friends, yeomen and countrymen

One thing that has been remarkable to me during my stay in Sydney is the how multicultural the city is. It is not surprising to be walking down the street and hear no English being spoken. I would guess that of the people I have met the ratio of those who were born here to those who have recently arrived is around 1:4. Some highlights:

I met a guy named Kuda who is an accountant from Zimbabwe. We had an interesting conversation as he told me about what he has to go through in order to propose to his girlfriend. He has to go with an entourage to the home of his girlfriend and negotiate a dowry. Even in this day and age the dowry is based upon a herd of cattle, so once it is agreed that the dowry should be 10 cows, they then must negotiate the price of the cattle. Factors such as his job and the fact that he is working overseas comes into the price per head. Once the negotiating is done, they confer and agree and he has to pony up the cash. In one concession to modern times, he did say that he won’t have to go home for this to happen, he can wait for his entourage to do the haggling while he stays in Australia listening in on his mobile phone. He said he was budgeting for a few thousand dollars, or approximately $300 per head of cattle. It sounds like the actual negotiated price didn’t have much to do with actual beef prices, otherwise the global food shortage might translate into a national wedding shortage.

I was in a crowded place and I saw this guy who had a funny smile. He was wearing huge brown framed glasses and a moustache. He looked like Weird Al Yankovic but with short red hair. It occurred to me that he was either foreign or wearing the moustache ironically. It seems like at least North America and Australia these days, there is some transition point somewhere north of 35 that a man can wear a moustache without irony. He can wear it and feel like Magnum PI, or Clark Gable, depending on his growth pattern. Prior to this transition time however, any man wearing a mustache is laughed at until he gives them a knowing smirk revealing to all his ironic detachment from his facial hair. Anyway, this guy is in his early twenties. I met him on the bus and he introduced himself as Oscar. He is Swedish and just here to work and travel. His one task is to determine what to study the next year. Very pleasant fellow. Couldn’t figure out the attitude with which he was wearing a moustache, though.

I met Danilo, a Brazilian fellow who had a German accent. He sported a long goatee that was braided into a neat front pony tail. He works as an architect.

I met Carlos, a Mexican big wall climber whose goal is to set new routes in every continent of the globe. So far he has set up new big wall routes in Mexico, Brazil, Pakistan and Morocco. He was in Australia to look for his next big route. He works as a carpenter and saves his money to take the next trip. Currently he is staying in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales trading renovation work for lodging. He says that climbing in Mexico is quite safe for foreigners but a little dangerous for locals. He reckons the danger is greater from banditos than from falling while climbing.

I met Simba, a bond trader from Zimbabe. He trained as an electrical engineer and decided he didn’t like it so he went into finance.

I met Kate from South Africa, she trained as a lawyer and now deals with the legal implications of making a tonne of money for an investment bank.

Bill from Fiji is an IT consultant. He says he loves to surf, but is a warm weather surfer only. Once the wetsuits come out he stays home. He listened in amazement as I regaled him with stories of surfers from Nova Scotia who are out in the middle of winter. Wearing thick neoprene to keep out the -20 degree air temperature and the -2 degree water temperature, these folk are hardy.

The list goes on and there is always somebody new with a different story to tell. My exposure to people born in Australia is pretty limited, so much so that I had to attend the Australian Rules Football game with a Canadian who could explain what he knew of the rules. Many comparisons were drawn to hockey, dogsledding and biathlon.