Not only was she in the car, but she also downed a pint with Mos Mel Dad and yours truly in the local piss vendor.
Misaki doesn't speak Australian...yet...but then, neither do I ;p
And not answering emails may in fact be a calculated attempt on my part to get people to comment on this damn thing. not saying it *is*, mind you, just that it *might be*...
I see... devious! It doesn't help me plan my Japan trips and whatnot though
Some questions, in lieu of an email conversation, then: - Where's that first photo set? - How long has it been since you were in Australia? - Are you growing further from Australia, or missing it more as time passes?
The first photo was taken at Tensou-jinja, a Shinto shrine near my house. We paid our respects on the morning before our flight to Australia, hoping for a safe journey. Seems the gods were listening :) You can see like a halo above Misaki's head the reflection of the sacred mirror above the altar deep within the shrine chamber.
2 years since I was last in Oz.
Probably growing further from it, if I had to say one or the other. Certain aspects of the country become more pronounced each time I return. This trip, for example, I was acutely sensitive to the European influence on Australian architectural heritage, especially in Hobart and Melbourne... But Australia is a different country to the one I left 5 years gone...more wealthy, more expensive, more nationalistic and 'career-focused' and proud. On TV I kept hearing people talking about 'us'; the Australian people' and 'our role', 'our place' in the world. All these Australian Hollywood stars. David Hicks. Schapelle Corby. The Bali bombing. The Bali Nine. All these fucking reality TV shows...these are the major events in Australian history since I have been gone...if I have grown apart from these things, so be it.
The things which I want to keep close to me, the good things in Australia, these things are unchanging.
Are you sure its only 5 years since you have been gone, because im almost 4 years gone and i swear you were gone at least 2 or 3 years before me....
anyway, nationalism is a funny thing. as we were talking about it in the pub in that very surreal 45 minutes in walpole, im comfortable to admit that iv become alot more acutely aware of my australianism since in left. now its a part of my identity, how people refer to me, i work in a very international workplace, with eastern europeans and canadians and those of black african decent, so of course im the aussie.
actually seed and i also get along to australian soccer matches in london and actually cheer Australia on. cynicism: just like that scene in 1984 where they are cheering the face of the leader then booing the picture of the enemy :end cynicism
when i left, i sort of looked down on nationalism, tried to avoid it even, (i remember stubbornly stomping through subiaco oval toward the beer stall before a dockers game while the national anthem played) thought it was just a tool for the powerful to keep people in line and make you travel to the other side of the world to shoot small brown people who talked funny... certainly the hippy ideal of "every man is my brother" seemed totally at odds with nationalism.
but im sort of coming around, because nationalism is all these things, but it is also a type of community mindedness on steroids, really. people in oz will help other people in oz, simply because they are from oz, and this is represented in our social and political system, with our health care and social security systems...
it tends to inspire charity and goodwill in aussies toward other aussies, even across racial and gender lines
its a double edged sword..... or mebbe should i say its like sitting on the back of a cut crocodile... it can go both ways :)
7 comments:
Sweet - I assume thats your sister?
that's misaki my girlfriend you dolt ;p
her first time abroad; australia was a bit of a shock; in a good way :D
Awesome! I didnt realise you guys went together...
I assume she wasn't in the car when you met Mostyn and Melle? If she was, they shall be chastised for poor story-telling.
Has she been learning 'Australian'? Aki's very fond of 'no wokkas' and 'she'll be right mate'.
(answer your emails)
Not only was she in the car, but she also downed a pint with Mos Mel Dad and yours truly in the local piss vendor.
Misaki doesn't speak Australian...yet...but then, neither do I ;p
And not answering emails may in fact be a calculated attempt on my part to get people to comment on this damn thing. not saying it *is*, mind you, just that it *might be*...
I see... devious! It doesn't help me plan my Japan trips and whatnot though
Some questions, in lieu of an email conversation, then:
- Where's that first photo set?
- How long has it been since you were in Australia?
- Are you growing further from Australia, or missing it more as time passes?
The first photo was taken at Tensou-jinja, a Shinto shrine near my house. We paid our respects on the morning before our flight to Australia, hoping for a safe journey. Seems the gods were listening :) You can see like a halo above Misaki's head the reflection of the sacred mirror above the altar deep within the shrine chamber.
2 years since I was last in Oz.
Probably growing further from it, if I had to say one or the other. Certain aspects of the country become more pronounced each time I return. This trip, for example, I was acutely sensitive to the European influence on Australian architectural heritage, especially in Hobart and Melbourne...
But Australia is a different country to the one I left 5 years gone...more wealthy, more expensive, more nationalistic and 'career-focused' and proud. On TV I kept hearing people talking about 'us'; the Australian people' and 'our role', 'our place' in the world. All these Australian Hollywood stars. David Hicks. Schapelle Corby. The Bali bombing. The Bali Nine. All these fucking reality TV shows...these are the major events in Australian history since I have been gone...if I have grown apart from these things, so be it.
The things which I want to keep close to me, the good things in Australia, these things are unchanging.
Are you sure its only 5 years since you have been gone, because im almost 4 years gone and i swear you were gone at least 2 or 3 years before me....
anyway, nationalism is a funny thing. as we were talking about it in the pub in that very surreal 45 minutes in walpole, im comfortable to admit that iv become alot more acutely aware of my australianism since in left. now its a part of my identity, how people refer to me, i work in a very international workplace, with eastern europeans and canadians and those of black african decent, so of course im the aussie.
actually seed and i also get along to australian soccer matches in london and actually cheer Australia on. cynicism: just like that scene in 1984 where they are cheering the face of the leader then booing the picture of the enemy :end cynicism
when i left, i sort of looked down on nationalism, tried to avoid it even, (i remember stubbornly stomping through subiaco oval toward the beer stall before a dockers game while the national anthem played) thought it was just a tool for the powerful to keep people in line and make you travel to the other side of the world to shoot small brown people who talked funny... certainly the hippy ideal of "every man is my brother" seemed totally at odds with nationalism.
but im sort of coming around, because nationalism is all these things, but it is also a type of community mindedness on steroids, really. people in oz will help other people in oz, simply because they are from oz, and this is represented in our social and political system, with our health care and social security systems...
it tends to inspire charity and goodwill in aussies toward other aussies, even across racial and gender lines
its a double edged sword..... or mebbe should i say its like sitting on the back of a cut crocodile... it can go both ways :)
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