My Aussie Trip

This is my first blog entry this year, after a long interval. 2013 was emotionally draining for me. Death of grandmother among many other things...This year, I have been busy with life’s most important events. First part of the year, I was in Nepal for grandma’s yearly. US visit of my parents, less than boring job, worthless graduate school were the first part of this year’s highlight.

Been busy and lazy to write… After marriage, things have settled somewhat and life is going…in other words, despite the judgmental peoples bashing, water is continuously flowing under the bridge and its flowing preetttty good. Then Australia called me.

The ‘OZ land’, the branded name for the sociopolitical emotion for the “true blue” Australians, was my latest destination. I left US in May to see exotic Australian “mateship” (if that was a word). Not amusingly, everyone is a ‘mate’ (no pun intended there) in Australia. The hardcore slang that is so popular is indeed, used frequently. I heard someone in a bus say-“f*** you mate”. The trip that was our first trip together after wedding almost turned to a ‘compare and contrast trip’, as we began comparing each and everything in OZ to US standard. In attempt not to generalize everything in Australia, and considering my own short trip and therefore limited knowledge of Australia, I am just babbling my true feelings here- and share with my friends who want to visit or live in Australia, my own experiences. May vary individually…

Everywhere Texans go, they feel things are not big enough. Streets, highways, building, shopping complexes, people (Americans are probably the fattest in the world, sorry!), and everything else seem smaller. My purpose was to reach out and taste the seemingly newer civilization that is flourishing in the sunny lands of Australia. The coastal living, nice weather and outdoorish social life is worth mentioning. Only few and far don’t love the nice beaches and evergreen weather. And ‘mifriend’, who does not love a ‘Crocodile Dundee’ accent? But I have to say- all Australia accents are not sexy. There are some Australian redneck (if you will) who sound like Latin. The plethora of diversity or should I say, the heap of foreign people in Sydney makes you ask the question- does xenophobia really exist in Australia as Indian media has so proclaimed or is it just the ‘immigrant mentality’ of the foreigners? I saw many colors and heard many different languages. A true and blue Australian is hard to find amongst them and perhaps hard to blend into. Crocodile Dundees or the crocodile hunters are hard to find, trust me. Australia is not full of crocodiles, poisonous snakes and kangaroos (not in the residential area anyway).That is equivalent to thinking - Africans live in jungle, see lions every day and hunt. Let’s take those taboos away.

I am not bringing the colonial heritage of Australia to shame it. Every country has black history, US, Nepal, Australia or whichever; they had good days and bad. Australia has done and progressed a lot, perhaps much more in last decade than in their whole history. Their socialist mentality is hard to digest for a capitalist. Even $7 copay for a doctor visit seems unfair to an Australian mind. May be for Europeans it makes sense. I just felt jealous, seriously. Their healthcare system seems extra-ordinary, if not perfect. Socialized medicine can be tricky as we know. Although the OZ people like to be loud and proud, many wise men have shut them down saying- Australia is a ‘lucky country’. I don’t know the seriousness and depth of that, I think it is debatable, but it sure is a happy country according to ‘The OECD Best Country Better Life Index.’ People looked happier and healthier (didn’t see many obese people). May be because it has a vibe of an outdoor social hub; Australia has people on bikes and on Nikes (running shoes) a lot. Australia seems to me like a bigger Austin.

My trip also became a ‘friends get together’ trip. We meet lot of friends, old and new. We had excellent times in ‘mateship’, and we can’t be grateful enough for their hospitality. We met lot of our relatives that we had not seen for years. Nepalese community seems to be flourishing in the land. Restaurants, shops and Indian community seem to be plenty for Nepalese liking. As I visited Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide in quick succession and without much organized plan, it was like unexpected nice gift from a mean uncle. Like graffiti on the Melbourne walls, or a good tattoo in the bad place, Australian dream seems to be bitter sweet, not fairly equivocal to “so famous “ American Dream” (or is that a dead term now?), as there are pros and cons to everything. To me, it is not the place, it is what you do there, makes the difference.

I loved Australia as much as I have loved USA despite its crime rate, and gun loving population and annoying immigration laws. Both these countries have colonial past, but they have taken two totally different paths. While safe, mostly clean and prosperous, Australia may have limited opportunity due to its smaller economy. Rest is personal choice. The vibrant lifestyle, a little laid back nature, open and less pretentious laws and future promises look attractive. Oz is really something else that can’t be equally experienced in USA. While everything is expensive in Australia, they are worthful.

It was a good year for us. Luck is smiling, may be because Australia is indeed a lucky country. Great country and great land; may be our future home, who knows?

6/15/2014

Garland, Texas