My Adelaide Experience
Adelaide was unknown to me for the better part of my life which would be about 21 years. After that when I started following up Australian Cricket, I got to know that there were other cricket grounds in Australia besides MCG and SCG. The Adelaide Oval was where our Indian tigers blasted the great Aussie players in a historic win at their own soil. That event etched Adelaide in my heart because of the fact that it was a lucky stadium for India and we Indians get all sentimental about our country not so much when it is at war but more when it is playing Cricket!
Adelaide was still a city in a distant continent to me at that time. I had been to Europe and America apart from being born in Asia, but never thought of Australia as a place I would be going to in the near future. But, as luck would have it, my Prince Charming hailed from this lovely place in the heavenly continent known for its citrus apart from the Cricketing Champions.The day I knew Adelaide was where I would be heading next, I started learning about the commonly used jargons here and believe it or not people say “no dramas” here for “no worries” (which is also used). Initially as any common man would think I used to think where am I staging a drama to not be playing it and then it struck me that I was mistaking the meaning. But, the people here are very soft and helpful.
I was surprised and shocked to know that the visa period to enter this land of dreams would take about 6-7 months, but was willing to wait that period considering the better times ahead. And, the wait was well worth it once I entered this beautiful country. The Adelaide airport was smaller than our Chennai Anna International airport, but definitely a 1000 times cleaner. What caught my attention was that there were cute little dogs running around to smell and detect suspicious goods carried by people entering into this city. It wasn’t just the dogs that astonished me, but the suspicious goods they were searching – fruits and other edible items. I had never heard of any Airport searching for this kind of stuff in passengers, bombs and other destructive stuff were understandable. I learnt only after sometime that these people here were containing a particular type of fly called “fruit fly” from entering this state and hence quarantine on fruits!
All the ordeal of flying a 9-hour flight over 24 hours, losing some of my favourite snacks carried all the way from our sweetmeat shops in Chennai and the long wait for visa, came to an end when I saw my Husband walking towards me wearing my favourite combination of red and black. That was not all, he had booked a limousine to show me around Adelaide and take us back home. The house was decorated with balloons and party papers that nearly brought tears to my eyes, when I entered our “home sweet home”. I had never dreamt of something more romantic on the day of our coming together.
From then on, Adelaide brought me to meet so many different people at different walks of life. Getting to know each of them was a cherish-able experience. The various welcoming parties held for me and that we held for others brought me lot of joy and made me feel important. I have become a better cook now than I used to be as a graduate student surviving self-cooked meals to save on money spent in fast-food joints. I was surprised to know the number of Indians living in this small city. When an Indian Mela was held there were about 1000-1500 Indians in all and some had not attended, so presumably there could be about 2000 of our countrymen here.
If there is one country more laidback than Australia, I would love to know about it. Most months in the year seem to have a long weekend here and people love partying during these holidays. Mother Nature has been kind enough to bring sunshine to Adelaide all these days of my being here. We have been to most of the beautiful parks, vineyards and surrounding areas that make this place heavenly. Each time I keep wondering how they are able to maintain this vast land with so less people. Even if each person in India were given a square kilometre of land and asked to keep it and maintain it for the rest of his life, I am sure it won’t be as clean as it is here.
For more information about Adelaide, please visit - http://www.touradelaide.com/
Adelaide was still a city in a distant continent to me at that time. I had been to Europe and America apart from being born in Asia, but never thought of Australia as a place I would be going to in the near future. But, as luck would have it, my Prince Charming hailed from this lovely place in the heavenly continent known for its citrus apart from the Cricketing Champions.The day I knew Adelaide was where I would be heading next, I started learning about the commonly used jargons here and believe it or not people say “no dramas” here for “no worries” (which is also used). Initially as any common man would think I used to think where am I staging a drama to not be playing it and then it struck me that I was mistaking the meaning. But, the people here are very soft and helpful.
I was surprised and shocked to know that the visa period to enter this land of dreams would take about 6-7 months, but was willing to wait that period considering the better times ahead. And, the wait was well worth it once I entered this beautiful country. The Adelaide airport was smaller than our Chennai Anna International airport, but definitely a 1000 times cleaner. What caught my attention was that there were cute little dogs running around to smell and detect suspicious goods carried by people entering into this city. It wasn’t just the dogs that astonished me, but the suspicious goods they were searching – fruits and other edible items. I had never heard of any Airport searching for this kind of stuff in passengers, bombs and other destructive stuff were understandable. I learnt only after sometime that these people here were containing a particular type of fly called “fruit fly” from entering this state and hence quarantine on fruits!
All the ordeal of flying a 9-hour flight over 24 hours, losing some of my favourite snacks carried all the way from our sweetmeat shops in Chennai and the long wait for visa, came to an end when I saw my Husband walking towards me wearing my favourite combination of red and black. That was not all, he had booked a limousine to show me around Adelaide and take us back home. The house was decorated with balloons and party papers that nearly brought tears to my eyes, when I entered our “home sweet home”. I had never dreamt of something more romantic on the day of our coming together.
From then on, Adelaide brought me to meet so many different people at different walks of life. Getting to know each of them was a cherish-able experience. The various welcoming parties held for me and that we held for others brought me lot of joy and made me feel important. I have become a better cook now than I used to be as a graduate student surviving self-cooked meals to save on money spent in fast-food joints. I was surprised to know the number of Indians living in this small city. When an Indian Mela was held there were about 1000-1500 Indians in all and some had not attended, so presumably there could be about 2000 of our countrymen here.
If there is one country more laidback than Australia, I would love to know about it. Most months in the year seem to have a long weekend here and people love partying during these holidays. Mother Nature has been kind enough to bring sunshine to Adelaide all these days of my being here. We have been to most of the beautiful parks, vineyards and surrounding areas that make this place heavenly. Each time I keep wondering how they are able to maintain this vast land with so less people. Even if each person in India were given a square kilometre of land and asked to keep it and maintain it for the rest of his life, I am sure it won’t be as clean as it is here.
For more information about Adelaide, please visit - http://www.touradelaide.com/
posted by Ace of Space at
4/23/2005 11:10:00 PM
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