There was an earthquake in Townsville. In Australia. Is that even possible? Apparently so.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc0002stu.php
It's such a bizarre occurrence that Mum and I jumped to the conclusion that the house was falling down before we even considered an earthquake. At first, I heard a scraping noise, similar to when a car does a U-turn outside our house. When Mum started freaking out, I told her to chill out, because it was just a car. Then I could feel the ground shaking, and everything, including me on the carpet, started wobbling. It was over in about 15 seconds or so, and when it seemed to have stopped, I went next door and asked the neighbour if they felt anything. They looked at me like I was growing horns (or maybe they didn't understand my English, they're Indian). Or rather, they looked at me like I was talking about an earthquake in Townsville, which is roughly as likely as me growing horns, I guess. When they said no, it strengthened the collapsing house hypothesis.
Back inside, I did what any teenager does, and I immediately check facebook. Collapsing house hypothesis is chucked out the window when someone in a small town a few hundred kilometres away is talking about an earthquake. As I scroll down, there's more and more about it. There's even a group called "I survived the Townsville earthquake", which currently has nearly 3000 members. It's kind of pathetic how everyone's immediate reaction is "TO FACEBOOK!"
Anyway, it's always fun when something that was previously labeled impossible happens. I'll try and update about my personal life sometime soon, but no promises : P
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
The party (or rather, the horrific natural disaster) is over now. Lots of pics and videos.
Cyclone Yasi is over, and North Queensland is slowly getting back to normal. I'll start at the start.
Morning of Wednesday 2/2/11 = I was woken up by Dad, who told me that we would start feeling the effects of the cyclone within 3 hours. He was right. By about 10 in the morning, wind speeds were apparently around 40kph (25mph). The sky was pretty dark, and my family was rushing around cleaning the yard and moving all of the garden ornaments and stuff. My parents did a dump run, and left me to tape up all of the glass windows and doors. While I was doing that, some random guy was on the news, telling us that the cyclone was category 5 (the most destructive category) and that our shelters only withstand cat. 3, so basically, we're all fucked. He also said there was no point in taping windows, and no matter how much you try to protect your children, they will die anyway. I was pretty damn angry at this guy, and the TV station for allowing this dickwad to stir people up. If a place is preparing for a natural disaster, DO NOT TELL THEM THEIR KIDS ARE GUARANTEED TO DIE. That's not very nice at all. It's seriously the last thing people want to hear. So I sat there, outraged with a roll of masking tape in my hands. I finished the windows and my parents came home. I'll skip over midday, where my dog decided to be a naughty little shit and make everyone angry. The video below is our backyard at midday, 12 hours before it hit.
Late afternoon of Wednesday 2/2/11 = The house was clean, important stuff was moved off the floor in case of flooding. We were about as ready as we could get. We decide to go for a drive around town, to see how well other places were prepared (stupid idea, I know. But we were bored shitless!). We got down to the beach, and the rain started. We got a phone call from my Dad's cousin saying that her and her son were scared and wanted to stay overnight, and that they were leaving their house now. So we went back home, and the cyclone was really starting to pick up.
Around 7pm on Wednesday 2/2/11 = We had found that all the wind was blowing onto one side of the house, so we closed the windows, and sat out on the patio and watched the storm. Surprisingly, it seemed to be all wind and hardly any rain, which is kind of bizzare. Typically, cyclones have destructive winds that rip off ceilings, then the rain gets in and destroys your stuff. This time, it was mostly wind, and very light rain. The news kept us updated on the speed of the cyclone itself, and the time that it was supposed to reach land got later and later, which is bad news. The slower a cyclone goes, the more intense it is. Originally, it was supposed to be 9pm, coinciding with the high tide. Then it was 11pm, then the news was saying midnight.
10:30pm on Wednesday 2/2/11 = We lost all power. Since it was so late, and most places already lost power hours before, we assumed ours would last until we fell asleep. So of course, we didn't have our radios, torches or candles ready when we finally lost it. The first 2 minutes of blackout was a desperate scramble for something that emitted light. When we found torches, we realised the radio batteries didn't work. So we dug through our cupboards, and eventually found six C batteries. We lit some candles, and sat around listening to the radio. Towards midnight, something happened and the radio signal became a bit jumbled. We picked up four different stations at once, and none of them were giving information. We turned it off, and attempted to sleep. The attempt wasn't very good.
1:23am on Thursday 3/2/11 (3rd of Feb for you Americans) = This is when the strongest winds were recorded. I distinctly remember waking up to a very, very loud noise. I checked the time, and looked on facebook to see how other people were doing. Apparently, other people were also woken up by the noise of the winds, and some people were listening to stuff getting dragged across their roof. A few days later, we bought the paper and it specifically mentioned this exact time as being the strongest point of the storm for Townsville. Wind speeds were recorded at 130kph (80mph). When I looked out my window, all I could see was the tree in the neighbours yard bending over and hitting my window (it's an incredibly flexible tree). Due to the lack of power and fans, I tried to sleep on top of my bed covers, but I decided to put my sheets over my legs because if the tree went through my window, I'd get a body full of glass, and that's not very nice. So I suffered through the night with a closed window, no fans, and a tree tapping on my window next to my bed.
9am on Thursday 3/2/11 = I went out to survey the damage, and I took a video. In total, 6 trees out of the ground. One tree broken in half but still upright, as well as two broken gates. The metal bolt thing broke off one of them, so it was wide open and flapping around in the wind. On the other side, we lost a fence paling, which created a gap big enough for my dog to get through, as you see in the video. I stopped filming because he ran straight onto the road and got attacked by much bigger dogs, who I had to rescue him from. Notice the winds, still strong 9 hours after the cyclone crossed the coast.
8pm on Thursday 3/2/11 =Still no power, cooking by candlelight. We lived like this with no power for about a day and a half, which wasn't too bad.
That's about it for my story, since after this it was all clean-up. I'll put up some pictures from around the city. The first one is just around the corner from my house. 30+ trees were taken out, all laying on the road and footpaths.
Below is a massive palm tree being held up by a power line. Very dangerous.
The weir near my house, and right next to a tavern. This isn't too bad compared to some of the other floods and stuff we've had, but look at that poor tree on the left :(
Another massive fallen tree covering the road.
Another suburb where most of the trees were upturned, with the roots facing the road.
KFC lost their rotating bucket.
The icecream place right on the beach boarded up their windows. There were other signs about town saying stuff like "Kiss My Yasi".
Another view of that tree on the powerline.
As I get more photos, I'll keep adding them in new posts.
Morning of Wednesday 2/2/11 = I was woken up by Dad, who told me that we would start feeling the effects of the cyclone within 3 hours. He was right. By about 10 in the morning, wind speeds were apparently around 40kph (25mph). The sky was pretty dark, and my family was rushing around cleaning the yard and moving all of the garden ornaments and stuff. My parents did a dump run, and left me to tape up all of the glass windows and doors. While I was doing that, some random guy was on the news, telling us that the cyclone was category 5 (the most destructive category) and that our shelters only withstand cat. 3, so basically, we're all fucked. He also said there was no point in taping windows, and no matter how much you try to protect your children, they will die anyway. I was pretty damn angry at this guy, and the TV station for allowing this dickwad to stir people up. If a place is preparing for a natural disaster, DO NOT TELL THEM THEIR KIDS ARE GUARANTEED TO DIE. That's not very nice at all. It's seriously the last thing people want to hear. So I sat there, outraged with a roll of masking tape in my hands. I finished the windows and my parents came home. I'll skip over midday, where my dog decided to be a naughty little shit and make everyone angry. The video below is our backyard at midday, 12 hours before it hit.
Late afternoon of Wednesday 2/2/11 = The house was clean, important stuff was moved off the floor in case of flooding. We were about as ready as we could get. We decide to go for a drive around town, to see how well other places were prepared (stupid idea, I know. But we were bored shitless!). We got down to the beach, and the rain started. We got a phone call from my Dad's cousin saying that her and her son were scared and wanted to stay overnight, and that they were leaving their house now. So we went back home, and the cyclone was really starting to pick up.
Around 7pm on Wednesday 2/2/11 = We had found that all the wind was blowing onto one side of the house, so we closed the windows, and sat out on the patio and watched the storm. Surprisingly, it seemed to be all wind and hardly any rain, which is kind of bizzare. Typically, cyclones have destructive winds that rip off ceilings, then the rain gets in and destroys your stuff. This time, it was mostly wind, and very light rain. The news kept us updated on the speed of the cyclone itself, and the time that it was supposed to reach land got later and later, which is bad news. The slower a cyclone goes, the more intense it is. Originally, it was supposed to be 9pm, coinciding with the high tide. Then it was 11pm, then the news was saying midnight.
10:30pm on Wednesday 2/2/11 = We lost all power. Since it was so late, and most places already lost power hours before, we assumed ours would last until we fell asleep. So of course, we didn't have our radios, torches or candles ready when we finally lost it. The first 2 minutes of blackout was a desperate scramble for something that emitted light. When we found torches, we realised the radio batteries didn't work. So we dug through our cupboards, and eventually found six C batteries. We lit some candles, and sat around listening to the radio. Towards midnight, something happened and the radio signal became a bit jumbled. We picked up four different stations at once, and none of them were giving information. We turned it off, and attempted to sleep. The attempt wasn't very good.
1:23am on Thursday 3/2/11 (3rd of Feb for you Americans) = This is when the strongest winds were recorded. I distinctly remember waking up to a very, very loud noise. I checked the time, and looked on facebook to see how other people were doing. Apparently, other people were also woken up by the noise of the winds, and some people were listening to stuff getting dragged across their roof. A few days later, we bought the paper and it specifically mentioned this exact time as being the strongest point of the storm for Townsville. Wind speeds were recorded at 130kph (80mph). When I looked out my window, all I could see was the tree in the neighbours yard bending over and hitting my window (it's an incredibly flexible tree). Due to the lack of power and fans, I tried to sleep on top of my bed covers, but I decided to put my sheets over my legs because if the tree went through my window, I'd get a body full of glass, and that's not very nice. So I suffered through the night with a closed window, no fans, and a tree tapping on my window next to my bed.
9am on Thursday 3/2/11 = I went out to survey the damage, and I took a video. In total, 6 trees out of the ground. One tree broken in half but still upright, as well as two broken gates. The metal bolt thing broke off one of them, so it was wide open and flapping around in the wind. On the other side, we lost a fence paling, which created a gap big enough for my dog to get through, as you see in the video. I stopped filming because he ran straight onto the road and got attacked by much bigger dogs, who I had to rescue him from. Notice the winds, still strong 9 hours after the cyclone crossed the coast.
8pm on Thursday 3/2/11 =Still no power, cooking by candlelight. We lived like this with no power for about a day and a half, which wasn't too bad.
That's about it for my story, since after this it was all clean-up. I'll put up some pictures from around the city. The first one is just around the corner from my house. 30+ trees were taken out, all laying on the road and footpaths.
Below is a massive palm tree being held up by a power line. Very dangerous.
The weir near my house, and right next to a tavern. This isn't too bad compared to some of the other floods and stuff we've had, but look at that poor tree on the left :(
Another massive fallen tree covering the road.
Another suburb where most of the trees were upturned, with the roots facing the road.
KFC lost their rotating bucket.
The icecream place right on the beach boarded up their windows. There were other signs about town saying stuff like "Kiss My Yasi".
Another view of that tree on the powerline.
As I get more photos, I'll keep adding them in new posts.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Australia Day! Also, I have an award!
I've been given an award by Dani-Q, so I'll do that at the end of this post. Here's a brief update on my life.
Still no job, but the bag shop at the local shopping centre is apparently looking for casual staff to do 8-10 hours a week, which is perfect for me. I spoke to the lady, and she seemed really positive. So I went home, got my resume, and went back there a few hours later. The lady actually recognised me, which was very encouraging. I got an email back about a job at a grocery store, and they said their hiring process is on hold until mid-February, so that sucks. Other than that, nothing new.
WARNING: THIS PARAGRAPH IS A BIT GRAPHIC.
I went to the doctors about my digestion-related problems. He referred me to a pathologist, who had to take blood, urine and faeces tests. The pathologist wasn't very nice at all. But she had to deal with my faeces, so I think we all know who came out on top. BUT, she told me the sample had to be frozen, so I had to do it all again. Of course, I got stage fright and didn't go to the toilet for 2 days after that. I finally did, handed in my jar of poo, and the lady thanked me for it. I laughed like a demon. I know it's part of her job, but it must suck.
Since it's Australia Day, and I am Australian, I took part in the customary ritual of consuming a shitload of alcohol. Being sick to begin with, I didn't consume as much as what I planned, but I still attempted to have fun. There were too many people in town, and line-ups of about 30 mins for each club. One place had a line for about 2 hours, apparently. Also, thank god we had a designated driver, because the taxi line went the whole way down the street. No thank you.
But now, today actually IS Australia Day, and I'm not doing anything Australia-related for it. Oh well, I think last night made up for it.
Last thing before I do the award bit, I just received a text message from the boyfriend. He is apparently making a cake. He won't tell me what flavour. I fear for the world. This will not end well.
And now for the award!
Life Is Good
If you blog anonymously, are you happy doing this? If you aren't anonymous, do you wish you started out anonymously, so that you could be anonymous now?
To be honest, it doesn't really matter to me whether I'm anonymous or not. I mean, I haven't given away all the details to me life, so to the casual reader, I sort of am. If you wanted to go all out stalker on me, it wouldn't be too hard to find me though.
Describe an incident that shows your inner stubborn side.
I continue to argue, even when I know I'm wrong. Mostly with my parents. And if my side of the argument is going badly, I blame someone else and they cop it worse than I do.
What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?
I see a sack of flesh with limbs and a face and other appendages. I also stare at my eyes until they look more grey than blue. Then I notice my terribly shaped eyebrows and run away before I'm tempted to shave them off.
What is your favourite summer cold drink?
I liked Pepsi Max, until I realised that it was one of the things that makes my digestive system do weird stuff, so I'm trying to cut down on it.
When you take time for yourself, what do you do?
I have very long showers.Is there something that you still want to accomplish in your life?
Of course! I haven't even had a real job yet! Let alone a life, proper relationships, kids, etc etc. All that normal life stuff people do when they have lives.
When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the shy person or always ditching?
Depends on the class really. And who was in the class. But I was usually seen as the overachiever, but only because I consistently turned up for class, and did the work (never the homework though).
If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what would you see?
When someone I was very close to was drunk, and said some very hurtful things that they didn't mean. Even though they apologized, we were both hurt by the end of it, and it started the decline of our friendship. We don't even talk anymore. It sucks, because they were one of my best friends, but that incident brought out all the problems we had ever had. And don't worry, people who are reading this. It's none of you. You don't even know this person.
Is it easy for you to share your true self in you blog, or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people and events?
I share my true self I guess. It's sort of a shallow picture, because I try not to name too many people, but what I do tell is like the top layer of my true self.
If you had the choice to sit down and read a book or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?
Read. I can't talk on the phone. I hate it. My grandmother told my mum it was like talking to a rock when you're on the phone to me. I'm a little bit better now, but I still hate it.
So that's it for the award bit. I have to give it to other people now? How about Morgan from the Adorkable Ditz' Missteps. She always reads my posts. I like her. She's nice.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
9th of November: Must....Keep...Goingggggg
I really don't want to blog today. At all. Unfortunately, I was too tired to continue yesterday, so I'm behind on yesterday too. Over all, I'm still ahead on my total word count I think, but I'll soon be behind. I think after today, if I don't make the word count, I'll be behind.
I have my criminology exam today, at 6pm. Because of this ridiculous time, I had to tell work I couldn't do tonight's night fill shift. So there's a good $70 or so gone from my potential bank account. Oh well. I'm still working about 24 hours this week, so I'll be well on my way to saving up for that car. I'm obviously not looking for a new car, because my price range is around $2000. Once I drive around an old shitbox for a while, and I get my license and everything, then my parents have promised to buy me a decent car. I don't know if they will, but I'll harrass them anyway.
BUT
There was an interesting discussion last night on Facebook last night, about a certain New Zealand expat/deserter who was bagging out the county she has lived in for about 6 years now. And as a strong patriot of the country she lives in, I had to blog about it.
NOTE: As with many things I say, it's not personal at all. I object to what a person can SAY, not the person themselves. It's all intended to be in good fun. Some parts may seem racist, but no harm is intended. I don't believe that some of Australia's actions against Aborigines were right, but we've been trying to fix it for god knows how long, and it just keeps going.
She started off by talking about how she couldn't enter a competition because she wasn't an Australian citizen. I'd say that's fair enough. If they wanted someone from another country to win, they would open the competition to that country, right?
Some comments are made along the lines of "ha ha, suck shit". She continues on to say that she doesn't want to be an Australian, and she feels sorry for us all. Now, what the hell. She's the one who left her country to come to this place. And I'd like to point out that you only ever hear about people from New Zealand coming to live in Australia, never the other way around. And the majority of these New Zealanders are taking advantage of our lax immigration laws so they can escape debt. Australians go over there for holidays, then come back after about 2 weeks. A month at the most. Hmm, I wonder why?
When people start telling her to leave, she backtracks and says its a nice place, with some nice people, but it has no culture. Now, you can't throw around words like "culture" and expect that everyone agrees with you.
Since I'm lazy and went to wikipedia, here's a few definitions of culture.
The word "culture" is most commonly used in three basic senses:
I know that this particular person is referring to the first definition, and I suppose she has a point there. But she needs to take into account that our country has only escaped British rule in the last 100 years. We've had 100 years to form our "high culture" of fine arts, and Europe, which you keep comparing us to, has had got at least 900 years on us. I don't think any comparison should be made. Come back in 900 years, then we'll talk. Considering the fact that we're so far behind on European culture, I'd say we're doing damn well with what we've been given.
Now. Here's the tricky bit. As Australians define our "culture", it would be most in tune with the third definition of shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that define us. In that sense, I don't think there's a single country on Earth that has MORE of a culture than us. Australian patriotism is unbelieveable. It's everywhere. People bag out the guys with Southern Cross tattoos, but you can't deny that it stands for something. Even if the constellation is visible to the entire southern hemisphere, it's still considered a symbol of Australian patriotism, and of Australia itself, due to all of our Aboriginal stories that incorporate it.
I think that the backbone of Australian culture comes down to war. Our country has one of the best armies on the planet. We may not have the best numbers, but we have the attitudes and mindset for it. Our soldiers are famous for their efforts at Gallipoli. Yes, I know that ANZAC stand for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. which is exactly why I'm surprised that a New Zealander has the balls to have a go at a country so historically linked to her own.
In case you don't know about the story of Gallipoli, here's a summarised version. The British sent boatloads of Australian and New Zealander men to land on a certain beach at Gallipoli. Of course, the British were being complete twats and dumped them on a beach with a massive cliff on it. And the enemy was on top of the cliff. With machine guns. Good job, Brits. Our soliders failed their mission over all, since they were pretty much slaughtered whilst climbing that cliff. BUT. Quite a few survived, and they stuck it out, despite the war conditions (duh), the rampant disease and malnutrition, and the unsurmountable odds. They eventually got the order to retreat, and they came up with an ingenious plan that meant that their escape was completely unnoticed. They rigged up some machine guns, and sent out a group to play cricket in an a spot where the enemy could see them. While they were playing cricket, and the enemy was watching the game, the ANZACs took off. They packed up their game, and went home.
Since then, the Aussies have always been proud of their war efforts, and the virtues displayed by our soliders is something that all Australians, even now, nearly 100 years later, try to reflect. Even apart from our history of war, our families all come from labourers, famers, miners, and other kinds of working men. On my mother's side of the family alone, we have found the stories of several men who embody the sought after characteristics of the Australian man.
My mother is right into doing family history stuff with my great Aunt, and they've found some interesting stuff. One guy, I don't remember his name, but he was a soldier. He went to war, and eventually got kicked out of the army for too much drinking, fighting with other soldiers, and promiscuity (and for having gonorrhea). Now, how Australian is that? Another one of my relatives, Albert Vollenweider, discovered copper on Mt. Garnet, and was eventually ripped off by a business man who took all his ownership rights in the 1800s. Vollenweider's diaries about what he found are still being held by this business man's relatives, who are desperately trying to fend off my great Aunt from getting them back.
At this point in the thread on Facebook, its a bunch of people having a go at her about how her opinions are based on blogs and the history channel. Which is entirely true. I'm pretty certain that she too will admit that.
Someone else brings up our history and racism. What they're referring to is our on-going issues with the Australian Aborigines. Back when we were still British, they dumped their convicts here, on a massive desolate rock (which happened to be a great place for farm land, mining and city expansion, with the best beaches in the world, the British clearly didn't think it out too well). There just so happened to be some native people already here. What was the response of the British? Kill the fuckers.
When you're opponents know the land like the back of their hand, it's not always a good idea to kill them all. Anyway, many spears were thrown, guns were shot, and a lot of people died on both sides. This continues on, and many different policies were used to try and settle it all down. It didn't work. Even today, people still have issues with it all. Yeah, all right. The Brits stole your kids and tried to make them live in the British way. That's kind of because you had 40,000 years (yes, forty thousand years) in Australia, and you couldn't get your shit together and progress past the tribal stage.
Now, as for present day racism. Yes, we do have some issues there. As do every country in the world. In Townsville, we have the particular issue of racism against Aborigines. Now, it's important to note that no one has an issue against the ones with an education, jobs, and a respectable way of presenting themselves. It's the ones that are drunk, on drugs, with six kids, no job, and they hang around the mall screaming and urinating on bench seats. It's not because they're black. It's because they're drunk, on drugs, with six kids, no job, and they hang around the mall screaming and urinating on bench seats. Regardless of the colour of their skin, anyone who does that is trash. There was a story in the news paper the other day about an Aboriginal woman who was drunk outside a fancy cafe. She picked fights with everyone who walked past, until she found another drunk Aboriginal lady. They proceeded to fight, fall over, strip their clothes off and scream on the ground until they were arrested. Black or white, that's no way to behave.
Now the Aborigines may be all hung up about the Brits invading their country years ago, but that's no excuse to do what they do. Are they singling out every single white person and giving them individual pay back for someone else's actions, hundreds of years ago? Did my mother get attacked by a young Aboriginal kid because she was white? Did I get sexually assaulted by an Aboriginal man in broad daylight simply because I am on his ancestor's native territory (which is now a busy main road)? Does that give them the right to do whatever they like, to who ever they like for no apparent reason?
Australians don't hate Aborigines because they're black. We hate the jobless, drunk, uncivilised, rapists, regardless of race. The majority of them just happen to be Indigenous. We hate the white ones just as much.
Another racism issue that happened a few years ago is somewhat similar in result. The Cronulla race riots. Even though it may have looked like a Australia vs. Lebanon free-for-all battle royale, originally it was something very different. It started off when large groups of young men (who just so happened to be Lebanese) began raping and brutally bashing our women, terrorizing our neighbourhoods, and destroying our cities. Even if they were white, people would go out and stop these monsters, because these sorts of things just aren't cool. Since the actual perpetrators were Lebanese, the police didn't want to get involved because of racism issues. So the Aussie guys from that area wanted to stop them instead.
It was originally to go after that particular gang that did all these horrible things. Then, when the Lebanese community banded together and started burning our flag, in our own country, all hell breaks loose. After that, any person, Australian or Lebanese, innocent or not, was in danger of being killed. It's not like it was just Aussies going out and beating up poor little defenceless Lebanese people. They disrespected our country, our land, our property and our women. Of course Australians will retaliate.
As for our racism compared to the rest of the world, particularly Europe? Do I really need to say anything about the Holocaust? The Crusades? I'd say those things are far worse than anything Australia can mange.
And of course, there's racist people in every country. It's not neccessarily racism, but the French are world famous for being intolerant assholes to anyone who doesn't speak French fluently. And Aussies are world famous for how laid-back and nice they are to people of all cultures (unless they're alcoholics, rapists, or flag burners, I'd like to see a country that DOESN'T hate that).
Now, enough about racism. The image that we're undereducated. Seriously?
Watch this, and tell me Australians are the uneducated ones.
Nothing against Americans, of course. But I'd say that the education problems over there are far worse than anything we have over here. They still manage to be the greatest political power in the world, even with all their issues.
Also, the guy who invented Gardasil, the vaccine that prevents Cervical Cancer, he was an Aussie, you know. Just throwing that out there. We can't be too uneducated if we have people who have developed things that prevent cancer!
I'm getting sick of talking about Australia. I haven't even gone on to the country itself. Eventually, I'll muster up some more passion and keep on going about this. For now, I've done today's word count, and I really need to study.
Once again, don't take it personally. This isn't a serious post. It's all absolutely true, but I don't intend for it to be taken as something mean, or hurtful. I'm just defending the country that I love. But we Australian don't take kindly to foreigners bagging out our country, especially if you've been living in it for years. It's a given that we're going to dish out a smart-ass, tongue-in-cheek response about our patriotism.
Word count for this post = 2348
Word count total for November = 17, 612
I have my criminology exam today, at 6pm. Because of this ridiculous time, I had to tell work I couldn't do tonight's night fill shift. So there's a good $70 or so gone from my potential bank account. Oh well. I'm still working about 24 hours this week, so I'll be well on my way to saving up for that car. I'm obviously not looking for a new car, because my price range is around $2000. Once I drive around an old shitbox for a while, and I get my license and everything, then my parents have promised to buy me a decent car. I don't know if they will, but I'll harrass them anyway.
BUT
There was an interesting discussion last night on Facebook last night, about a certain New Zealand expat/deserter who was bagging out the county she has lived in for about 6 years now. And as a strong patriot of the country she lives in, I had to blog about it.
NOTE: As with many things I say, it's not personal at all. I object to what a person can SAY, not the person themselves. It's all intended to be in good fun. Some parts may seem racist, but no harm is intended. I don't believe that some of Australia's actions against Aborigines were right, but we've been trying to fix it for god knows how long, and it just keeps going.
She started off by talking about how she couldn't enter a competition because she wasn't an Australian citizen. I'd say that's fair enough. If they wanted someone from another country to win, they would open the competition to that country, right?
Some comments are made along the lines of "ha ha, suck shit". She continues on to say that she doesn't want to be an Australian, and she feels sorry for us all. Now, what the hell. She's the one who left her country to come to this place. And I'd like to point out that you only ever hear about people from New Zealand coming to live in Australia, never the other way around. And the majority of these New Zealanders are taking advantage of our lax immigration laws so they can escape debt. Australians go over there for holidays, then come back after about 2 weeks. A month at the most. Hmm, I wonder why?
When people start telling her to leave, she backtracks and says its a nice place, with some nice people, but it has no culture. Now, you can't throw around words like "culture" and expect that everyone agrees with you.
Since I'm lazy and went to wikipedia, here's a few definitions of culture.
The word "culture" is most commonly used in three basic senses:
- Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture
- An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning
- The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group
I know that this particular person is referring to the first definition, and I suppose she has a point there. But she needs to take into account that our country has only escaped British rule in the last 100 years. We've had 100 years to form our "high culture" of fine arts, and Europe, which you keep comparing us to, has had got at least 900 years on us. I don't think any comparison should be made. Come back in 900 years, then we'll talk. Considering the fact that we're so far behind on European culture, I'd say we're doing damn well with what we've been given.
Now. Here's the tricky bit. As Australians define our "culture", it would be most in tune with the third definition of shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that define us. In that sense, I don't think there's a single country on Earth that has MORE of a culture than us. Australian patriotism is unbelieveable. It's everywhere. People bag out the guys with Southern Cross tattoos, but you can't deny that it stands for something. Even if the constellation is visible to the entire southern hemisphere, it's still considered a symbol of Australian patriotism, and of Australia itself, due to all of our Aboriginal stories that incorporate it.
I think that the backbone of Australian culture comes down to war. Our country has one of the best armies on the planet. We may not have the best numbers, but we have the attitudes and mindset for it. Our soldiers are famous for their efforts at Gallipoli. Yes, I know that ANZAC stand for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. which is exactly why I'm surprised that a New Zealander has the balls to have a go at a country so historically linked to her own.
In case you don't know about the story of Gallipoli, here's a summarised version. The British sent boatloads of Australian and New Zealander men to land on a certain beach at Gallipoli. Of course, the British were being complete twats and dumped them on a beach with a massive cliff on it. And the enemy was on top of the cliff. With machine guns. Good job, Brits. Our soliders failed their mission over all, since they were pretty much slaughtered whilst climbing that cliff. BUT. Quite a few survived, and they stuck it out, despite the war conditions (duh), the rampant disease and malnutrition, and the unsurmountable odds. They eventually got the order to retreat, and they came up with an ingenious plan that meant that their escape was completely unnoticed. They rigged up some machine guns, and sent out a group to play cricket in an a spot where the enemy could see them. While they were playing cricket, and the enemy was watching the game, the ANZACs took off. They packed up their game, and went home.
Since then, the Aussies have always been proud of their war efforts, and the virtues displayed by our soliders is something that all Australians, even now, nearly 100 years later, try to reflect. Even apart from our history of war, our families all come from labourers, famers, miners, and other kinds of working men. On my mother's side of the family alone, we have found the stories of several men who embody the sought after characteristics of the Australian man.
My mother is right into doing family history stuff with my great Aunt, and they've found some interesting stuff. One guy, I don't remember his name, but he was a soldier. He went to war, and eventually got kicked out of the army for too much drinking, fighting with other soldiers, and promiscuity (and for having gonorrhea). Now, how Australian is that? Another one of my relatives, Albert Vollenweider, discovered copper on Mt. Garnet, and was eventually ripped off by a business man who took all his ownership rights in the 1800s. Vollenweider's diaries about what he found are still being held by this business man's relatives, who are desperately trying to fend off my great Aunt from getting them back.
At this point in the thread on Facebook, its a bunch of people having a go at her about how her opinions are based on blogs and the history channel. Which is entirely true. I'm pretty certain that she too will admit that.
Someone else brings up our history and racism. What they're referring to is our on-going issues with the Australian Aborigines. Back when we were still British, they dumped their convicts here, on a massive desolate rock (which happened to be a great place for farm land, mining and city expansion, with the best beaches in the world, the British clearly didn't think it out too well). There just so happened to be some native people already here. What was the response of the British? Kill the fuckers.
When you're opponents know the land like the back of their hand, it's not always a good idea to kill them all. Anyway, many spears were thrown, guns were shot, and a lot of people died on both sides. This continues on, and many different policies were used to try and settle it all down. It didn't work. Even today, people still have issues with it all. Yeah, all right. The Brits stole your kids and tried to make them live in the British way. That's kind of because you had 40,000 years (yes, forty thousand years) in Australia, and you couldn't get your shit together and progress past the tribal stage.
Now, as for present day racism. Yes, we do have some issues there. As do every country in the world. In Townsville, we have the particular issue of racism against Aborigines. Now, it's important to note that no one has an issue against the ones with an education, jobs, and a respectable way of presenting themselves. It's the ones that are drunk, on drugs, with six kids, no job, and they hang around the mall screaming and urinating on bench seats. It's not because they're black. It's because they're drunk, on drugs, with six kids, no job, and they hang around the mall screaming and urinating on bench seats. Regardless of the colour of their skin, anyone who does that is trash. There was a story in the news paper the other day about an Aboriginal woman who was drunk outside a fancy cafe. She picked fights with everyone who walked past, until she found another drunk Aboriginal lady. They proceeded to fight, fall over, strip their clothes off and scream on the ground until they were arrested. Black or white, that's no way to behave.
Now the Aborigines may be all hung up about the Brits invading their country years ago, but that's no excuse to do what they do. Are they singling out every single white person and giving them individual pay back for someone else's actions, hundreds of years ago? Did my mother get attacked by a young Aboriginal kid because she was white? Did I get sexually assaulted by an Aboriginal man in broad daylight simply because I am on his ancestor's native territory (which is now a busy main road)? Does that give them the right to do whatever they like, to who ever they like for no apparent reason?
Australians don't hate Aborigines because they're black. We hate the jobless, drunk, uncivilised, rapists, regardless of race. The majority of them just happen to be Indigenous. We hate the white ones just as much.
Another racism issue that happened a few years ago is somewhat similar in result. The Cronulla race riots. Even though it may have looked like a Australia vs. Lebanon free-for-all battle royale, originally it was something very different. It started off when large groups of young men (who just so happened to be Lebanese) began raping and brutally bashing our women, terrorizing our neighbourhoods, and destroying our cities. Even if they were white, people would go out and stop these monsters, because these sorts of things just aren't cool. Since the actual perpetrators were Lebanese, the police didn't want to get involved because of racism issues. So the Aussie guys from that area wanted to stop them instead.
It was originally to go after that particular gang that did all these horrible things. Then, when the Lebanese community banded together and started burning our flag, in our own country, all hell breaks loose. After that, any person, Australian or Lebanese, innocent or not, was in danger of being killed. It's not like it was just Aussies going out and beating up poor little defenceless Lebanese people. They disrespected our country, our land, our property and our women. Of course Australians will retaliate.
As for our racism compared to the rest of the world, particularly Europe? Do I really need to say anything about the Holocaust? The Crusades? I'd say those things are far worse than anything Australia can mange.
And of course, there's racist people in every country. It's not neccessarily racism, but the French are world famous for being intolerant assholes to anyone who doesn't speak French fluently. And Aussies are world famous for how laid-back and nice they are to people of all cultures (unless they're alcoholics, rapists, or flag burners, I'd like to see a country that DOESN'T hate that).
Now, enough about racism. The image that we're undereducated. Seriously?
Watch this, and tell me Australians are the uneducated ones.
Nothing against Americans, of course. But I'd say that the education problems over there are far worse than anything we have over here. They still manage to be the greatest political power in the world, even with all their issues.
Also, the guy who invented Gardasil, the vaccine that prevents Cervical Cancer, he was an Aussie, you know. Just throwing that out there. We can't be too uneducated if we have people who have developed things that prevent cancer!
I'm getting sick of talking about Australia. I haven't even gone on to the country itself. Eventually, I'll muster up some more passion and keep on going about this. For now, I've done today's word count, and I really need to study.
Once again, don't take it personally. This isn't a serious post. It's all absolutely true, but I don't intend for it to be taken as something mean, or hurtful. I'm just defending the country that I love. But we Australian don't take kindly to foreigners bagging out our country, especially if you've been living in it for years. It's a given that we're going to dish out a smart-ass, tongue-in-cheek response about our patriotism.
Word count for this post = 2348
Word count total for November = 17, 612
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