mayo also helps make it feel a lot different.
Ecuador is going to feel and look different.
I think India (or the back woods of an Asian jungle) would be the most different place I could go.
It’s all the same, just up side down. Interesting topic, indeed. We also got TGI Friday, since a year or two. It’s like our IKEA, apparently on a mission to make pretty much every living room in the World look the same. I’m buying it, at the same time as I’m not. This globalisation force is certainly steering up ambiguous feelings in me.
Yeah. We just got an IKEA here about a little more than a year ago. I couldn’t believe that IKEA came to Charlotte, but it was well received and is very busy every weekend. I’m not a fan of the current culture of homogenization. Places lose their uniqueness.
When I was in Europe, I noticed much of the same influence of some “western” companies appearing in the most unexpected places. I suppose I had a similar reaction to you. But my diving trips have taken me to some pretty remote spots where you won’t smell a french fry for many, many hundreds of miles. As the others have noted, I think it is when you get away from the “civilization” that you notice the more unique things. Seems a bit sad this is what our definition of “civilization” is becoming.
Quito?! Good for you. I was there once, a very nice city! I can’t recall if we saw any fast food places since it was just a stop over on the way to Galapagos. But they have a very nice central market where I am sure you will find all sorts of unique photo opportunities.
I think that Quito will be quite different. Certainly, I plan to explore the area quite a bit. Hopefully, I can stay for a couple of weeks and get some really good photographic opportunities. Also, it’s a much shorter flight. About 3 hours from Miami and only a 2 hour time difference. I can deal with that!
Things are really getting closer (which is good and bad of course) – but sometimes I have the feeling it’s only on the surface (e.g. companies selling us furniture and clothes). However, there seem to be always rather distinct habits, ways of living, goals, attitudes.
Going from one British ex-colony to another – one is bound to find quite some similarities, I guess. Things will certainly be different in Ecuador. I’ve just been to Beijing – and, oh boy, that’s really a completely different cup of tea.
And now I need to catch up with your posts from down-under…