It's hard to believe I've been here in the US for 5 weeks. One month at the job already, and one round of students down. It's going so fast. The year's roster has been done and my holidays have been set in stone. Seems a lifetime ago that I was in Australia, working at VSS and had my future set in front of me.
It hit me yesterday that I was in America for the next 3 years. I guess I have just taken it as it comes but as my birthday has gotten closer my attention has turned to friends and family. I think it's hard especially around big events like birthdays and holidays like Christmas, because you miss the ones you love that have been influential on you and your life.
On the flip side, I wouldn't trade what I am doing for the world.
I was told the other week by a friend that Australia was just another American state. Categorically, I can say that this is just not so. We drive on the other side of the road, have 9 TV stations, and do not have drive through banks, coffee or smoothie Kings. There are so many things that make where we all come from unique and Australia is a country with it's own unique personality and personalities.
My point is that home is where your heart is. No matter what, I am Australian and more than that I am a Novocastrian. Born and bred there and proud of it. I follow the Blues and the TAH's and neither living in Brisbane or for that matter Louisiana will ever change that. When travelling and living in another country it is important to keep your identity even if you don't want to stand out Your accent and sayings are unique. For me I am laid back, speak Aussie slang, and some may say speak to much. But, you know, that's what makes me who I am.............
"Why am I as I am? To understand that of any person, his whole life, from
Birth must be reviewed. All of our experiences fuse into our personality. Everything that ever happened to us is an ingredient"
Malcolm X
I remember when I was just 18 and I went to Newcastle with a friend, to visit other friends who had just started their first year of uni. They took us to a bar on the main drag, I forget the name, might have been Shooters or something unoriginal like that ... but I thought it was the most amazing place I had ever been to as they served all the drinks with dry ice and I had never seen anything like that before. Many years later that is still my main memory of Newcastle and I haven't been to a bar since that gave me the same buzz as it did. Oh and of course I have fond memories of the Oak factory, and Maccas at Hexham. Newcastle ... all about the food & drink lol
ReplyDeleteWell it does have a diverse culture Sharon. I'll give you that. And there are certain landmarks that do stand out like the Oak. But more important to me is the people where you come from. If you do not have the personalities then you don't have the unique town or for that matter a town that stays in your memories........There are plenty of Newcastles and Brisbanes the world over but what makes them unique are the individuals that live there.
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