I've been trying to come to terms with a few things lately...
Australia is definately different from New Zealand -> the comparison is kind of like comparing the States (boo!) to Canada (woo!). One biggie would be the difference between the diets--Sydney is choc full of fast food joints whereas the fast food joints in New Zealand were far and sparsely available. New Zealanders seem to be more tolerant of different races whereas people in Australia will stare at you--SERIOUSLY!
On the train to Milson's Point for the fireworks, my housemates and I were sitting across from a caucasian woman and her two young kids. The kids gawked at us and looked terrified (of three girls...) and the mother kept looking us up and down. Needless to say, I'm not totally loving the vibe over here. Although, it seems the universe heard my thoughts and sent me a very nice Aussie lady who watched our blanket for us while we walked around and enjoyed our NYE day :)
The pace of life is another gigantic difference between Kiwi land and Oz--New Zealanders are so chill! I loved it there <3 whereas Aussies are all about the daily 9-5 grind and making money...kinda like back home :(
All these differences brings me to my next discussion point--> dealing with the divide between how things should be and how things are. I'm on this trip to learn new things, see the way the world works and have a blast doing it...so does that include trying to change/impact things? I've seen situations where families leave the burden of bringing home the bacon on the shoulders of the woman of the house...and forcing her to take care of the entire household while she's at it. I don't think that's fair at all and me being the sweetheart that I am, I want to help these women learn that they can stand on their own two feet and speak their opinions to better themselves and their situation. ...But I don't want to butt in where I'm not supposed to. Which leaves me with another question: Do I learn from these sights and bring the knowledge back home?
I battled with the "shoulds" and "coulds" and "realities" of life for a while--my coworkers can vouch for this for sure! I don't know why but I feel people should live a life they are happy living--meaning they don't succumb to the negativity and harmful influences in their lives. I guess that could work for any situation though-- from domestic violence to high school grades and even choosing an ice cream flavour. I've seen things and was in situations I sure as hell didn't want to be in during my stay in Sydney and I wonder if I'm present for these instances because the universe is telling me something or because it's just life. I hate the expression "it's just life" because it sounds as if whomever said it has given up...living a meaningless life being other peoples' servant is not a part of life, being cursed at by your husband is not a part of life, being spanked is not a part of life--I could go on but I think you get the idea, right?
So what do you think? Is this just life or am I supposed to make use of these scenes?
I think it's up to you to choose whether you want to do something about those scenes. :)
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