You call that a beach? THIS is a beach!!!

My first reaction to the Côte d'Azur was: That's not a beach! There's no sand!!! And eventhough there were hundreds of half-naked bodies lying on beachtowels sunbaking and even more playing in the blue-blue that was so clear and beautiful and mesmerising, I was quite skeptical about it being a real beach... there were artificial square patches of sand laid down for kids to build sandcastles on which I found quite amusing. I can just imagine a kid growing up in Nice, finding this fine yellow substance so unusual and weird that they'd have basically the reversal of my reaction if they ever landed on an Australian beach: That's not a beach! There are no rocks!

Actually, that reminds me of something I've been thinking about here in Lyon. So bare with me flying off on a tangent, I do it so well :P

I've been flipping through my 'guide' given to us by the Melbourne Abroad people, designed to help us better adjust to spending time overseas on exchange. I had a little look through the section on Culture Shock and sure enough, I had been or am still showing many symptoms of it. So of course, I read on to see how to deal with this as I know it can get as bad as to totally ruin my time here and I wouldn't want that. I would quote from it, except I don't have it with me right now, so from memory, I realised that I was already doing many of the things it suggests that one suffering from culture shock should do. For example, talk to family and friends. Keep an open mind and don't be judgemental. Use humour to view the differences you are experiencing (sarcasm counts!!). And, try to imagine how someone from the country you are in might feel upon newly arriving in Melbourne...

Now, I was thinking about precisely this yesterday just after I had finished doing my weekly shopping at Carrefour and was going back to Allix on the tram. Well, for one, I realised, they'd think 'Wow! Cashiers are so much faster in Melbourne than they are in Lyon!! AND they put things into the plastic bags FOR you!!'

It may seem like a really minor revelation to you, but to me it's huge. I do get sad here sometimes. I miss home so much. But I was talking to my German friend, Janina, and when I said I missed Melbourne, she said, 'oh, you don't like it here..' and immediately I said 'No!' Not at all. It's not that at all! And yes, I find a lot of things really different, and really hard and I find a lot of things don't work to the logic that I am use to in my own head, but I'm mature enough to understand that there's always a reason for things being the way they are. My way is not the best way, maybe it is for me, but it isn't for everyone. And I find it so fascinating that a whole other world exists outside of how I always thought things worked because that's just the best way it works... I don't know.. it's really hard to describe. I can't even think of specific examples. You always KNOW that things are different overseas. But you don't. You don't at all...

I'm rambling now... but it really does make me wonder how I would cope, or would not cope, in a country even more distanced in culture from Australia.

but I'm also running out of time so maybe I have to finish this another day.

More about the beach in Nice soon. I promise.