Despite what our licence plate says, you’d think us Victorian. Officially, we’ve seen an entire lap around the sun from the east coast of Australia now. We’re ingrained in the cycle of the city having glimpsed the turn of every season. Although, that feat is distinctly possible on any given weekend. Nothing can surprise us any more.
Looking back at my first blog I wrote about a few things that surprised us about living in Melbourne. After a year of being brainwashed by Melbournian culture and lifestyle I thought it only fitting to list a few of the city-wide idiosyncrasies we don’t tend to notice anymore.
- Knowledge is power — Every morning, after the alarm but before I’m properly conscious, my body rolls over and reaching for my phone I immediately open the weather app. It’s a ritual for every morning born from the unpredictable nature of Victorian weather patterns. And it’s not enough to just check the highs and lows, I’ve learned to scroll through the hour-by-hour temps and rainfall. Attire, transport, work and exercise plans for the day all hinge upon your preparedness.
- While Ash drives a lot more than me, I’ve noticed it in myself too. Aggressive driving is becoming second nature. At first I was startled when the BMW behind me was honking before I’ve even seen the light turn green (And I thought light travelled faster than sound?). But now, if we’re not forcing gaps at a merge and yelling at every moron making illegal U-turns then we must be in a really, really good mood.
- Daylight savings is a beautiful thing which I really take for granted now. I won’t always be able to ride home from work at 9pm in daylight.
- If I’ve found myself somewhere without good coffee nearby, then I begin to wonder what dimension have I suddenly fallen into, and how I’ll be able to get back. (Fun fact: Melbourne has the worlds highest cafe per person ratio.)
- I wasn’t even surprised when I heard that fact.
- When it comes to grocery shopping, our generation is at a distinct disadvantage. In Victoria, trollies are chained together in barbaric fashion with the only hope of accessing them — a key in the form of a gold coin. Hopelessly, the cashless 20–30 year old’s hang their head in dismay as they begin the exhausting process of dragging multiple brimming baskets down the aisles. It took a year but now we keep a dollar coin in the car. On the off chance we remember to take it with us inside, we enjoy a glorious moment of pre-21st century magic.
12 pages of the calendar screwed up and tossed down our rubbish chute and it’s clear we’ve adopted some new habits. They may be small quirks but in all honesty and introspection, we’re probably different people than who we were a year ago. We’re changing, but I think it’s a good thing. It means we’re adapting or moving at least. It may not be forward, or in any purposeful direction at all. But we’re ok with that. Sometimes just keeping your balance can be hard enough.