The day I set foot in Sydney

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The day I set foot in Sydney, I was in for a surprise! I was told that it was summer in Sydney and that Sydney summers can be really hot. But the day I landed in Sydney, I was chilled to my bones, and I was thankful for a friend’s advice to carry a jacket with me “just in case…...”'

Actually, Sydney summer is a little funny. While the sun is harsh on your skin, the wind can freeze you! I was exposed to this contradicting weather pattern quite a lot as I spent a major part of my trip cruising like crazy around the Sydney Harbour! Talk of acquiring a tan one moment while dashing for the jumper the next!

My first encounter with the people of Sydney was pleasant. What struck me the most from the day I landed at the airport was the carefree and relaxed attitude of the people of Sydney. Receiving your family at the airport doesn’t mean “Hi! Hope you had a good flight!” and getting hold of their baggage and dragging them to the car! It meant taking time to sit down on your knees, ruffle your son’s hair and look directly into your son’s eyes and say “Hey! I missed you!” It means to catch up a little on your little one’s escapes before you reach home where you may get the full onslaught of it! This is just one of the scenes that I witnessed as I waited for my host who was seemingly taking his time to meet me.

Sydney people are helpful too - enough to part with a dollar and help you make a call to your one and only contact in Sydney and make sure that you did, instead of watching you stand around a booth wondering what to do with a hundred dollar bill!
The whole city looked as if it was on holiday - perhaps because it was December, and Christmas was near and the New Year around the corner! One could feel Christmas in the Sydney air!

As we left the airport, the clean, peaceful streets were conspicuous for the absence of disarray and noise! This really was not the picture I had in mind of the economic capital of NSW!

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