Dear Chris,

This discussion is about what being an Australian
means to you. I'd like to hear from you on that
subject.

We came here from Elbasan, and politics was not good at home. No choices or disagreements, no choice to pick anyone you like because government was what it was, nothing else. First English word we speak was corruption. Here also in Aussie, but also racism to. I no longer wish to hear or speak about politics on this Forum because like all politicians world all over including in Oz they promise everything but give nothing at all ? You are a friendly person it would seem by the words you say so thank you for being as friendly face on this Forum.

Dear Misanthrope,

So you're from Albania. I understand how difficult
it must be to adapt to a new country. My parents
fled Lithuania, which later was also occupied by
the Soviet Union. They faced adjustment difficulties
in this country and suffered from a sense of guilt at
having left their people to continue the struggle
against a repressive regime. However they found a
greater physical freedom in Australia, in that their
lives were no longer in danger, but the struggle they
commenced with their conscience allowed them no
spiritual freedom for a long time.

Of course with time they became more confident -in
their new society and they started families, bought
homes, established and made a place for themselves.
This will happen to you too. I'm sure when one day
you return to Albania for the first time, you will be
reminded of the reason you left. The first trip back is
a common turning point, after which many people become
more content, and determined to establish their lives in
Australia.

Thank You for sharing and I wish you every happiness
in this country. May you find your sense of belonging
here, as my family has done.

dear lexie..what does australian..mean..to me
austr-ALIEN*..but thats..cause i tend to self immolation via alienation

my parental s..left the rebuilt..
europe..when.the workers were no longer needed..

its funny..how mother was taught cooking/home keeping/bookkeeping typing and english..etc..my father taught to fit/turn/weld..but in his heart wanted to be in sales.

after my mothers/mother's died..the thinking was send her..off to set up home..she had family..in oz..was invited to work on the farm..and in due time hit our shores..got put on a train..and dumped in the middle of nowhere..to eventually walk into a darkened farm..with an oh its you..they moved in..

what does australia mean to me..a prison
an alien place..where i mostly know immediate family
no aunties/uncles grandparents..nieces nephews..etc..a stranger ina strange land

the great southlands
the newe holland..[new netherlands.].in the nether regions..
the never/never..ever ..or as the dutch..named it..VAN DIE Mense land..[of the peoples land]..[mense also..can be taken as MENSE[god]

thus..land of the god's people..
as a stretch..as named by my people

stretched more..my true people
stand..one foot on the water/one foot..on the land..
we built ourselves..as interposed against my living on others lands..

gods-peoples-lands..
yet named/renamed..terror/nullious..australia..etc

and..land rights..the land..*does have rights
when it emerged..from the waters of the deep

naw*.mate
im a stranger among strangers
cast out of..our own home lands and culture
the place of my own ab-origon-ality..the place where im the indigenous

where i am..in my correct skin group..land
where i save my own culture..not alone others dream times
yet if i return..ancestral 'home'..there i would feel even more outcast.

the sins..of the father..why visit them..upon the kids?

australia is a colon-y..
under the armed forces;;of a foreign colonizing power
[police/army/navy air..etc.]all*..swear loyalty..to hrh..heirs suck-ceasers..

not australia
not the constitution..

not even..to serve the land..and its people..but a figure head/hairs/sukkers..

sorry..feeling a bit blue
assassins in our suburbs..oh dear[tv]
'
lets go shooty..some blacks..or poison their flour..
or give them small-pox riddled blankets..dry out their water holes..infect their little ginny..with tb/vd and tv..

worse..it was done first
in europa..serbs poles jews etc..endlessly

i say
send the kids back home..to discover who they should/could/would have been..

Dearest Lexi,

You have such a good heart, I wish there were more Australians like you.

It's no coincidence that your forebears came from all over. I think that's the Australian experience, and over the past generation the process of mixing and hybridisation and change seems to have accelerated, and all for the good.

Over the past year and a half, I've been using public transport far more than I ever have done for fifty years. In SA, it's free for old-f@rts like me, 9.00 am to 3.00 pm. But everybody should try it - you see a very different Australia from what you experience going from A to B in cars. I have to say I really enjoy it, you see so many people from god knows where. I'm envious of our grand-children and great-grand-children - what a variety of partners they will be choosing from, and what beautiful children they will be having.

One thing that has struck me is that, inevitably, unavoidably, all those new migrants are living in a multi-cultural world: one in which they are not a majority, in which every day - and for life - they have to negotiate and interact with people from other backgrounds, at school, on the streets, in the work-place and in their social lives. Anglos such as myself can stay, to an extent, cocooned in an Anglo world, driving from A to B, but out there a different Australia is evolving.

Hallelujah !

Thanks, Lexi, you're a treasure.

Love,

Joe
www.firstsources.info

Dear OUG,

Thank You for being so open and honest and sharing
your experience with us on this forum. You write
so uniquely - and always manage to impart quite a bit of
wisdom.

From my experience - I've found that our neighbours
have become life-long friends - and I love the wide-open
spaces that are so much a part of this land. Now living
in Melbourne, we have such a great choice of beaches,
rainforests, and countrysides, where you can get
away from it all. The beauty, especially in the
Dandenong Ranges is breathtaking.

I know that my father
who ended up working double-shifts in the Good-Year
tyre factory (to pay off the house and our education) and
died of a massive coronary at the age of 52 - he always spoke
of Australia with love and gratitude. Often also - many children
of migrants, who had previously denied their cultural
heritage, as they grew older find an increasing interest in
precisely those things they had rejected. The interest of
people in studying their family trees and the overall
popularity of genealogy in libraries - is growing rapidly.

I know that for some people it really is difficult to relate
to new surroundings - and for many it is a culture shock.
However although most migrants lived in hostels or
"reception centres," moving into their first homes was an
important psychological step in the building of a new life.

Dear Joe (Loudmouth),

Thank You for coming into this discussion and for your
lovely words. You're a caring and compassionate man,
and you always manage to put a smile on my face.
I know what you mean about travelling by public transport.
I grew up in the Western suburbs of Sydney and used to
catch a bus into Parramatta, then a train into the city,
then another bus to either uni, or work. And the experiences
on public transport, especially during peak hours is
something I can still remember and I've told my children
many stories about those times. They were "golden days"
- that I remember with love.