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I am such a city boy

In a previous post, I wondered how I'd go with the SPY mission to Henty, in country NSW; and how country folk would cope with an immigrant.
Well, the response to the first is: I am such a city boy.
Anyone surprised? No? Didn't think you would be.
Henty was nice to visit, but I couldn't live there. I got too easily bored & restless. And when we visited Albury one afternoon, I was disappointed with how small the botanical gardens were - until I was reminded that they actually pretty good for a country town. And when we went to an agricultural show on Saturday, I couldn't tell my sheep from my goats, or the llamas from the alpacas - much to the mirth of the locals...
Even in Sydney, I'm happier in the city than in the suburbs. I really enjoyed living in Newtown, 'coz it was inner city Sydney. I loved the crowds, the noise, the bustle. I loved the fact that I could jump on a bus and be in the CBD in ten mins, and circular quay in fifteen. I loved the fact that I was so close to cinemas, the opera house, museums, the art gallery.
I can understand the pastoral issues that city people face: the pressure of job and career, ridiculous housing prices, constant pressure to compete and perform (regardless of how young or old you are - after-school tutoring has mushroomed lately), constant busyness making everyone "time poor, infinite choice, rapid change, multicultural communities. I can comprehend country pastoral issues - the drought, uncertainty as to who's going to take over the farm - but they're not so proximate to me, I don't "feel" the weight of those issues. Basically, I don't really know what that's like.
As to the second question: I got on well with everyone from Henty church. Everyone was very pleased with our youth group, and with my evangelistic talk - which is interesting, 'coz I said some pretty hard-hitting things. They probably liked me anyway, because I did the old iron-first in velvet-glove thing: I made lots of self-deprecatory jokes about being an immigrant and a city boy, and knowing nothing about the country. They laughed uproariously, especially at the sheep-goat and llama-alpaca story.
Anyhow, I'm back in the concrete jungle now, and loving it. Okay, I'm off to busily evangelise some competitive, hard-working, time-poor multicultural city dweller.
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Comments

Mark said…
Us urbanites need to stick together Kamal. In fact very, very close together ... in high density living ... so close to so many people that we find it hard to relate to anyone. ;)
14 October 2008 at 14:09
Mark said…
Good to hear the mission went well mate!
14 October 2008 at 14:09
Anonymous said…
Thanks for sharing.
17 October 2008 at 19:16
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