Submitted by Kayla Haynes on the 2024 Winter program in Australia…
When I first arrived in Australia, I expected to be most shocked by the time here being 16 hours ahead of the time in New York. I was not wrong in that assumption that it would be a shock. But it is not the thing that has made me most surprised. That honor belongs to the city’s free provisions for those within its streets. The tram system that runs throughout the city is like the New York Subway with different routes and stops, but it has one stark difference. Within Melbourne’s extremely busy Central Business District, the trams are free to use. Anyone in the district’s busy limits can simply get on and off, using the free transportation to get from place to place. When I learned that this system was used here, my native New Yorker brain immediately thought about how different the culture must be. Once I identified this difference, I began to see it everywhere. I saw a plethora of public bathrooms in the streets that were clean and clearly cared for, unlike many that I see walking through Manhattan. The city’s implemented systems have made me wish for more from my own home while also making me love this new one I get to stay in for the coming weeks.