Saturday, July 26, 2025, 11:05PM | 
MENU
Advertisement

Seen and Unseen

Seen and Unseen

Saturday, October 6, 2007 6:17 p.m.

Time for a list. If you've come here for anything other than superficial (possibly erroneous) self-amusement, I suggest you cease reading immediately and go find some better material, like David Foster Wallace, or a PAT bus schedule.

Anyway, I'm in the mood to compare. (Tomorrow you'll get the grand update on my weekend.) But for now, I'll empty my brain of the little life-in-Sydney observations it has stockpiled.

I suppose it's only natural for one to compare a new place with an old, familiar place, so that's what I've done. We've got two categories here, titled (rather purposefully) Things You See in Sydney, and Things You Don't See.

Advertisement

Don't See: Fosters beer

Do See: Cascade beer

Do See: Toyotas and Hondas, including some models foreign to the States, even when the name is familiar (http://www.toyota.com.au/corolla)

Don't See: pick-up trucks

Advertisement

Don't See: Obesity

Don't See: People who speak on their cell phones while walking

Do See: Morning pick-up games of cricket

Do See: A shocking percentage of the out-and-about downtown population -- 30 percent, I'd guess -- wearing backpacks

Don't See: Rudeness

Do See: People who respond to a question about directions with an enthusiastic 10-minute conversation, as if they'd be waiting on one specific street corner for several hours, or maybe ever several days, specifically to aid one particular wanderer in need of assistance

Don't See: Large selections of cereal in grocery stores

Do See: Widespread availability of trail/nut mix

Do See: A monorail

Don't See: Natives who actually use the monorail

Do See: Youth hostels -- everywhere

Do See: Sunsets at 6 p.m.

Don't See (or hear, rather): Honking car horns.

First Published: October 7, 2007, 7:00 a.m.

RELATED
Comments Disabled For This Story
Partners
Advertisement
A huge Canadian flag carried by a crowd in Montreal in 1995, before a referendum on Quecec’s independence. Dennis Jett suggests Pennsylvania do the same in reverse.
1
opinion
Dennis Jett: Pennsylvania should become part of Canada
There is a large covered porch at the front of the house at 115 Forest Hills Road in Forest Hills.
2
life
Buying Here: Forest Hills home in its own 'mini-forest' listed for $425,000
Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers throws a touchdown pass to DK Metcalf during Steelers Training Camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe on Friday, July 25, 2025.
3
sports
Steelers training camp observations: Aaron Rodgers, receivers bring 'wow' factor to Day 2
A woman charged under the name Shannon Nicole Womack is accused of using fake names, fake references and fake credentials at staffing agencies to secure nursing jobs across Pennsylvania and beyond. Pennsylvania State Police urged health care providers across the state to check their records and study the woman’s photo to help identify other facilities she might have duped.
4
news
Pittsburgh 'fake nurse' linked to 5 more Pennsylvania facilities
Several houses are shown along N. Dallas Avenue near Penn Avenue in Point Breeze with “For Sale” signs in the front yard, Friday, March 21, 2025.
5
business
A cooling market and patient buyers are causing many Pittsburgh home sellers to cut their prices
Advertisement
LATEST ae
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story