The furthest, most eye-opening flight

I'm not even home yet and I miss Perth already.

Maybe I'm missing Australia in general. I miss the nice cool winds, the chilly nights, but most of all, I miss two things: the friendliness of the people working in the service industry, and the fact that every single person speaks in English, which means much to me, as a person whose first language is that of her royal highness.

I already dread the service industry back home. The industry where people are either "friendly" when they annoy you with a "yes?" whenever you pass by their shop, or when they totally ignore you. I already miss the properly friendly culture where staff of shops greet you with a simple "hello" or following up with "how are you today?" in which you could just reply with your own "hello" or answer their question with any of the variations of "I'm fine, thank you," after which they leave you to your own devices or ask if you need help with anything. Best of all is that everyone speaks in complete English sentences, which gives the illusion that they're actually trying to strike a meaningful conversation with you, rather than just wanting your money and you out of there immediately after.

Another thing I massively enjoyed was the opportunity to speak in the Queen's English, rather than our Manglish. Don't get me wrong, I've nothing against Manglish; I speak it more than English, and continue to do so with most of the people I know. But the idea of being able to use proper grammar and not use unnecessary suffixes at the end of every sentence was extremely stimulating. There has never been a culture shock as pleasant as this.

As this is the furthest I have ever been from the land I call home, it is natural that this is the first time I actually felt like I'm traveling away from home. There have been differences between home and our closer neighbours, but in the end, it has to be said that there are way more similarities than there are differences, the key one probably being weather. In fact, if it weren't for the knowledge that I was in a foreign country, should I have suffered from amnesia I would have believed that I was in Malaysia even if I was in fact in Singapore, Thailand or Indonesia. And I cannot imagine saying the same for Australia.

As with Singapore, I could easily imagine making a living in Australia if I was paid in Australian dollars instead of in ringgit. In fact, with my fairly thrifty nature, I would say that I'd probably live a comfortable life with ample luxuries. Then again, from what I've seen, the average middle class person in the anglosphere probably would too, when I'm reminded of the value of their currency and the buying power that results.

So yes, I am extremely poor as a result of my visit to Australia, but it has been a very well-worth visit. I can only imagine the joy I would experience should I be able to visit America or Britain. But I probably wouldn't simply because of how much it would cost to merely get there, not to mention to live there for a few days.

And on that bombshell, adieu to y'all.

P.S.: Apparently the kindness I described does not apply to the whole of Australia, which is a little disappointing. Still, should I have the fortune to be moving to the country, I know which city I'll be calling home.