Sometimes when I am standing in our backyard, my little son tells me he “wants to see the whole world”.
asserted
he → stand → world
This is my cue to hoist him up so he can stand on my shoulders.
asserted
he → hoist → shoulders
He takes his time, looking into backyards and no doubt endearing himself to the neighbours.
asserted
He → take → neighbours
It’s getting harder to do now that he is four, but I love the fact that in that exact moment Liverpool is his whole world.
asserted
Liverpool → get → moment
Liverpool, or Livo as it’s often known, has always been my home.
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it → know → ?
Located about 30 kilometres south-west of the Sydney CBD, the suburb sits within the City of Liverpool Local Government Area, in the heart of south-west Sydney.
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suburb → locate → Sydney
It is a place often defined by those outside it.
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It → define → it
The Liverpool I hear about is jarringly different from the place I experience every day.
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I → hear → place
Painted in broad brushstrokes, its residents are reduced to caricatures that bear little resemblance to the people I know.
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I → paint → people
It’s hard not to have a chip on your shoulder when you grow up here, and I admit that mine is bigger than most.
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mine → ’ → most
One of my earliest memories is eating with Mum at the Coles Cafeteria, burning my mouth with chips that were all heat and no flavour.
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that → eat → chips
I remember strutting through Liverpool Plaza when I was five or six because the butcher had handed me the bag of mince and called me Mr Muscles.
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butcher → remember → me
Later, Westfield Liverpool became our regular teenage haunt, where we would wander aimlessly, bumping into other groups of friends who were doing laps of their own.
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who → become → own
Universities, once faraway things, have landed like spaceships.
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Universities → land → spaceships
They jostle for attention in the heart of the city, towering over the main street.
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They → jostle → street
The old shops I knew growing up are largely gone, with new things popping up in their place.
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things → know → place
Al Barakeh is the locals’ choice for charcoal chicken, while the southern end of the CBD comes alive at night, with people moving between restaurants, dessert shops and the occasional shisha bar.
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people → come → restaurants
It’s not uncommon to see food trucks and marquees setting up for festivals in Macquarie Mall, with the Eurofest Night Market Festival a hit with my family.
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Festival → ’ → family
Thousands of people come from across Sydney for the foods, atmosphere and performances that showcase the cultural diversity at the heart of Liverpool’s identity.
asserted
that → come → identity
Crepes, waffles, pancakes and churros all compete for my daughter’s attention, while one of my sons heads straight for the cevapi.
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one → compete → cevapi
While I couldn’t find it when I was filling out the census, the universal language of Liverpool is the grind.
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language → find → Liverpool
It’s the early starts, physical work, long commutes and jobs that can’t be done from home.
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that → ’ → home
The grind was brought into sharp focus during COVID-19.
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grind → bring → COVID-19
As the helicopters were completing flyovers of our suburb, people from Liverpool were keeping the wider city afloat.
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people → complete → city
The sound of my wife, a teacher at the primary school up the road, teaching her students every day, was a constant in my house during lockdown.
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wife → teach → lockdown
So too were her trips into school to supervise the kids who came in that day, so their parents, working as tradies, cleaners and nurses, could earn a living.
uncertain
parents → supervise → living
Occasionally, I manage to sneak away from work to surprise my kids after school.
asserted
I → manage → school
When I make it for afternoon pick-up, I hear snatches of conversation from around the globe.
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I → make → globe
Serbian, Arabic, Hindi and English all intertwine as we shuffle through the gates on a shared mission to get our kids out as soon as possible to beat the rush and the traffic.
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we → intertwine → rush
Not a melting pot, as many would characterise it, but a mixed plate, where each component has its own distinct flavour and identity.
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component → characterise → flavour
It’s complex, it’s colourful, it’s messy – and it’s what I love about Liverpool the most.
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I → ’ → Liverpool
The bell rings and my big son tears towards me like a labrador with big paws and a bigger backpack, nearly knocking over several of his classmates.
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son → ring → classmates
My daughter takes her time, still young enough to be happy to see me, at least until I politely decline her request to go to the shops.
asserted
I → take → shops
As we join the crowd spilling out of the school gates and onto the streets, it’s hard not to feel part of something bigger, a place that is very much alive.
asserted
that → join → something
You can see these signs of life if you know where to look.
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you → see → life
It’s there in Macquarie Mall during the day, where the old blokes play dominoes and chess beneath the umbrellas.
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blokes → ’ → umbrellas
Their voices and passions rise and fall, weaving in and out of the staccato rhythm of pieces clacking on tables.
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voices → rise → tables
You can hear it at the Collingwood Hotel when rival tribes come to watch the game.
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tribes → hear → game
The roars of triumph are only cut short by buzzers going off, a reminder to collect a meal that comes on a plate the size of a hubcap.
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that → cut → hubcap
It’s there with the kids kicking around a ball at Collimore Park, as the sun goes down.
asserted
sun → ’ → Park
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
