Australia Day. Celebrating what it is to be Australian. I’d feared it might be a bit too overtly nationalistic for me. Public displays of flag waving lacking appeal. Much preferring a more understated, but unquestionable, patriotism.
But I needn’t have worried. Breakfast barbeques. Bands playing in the park. Families relaxing in the shade. Rather tasteful. A few flags. Mostly face transfers at that. Perhaps that’s what it is to be Australian. Getting the job done. Without fuss or frivolity. Aborigines a bit thin on the ground mind.
They’ve certainly got a lot to celebrate. For theirs is still a very youthful nation. An entire continent elevated to first world in just a few hundred years. Remarkable achievement.
I’d wondered if there might be more subtle undertones. Seeking to bind together a diversity of immigrant cultures. But no. For, specifics aside, the underlying philosophy for being allowed to settle here seems to have been a fairly consistent one. Fitting in. Integration. And it seems to have worked pretty well. You sense, for all the diversity of backgrounds, a pretty homogenous society. Good on ya.
