How In Love Are You With All These New Things…?
It’s been a month since I came here, in Melbourne. There’s quite a lot nof new things I’ve seen and experienced since then. Hmm…not intentionally comparing this lively city with Jakarta or any other city in my home country, but I think what I’m going to write here is just worth enough to be shared. Let’s just find out.
Public Transportation System
Melbourne has been known for its effective mass transportation system which links all parts of the city. There are trams, trains, and buses as means of transportation, and interestingly, we only need one card to use them all! The card is called ‘Metcard’, and we can choose whether we want to buy daily, weekly, or monthly card. It really depends on our needs. And here everything is scheduled. We can see the public transportation’s schedule online by visiting the ‘Metlink’ website, so that we can make a plan for our journey and arrive on time. From those 3 means of transportation, I think trams are the most favorite one. These trams are run by electricity, that’s why they don’t emit pollution. Besides, people in this city really like to use this public facility effectively. We can see people from different social class groups prefer to use these trams rather than driving their own cars. It’s really different from Jakarta, where the ‘car image’ still exists, where people are showing off that they can afford a car…In fact, they’re just stealing our rights to breathe fresh air! What a shame…
Multicultural Society
Another interesting thing is that Melbourne is a place where people from more than 20 different cultural backgrounds mixed and mingled in harmony. If we are on a tram, we shouldn’t be surprised if there are 5 groups of people talking in 5 different languages. That’s Melbourne! Very multicultural. And if you are an Asian, you shouldn’t be lonely because there are lots of Asians here. So, you don’t have to worry, you can find Asian food restaurants everywhere, they’re just right in the corners. However, the most interesting part of this multicultural society is that people respect each other. They live in harmony and just accept others as the way they are…One thing that should be learnt by many Indonesians nowadays…
Public Facilities for Disabled People
In Melbourne, most public facilities provide spaces for disabled people. On public transportations, on pedestrian walks, in the malls, even in public toilets, disabled people are given priority to have spesial designed facilities that may suit them. They don’t have to worry to go anywhere they want, or to have any difficulty, because the government has given a lot of attentions to facilitate them.
Do-It-Yourself Things
Another new culture that I’ve experienced is these do-it-yourself things. For me, as an Indonesian who sometimes relies on collaboration, cooperation, and helps from others, it’s quite surprising that in here I should be able to manage all the things by myself. Even when I bought furnitures, there’s a self-service furniture store where I should lift all the stuffs up by myself! Luckily I went there with several friends so that they can help me to lift the stuffs up, hehehe…But, one thing is for sure, most people here are task-oriented. They interact with others only to complete their tasks. It’s very rare to see people who spend hours only to chitchat with somebody they’ve just met. But, it doesn’t mean that they don’t want to help others. If we ask for help nicely, of course they wouldn’t mind.
Informally Formal
The last thing I want to share is about the way people act and communicate with their colleagues. In Indonesia, it’s usual to call people who are older or have higher position than us with several respectful salutations, e.g: Pak, Bu, etc. But in here, there’s a culture called ‘informally formal’, where people may call others only by their first name, even they are older or have higher position than us. However, it doesn’t mean that we can act as normally as when we communicate with our friends. Still, there’s a rule: respect. So, it would be better if we call people that we’ve just met with salutations, e.g: Miss, Mr, Prof, etc. But, if they tell you to call them by their first name, they really mean it. Also, in the way people communicate, most people talk in a friendly way, they don’t want to make it too formal so that we can chat as if we’re friends. But still, we have to put our feet on the right place. Don’t be too informal and make impression as if we’re rude or disrespecting others. Besides salutations and the way people communicate, this ‘informally formal’ culture is also related to the way people dress. I’m really glad to find that I can even wear tanktop to Uni 
No…kidding…I never do that. But it’s true, if we really want to, we can go studying with only wearing short pants and tanktop. As long as we feel comfortable with that, it’s just okay. And of course, there would be extreme temptations for you, guys, especially when you visit Melbourne in summer 
So…enough for my new discovery for today…Hope that it would be useful for opening a window to a new world…One day when I’ve found out more, I’d be glad to share with you again, okay?!
