On Multicultural

I saw this DVD for the second time yesterday. It was a DVD prepared for international students who are just arrived and clueless on how things work down here.

I found a particular comment is interesting and funny. here is a Chinese guy who lived with a Singaporean moslem and an Indian. As you know, Moslems can't eat pork and Indians think of cows as God. So, this Chinese guy told the interviewer on how this multicultural thing affected him. Whenever he cooked pork the Singaporean would be very disappointed and complaint whilst whenever he cook beef the Indian will be offended. and he thought, "what can I eat then? chicken only?"

although I've never in the same situation as this poor guy was, I heart his feeling. I lived with most Indonesians here but still it is hard to make things work out smoothly and harmoniously. people has their own values and habits which in one way or another will affect others. especially when you are sharing things.

here, I can't afford to have my own car. public transport is my best friend here. because Oz (or Melbourne in particular) is pretty much a cultural-melting-pot, we can meet with people form almost every corner of the world here. if you are travelling by public transport, sometimes you are thrown into another dimension: a multicultural dimension. you can always find people talking with different languages and accents talking in the same time and it's quite interesting. and, if you are lucky, you can hear one or two familiar languages such as javanese or even Sundanese. You'll be surprised!