It's just like Sydney!

"Canadians are really similar to Australians." I was told this when the preparations for this move were being made. "They're more British than their neighbours, and a little more down to earth." There were usually a few more comments made at this point about said southern neighbours which aren't relevant to this post. However, then would come the kicker: "Toronto is like Sydney, and Vancouver is like Melbourne. Which city were you going to again?"

To comprehend the horror that accompanies this statement, I should perhaps explain something. There is a rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney that dates back before Australia's Federation. It's a rivalry borne of gold and precedence, of prestige and entitlement, and was the reason why neither of these better known cities were chosen as Australia's capital. The bickering was so bad that a neutral area was created far away from both Sydney and Melbourne so that the newly Federated States of the Commonwealth of Australia didn't split at the seams. That's right, Australia had to build a capital city from scratch to stop the bunfight. It was even designed by a world renouned architect (Walter Burley-Griffin) and the populace voted on what to call it.

Of course, it still rankles at Melbournians that Canberra is closer to Sydney. It was Victorian gold that paid for that sucker, don't you know, so why the blue blazes is it smack in the middle of New South Wales?

It's irrational, but it's ingrained into denizens of the two cities now, defining us from an early age. There are few Melbournians that won't dismiss Sydney as being flashy and shallow, and even fewer Sydneysiders who will resist making some crack about Melbourne's unpredictable weather. See an example of this on the Urban Dictionary using the search term "Melbournian".

It's so inground that even a relatively rational person like me that on hearing Toronto - my destination - was like Sydney, the born-and-bred Melbournian in me immediately went, "Ew!"

But you know something? Now that I'm here I'm seeing that while Canadians and Australians are similar in some ways, in others we're quite different. Perhaps it's the presence of the more extravagant Americans on their borders or the tyranny of distance which shaped both British colonists' descendants so differently, but Canadians and Australians are definitely different. Maybe it's the French influence?

Have you ever had that feeling there's something you just can't put your finger on that makes everything seem kind of skewed? That's how I've felt since getting here. There are familiarities surrounded by things that are just not quite right. Then there are things that are outright weird. Lines on TV such as, "She should support his love of Lord of the Rings, he should support her love of diet pills"* fit into that category. It's amusing and fascinating all at once.

As to whether Toronto and Sydney are the same, I cannot answer. I've only been to Sydney once, and that was at a convention. I never saw outside the hotel, unless you count the McDonalds down the road. What I can say is, I like it so far.

I wonder if Toronto and Vancouver hate each other?

* This gem deserves its own post.