The Middle

I never realised how living in outer suburbia was really any different to living closer to the city. I mean i understood that there was more traffic a few trams and smaller expensive houses but i never really thought i would have to explain to someone what a housing estate was.
Since going to uni closer to the city i have learnt a few things, such as public transport is sooo frustrating, and time consuming. But i have never really thought about the difference between living closer to the city, except for the fact that you have to pay more for a zone 2 train ticket.
A friend and i went out to a park not far from my house to do a field report and not until then did i realise how different it was for him. I am used to living in an area where there is so many parks and pieces of bushland, but i always found it quite different to being out in the country, where everything seems less rushed and the air is clear, the night sky is full of stars and everyone knows everyone in the town.
He was saying how he wished he could live near big open parks of bushland, where there were kangaroos and lots of natural wildlife, on a quiet street where he could sit on his front porch and watch people drive past. I told him that would be quite boring, seeing everyone owns a car these days so you would be watching them drive past, but then i thought about my childhood. Living on the top of a court with many neighbours my age, i was able to run around outside everyday. We had so many games, many of them we made up ourselves, and most of them making no sense. But still, we had fun. And it was that world that made me who i am today. I may not be the fit sporty girl that i was back then, however if it wasn't for those days spent with my friends from the block i wouldn't be able to ride a bike, rollerblade or billycart down a hill without killing myself. Nor would i have learnt how to make omlay-doo-flamage (and for those who are wondering what that is, it is crushed biscuits, icecream, milo and topping mixed together in a bowl and all made in a cubby house after food raids from everyone's kitchens.  
If it wasn't for those days i probably would have done what all the other girls did and had dancing lessons, become  obsessed with make-up and fashion and god knows who i would be today.
So i guess i get the best of both worlds. I'm close enough to the city to travel in and spend a day there, and close to cinemas and shops activities and friends, but i get to enjoy living in a approximate to parks and wildlife and some of the better parts of country life. The middle.