I wasn't born here. I am an Australian citizen. I can throw on an Aussie accent that would make Steve Irwin, Slim Dusty and Pauline Hanson shed a tear of pride. My kids are the first generation of my family to be born here. So what does it mean to me to be "Australian"?Firstly, it means to be funny. We walk the line of irreverent shit giving and good natured self depreciation that makes us some of the funniest people in the world, second only to the Scottish...they just sound funny without having to try.
We are honest. Call a spade a spade or a dickhead a dickhead, as the case may be.
After travelling a bit and seeing a lot, I can also say that we are in the enviable position of being able take all our luck, safety, isolation, beauty and richness for granted. Apart from days like today.
The story of why my parents decided to immigrate from Zimbabwe, is a small example of the things we don't ever need to think about.
My Mum was pregnant with me. At the time there was civil unrest and armed guerrilla militia were becoming a common sight. My mum was walking on the foot path in a shopping precinct. The foot path was blocked by some militia walking with machine guns towards Mum. Rather than allowing Mum to pass, they pushed her over into the road and traffic. That night, bruised and scared my parents decided to get out of Africa.Apparently we had the choice to move to Australia or Canada. I am really glad this isn't a blog about the virtues of Maple syrup and snow.
Cheers to being Aussie.
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