生活篇

交通-按下按钮，开启谈话模式，靠左靠左靠左

•魔术按钮

我从没想过在这边，要想过马路，你必须得先摁按钮。如果中国也实行这个，我猜司机应该会疯掉吧，哈哈。

神奇按钮

•一直靠左

在阿德，无论你是开车，步行，爬楼梯或站在自动扶梯上，都要一律靠左（正好与中国相反）。所以，在我来这边的头几个月，有一个重复多次的经典对话：

“你要干什么？”我的朋友看着我，眼里充满困惑。

“啊，不好意思。”我才意识到，我，再一次，华丽丽的，走错了边。

•更安静的道路

走在路上，你会发现这儿明显比国内安静很多。一个主要原因是，在澳洲，随意按喇叭是一种非法行为。

•公共交通

与中国类似，在这边下车前乘客需要先按停车钮。但这里没有每站站牌的广播通知，所以对于刚来这边的国际友人就有点不便了。为了不坐过站，我需要随时检查GPS或者充满诗意得望向窗外：），以清楚我的当前位置。然而，凡事都有两面，我们应该尽量关注光明面。那就是，它给乘客提供了一个相对安静的车内环境。

另一个明显的区别就是公交车上友好的人际互动（不过这在澳州其它更大点的城市并不常见）。上车时，你可以听到乘客和司机之间的相互问候，例如：“嗨，你好吗？”而下车前，谈话则变为：

“谢谢！”

“再见，祝你有个美好的一天！”司机的回应。

倩视角：我喜欢这种简单的谈话，因为这让大家都很开心。我的一个朋友告诉我，这种习惯最初开始于穿梭山区的公交车。由于是长途而且是山路，所以人们喜欢互相给彼此打气。

小贴士：

1.推荐下载MetroMate应用。它有一个实时提示，可以告诉你你的公车距离此站还需多久。

2.尽量在来之前就在国内考到驾照

这边的公交路线并不是全覆盖。因此，如果你想探索一些偏远地区，拥有一辆车可以让你的生活更轻松。而在这边要想获得全驾照（Full Licence）则比中国久得多。

城市氛围-干净，多元文化，绿意，放松，静谧的夜

•干净

走在街上，到处都整洁而明净。当地人习惯将包直接放在地上或席地而坐，非常的随性：）。中国的地面目前还没有干净到这种程度，但我坚信在不久的将来这会实现。

•低楼层和多元文化建筑

阿德没有特别多的高楼大厦。因此，这也让这座城市增添了几许平易近人的味道。而且你会发现这边古老的建筑很多。他们每年还有一个历史节（为期一个月）。人们可以通过参加各种展览，参观团，讲座或研讨会来探索这座城市的老时光。所以，这边的遗产和特色都被保护的很好。对于建成还不到200年的城市而言，实属难得。

市图书馆

走在这些古老的街道上，我有一种落地的感觉，很踏实。又有一种莫名的感动，觉得可以与前人对话，呼吸历史天空下的空气。这边的另一大特色是它的多元文化。也就是说，每座房子看起来都是那么的与众不同。单纯的欣赏它们，就能让我迷失于它们的独特魅力中而忘却了时间的存在。我可以就这样，静静地欣赏着，情不自禁的按下快门，拍下一张张照片，然后迫不及待的与中国的亲朋好友们分享这些美好。我甚至把它融入到了我的日常作息中：每天晚饭后，就匆匆开启我的街坊四周散步探索之旅。

•绿意

整座城被绿意环绕。有一个画面至今停留在我心中的一个柔软的角落。我与阿德，是在夏天相逢的。还记得那个暖暖的午后，在Magill校区，学生们坐在草坪上，聊天，看书，笑意融融。还有些人则微笑着穿过草坪，绽放着青春的蓬勃朝气。那片时光静好所带来的祥和与安宁让我久久难忘。

阿德莱德山，俯瞰整座城市 植物园

看到这儿，你可能会惊讶，中国的草坪是只可远观的，可是这边人们竟然可以肆意‘践踏’草坪？没错。为什么会有这种不同呢？我觉得主要原因有两个。一是中国的草坪并没有类似于外国的功能性。例如，办草坪婚礼或野餐并不常见。其次是国情。人口大国面临的一个潜在问题就是开放给公众后草坪的损害率。而管理草坪的园林部门当前还没有充足的资金来解决这个问题。因此，在中国，草坪外围的标语就显得十分普遍了。其中我很喜欢的一条是：请勿踏我，我正成长。

•放松惬意的阿德人

与居住在北京或上海的人相比，这边的路人看起来更轻松，步伐也相对会慢很多。因为，对于当地人来说，似乎没有什么比享受生活更重要的了。例如，我大学里的教职人员通常都准点下班。此外，夜晚的街上非常的安静。这不禁勾起了我的好奇心。为什么会这样呢？感谢我的好朋友们给我答疑解惑：）。

主要原因同样是两个。比起参加同事间的社交活动（这在中国非常普遍），当地人更愿意放松自我或与家人共度时光。另一个原因是，如果有聚会，他们更喜欢将大家邀请到自己的温暖小窝而不是去到公共场所。

倩视角：我更喜欢这样的生活方式，因为对我而言，工作和生活的和谐很重要，工作的目的是为了更好地享受生活。但每个人的价值观都不同。你只要知道什么对你来说更重要就好。

重要提醒：

这边靠近南极，臭氧层空洞使得这里的紫外线异常强烈。所以，请记得每天都要涂防晒霜哦。

这一点，我是通过自己的惨痛经历才学到的。来澳之前，人们总是称赞我皮肤特别白。但是当我阔别两年后回到家中，就再也没有人提及我的肤色了。我很伤心，但是澳洲的朋友却十分不解，原因何在？

这又是一处有意思的文化差异。在中国或大多数亚洲国家，白皮肤是众多女生都梦寐以求的，所以美白产品非常的流行。究其原因，与社会地位相关。在以农业占主导的中国古代，参与劳作的人（比如农民或手艺人），往往都皮肤黝黑。因为他们长期在外，日晒雨淋。因此，当今中国，很多人会羡慕办公室白领。另一个原因则是从审美角度，白皙的皮肤让亚洲女性的面部特征可以更加突出。

然而，在西方国家，却恰恰相反。拥有阳光亲吻的小麦色是他们的目标。这样的肤色同样也是一种身份的象征。它表明你有时间和金钱去豪华的岛屿享受阳光。如今，它更是成为了一种健康的标志。深肤色表明你经常做户外运动，是健身达人。

因此，在阿德，你很少能看在夏天打伞的路人。记得有一次，我教中文的一个学生，当看到​​我在一个艳阳高照的午后打伞时，他特别的讶异，开玩笑的说：“哦，下雨了吗？”：）

倩视角：我们最应该做的是拥抱并爱上那个最本真的自己，而不是为自己的肤色深浅而忧愁。只有保持健康才值得被时刻谨记。

意外的惊喜-卫生纸

终于，我不再需要随身携带卫生纸了，因为这边所有的公共卫生间都有提供。而在中国，由于人口众多，政府为了防止资源滥用，大多数的公共洗手间都不提供厕纸。

接下来呢？

下个月在我的第三篇中，我将谈到阿德可爱的人。敬请期待。欢迎各种反馈：）

 

Life

 

Transport- press the button, have conversations, and keep LEFT

* Magic button

I’ve never expected that in order to cross the road, I have to press the button. If China applies this, I guess drivers will go crazy 

* Keep left

Here you need to keep LEFT (which is the opposite to China), no matter whether you are walking, driving or standing in stairs or an escalator. So, there’s one conversation being repeated many times in my first few months here:

“What are you doing?” My friend looked at me, a bit confused.

“Ah, sorry.” I realised that I walked to the wrong side (driver’s side). Again!

* Quieter roads

It’s much quieter here, because unnecessarily beeping your horn is illegal across the whole country. 

* Public transport

Similar to China, you need to press the stop button before you get off. But here you won’t be notified for every stop by a loudspeaker, which is a bit hard for newcomers. I need to check GPS for my current location or looking outside constantly so I won't miss my stop. However, the bright side is it provides you with a relatively quiet environment on a bus ：）

The other noticeable difference is friendly human interactions on the bus (I found it’s not so common in other bigger cities in Australia though). When getting on the bus, you can often hear a passenger and a bus driver greeting each other, such as: “Hi, how are you?” Before getting off, the conversation changes to:

“Thank you/Cheers” A passenger expresses thanks to the driver.

“Bye, have a nice day!” Responds the driver.

Comments: I love this. The simple conversation can make each other happy. My friend told me it first started in the hills region. Because of the long drive, people liked to cheer up one another.

Tip time:

1. Download the MetroMate app. It has a Real-Time indicator, predicting how far away your bus is.

2. Get a driving license in your home country

Buses do not covered everywhere. Therefore, if you want to explore some regional areas, having a car could make your life much easier. Be aware that getting a full-license here takes much longer time than China.

City’s vibe – multi-cultural, clean, relaxed, and quiet evenings

* Clean

Walking on the street, everywhere is so clean and tidy. Locals tend to leave their bags on the ground as well as sitting on the floor. While in China, our floor is not clean enough to do that at the moment, I believe it will happen in the near future.

* Low-rise and multicultural buildings

Adelaide does not have many high-rise buildings, which adds an approachable touch to the city. Also, you will find they have a lot of historical houses. They even have a monthly-long History Festival. People can explore the past by attending exhibitions, tours, talks or workshops. Therefore, the city’s heritage and character get well conserved. So amazing, considering the city is only less than 200 years old.

Walking along these old streets, I feel grounded. Also, each building looks very different too due to its multiculturalism. Only by appreciating them has already made me get lost in their uniqueness. I couldn’t help myself taking thousands of photos and getting so excited to share them with my family and friends back home straight away. That eventually blended into my daily routine, walking around my neighborhood after dinner (my discovery journey).

* Greenness

I am impressed by this. I came here in summer, and I still remember that sunny afternoon, at Magill campus. Students were sitting on the lawn, chatting, laughing and reading. Some were taking a walk through it with relaxed smile. Seeing that made my heart so peaceful and tranquil.

However, in China, we can only look at the grass from a distance. Why? Well, two main reasons. One is the usage of grass/lawn doesn’t play a very important role in China. It’s not common for us to have a wedding or picnic there. Second, our large population means we are more likely to face a potential issue, lawn might get damaged. But the department who maintains these areas does not have much funding, so they don’t have the full capacity to tackle that issue. Therefore, in China seeing a sign outside of the lawn becomes so common. One sign I really like is: Do not disturb. Tiny grass is sleeping. 

* Relaxed locals

Pedestrians looked more relaxed and walked at a rather slower pace than people living in Beijing or Shanghai. For locals, it seems that nothing is more important than enjoying life and having work and life harmony. For example, staff at my uni usually leave office really on time.Also, evenings are very quiet here. At first, I was wondering where people are.Here are my findings by asking my friends.

2 main reasons. One is compared to attend post social events among colleagues (which is quite common in China),they would rather wind down and recharge themselves or spend time with their families. The other reason is if they have gatherings, they prefer to entertain at their own cozy houses instead of public places.

Comments: I prefer this type of lifestyle, because for me, balance is pivotal. But again, it really depends on each individual’s value. We need to know what is important to us.

Reminder

UV intensity is very strong here, so please remember to wear sunscreen every day.

I learned this the hard way. Before coming to Australia, people always complimented me on my pale skin. But no one mentioned that anymore when I returned home after 2 years. I felt a bit upset. You might wonder why if you are not a Chinese.

Here comes another very interesting cultural difference. In China or most Asian countries, light skin is considered to be pretty, so skin-whitening products are very popular there. Deep down,it associates with social status. In ancient China (agriculture dominated), people who were involved in labour work (normally worked outside), so they tend to have darker skin. Another reason is from beauty perspective, for an Asian lady, having fair skin makes her facial features stand out more.

However, in western countries, to get sun-kissed look is their goal. Tanned skin indicates that you have money and time to go to luxurious islands to enjoy the sun. Nowadays, it is becoming a sign for fitness too. It shows that you are an outdoor exercise activist.

Therefore, in Adelaide, you can rarely see people with umbrellas in summer. I still remember, once when my Chinese student saw me using an umbrella on a sunny day, he asked: “Oh, is it rainy?” ：）

Comments: for me, we should always love the way we are, no matter dark or light skin. But staying healthy needs to be a priority though. 

Nice surprise - toilet paper

Finally, I don’t need to carry toilet paper everywhere anymore, because it is provided in all public restrooms here. While in a large population country like China, officials curb the excessive use of toilet paper by restricting supplies.

What's next?

Next month in my chapter 3, I am going to talk about lovely locals. Stay tuned and welcome to all your feedback ：）