Submitted by Michael Karavolias on the 2015 winter session program in Australia sponsored by the College of Engineering…
“Life up north in Queensland is much more laid back than here in Melbourne. Everyone is always in a rush here. But up in Queensland they have lots of Mozzies. You have to watch out for those lil’ blood suckers.” When Debra, an Australian woman who works in the dining hall at the University of Melbourne, said this, I was confused for two reasons. The first was since I had no clue what a ‘Mozzie’ was. It wasn’t until she began talking about West Nile Virus that I realized she was referring to mosquitos. I guess even the mosquitos are more deadly in Australia than in the States, but I’m beginning to get used to that. Venomous spiders are common household spiders, and Melbourne doesn’t even have the worst of them.
Secondly, I was wondering how Melbourne is considered a ‘busy’ lifestyle. Everybody is laid back, willing to stop whatever they are doing to give you directions or advice about their favorite coffee shop or favorite place to eat. Nobody has that New York ‘I’m on a mission to beat the traffic and get to work on time’ look. Debra also complained about Melbourne traffic, which in my perspective is pretty tame. Driving from New York to Delaware, I am used to getting stuck in traffic for up to two hours on a good day. However, this easy going lifestyle is something we could all use more of in our day to day existence. As a population, we are too stressed. We get stuck on small things that really don’t have much of an impact on our life in the grand scheme. While Melbourne may be an extreme, I’m learning to take things easy because in the end everything will be ‘apples’.