Remarkable people

The first week in Melbourne I spent in the All Nations Backpackers hostel on Spencer street. The advantage of the hostel was that it is in the center of the city. The major disadvantage is that you have to share the room with up to 8 people. That means you don’t have any privacy and always have to take into account that others could be there. This even restricts you on simple things like turning on the light, which makes finding things most of the times a real challenge.

But then again, you meet some remarkable persons. The day I arrived there were 3 people in the room that I was booked. They had been staying in the hostel for quite a while and had just moved from another room together because it had to be painted. Later I heard that it had more to do with the bugs that were terrorizing the room and, more annoyingly, the people in it.

Ben, a young typically Australian guy, works at a bar. That means he is sleeping most of the day and working at night, so I did not see him frequently. But he is always in for a chat, always cheerful and really nice to be around.

Gram, a guy in his mid 40’s, is a bit too convinced of himself, even arrogant most of the times. With his pretended life experiences he always tries to convince you he knows best. Apart from working in the hostel he spends his days watching movies on his laptop or sleeping. When we first met, it was clear that we wouldn’t be best friends, but after a incident (I was folding my laundry, not aware that Gram was in the room and apparently making too much noise) he started to just ignore me.

Jacqueline, is originally Malaysian, but her parents emigrated to New Zealand when she was 11. She had come to Melbourne with her boyfriend in February, because it had always been her dream to live in Australia, and especially Melbourne. Unfortunately things didn’t work out between her and her boyfriend. Luckily she recently has found a job and is now saving money to get herself a nice apartment. Probably because of her length you would estimate her age around 20, when in fact she is already 28!

One of the most annoying things of Gram is his concern for Jacqueline. At first sight it seems nice of him to take care of her as she is just alone in Australia, emotionally disturbed. But his looking after her turned out to be more of an attempt to control her life, watching every step she takes. At first I had the impression that Jacqueline didn’t really mind, but as I got to know her better it became clear that she really dislikes the way Gram is always watching her. I asked her why she didn’t tell him so, but she is a far too nice person to be that honest with people. She is more polite than is good for her.