Category: Australia

Returning to Australia from Bhutan, I’m often frustrated by the way we seem to replace responsibility for control. I’m not sure whether it’s enforcing rules to compensate for a lack of responsibility or if responsibility is lost because we have laws to compensate. Either way, I think it’s sad. People are no longer as free… Continue reading School Zones

Strangely, given my desire to take more interest in Aboriginal issues and to keep this blog up to date, I have failed to mention the Social Justice Report that appeared in June ’07. It was a major news item at the time and one of the few headlines that encouraged me to follow the news.… Continue reading Northern Territory Intervention

I remember going to a baseball game in Japan and being amazed at the coordinated chants of the crowd. They were very complex, each a whole song, and lead by a chant coordinator in each stand. I was lucky enough to attend the Australia – Japan World Cup qualifier in Melbourne on Tuesday evening with… Continue reading Aussie Chants

I’ve ignored this blog during the uni term, but now it’s over I realise that there were many interesting points I could post. It’s anthropology after all. The first discussion that comes to mind regards racial identity. Aborigines, for example, are being asked to prove their Aboriginality to receive land grants and other benefits. The… Continue reading Racial Identity

The events following the tragic bushfires and floods in Australia have made me think that my people reflect the nature of the land. Both fire and flood are a part of the cycle of life here. Without them, much of our nature wouldn’t be replenished. Even tucked away in my safe corner of Sydney, I’ve… Continue reading People and Nature

Most people I met around the world look to Australia as providing the ideal climate. I wonder if they’re watching the news now to see the extremes of weather that we seem to oscillate between, though never so severe as this before. It’s been raining for the past week in Sydney and heavy, flooding rain… Continue reading Fires and Floods

My housemate is going to be disappointed. I told him that I’d try to bring him back an authentic Moroccan tajine, but it’s not going to happen. Firstly, I can’t see a way to get it back to Australia in tact, but more importantly, I learnt the secret of making a quality tajine… Use a… Continue reading The secret of Tajine

The first day in the desert was rather easy – just a couple of hours walking – but I took the opportunity to ride a camel. Mohammed told me that it’s not just a tourist gimick. Nomad children will ride the camels until they’re big enough to keep up on foot. I can see why… Continue reading Barefoot in the sand

When all work at the office stopped just before 3pm and everyone gathered before the big screen to watch the Melbourne Cup, my new Scottish colleague complained that he didn’t get the cultural significance. It started a discussion between a few of us as to why the whole country stops to watch a horse race… Continue reading Melbourne Cup Origins

My Danish guest quit her volunteer job at Greenpeace but the expected replacement job never came through, so she’s spending her days at home. One day this week I came home to find her with a big grin. I asked her what she’d done to make her so relaxed. ‘I had a long shower,’ she… Continue reading Long Shower