A few little observations..

I’m not really sure how one goes about blogging to be quite honest, but i’ll give it a shot and include a few little cultural observations of the last three weeks!  I’m a macquarie student studying in Graz, Austria this semester, however I spent 1 week in Berlin, and then travelled down to Graz.

A few little things which I find amusing and wonderful!  Having got on the plane in 42 degree weather in Sydney, and got off the plane in -5 degree weather in Berlin, I sort of went into shock.  I realised how much weather affects your lifestyle, even from the smallest things like the fact that in Sydney, when you get water out the tap, you put ice in it to make it cold, but inevitably, the water goes warm and isn’t as pleasant to drink.  In Europe, when you get water from the tap it’s cold but it actually get colder the longer you leave it!  Not that this really affects your whole lifestyle, but it’s just an observation.  But it got me thinking, as a result of the weather at home, it’s more of a natural state to be outside; at home having meals or just relaxing or reading outside in the backyard, at school everytime you leave a classroom, the corridor is outside.  However, here in Austria (in Winter) everything except moving yourself between one centrally heated location (like uni or home) to the next must be conducted inside. 

My next observation, is kinda small and silly and probably mostly reflective of the public transport in Sydney in contrast to that in Europe.  When you miss a train at home by 1 minute, you’re annoyed because it’s going to mean waiting another 15 minutes at least.  Here, you don’t even bother running for the train because there is just going to be another one in 3 minutes anyway!!  But again, that could have something to do with the weather as well because waiting 15 minutes in -5 degree weather is much worse than waiting in 25 degree weather.

So there’s my 2 cents for the moment!!