News from Melbourne

Today, I met an Indonesian M.Sc. student in the lab. When I asked him whether he liked Melbourne, he replied that the city was so quiet, that everything was regulated. (That's probably a polite way of saying that he did not like it too much.) Indeed, that was my first impression, too, upon arriving at Melbourne Airport and taking the train into town. Coming from lively and bustling places such as Kuala Lumpur and Melaka, I felt like in another world, like in a graveyard. In Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore, everything is densely packed. This can increase your stress level, particularly in Bangkok, but on the other hand, it is just wonderful to see that all day something is going on, that the city is alive.

That said, I do like Melbourne. The city is quite spread out, like some American cities, but still navigable by bike. There are a lot of colonial-style buildings in residential areas which make the daily ride to uni more pleasant, at some points there are even bike paths, and most neighborhoods have pleasant main streets with shops and cafes in-between. The centre is arguably beautiful, with the skyscrapers and boutique stores on the North side, and the Botanic gardens on the South side of the river. There, I attended a free concert on Wednesday night in a kind of amphithreatre: Mozart's C major piano concert (KV 467) and Mahler's Fifth. Several thousand people were sitting on the lawn, having with picnic, and listening afterwards to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Good stuff. I had brought neither wine nor snacks, but if you can listen to beautiful music in a park at dusk, that's maybe not required either.

Yes, and I have also tried my luck at bridge. And here I have to sing a praise song for the Netherlands. Players at home are better, younger and also more friendly. There is nothing worse than people who think they have a clue of the game and whose bidding would be punished in the Second District Class in the NL. That's disappointing. I was in one sense lucky with my partners (friendly chaps), but bridge-wise, it is hard to stay in form.