Being far away from the Motherland makes me realise all the things we take for granted in what is described as the lucky country. It goes without saying that I miss family and friends the most, but I wanted to list those small things that I miss most on a day to day level that we don't really think about until we don't have them, and of course, some of my favourites things that I long for.
So here is my top 20 list of things I miss.
1. Silence. Melbourne, or it's suburbs, is far more quiet than Istanbul.
2. Lack of traffic. There is no such thing as a traffic jam in Melbourne. If you think there is, you haven't been here yet.
3. Easy to find organic produce and health food and a huge range of organic/free range foods and products. I could create a list within this list.
4. Proper coffee. Italian lattes, with soy milk.
5. Cruising in my own wheels with the music up.
6. Being able to park your car in your own driveway and not have to drive around in the late hours to find a space next to a bus shelter 50 metres from your front door.
7. The ease at which you can move around the city; by car, tram, train, bus, by bike in a specified bicycle lane, or on foot without risking braking your ankle on the poorly constructed footpath.
8. Minimal overcrowding in most places.
9. People know how to form a queue and stay in it. Here, people don't hesitate to jump a line no matter who or where you are and think nothing of it.
10. Lack of red tape/bureaucracy/corruption in day to day living.
11. The air.
12. The cost of a membership to a gym being so affordable and not considered a luxury.
13. Political stability and a fairly stable dollar (ok, maybe not right now).
14. Multiculturalism and diversity.
15. Respect for the environment.
16. The Tofu shop.
17. Little Collins Street.
18. The price of petrol.
19. Recycling everything.
20. BBQ's in your own backyard.
6 comments:
Hello again Renai;I live in Istanbul like you do,and I've never seen people jump a line,I'm not a big scary person,but it just never happened to me,in my opinion in Turkey noone can take another person's spot in a queu,because you must be ready for a big argument if you do that,and you know Turkish people are never afraid of fighting.Interesting,really,maybe because you look soft,or they see you as a nonTurkish speaker who can not fight for her rights.Believe me I'm really suprised.
hi again pisipati, it's not so much people pushing past me as such, but ive noticed times i'm in boyner, for example, and being served by the customer service attendant, then someone approaches the counter and starts asking for this and that without even thinking about the fact they are busy with me. in starbucks a couple of times people have tried to move past me in the queue and when ive said something they have a shocked expression and apologise and move back. maybe they are not doing it on purpose though. im not sure. i do notice that people don't like to wait to be served. they call out over a restaurant or queue to the service person. ive seen many instances when people have become angry (particularly us women!) when they have to wait to be served in shops. its just one of the differences i guess. maybe i look like a push over or something...but i agree with you, i have seen people argue about who was supposed to be served first and it can get ugly!
:)
Renai, I just LOVE living in Melbourne. You know whenever I go away on holiday, I miss my home before I even leave to go to the airport.
Ardent, we are sooo lucky at home. Really. I never noticed how much until I came here. not to say it's bad here, just different and some things take a while to get used to. When I fly home as the aircraft approaches Tullamarine and I can see the city skyline I always get goosebumps and feel a massive sense of excitement at coming home. 39 days to go!!!
Renai, I feel exactly the same way when I am approaching Istanbul.. :) I feel that I simply "belong" as soon as I get off the airplane. :)
There is a saying in Turkish: (loose translation: The Fox will roam around but will always end up in the fur shop)... Good night!
LIke your list (and thanks for becoming a 'lettore' (not sure about the English) of my blog!) Istanbul sounds kind of like Rome in the traffic and people pushing into queues stakes at any rate.
Now that I have a kid the #1 thing I miss about Sydney is open spaces - parks, the beach, backyards, bigger houses. Also - friendly people. People here are friendly but not if its a customer-client relationship- only if they know you.
One thing though (and this drives me NUTS now that I speak Italian) - it's not "latte" (that just means "milk" in Italian) it's "caffe latte" ie milky coffee. I've heard some funny stories about tourists going into coffee bars here and asking for "latte" and being surprised when they're given a glass of milk. Sorry if that's a bit snotty. :(
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