First year in Sydney

It's a year already. I guess time flies when you're having fun. And yes, Sydney is a fun city, with the beaches and national parks. Just have a look at my Flickr account. Still things are different here, and I'm not talking about the water flushing down the toilet (it doesn't turn in the opposite directions), and not about driving on the other side of the road either. Some things I find different, which just pops up in my mind:

Fries and mayonnaise
I miss my Belgian fries, and mayonnaise. The best mayonnaise so far is at Oporto's, a chicken fast-food chain. In the local deli, we found a 'real' mayonnaise, imported from Canada which is decent. All other is pretty bad.

Vegetables and fruit
Is a big disappointment here. I thought it would be much better, fresher certainly. In Belgium the quality was a lot better!

Food (asian, sushi, cheap)
I love Asian food, and it's dirt cheap here. Especially sushi, which is very expensive in Belgium. Here it's as cheap as fast food, but a lot better. And I love banana bread (unfortunately).

Coffee
First time I asked for a coffee... Well they looked at me as if... I had to choose from a whole list. I just want coffee. In Europe you get a cup of coffee, and you add milk and sugar yourself. Simple. Don't ask for a coffee with milk, you'll get milk with coffee...

Services (the no worries phenomenon)
Am talking about telephone service, electricity, Internet... Service is terrible. It's like they don't care. A lot gets outsourced too. And the Internet is soooo sloooowww. And they talk about broadband, a miserable 1.27Mbits.
Banking service is friendly, but pretty terrible, and expensive.

Sports
People are nuts on sport over here. And fitness, with a Fitness First on every corner (next to McDo...), people go jogging, swimming, fitness (boot camp),... early in the morning. Still, I'm getting into it, going snorkelling, mountainbiking, and even soccer at work on Wednesday noons. (I did loose 5 Kg this last year...)

Weather
Well, that's great of course, lots better than Belgium, which is very grey, very rainy. I think we were in luck for the last year, as with new year, it wasn't too hot this time around. Still, it's a getting used to, every morning, sweating like a horse coming into work. But still, the weather is one reason we came over here.

Nature (beaches, national parks)
The nature in and around the city is amazing. Even in the close inner city suburbs, there's a lot of green.
I've taken up snorkelling, I love hiking in the national parks. This is why we are here.

Work
I guess work is the same every where, you need to. But it is pretty social here, we have drinks often, do things together with colleagues. I would say, it's better than back in Belgium. Maybe also the fact that I can walk to work (20 minutes).

Let's see in another year...