Balance Sheet on Australia

It was a hectic week at work upon our return from Australia. This weekend I finally had a little time to reflect on the trip and to go through our photos. There were a few surprises about Sydney and Australia and I here's a list ranked according to surpriseness (yes, I know).

1. Sydney is not just a nice place but is one of the best cities on Earth
2. Why would anyone live in Shanghai if they could live in Sydney?

Of course, I'm living in Shanghai and not in Sydney so the answer to #2 above is more complicated than it appears.

What did I like about Sydney and Australia?

1. The scenery and environment are fantastic. It's like a city in a national park
2. For a city, the people are pretty nice. Almost Peavine-ish. They say "sorry"
   
3. They take life pretty easy. No pushing or shoving.
4. The food is clean and fresh and of many varieties
   
5. The air is clean and tasteless
6. No bargaining in the shops
7. Great transportation system; bus, ferry, train, etc.

What did I not particularly like?

1. It's expensive. A bottle of water costs at least US$2
2. They don't work enough. Almost all shops close at 5 pm.
3. They don't seem to know what scrambled eggs are. Everything is sunny side up.
4. Their DVDs and video games don't work on US equipment
5. Their choice of tv programming is pretty limited. Mostly US programs.
6. They don't really talk like Crocodile Dundee.
   

But on balance, Australia is a very fine place. Still, Peavine is finer (if it only had an ocean!)