Hello Again, Sydney

One Sydney-sider's experiences moving back to Sydney after a long absence overseas.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Perks of the job

Some people get free merchandise, a company car or heavily discounted international flights. Me? I get to walk through Auburn, in Sydney's western suburbs, on a daily basis. No really, bear with me ...

Everyone knows how multicultural Sydney is, but it's unlikely you've seen it at this density before. When you step onto the platform at peak hour, the mix of faces and garbs is what you'd expect at a busy international airport, rather than a suburb in Sydney. At the 2001 census 52.5% of Auburn's residents were born overseas and more than 72% spoke a language other than English at home. Immgrants come mainly from China, Turkey and Lebanon, but lately there has also been a massive influx from Africa. Many of the people who settle here are refugees.

What this translates to for a passer-through like me is a walk on the culturally diverse side. Here, for example, is a notice at Auburn station:


I haven't been all around the CityRail network but this is the first time I've seen a sign in anything except English. Walking down the main road to the station on Friday afternoon, I watch kids play driveway cricket – a girl in a burkha bowls a long hop to a boy in the classic school shirt and King Gee shorts, chatting in Croatian to the wicket-keeper. He stops talking long enough to hit a cross-bat swat over the head of the girl in the sari, fielding at mid off, and the ball rolls across the road and into the gutter where a couple of Sudanese girls are more interested in skipping rope than fielding. In the apartments surrounding the game, the parents are cooking dinner and the aromas assail you as you walk past: grilled meat and garlic, curry spices and asian sauces.

This ethnic diversity is reflected the cross-section of small businesses in the area. In one block you can pass a Chinese bakery, a convenience store selling hot nuts, a halal butcher, a restaurant with barbequed ducks hanging in the window, a Turkish delight factory and, to top it all off, an RSL club.

And there's something else you notice here: things are cheap! You can still, incredibly, buy some items for less than a dollar. And I'm not sure if it's the proximity to Flemington markets, but fresh produce is bargain basement. I've actually started doing some of our grocery shopping here it’s so cheap. Cop this:

Item.......................................Mark's local shops...........Auburn
Bunch of bok choy.........................$1.50........................$0.40
1kg nectarines................................$7.00........................$0.98
1kg lamb loin chops.......................$17.00.......................$6.00
1kg sirloin steak.............................$35.00......................$7.00
1kg green banana prawns.............$25.00......................$13.00

So yeah, go Auburn! It’s quite ugly in a lot of ways, and you wouldn’t be out of line saying that it’s a nice place to commute through, but no way in hell would you want to live there; however, it’s raw and vibrant as all get out, and I am glad I get a chance to experience it.

6 Comments:

At 12:57 am, Blogger Becky Willis Motew said...

I am flying over for the lamb chops, boy. How many do you think they'd let me bring back?

b

 
At 1:30 pm, Blogger Mark said...

You get a discount for 2kg (4 lb). Customs might have something to say about it though.

BTW, I've been posting comments on your blog but they don't come out. Did you enable the "comment nazi" setting by mistake?

 
At 2:51 am, Blogger Agnieszka Guzewska said...

I set up a blog and saw you are on this thing too! Long time, no see, eh??
If I ever come to Sydney, Auburn will obviously one of my top priorities. :-) banana prawns sound really cool!
Hope you are doing well. Have you published the book you were writing whilst in Brazil/Colombia? It would be great to read it!

All the best 4 u and Lesly
Agnieszka Guzewska

 
At 12:12 am, Blogger Becky Willis Motew said...

Yes, Mark, I foolishly fiddled around with Moderate Comments. It's fixed now.

Glad to read about Sydney. How is Head Lump Guy doing?

love,b

 
At 1:11 pm, Blogger Mark said...

Hi Agnieszka! I'll stick in a link to your blog when I get a second. Maybe we can catch up on skype and I'll tell you what happened to that book, and you can tell me what you've been up to. Getting married !?

 
At 1:14 pm, Blogger Mark said...

Hey becky,

Haven't seen headlump for a while - I've been sticking to my New Year's resolution of sleeping in. I do see the woman who rushes quite a lot - this morning she had sparkly jewellery on and a new hairdo. Wonder where she's off to, eh?

 

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