sydney vs. toronto: round one

so as in any travel situation, i am struck by the myriad differences between where i am now and where i come from. i think it is thrown into even starker contrast as the two cities that i'm comparing are not entirely dissimilar. sydney and toronto both have a population of about 4 million, they are both relatively safe and clean, both general failures at registering on the global "hot topics" sidebar. it's not as if i'm in bangladesh where one would expect great differences. but the differences, expected or not, are quite evident.

here are some of the main ones i have notes so far:

..i like to consider myself a polite person. i am respectful of social etiquette: i do not rush the subway doors, i generally hold doors for people, will pointedly say "bless you" if someone near me sneezes, and i always walk left, stand right. as a canadian, where traffic moves on the right side of the road, my inclination is to move right, to squeeze to the right, to sidestep to the right to avoid being run down by the office worker in her sensible shoes dashing for the express bus. but here, i'm WRONG! it goes against my very genetic make-up to step to the left- i simply cannot help the knee-jerk reaction to step aside, that aside being the right side. here, when i move to the right, i move further into the way; and so, i am impolite! i cannot abide this! i am actively training myself to shift to the lefthand side of everything.

..same goes for crossing the street. which way do you look first? left, then right. that's as easy as asking what the middle names are of the three daughters on 'full house' (margaret, judith, elizabeth). but here, you do that and you're as dead as dogstar, keanu reeves's band. training myself- right, then left.

..when jerry asked elaine what percentage of the population she thought was attractive, she answered a generous 25%. i tend to agree. i like to think that at least one in four north americans is at least passably good looking. (for the record- jerry thinks it is more like 4-6%, tops). i must say that after a full week in sydney, australians are on average 36-59% more attractive than us. everyone looks sunkissed and healthy and vital and relaxed. everyone looks like they just finished a half-ironman after a regatta at the country club and are on their way to model for abercrombie and fitch with a stop at the masseuse on the way. and this is not exclusive of the young. when i say everyone, i mean everyone. everyone smiles. everyone walks a bit slower. everyone is hot. they should put that on the tourist literature: "want to feel pale, uptight, and physically inadequate? have we got the city for you!"

..contrary to popular belief, the toilets do not actually flush the opposite way. in my experience so far, they rather fill with a quick rush of water that disappears just as speedily. no swirl. i can't say i'm disappointed. a toilet is just a toilet after all.

.. everyone has freckles. i think even the dogs have freckles.

..vegemite is not an option. vegemite is a horror. most of all, vegemite is not nutella.

do not eat vegemite. but do come to sydney. keep me company and let our freckles come out together.