Melbourne

The more I struggle and resist,
Melbourne is growing on me bit by bit,
There is no way that this city is adapting to me,
So I must be adapting to it


When past visitors described Melbourne as Australia's cultural center I imagined museums and esteemed intellectuals not modern day beatniks and street art.  So you can imagine my confusion when I got to this modern, graffiti-saturated city.  Where the hell is all the culture?  Oh yeah, it's right in front of your face.  


Melbourne is a difficult city to write about, not because there is nothing worth saying but because the things that make this city special have nothing to do with its physical qualities and everything to do with the people they attract.  The streets are wide and flat.  Almost everyone owns a bicycle.  There are a lot of people but I would never call it crowded.  There are trams (buses running on rails) which are easy to sneak onto, however people pay anyway for some vague alturistic purpose.  The streets hash like a grid, and of course I manage to get lost anyway. 


Melbourne has an amazing music scene.  I have never been to a city with such talented buskers everywhere.  Performers set up full on speakers and microphones just to play on street corners.  I have heard that talented buskers in Melbourne can make as much as a thousand dollars per week.  Melbourne is one of those cities with enough hippie values and street culture that it prompts people to say "That is sooo Melbourne" (reminicient of "That is sooo Boulder," "That is sooo Berkeley," "That is sooo Portland," and "That is sooo San Francisco.")  


This city has institutions.  My favorite is Lentil As Anything.  Lentil is a not-for-profit vegetarian restaurant where customers are asked to pay what they believe their food is worth and whatever they can afford to cover costs for those who can't.  Some of the staff is made up of volunteers, but people who work there long enough are able to obtain paid positions.  There are three Lentil As Anything restaurants in Melbourne.  Each one has its own alternative atmosphere, and the food is amazing in all three: garden salads, rosted vegetables, orzo or bowtie pasta, basmati rice, pumpkin, eggplant, beetroot, carrot, kidney bean, and tofu curries, lentils (of course) usually in the form of daahl, okonomiyaki (Japanese pancakes).  Dessert is rice pudding or sago and chai, coffee, or herbal teas are avaliable upon request.  


To me Lentil represents a society of people who work with the simple motivation of furthering a community that benefits everyone.   Quite literally though, it is a restaurant without prices, and, contrary to probable skepticism, it works!    It works because it is quality.  It works because people want to eat there, and it works because people want to pay, because they see the direct linkage between their payment and the longevity of the restaurant.  The Lentil that is closest to my place is located in the courtyard of an old convent in Abbotsford.  There is live music on weekends in the summertime and when they run out of table room, people eat in circles on the grass.   It is sooo Melbourne.


Before moving to this city, I heard people describe Melbourne as having an unusual sense of calm.  Despite my irritation on arrival and my resentment at being in another big city, my life here has come together easily and after two seamless months, the Melbourne calm has finally managed to calm me.  

When I got here from Tasmania, Keyon had already arrived.  Keyon just happens to have a cousin who rents out an empty place in Fitzroy, one of the coolest areas in Melbourne, because, for some complex reason that we were never clued in on, he needs to keep an Australian address.  So, somehow we totally lucked out and we were able to move into his place rent free!!!  Steve soon followed, so now I have been reunited with two of my favorite English people.  


A few days into my stay here, I was walking down Brunswick Street in Fitzroy when I saw a French guy playing a guitar and singing about the environment.  He was a fundraiser for The Wilderness Society.  After ending my time at Public Outreach in Sydney, I was unsure whether I wanted to return to street fundraising.  However, that quickly changed when I got to Melbourne because The Wilderness Society is different.  Public Outreach is a marketing company that fundraises for charities.  The Wilderness Society is all in-house; fundraisers work directly for the charity.  Hence, there is no middle man, all donations go directly to the charity.  The Wilderness Society orignially started in Tassie, so I had seen the charity represented all over Hobart and I knew that they had a big influence in the creation of many National Heritage Areas that I had visited...so...needless to say... I decided to apply.  


I have learned a lot working for TWS.  We have two meetings a week which basically function as workshops.  We learn about campaigns and discuss everything from fund raising techniques to genuine ambition to create change.  It is a job that fullfills the academic in me, at least for the time being.  


TWS has also introduced me to some amazing people.  One of whom is Gaby, an outgoing, motivated, environmental enthusiast from New Zealand.  The two of us plan to take off at the end of this month on a super crazy awesome (not at all planned yet) adventure along the Great Ocean Road and then...onward.  Until then, I am trying to live cheap and save big.  


I have frequently been asked which city I prefer Sydney or Melbourne and I have finally decided on an official response: Sydney is a city that I would prefer to spend three months and Melbourne is a city that I would prefer to spend ten years.  Sydney is that sexy-attractive, extrovert who knows everyone.  He can surf, speak like seventy different languages, finish loads of projects and still manage to have time to lay on the beach on the weekends.    Melbourne, however, is a bit more soft spoken.  He is the kind of guy who seems chill, but not all that striking.  He likes music, but everyone likes music.  He likes art but everyone likes art.  In time, however, the more you learn, the more you like.  Slowly Melbourne earns your trust and you realize that you two could be lifelong friends.