Friday, November 4, 2016

"Such Is Life"

Reportedly, "such is life" were the last words of the infamous Melbourne area criminal and sometimes folk hero "Ned Kelly" when he was hung here in Melbourne 136 years ago (November 11, 1880).  That's just one of the many delightful tidbits that came from a 3 hour "free" walking tour of Melbourne that started at its beautiful State Library of Victoria.

I'll spare you a step-by-step of my day -- but it was fun to learn the history and see the current vibrant and beautiful city.  What's not to like:  Melbourne is consistently rated among the top of the "most liveable cities" -- including top of one of the three main listings for 6 years -- and it was easily apparent on this beautifully sunny day.

But as with all my trips, the real fun for me is in the conversations with others -- and today provided a few treats:

- after noticing many excellent buskers (street performers) around the city, I took time to approach one and learn all about how they are auditioned and trained (one main street requires auditions -- all must be trained and there is a 2 month wait to get into the training), and licensed/regulated and supervised for loudness.  And the guy I approached had been doing it 8 years -- and seemed happy to talk about all aspects including introduce me to two others nearby (playing chess as they waited for their turn) including one that performed magic).  Having tried busking myself (with a friend and my son) in Portland -- I was interested to learn how it had grown to be such an integral part of the vibrancy of the city -- and even proceeded to the nearby city hall to engage in yet another delightful conversation with a couple of workers there and to get Melbourne's "Busking Guidelines" handbook.

- while doing some people watching in front of the Library, I noticed several young adults wearing Green Peace T-shirts soliciting.  I approached one to engage on what they were soliciting for and whether they were volunteers or paid.  The conversation ended up being fun and informative as I learned that the solicitor was a lifelong resident of Ohio who had come to Melbourne to get a master's degree (something in environmental sciences).  It was a paid opportunity that fit her interests -- and gave me an opportunity to get her opinion that Melbourne really was as great to live in as it appeared. She also said that she was paying the University of Melbourne about the same as she would be paying for a state-school education in Ohio.

- I confirmed what I had read about tipping in bars -- that it is "very rare."  It was a fun conversation because I started the conversation by giving a tip.  It turned out that the person who I thought was just the bartender was actually the owner -- who had lived in the USA for 8 years (mostly Austin, Texas) and during that time had acquired USA citizenship -- but now -- because of the successful bar -- would stay in Melbourne.

- While I waited the making of a smoothie, one of the workers inquired where I was from (even I can easily recognize an American accent here).  The worker was actually a USA citizen who had only been working in Australia for a couple months.  Of course it was fun to talk to him about visa requirements (he claimed he was working on a regular tourist visa) and Australian minimum wage (currently $13.60 after converting to USD).

A fun second day in Melbourne.

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