It is never easy to pack up your shackles and move lock, stock and barrel to a new city where you know next to no one. It is extra daunting when that move sees you move in with your partner for the first time – a new partner in a new city with no contacts or networks to fall back on. Add to that not having a job to go to in the new city and one would say you would be insane to do such a thing. And yet, this is just what I have done. My partner and I have just moved from Sydney to Melbourne. We have no jobs as such and have no real support network here – and yet here we are, and loving it!
I have lived in Sydney for nearly 25 years. To say I was aware of the Sydney/Melbourne rivalry is an understatement. The press in Sydney regularly run stories on how much better Sydney is than Melbourne, and how big a chip Melbourne has on its shoulder because it is not Sydney. This was a daunting prospect for me as I love Sydney’s confidence and brashness – and was not sure if I could live in a place so obsessed with if it was better than another place or not. To my surprise, I have not once come across this in Melbourne. Instead what I have found is a city that is brimming with self-confidence and a style and elegance that just is not evident in Sydney. That is not to say Melbourne is better than Sydney – it is just different. And it is that difference that is exciting me about my move – that, and the chance to be living with my lover for the first time.
Whilst I’ve yet to make any friends here, the people I am meeting are incredibly friendly and helpful when they learn I am new to the city – especially when they find out I am from Sydney. Most have been thrilled that I have wanted to move from Sydney to Melbourne. And that makes me wonder just how many people move from one city to another these days? Just how transient are we? According to the bureau of stats there are a lot of people moving from the regions to the cities, and smaller numbers doing the sea-change from large cities to coastal towns, but how many people pack up from one big city to move to another big city, for no apparent reason – and is dong that just leaping out of the frying pan and into the fire? Am I the only one doing such a thing? Surely not?
I always expected Melbourne to be very similar to Sydney. Of course Melbourne has a different climate and it lacks the iconic splendour of the harbour, opera house and bridge – but these things are just material - objects and natural features. Surely the culture of Melbourne and Sydney would be similar. I mean, we are all Australians and in comparison to other countries, very close knit. Imagine my surprise when I discovered a very different culture to the one I was used to. Sydney is very bustling – and loves that about itself. I was expecting Melbourne to be the same. I thought that what being a modern city in the 21st century was about. Imagine my surprise the first time I went to a restaurant and the wait staff was friendly and knowledgeable? That doesn’t happen in Sydney. I am still taken aback when I walk down the street and people smile at me or say “Hello”. That certainly doesn’t happen in Sydney. If you did that in Sydney you would be looked at like you were crazy. And the first time I went window shopping (as is often my want) and the staff actually acknowledged me – pleasantly. And when I apologised for only window shopping, instead of getting a scowl and being ignored, I got polite conversation and no pressure to buy anything. What an amazing revelation. It appears the retail staff in Melbourne actually like their jobs! All of a sudden one of my favourite things to do is now also a pleasure to do! The hustle and bustle of Sydney means the retail staff simply doesn’t care about the customers – and heaven forbid if you actually want assistance with something. You may as well prey for peace in the Middle East, as that has more chance of being a reality! But then Sydney does have Bondi, the Bridge, and the Opera House. It needs not things like customer service. Or so it thinks.
Melbourne of course does not have such wonders. Federation Square, the Arts Centre spire, Flinders St Station – all iconic buildings for sure but none of them come close to the Opera house or the Bridge. And St Kilda beach is no Bondi, that’s for sure. And oh how Sydney loves to mock these things. What I am coming to realise is that what Melbourne lacks in natural and man-made wonders, it more than makes up for in what is actually much more important – warmth and acceptance. And in these times of social and financial instability, isn’t that much more valuable? Should not that be held up as a human wonder worthy of worship? I think so. And I think I’ve made the right move. I think I’ve found a new home.
Now I just need a job!
