The
most striking thing about walking around Sydney so far has been the
utter lack of drama on the roads. Barring the occasional biker
motorcade, the roads are spectacularly free of the lunacy that Nairobi
drivers frequently put all other road users through. It seems that the
pedestrian is king in Sydney: whenever you come upto to a pedestrian
crossing, and the lights are in your favour, the drivers will wait until
everyone is across the road. Even the drivers of public transport will
wait for all pedestrians to cross before proceeding on their way. What
makes it even more amazing is the fact that the lanes are very narrow so
that you only occupy the width of road that is absolutely necessary. If
the drivers did not stick to the rules the narrowness of the lanes
would make it almost impossible to move from point to point.
My colleagues from Cameroon attribute the orderliness of Sydney, and Australia generally, to the patriotism of the citizens here. The people here are used to playing by the rules such that only the criminal elements tend to break the rules. Getting through Immigration at the airport was a breeze. Even when one of our colleagues lost his bags, there was no panicking; the Qantas officials assured us that either his bag would be delivered or he would be compensated by the insurance. They tracked his bag to Johannesburg and it was delivered in two days. Meanwhile the airline had arranged for clothes and toiletries to be delivered to him at the hotel while he waited for his bag.
The University of Sydney campus is a beautiful place to be in. It is clean and the noise that one associates with Kenyan universities is absent even though the students seem to be holding a very large number of rallies over one cause or the other. Our orientation was completed by our guides in good humour. You get the sense that had it been an official at UoN or KU, the orientation tour would have been done with a level of grumbling that would have demonstrated his displeasure at being forced to guide a bunch of country yokels around his beloved University.
We visited a massive white-shoe law firm in the middle of the city and it can show a thing or two to the HHMs and Daly & Figgises of Kenya. They laid out tea and sandwiches. The water is clean so all they added was ice for the more adventurous. The conference rooms are well-appointed with WiFi and internet. Maybe they wanted to impress the Africans but we got the sense that this is how things work. No one had any airs about the fact hat they worked for the largest law firm in Australia.
I have been struck by the dozens of historical buildings in Sydney. They seem to be in great shape for their two centuries of existence and use. Many of the main buildings on the campus date back to 1850, though some were completed before the First World War. Of course there are those of more modern vintage but they complement the old ones rather beautifully. I wonder if this love affair with Sydney will last. Only time will tell.
My colleagues from Cameroon attribute the orderliness of Sydney, and Australia generally, to the patriotism of the citizens here. The people here are used to playing by the rules such that only the criminal elements tend to break the rules. Getting through Immigration at the airport was a breeze. Even when one of our colleagues lost his bags, there was no panicking; the Qantas officials assured us that either his bag would be delivered or he would be compensated by the insurance. They tracked his bag to Johannesburg and it was delivered in two days. Meanwhile the airline had arranged for clothes and toiletries to be delivered to him at the hotel while he waited for his bag.
The University of Sydney campus is a beautiful place to be in. It is clean and the noise that one associates with Kenyan universities is absent even though the students seem to be holding a very large number of rallies over one cause or the other. Our orientation was completed by our guides in good humour. You get the sense that had it been an official at UoN or KU, the orientation tour would have been done with a level of grumbling that would have demonstrated his displeasure at being forced to guide a bunch of country yokels around his beloved University.
We visited a massive white-shoe law firm in the middle of the city and it can show a thing or two to the HHMs and Daly & Figgises of Kenya. They laid out tea and sandwiches. The water is clean so all they added was ice for the more adventurous. The conference rooms are well-appointed with WiFi and internet. Maybe they wanted to impress the Africans but we got the sense that this is how things work. No one had any airs about the fact hat they worked for the largest law firm in Australia.
I have been struck by the dozens of historical buildings in Sydney. They seem to be in great shape for their two centuries of existence and use. Many of the main buildings on the campus date back to 1850, though some were completed before the First World War. Of course there are those of more modern vintage but they complement the old ones rather beautifully. I wonder if this love affair with Sydney will last. Only time will tell.
1 comment:
I enjoyed reading this blog entry and, in particular, your perspective on Sydney. I would like to make a constructive comment though...
Australian society is largely orderly because its institutions function well, not because of the patriotism if its citizens. For example, if you run a red light, there's a good chance of your being caught and fined, or of being prosecuted and then punished. If you happened to be a bus driver, you would be likely to lose your job; the Prime Minister would receive the same treatment (except that it would be more embarrassing for her).
It's just as well that your Cameroonian colleagues are wrong because their theory would imply that there's nothing you can do to improve the situation at home.
Regards.
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