Australia Day

January 26, 2002-New Stuff
(photo:Australia Day celebration)

Today is Australia Day. In 1788, Arthur Phillip sailed 11 ships of the First Fleet from England to Sydney to establish a colony in New South Wales. He managed to transport 1,000 reluctant travelers (both prisoners & free) 15,000 miles to an unknown land. In preparing his sermon last night, David wanted to understand Australia Day & tried to find an American comparable. Columbus Day seemed to fit. Both holidays celebrate white Europeans “discovering” lands that had long been inhabited by indigenous people. Here as in America, the indigenous people & their sympathizers stage peaceful events reminding everyone of their rights as original inhabitants. Both holidays are given short shrift in their respective countries. Here, Australia Day isn’t marked by parades, fireworks, or political speeches. There are scattered rodeos, sheep shearing contests, & one local fair.

I’ve told you that in grade 12, students take exams used for college admissions. The import of the results is enormous. It not only decides on the fate of their undergraduate education, but also impacts on their career choices. They not only apply for college entry, but also apply to a particular school in that college & particular career training. In other words, they declare a major upon application to college. For example, if a student wants to be a doctor or lawyer, they must apply as such during year twelve. If they’re accepted, the doctor has a 5-year training program to become a GP with an additional year or two to become an MD. Lawyers complete their courses of training in three years of undergraduate education. So, Gasp!, a 21 year old can be a lawyer. I know that there’s additional education & further degrees, but a lawyer is a lawyer. The same rules hold for business, IT, teaching. The course work is so confined to that particular career choice, it’s hard to change tracks.

We finally made it to a popular local haunt last night. After services we went to the Ashmore Road Steak & Seafood Restaurant. It’s a huge building that sits up on a hill. The parking lot is always crowded & everyone raves about it. When we found out that it was owned by a Greek family, we were determined to get there. True to form, the portions are huge & prices are reasonable. The restaurant itself is a conglomeration of tasteful décor punctuated by startling tackiness. The room we sat in has three glass walls overlooking lush tropical plants that successfully screened the parking lot. The carpeting was attractive, clean, & newer. The tablecloths were sparkling white, the lighting was subdued, & brazenly artificial potted plants hung from the rafters. Dangling from the plants above each table was a table number. The system was a variation on typical Aussie counter restaurants. In a counter restaurant, you order at the counter, are given a table number to display at your table, & the food is served to you at that table. It’s sort of like Ponderosa or Sizzler. At this particular place, there was a large order sheet on the table that also served as the menu. You marked which items you wanted & noted your table number at the top. A server collected the order form, tore off the bottom strip, & noted your table number on that strip. That became the check that you later took to the cashier for payment. The customer ordered & paid for drinks directly from the bar. David had a Porterhouse steak. I haven’t even seen that on a menu for years. It was succulent & well flavored. I think we brought more than half of it home. I had grilled barramundi & took half of that home as well. All dinners came with great garlic bread, side salad, & fries. I think the steak came to $US13. Now I know why it’s so popular.

January 27, 2002-New Food

We did go to the town council sponsored Australia Day celebration at one of the parks yesterday. They had a big turn out & the weather was glorious. We spent most of the time at the rodeo. They have a sensible approach to bull & bronc riding. The juniors wore substantial helmets & thick, padded leather vests. Aside from some bulls that decided to lie down on the job & wouldn’t leave the chute & a horse that wouldn’t stop grazing, things were pretty exciting. It was the job of one of the clowns to hose down the dust in the ring from time to time. Being a clown, he also hosed down the very grateful crowd.

The foods were varied & ranged from Aussie Tucker to Asian, Indian, Bosnian, Afghani, Greek, French, & German. The Aussie foods were pies (meat, of course), pasties, salad rolls (lettuce, tomato, beetroot, cheese, & a meat on a buttered hamburger bun), waffles (they claim them too), hot dogs, & burgers with the lot (bacon, eggs, avocado, beetroot). There were displays of wool spinning, sheep shearing, wagon wheel making, & other outback skills. They had tug of war contests, foot races, & egg tosses. There were three stages with entertainment ranging from bush poetry to traditional Aussie tunes. There was a camel caravan on which you could ride & a draft horse drawn wagon as well. Remember that the Afghans used camels to trade along the Australian desert. There were bands playing old rock & roll & a Maori cultural group who performed traditional dances & songs. The Maoris are indigenous to New Zealand, but these people had immigrated to Queensland. They boasted that they were the only people in the Southern Hemisphere who were undefeated by the British. It’s true to this day. They were decked out in their war regalia & tattoos & were pretty ominous looking. I imagine the Brits weren’t too happy to find they were up against Maoris in New Zealand after having dealt with the more docile Australian aborigines.

January 29, 2002-New Ideas

Sunday night we had dinner at a congregant’s home. They are always a delight. His brother, Jack, was visiting from London. Jack is a psychotherapist who works for the government. He made an interesting observation. He said that countries seem to favor admitting political or ideological refugees rather than economic refugees. With economic refugees, you have a population who just want to work hard, become successful, & create a better life for themselves & their children. Political & ideological refugees were troublemakers in their place of origin & seem to keep getting into trouble in their adopted country. He may have skewed experience since patients he comes into contact with are the ones who are constantly confronting the legal system.

Toby