JustAnne.

Remembering Why I Choose Australia

I have had a lot of conversations lately about Australia Day, racism, 'boganism', flags, southern cross tattoos and the genocide of our Indigenous peoples. These conversations have all been incredibly interesting and often provide valid criticisms of our culture and history. They are also a bit of a downer and have the habit of making me feel a bit ashamed of my country. 

Unlike a lot of people my age and generation, I have not chosen to live and work overseas for any extended period. I have fallen in love with other countries and cities, but I only holiday there. Australia is my home, and I love it here. So this Australia Day, I am going to take a couple of minutes to reflect on what I think makes Australia pretty fabulous. Not perfect!! Just pretty fabulous. These are the things that keep me here, and that keep me committed to changing the things I don't particularly like. 

• I was born into a country with 50,000 years of cultural heritage. 50,000 years!
• This country granted my mother's family access when they were escaping famine and poverty in Ireland, and it still grants people access who are escaping war, oppression and genocide. (Okay, so they're pretty particular - but 13,500 per year is better than 0)**.
• If I get sick, I can easily see a doctor and get medicine to treat my illness.
• If I go to hospital, I do not have to provide my own linen, food and family members to attend to me.
• I can find myself sitting in someone's backyard, having a beer, watching my friends and classmates perform dances from Bollywood films and eat delicious food we have all made to share. 
• That I can always find someone interesting to talk to. What makes people interesting is that their experiences and cultures are different to my own. Because there is so much diversity here, there will always be new stories to hear!
• That our collective laid back Aussie attitude (as reported by many visitors and people who choose to live in here) is so complementary to my own personality.
• That there are so many people committed to creating change for the most vulnerable and powerless in our society.
• We have a welfare system!
• That Australians are so generous. Not just with our money, but with our time. In the year 2006, one third of Australian adults volunteered their time for their community. The grand total of hours worked in the year was around 713 million!***
• That I can sit and have open and frank discussions about why I disagree with many elements of my country's politics and culture and nobody punishes or ridicules me. Well, not to my face. 
• Our wit and our humour.
• That I am free to choose how I would like to live my life (provided of course, it does not encroach upon the rights of others).
• That there is still so much of this country I haven't seen.

So this Australia Day I am going to celebrate why I like living here in the way I normally do - listening to the Hottest 100, and chilling out. Although this year I will also be making Beetroot Hommus, which is pretty exciting.

Belatedly Resolved.

I have a little problem. Because I haven't 'officially' blogged my new years resolutions, I keep adding to them when other people tell me theirs. The list is getting too long, and judging by my complete inability to complete last year's list, I thought I had better post them quick smart.

This year I have gone for a combination of achievable tasks and broader attitudinal/behavioural shifts (Geez, that sounds fancy doesn't it!). So here we are . . .

• Up my Pilates regime to twice a week - this may require me to decrease spending on clothes or alcohol. *gulp*
• Find a new and fabulous job - it has to be fabulous to lure me away from my current position.
• Write something, anything, once a day.
• Finally sew a friggin' dress.
• Take back the reins on my 'healthy living'. I dropped them for a while there.
• Rock the U. S. of A.
• Make peace with my Lady Bits
• Be more conscious of my waste - food, garbage, the lot.
• Find an off switch for my brain.

The last item was particularly inspired by an affirmation card I encountered last year (yes, I know it's dorky, but that affirmation card set was the best $20 I spent last month). In fact, it was this card that prompted me to buy the set in the first place. This is definitely something I need to keep reminding myself to do this year . . .

So there you have it. My goals for 2010. I have a feeling it is going to be a very good year.

In Transit, Part One.

To the casual observer I would have appeared rather blase and disorganised around my trip to the Philippines. And the casual observer would have been right. Although I am not convinced that any amount of proactive planning would have prepared me for the epicness of our journey to Calapan for the wedding of our good friends, Julz and Roxy.

The journey didn't start particularly well. It started with myself and my ever plucky travel companion waking up at 3.45am to drive to South Brisbane to catch a train and then two buses to get to Coolangatta airport by 7am to check in for our 9am flight. We flew AirAsia and at about 6am there was some discussion about whether or not it would've been worthwhile springing the extra $300 for tickets with an airline that left from Brisbane. Our answer to that is now an unequivocal YES! You see it happens that AirAsia only stops in smaller, out of the way airports where it is no doubt cheaper to lease terminal access. This is all well and good when a) you speak the language at your destination; and b) you have the good sense to look at a map and realise that where you land in 'Manilla' is actually 100km North of Manilla, which is a further 200km away from the boat terminal you need to get to. 

Not too mention the EIGHT AND A HALF HOUR wait at Coolangatta airport due to bad weather and our plane not being able to land (apparently it is a short run way and the visibility was quite low). Once you've been through customs at this airport, you are stuck in a small section of the terminal with three shops, only one of them selling vaguely edible food. The most frustrating thing was that our plane was diverted back to Brisbane. Twice. The Cranky was in our collective pants that day. When the plane finally landed there was an almighty cheer from the crowd and a wave of euphoria that swept through us all. All of a sudden it felt like we were going somewhere. To sit on a plane for another eight hours.

 

(this is where we sat for eight and a half hours)

 

(as you can see, we're not that impressed)

When we finally landed in Kuala Lumpur, at their rural and remote terminal, we took in the scenic vista of a Malaysian car park and swamp as we hiked through to get to our motel room for four hours sleep. When we woke up and returned to the airport it was as if no time had passed at all. All we had was the loving memory of a bed with pillows and a sense that we had lost something very special. That, and damp luggage from sitting in the rain at the Coolangatta terminal for EIGHT AND A HALF HOURS. There was a tarp, but it was ineffective.

Upon arriving in "Manilla" we were greeted with the sights and sounds of South-East Asia, lots of men hassling us to catch their taxis. And seeing as we were unsure of where we were and had no real conception of where we were going, a taxi we did catch. My sassy travelling companion did a stellar job at bargaining with the taxi 'concierge', while I stood around like the naive white giant I am, no doubt adding thousands of Pesos to the price by my mere presence. But the exorbitant price tag was worth it, as we got to meet Jerome.