I'm moving to Melbourne at the end of this month to study at Scotch College, so I thought I'd ask the wise Aussies on this board for survival tips [img]smile.gif[/img] Like the stuff they dont tell you in the brochures and school guides..
Any information, advice or comments would be welcome. I'm looking for information that should help me fit in without too much trouble, and maybe orientate myself to a new environ.
Thanks in advance!

<font color="lime"> U have to Remember to things:
1. </font><H1><marquee><font color="gold">A</font><font color="lime">U<font color="gold">S</font><font color="lime">S</font><font color="gold">I</font><font color="lime">E </font><font color="gold">A</font><font color="lime">U<font color="gold">S</font><font color="lime">S</font><font color="gold">I</font><font color="lime">E </font><font color="gold">A</font><font color="lime">U<font color="gold">S</font><font color="lime">S</font><font color="gold">I</font><font color="lime">E </font><font color="gold">!</font><font color="lime">!</font><font color="gold">!</font><font color="lime">!</font></marquee></H1>

<font color="blue"> And 2. </font><font color="gold">G</font><font color="royal blue">O </font><font color="gold">4 </font><font color="royal blue">T</font><font color="gold">H</font><font color="royal blue">A </font><font color="gold">E</font><font color="royal blue">E</font><font color="gold">L</font><font color="royal blue">S</font>

<font color="gold"> If u remember these, and spell correctly, u should be right. </font>

Watch out for the hook turn!

Melbournians are very odd. Treat them like an errant little brother and you should get on just fine...

Seriously, most of us are pretty friendly and happy to help someone out - just ask!. If you're down to earth, easygoing, can take the odd friendly knocking and understand sarcasm - you're halfway there.

Have fun!

Not much to say that is negative really. Melbourne is a great place to be in and you should have a great time here with no worries at all.
Like Leonis said though, watch out for the hook turn if you're in the city. If you don't know what that is, it's a right hand turn made from the left hand side of the road after the lights have gone red. So you pretty much wait in the middle left side of the road (whether any cars are coming or not) til the lights go red to turn. *L* Go figure hehe.
You'll enjoy yourself here though. I guarantee it! [img]smile.gif[/img]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Bokken:
Not much to say that is negative really. Melbourne is a great place to be in and you should have a great time here with no worries at all.
Like Leonis said though, watch out for the hook turn if you're in the city. If you don't know what that is, it's a right hand turn made from the left hand side of the road after the lights have gone red. So you pretty much wait in the middle left side of the road (whether any cars are coming or not) til the lights go red to turn. *L* Go figure hehe.
You'll enjoy yourself here though. I guarantee it! [img]smile.gif[/img] <hr></blockquote>

Uh? I'll just be a geek and stick to traffic lights when crossing the road [img]smile.gif[/img]
Anything interesting I should know about local culture? Something I really shouldnt do in public that I'm not aware of yet? Like snapping my fingers as I walk or spitting at curbs or something equally important and yet equally silly? [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Also I'm told Melbourne has the highest population of Greeks outside of Athens.. how true is this? (not that I've got something against Greeks of course, but its just a interesting bit of trivia..)

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Lifetime:
I'm moving to Melbourne at the end of this month to study at Scotch College, so I thought I'd ask the wise Aussies on this board for survival tips [img]smile.gif[/img] Like the stuff they dont tell you in the brochures and school guides..
Any information, advice or comments would be welcome. I'm looking for information that should help me fit in without too much trouble, and maybe orientate myself to a new environ.
Thanks in advance!<hr></blockquote>

Advice from a Melbourne dweller for 40 + years.

1. Never trust the weather forecasts.
2. Don't get into discussions about AFL football - most people take it far too seriously. Know that the quickest way to make yourself unpopular is to say that you you think it is a stupid game !!.
3. Important: Learn the strange little quirks of our public transport system. For example, most trams have - coin only - ticket machines. Don't try to evade paying for a ticket, however easy it may appear to be.
4. Melbourne is a "multicultural" city, but I prefer to call it "multi-tribal" There are several suburbs in which the occupants are mainly from one ethnic background. Eg. Springvale/Vietnam, Richmond/Greek Coburg/Italian. The *vast* majority of people are very friendly but there are some very few areas where "outsiders" are tolerated/ignored rather than welcomed.
5. Be aware that "opportunistic thieves" hang out in the Melbourne Central Business district - keep your goods and money close at hand.
6. Melbourne has some great places to eat, very cheap, and very good.
7. Watch out for agressive food snatching birds if dining outside in some locations !!
8. If you are in one of Melb's many parks after dusk, look in the trees for possums. They will accept bread and fruit by hand, but beware !! they have VERY sharp claws and teeth.
9. Don't try to speak Aussie "slang" unless you know how. Get it wrong and you will probably wind up looking very foolish ... Listen, and learn.
10. Melbourne is a great place. Welcome, and enjoy [img]graemlins/nicekitty.gif[/img]

Hope this is of interest !!

Pang.

[ 01-07-2002: Message edited by: Pangur Ban ]</p>

Fantastic that was what I was looking for! Thanks Pangur Ban!

Us aussies should stick together.

Davros and Aelia Jusa are! You'll have to wait ages for them as it's close to mid-night there.

Watch out for Aelia though, she has a vicious pig that can fly called *PINK*. It is really an assassin and has so far failed to take me. ;)
It is refered to as *pinky wonky woo* when you hear that, run for the hills! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Lifetime,
very important is that Melbourne is NOT pronounced: "Mel-born"
[img]graemlins/idontagreeatall.gif[/img]
It is said: "Mel-bn" - but think of a very short, flat 'e' between the 'b' and the 'n'.
(there is actually a term for this sound, that is not officially a vowel, but a passing sound between consonants - I have forgotten it though)
Listen to how it's said because it is like sticking a big "I'm new here" sign on top of your head.

Other eg.s are "Brisbn" - not Bris-Bane and "Canbra" - not Can-beh-rah

(the winner was Sydney, not Sidenee!)

PS, everytime someone buys you a drink, you must buy them two in return, then they buy you four back, you buy them eight and so on. This may sound scary but it won't take long for someone to pass out, or get arrested. ;)

[ 01-09-2002: Message edited by: Leonis ]</p>

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Leonis:
Lifetime,
very important is that Melbourne is NOT pronounced: "Mel-born"
[img]graemlins/idontagreeatall.gif[/img]
It is said: "Mel-bn" - but think of a very short, flat 'e' between the 'b' and the 'n'.
(there is actually a term for this sound, that is not officially a vowel, but a passing sound between consonants - I have forgotten it though)
Listen to how it's said because it is like sticking a big "I'm new here" sign on top of your head.

Other eg.s are "Brisbn" - not Bris-Bane and "Canbra" - not Can-beh-rah

(the winner was Sydney, not Sidenee!)

PS, everytime someone buys you a drink, you must buy them two in return, then they buy you four back, you buy them eight and so on. This may sound scary but it won't take long for someone to pass out, or get arrested. ;)

[ 01-09-2002: Message edited by: Leonis ]<hr></blockquote>

Hah right now I'm pronouncing Melbourne as Mel-burn..Should be alright I guess. I have good pronounciation [img]smile.gif[/img]

I'll get the hang of it..

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Lifetime:
Fantastic that was what I was looking for! Thanks Pangur Ban!<hr></blockquote>

Anytime !!

Feel free to drop me a PM if you have any specific questions ...

Other info ...

Mel-bn has one of the oldest rollercoasters in the world, it is the only one in the world that has a person standing in between the cars to operate a manual brake! It's in a place called Luna Park, in St Kilda. Acland St, also in St Kilda has some of the best cake shops you will ever find - gooey, calorie filled, cakes, yumm .. [img]graemlins/nicekitty.gif[/img]

Mel-bn has many festivals well worth exploring - Comedy, Film, Fringe ( Offbeat entertainment ) The Mel-bn Zoo is world famous. There is a friendly? rivalry between Syd-knee and Mel-bn.

When do you arrive ?

Pang.

Hoping to get there by the 28th if all goes well. I've had some trouble applying for my student visa but thank god its alright now. Still, a visa takes time so.. Wait and Pray..

And I wont have much time to go exploring the city. Boarding school can suck [img]tongue.gif[/img]

*Bumping for Wilhelm* [img]smile.gif[/img]

Im curious as to where you hail from. Im not a native so i cant really recommend any good resturants except for this one little hamburger joint in Mentone. Awesome burgers [img]smile.gif[/img]

Dont call MacDonalds MacDonalds... here its McChucks [img]smile.gif[/img] Dont get caught drinking Dr. Pepper ... people will run away screaming.

Harrys Liquor is the cheapest place to buy booze that Ive seen. Dandenong Market is a great place to buy fruit and vegies.

Oh yeah, come over and I'll drink a slab of VB with ya :)VB means Victoria Bitter and its probably the most popular beer in the city [img]smile.gif[/img]

Seriously, stop in for a visit [img]smile.gif[/img] Email me and we'll hook up [img]smile.gif[/img]

Don't call McDonalds MacDonalds either unless you want Davros jumping down your ear 'ole! :D

[ 06-14-2002, 11:55 AM: Message edited by: Donut ]

The trick to surviving in Melbourne is to move to Sydney ;) :D

It was my second home for a while. I had a band down there, and we recorded and promoed down there a lot. Before that Leonis and I played down there, mixed an album out in Warandyte, made a couple of videos (one at Wilson's Promontory) and generally had a good time whenever we visited that lovely city.

The food's good, the Greeks are plentiful ;) the coffee is also splendid.

Areas to the immediate east and south of the city are nicest, food richest, most nightlife intensive and generally fun places to be.

St Kilda, Richmond, Carlton and Hawthorn (pronownced Haw-thawn, not Hawthn or Hawthorn) :D are pretty hip. They even have their own footy teams.

Pick one team to support. Prefferably the Sydney Swans if you like winners. ;) They moved from South Melbourne to Sydney. See. They knew. :D

There's a good church in Whitehorse near the city hall there. CCC Whitehorse it's called. If you're into that, I can recomend it as a funky, alive, place with loving pretty hip people. Really good music.

Luna Park in St Kilda is pretty cool. The beach there is ok. but flat. If you want waves (you're in Australia, you'll learn to love waves) bells beach is just outside Melbourne. Anywhere outside the bay - to the south and southeast should be cool.

The Dandenong Mountains to the direct east on the perimeter of the city are very, very, very pretty. If you need air go there.

Try and live near a tram line. For all the jokes they get, they are the best way to get around.

I wish Sydney kept theirs (wait did I say that?)

There's good clothes shopping around the famous Church Street.

There's some good produce shopping at Prahran. Actually, I just wanted to talk about Prahran. It's pronounced Pran.

"Grouse" sounds gross but means good. Footy is Australian rules and nothing else, and in summer it gets bloody hot.

Except you are from Singapore, so that means it gets mildy warm. ;) :D

<font color="lawngreen" face="trebuchet MS"> Well I think that all South Australians would give you the advice that Victorians cant drive [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img] So WATCH OUT! [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img] </font>

Man this topic is old [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]
I guess it came up at a good time, seeing as how I've spent nearly half a year here already. Learnt more from living here with Aussies than all the guidebooks and learned australians (no offence to guidebook writers and learned australians) will ever teach me.
Earthdog>>exactly where in Melbourne are you? I'm stuck in hip college-town Hawthorn :D :D

I see that in all the time you've been here, you have done a great job of hiding from my celica and it's psychopathic, bloodshot-eyed driver (name has been removed to protect the.......innocent). :D

Oh that's hilarious. I didn't see the initial date. Who the hell resurrected this? Leonisssss?

Oh that's hilarious. I didn't see the initial date. Who the hell resurrected this? Leonisssss?</font>[/QUOTE]Yes it is, your post brought a few chuckles my way. Well better late than never Yorick! Tis the thought that counts!

It's called a 'schwa', and it actually is a vowel, it's one of the three so-called 'weak vowels' of English. [img]smile.gif[/img]

It's called a 'schwa', and it actually is a vowel, it's one of the three so-called 'weak vowels' of English. [img]smile.gif[/img] </font>[/QUOTE]Ah, the Nederlander educates the native speakers. Well done Mel. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Lifetime Im actually in the Frankston area. I have no idea where Hawthorn is but I can look it up in a Melways. Im sure that since you've moved here you now know that trains are a great way to get where you want to be. Email me with some of your details and Ill give you my number and we can hook up.

As I'm sure you know by now Collingwood is about the best team in Footy the last few years but they didnt win the Premiership last year. Gee I hope thats what they call it [img]smile.gif[/img] I know I got at least half of it right [img]smile.gif[/img]

I think it would be great to meet you and honestly Im really looking forward to meeting you face to face. I used to chat through Yahoo and I met alot of really good people from chat. In fact one of my best real life buddies here is someone I met in chat before I ever moved to Australia. It would be great to meet you as well [img]smile.gif[/img] Email me anytime about anything [img]smile.gif[/img] Id love to hear from you [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 06-15-2002, 09:17 AM: Message edited by: Earthdog ]

Melbourne is a great place. Don't worry, you will fit right in, I assure you.

And if you want to make Aussie friends, you can either go to a pub, or go to an AFL football match. Everyone goes there.

I strongly recommend seeing an AFL match- it's a great game.

Enjoy your stay!