(Day 23) The life in the picture

Saturday 24^th March (day 23)

Today I went for a wonder around Sydney.  I was actually looking for a birthday card for Amy (one of my house mates) but I discovered that card shops are hard to find in Sydney.  Over in England there is a card shop on nearly every main high street, each filled with so many cards for every conceivable occasion.  However here in Australia it would seem that the greetings card industry hasn’t really taken off yet.  After a few attempts at finding a card shop I ended up in a place called the QVB (Queen Victoria Building).  After a few minutes of wondering I had a stroke of deja vu.  I recognised this place because I had read about it in my favourite guide book before coming out to Australia.  (A book I have since lost)

What fascinated me was I read about this place and looked at the illustrations in the book ages ago; I was reading and thinking about this place when I was 10,000 miles away, thinking about what it would be like to be there.  I am here now in the place I read about and tried to imagine.

It is said that a picture says a thousand words, but not all of those words are accurate.  The pictures of QVB in my guide book show a calm and relaxed atmosphere; like the QVB is a hidden gem where few people go.  However the actual shopping centre was a lot more chaotic; it is full of busy people diving in and out of shops.  The QVB does seem to be more catered towards tourist rather than local people and there were a lot of touristy looking people here. Maybe some are here because they read about the QVB in the same guide book I have.  Maybe they are even thinking the same thing I am thinking about how it looks and feels different from the way the book portrayed it. 

I did end up finding a card shop and got a card for the house to sign for Amy’s birthday.  I also bought a flask to store hot coffee in.  I had the idea that having constant access to strong coffee would help me whilst trying to be a good street fundraiser.  Coffee has helped me get through jobs and university classes in the past, why not now in this job?

But today was about walking around the QVB and the feeling of deja vu.  It was just really interesting walking around a place that my mind had been before (well, to the best of its ability).  I not sure if I am describing the sensation well and I hope you guys can sort of relate to what I am saying.  I just found the experience fascinating.

By the way I am going to come back to this post and add some imagines in a few days (including the ones from the guide book).