With the windows down

People are always asking if we are enjoying living in Sydney.....
And while I am quick to say that yes, I am missing my family and friends, I am also very quick to point out that we don't enjoy living in Sydney. We LOVE it!

Last week, I was driving home, fuming after I had read a friends blog.
This particular friend had said that not only would she definitely be staying in South Africa, she also encouraged all those who had left to come back.
Her blog went on to say that by staying in a crime ridden country, she and others like her, were the brave ones. And that those who had left, had run away!

Now driving home shaking with anger and plotting all sorts of activities to get her to see the light, (that inevitably ended up with me trying to beat some sense into her!) I realised two things....

Firstly the reason I was so upset by her comments, wasn't because she had said that we were running away (aka: we were cowards!). It was because she sincerely believed that South Africa would get better. That in 20 years time it would be a great place to live! And that really upset me! Not only was she delusional enough to think that it would be a safe (and great) place for her to live! But that she was willing to bet the life of my husband, my future children and the lives of all those she cared about! And I have to wonder, if she is purposely only reading the bits of news she want to see? Or is she comprehending the whole story, and because she isn't brave enough to leave, we must all come back? Because take it from the person who isn't sitting at home, surrounded by the people she knows and loves, leaving takes much more courage than staying! But I also realised that no matter what I say to her, she is one of the lost-ones and that the truth will only be shown to her at a time when "i told you so" is not appropriate! (Every expat has a couple of lost-ones....friends or family that insist that by trying to make a life for yourself in another country you are making the biggest mistake of your life, as South Africa is an amazing place to live!)

Secondly, I was driving with my windows open!
Yes you read right.
On a beautiful summers day in Sydney, I was cruising down the M4 with my back and front car windows open, my handbag on the front seat, my car doors unlocked.I wasn't being accosted at every robot (traffic light), no one had stuck their head in the windows to offer me a multitude of things i don't need! No one had tried to steal my handbag, Iphone or Ipod all lying on the front seat. No beggar approached my window to guilt me into paying for their drug habit! Nothing!
At the traffic lights, I had a chance to stare at the setting sun, smell the ocean air and laugh at my fellow commuters who all took such trivial things for granted!
When I got home, the first thing I did was share my experience (revelation) with my husband, who laughed at the joy I felt at in achieving such a small thing!

So to answer the first question.....do I enjoy living in Sydney?
Yes thanks. I definitely do!