Both Clive James and the bloke who plays Dame Edna (Barry Humphries) have an excellent collection of many that bind us.

We are self deprecating like the British are.
We have singing rhymes like the cockneys had.
We win office after a very thorough exam like the mandarins did.
We also have a mandarin capital but oddly enough like the Europeans have.

But we are larrikins too, we can't stand authority. We seriously despise those who brown-nose up and scold down.
And we hopelessly abbreviate. The MCG is just "G." In this, their is a great deal of ingenuity and a great deal of lazyness. which we euphemistically call "care-free."

Guess we like to live here and don't like those who whine about it.

Like your take on things leddie!

BD, I dont see that there is anything wrong with acknowledging ancestry and paying homage to traditions. But loyalties should be to Australia first. Many descendants of early settlers still refer to their heritage of Irish/Scottish/English, so its a bit much to expect anyone newer to be any different. Actually you dont realise how deep the English/Irish divide still is in Australian families until you get an inter-marriage. It still blows me away!

Oops, botheration, didn't quite express my thoughts properly. I should have mentioned chicks (and big fat masculine women). Say we're gay and I'll scratch your eyes out, mmm.

Well said Country Gal,
Just been to Eu-Scottish wedding. Huh
En/Irish marriage not working? That's a first. Could be just a personality crash;-) Crockery nice and intact, no ties cut up I hope

Dear BD,

It's often not how we see ourselves - but how others see us... To that end I've penned this ditty:

"My name's not Andrea, Elizabeth or Meg.
They call me 'unpronouceable,'
Which takes me down a peg.
I simply smile and laugh it off,
So they won't know and they won't scoff.

I speak four different languages,
But none seem to quite do.
And when I speak 'Australian,'
They don't think it's 'True Blue.'

My family came here long ago,
Yet when all is said and done,
I'm still not quite acceptable,
For me that's not much fun.

I try so hard, I really do,
I do my best to please.
But, no matter what I say or do,
They say I'm still Chinese!"

Hear, hear Foxy!

It is not the parents saying 'We're Chinese' Boaz. It is the likes of Easytimes calling you Chinese, or Fungo Bungo man.

There are many of you who will continually harp on integration and assimilation. What many of you do not realize is that no matter how integrated and Australian you may feel, no matter how passionate you may feel about this country, it will forever be held against you that you have an accent or do not look European.

You could have lived 3/4, or more,of your life here and not speak your native language that fluently anymore, but you will still be asked: 'How long have you been here?' 'What nationality are you?'

It is the constant focusing on the 'newness' by some Australians on other Australians, or the racial features, that on an almost daily basis makes you feel separate.

Your identity is what you say it is, not what another says it is.