Justine Larbalestier

reading, writing, eating, drinking, sport

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RW6: Sydney and New York

Orangedragonfly wants to know

When you are in sydney, what do you miss most about new york?

and (of course) when you are in new york, what do you miss most about sydney?

My answer is much the same for both questions: above everything else I miss my family and my friends. My parents live in Sydney so when I’m there I don’t miss them, but I do miss my sister who lives in Los Angeles. So I miss her and my parents when I’m in New York.

I mentioned in an earlier post that no matter where I am I’m always missing someone. That’s pretty much a definition of what it is to be human. Even the most stay-at-home types have friends and family who have moved away. And people we love die. We’re always missing them as well.

I’ve yet to get truly homesick for New York City, the way I do for Sydney. When I’m not in the big apple it’s pretty much out of sight, out of mind (except my friends, natch!). But sometimes my homesickness for Sydney is a physical ache. I long for the smell of it. Truly, Sydney is one of the best smelling cities I’ve ever known. I miss the light and the big skies. I miss the easiness of it. It’s where I’ve spent the majority of my life. I know how Sydney works; I’m not sure I’ll ever really know NYC so intimately.

Which is not to say that NYC isn’t wonderful. It is in many many ways. Almost four years back I wrote a Sydney/New York City comparison. Most of it is still holds true. There are many, many things that NYC does a lot better than Sydney. But Sydney is my heart, NYC isn’t.

Posted by Justine at 4:35, 31 January 2007 under Bloggery, New York City/USA, Praising, Sydney/Australia | 8 Comments »

Comments

  1. orangedragonfly Says:

    on the subject of missing people, and missing a place, i can somewhat relate. i’ve never been homesick in my life, even though my husband is in the military so we move a lot and are never quite as near to family as we’d like. but we’ve been in germany for two weeks now and i often find my thoughts drifting to the streets i grew up on. (that doesn’t sound right, i didn’t grow up on the streets! i just mean the neighborhood. ;) ) things i haven’t thought of in years, like the place in the cul-de-sac where we could hide in the bushes and pretend we were in another world, or sitting on my friend’s back deck eating popsicles. i’m not exactly homesick, just…thoughful, i guess.

    i do really miss my mom, though. even when i lived in the states we were separated by an eight hour drive, but suddenly i miss her more than ever. maybe it’s because i’m pregnant and i can’t run to mom when something about my rapidly changing body freaks me out. :P we chat online, but that just isn’t the same.

    January 31st, 2007 at 7:03 am

  2. David Moles Says:

    that’s how I feel about california, which is probably why I loved sydney when I was sixteen. just like southern california, right down to the eucalyptus, only reversed left to right and full of budgies.

    January 31st, 2007 at 9:41 am

  3. 3. Justine Says:

    Orangedragonfly: Is this the first time you’ve lived outside your homeland? It’s a big difference when you’re surrounded by peopple who don’t talk like you.

    David Moles: You know California stole those trees from us? I don’t think Sydney’s anything like Southern California. What part of Sydney were you in?

    January 31st, 2007 at 12:47 pm

  4. orangedragonfly Says:

    justine: yeah..i’ve traveled outside the us before, but never lived away from “home” before. it’s not like i hear *only* german, because we live on an army post, but german is certainly everywhere. it’s amazing how much german i remember from college! i thought i didn’t know anything. :P

    i know i’ll get used to it, and i know everything will be fine. but right now it just seems a bit..strange.

    January 31st, 2007 at 1:04 pm

  5. David Moles Says:

    Of course California stole the trees! Americans are stupid, we thought we could make railroad ties out of them. We were wrong. Then they took over.

    I was in downtown Sydney, and out on the harbor to watch the beginning of the big Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race, and then we went out to the mountains, and then we came back.

    It was a lot more like Southern California than Tokyo or Hong Kong or Singapore. Or than most of the US. What part of Southern California were you in?

    January 31st, 2007 at 3:36 pm

  6. 6. Justine Says:

    Well, you lot have plenty of water and gum trees are all about hoarding the water and surviving when there ain’t none. Of course they went nuts when introduced to a rainy place.

    I bin to Los Angeles, Santa Cruz and San Diego. Those are all southern California, right? They only USian place that reminds me a tiny bit of Sydney is San Francisco on account of the hills.

    So you were there on Boxing Day. I can’t believe you were watching the Sydney-to-Hobart when you could’ve been watching the Sydney test. Sheesh!

    I love the Blue Mountains. One of the most gorgeous places in the world.

    January 31st, 2007 at 6:33 pm

  7. David Moles Says:

    Blame my dad — he’s a yachtsman, not a cricketer.

    “Plenty of water!” Now you’re just bragging because your drought is bigger than ours. Okay, Santa Cruz has a fair bit of water, for California, but that’s Northern California. San Diego actually gets about a quarter of the rain Sydney gets, if Wikipedia is to be believed.

    Clearly what I need to do is spend a year in Sydney with a camera, then move back to San Diego, then put together something like Bruce Sterling’s “Tehran or Milan?” photo collection….

    February 1st, 2007 at 11:24 am

  8. Joachim Schutt Says:

    Hi,
    well as I comute between NY and Australia I somehow get the best of both worlds.
    Although I miss the big sky as well as the Southern Cross and the night sky.
    Anyhow, visit us on australiansabroad.com if your homesickness overcomes you.
    jps

    March 13th, 2007 at 5:03 pm

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