Melbourne Reflections

I loved Melbourne.  Its geographic location enables it to have a very mild climate, which is great for me because I tend to favor the cooler regions.  Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia just behind Sydney.  It has the feel of a large city with a huge downtown area, but it’s the surrounding areas of Melbourne that really make it special.  Below are my reflections on the built environment, the natural environment, the predominate culture, and the minority culture. 

The Built Environment

Melbourne is a very large progressive city.  The architecture is very modern and the local government is not afraid to spend some serious money on really awesome public buildings.  This is ever so evident with the building of the Melbourne Convention Center.  As stated in a previous posting, this is a breathtaking architectural masterpiece.  No expense was spared and every detail was carefully thought out and planned.  Another interesting aspect of Melbourne is that there are numerous areas of town that are being redeveloped into urban living areas.  We had the privilege of touring one small part of one such development when we went to Lacrosse Docklands.  Overall, I think it is safe to say that Melbourne is always changing in a way that favors timeless architecture with a modern twist. 

The Natural Environment

One can’t think of the natural environment in Melbourne without mentioning the Yarra River.  Even the public transportation system in Melbourne is named after the river.  It runs through the middle of downtown just like the Brisbane River in Brisbane, and as such plays a major role in the society and culture of the city.  Many of the public meeting areas are situated around the river to utilize the great scenery.  Just outside of Melbourne lies the Great Ocean Road and the Twelve Apostles.  Again, as previously mentioned, its gorgeous there. 

The Predominate Culture

The people in Melbourne are some of the nicest in Australia.  Since we were staying in university housing, we were able to meet people around our age that were from the surrounding areas of Melbourne.  We ran into two of the RA’s in the movie room one night and were immediately engrossed in a conversation comparing the U.S. to Australia.  One of them even loves the U.S. so much, she will be going to Disney World to work in August.  I found this quite comical because at the time of us meeting her she was wearing American flag shorts. 

The Minority Culture

Since Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia, it too is a melting pot of cultures and people from all over the world.  There were again, many people of Asian decent in Melbourne.  As far as a native minority culture is concerned I think it is safe to say that they are just part of the Australian culture.  For example, on our tour of the MCG our tour guide told us about an Aboriginal elder that stood outside welcoming all of the spectators to a seven-day cricket test match between India and Australia.