You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me

Thursday (January 26) was Australia Day. The date commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet, comprised of eleven British ships carrying 348 free persons and 696 prisoners, at Sydney Cove in 1788. This established British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of the country. To celebrate, Chris and I went to the Naracoorte Australia Day breakfast and celebration, put on by local service clubs and the town council. According to Andrew, the groundskeeper at the park, only bogans (the Australian equivalent of hillbillies and rednecks) and American tourists go to these types of celebrations. Well I AM an American, and I want to get as much of a taste of Australia as I can while I’m here. So despite the fact that the breakfast started at 7:00am (that’s right, 7:00 in the morning, WAY too early for me to even be THINKING about waking up, let alone be dressed and at the town square eating sausage and egg on toast and pretending to be Australian for a day), I dragged my butt out of bed and bit the bullet. 

The celebration started off with a yummy breakfast of sausage and egg on toast, delicious fresh fruit, and coffee. While I am embracing as much Australian culture as I can during my time here, Vegemite remains on my list of Australian things to avoid at all costs. Also on the list are saltwater crocodiles and box jellyfish. Our breakfast was accompanied first by a lovely song on the bagpipes, and then by the beautiful voice of local teenage singer Georgie singing “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen and “Travelling Soldier” by the Dixie Chicks, both of which I absolutely love. I must admit both songs brought tears to my eyes. Georgie followed up with three classic Australian songs:   

"Waltzing Matilda",  "I am Australian"

(which somebody on YouTube commented should be the national anthem, as it actually makes you feel something, whereas the real anthem doesn't), and

"I Still Call Australia Home".

Lots of people joined in singing those three songs, and I could feel the love they have for their country. Georgie’s guitarist then sang a medley of classic Australian songs, accompanied by a man playing spoons. I wish I could play spoons like that!

 Breakfast music on the bagpipes. Despite what my Nana used to say about bagpipes (i.e. that they make a horrific noise like a dying cat) I find them quite beautiful. 

 A guy playing spoons! I want to learn...

The official ceremony kicked off with the singing of the national anthem, for which we were all given a program with the words in it. Apparently most people know the first verse but few know what comes after that. According to advice given to newly-adopted Australian citizens by one of the speakers later in the day, “Don’t bother learning the Aussie anthem, no one knows the words anyway. We all know ‘Australians all let us re-Joyce, for she is young and free duh duh duh wealth duh toil dah dah dah girt by sea hmm hmm hmm hmm Advance Australia Fair.’ That’s it.” How strange! In the US most people know the words to the national anthem (at least in my experience). We also put our hand over our hearts, which Australians don’t do. Don’t get me wrong, Australians are a very proud and patriotic people, but I guess it just doesn’t manifest in quite the same way. During the singing of the national anthem, I ran into the same dilemma I encounter at the beginning of every Girl Guide meeting when the girls do the flag raising ceremony. I feel odd not saluting the flag with everyone else at the meeting, but at the same time I’d feel strange if I did salute it, as I’m not an Australian citizen. While I don’t mean to show any disrespect, I don’t feel it would be “proper” to salute any flag other than the flag of my own country. When it came to singing the Australian national anthem, I decided to stand and listen respectfully instead of singing along (plus I didn’t know the tune anyway).

Another of my favorite parts of the ceremony was the Citizenship Ceremony, during which five people took the oath of citizenship and became Australia’s newest citizens. Australia Day is the most popular day for these ceremonies, and I can understand why! It’s a very patriotic day and lots of people come out to celebrate. There was a mom with her two sons, and the mom looked so proud and happy as she and her kids stepped up to the microphone to take the oath. You could tell by her beaming smile that it was probably one of the proudest moments of her life. One of the other ladies barely spoke English and could barely complete the oath. It’s fantastic that she wants to become a citizen of such a great country as Australia, but at the same time I do feel that anyone wishing to become a citizen of ANY country should learn the predominant language of the country and be able to perform at least basic communication in that language. I definitely think new citizens should also keep their culture’s language and customs and celebrate their roots, but it is also their responsibility to learn their new country’s language. Okay, enough preaching for now.

Decked out in patriotic red, white, and blue. Well, at least one of us is.

After the Naracoorte celebrations, Chris and I headed to the Australia Day barbeque and fair at Kongorong, a small town about 1 ½ hours away. Chris and I kicked off our celebrations by painting little toy boomerangs, which we left to dry in the sun and forgot to pick up when we left. Bummer. We listened to another singing of the national anthem by a teenage girl about 15, during which a gust of wind came along and blew the girl’s dress up, exposing her underwear for all to see. She remained quite poised and continued the song amid quiet chuckles and surreptitious glances. After the formal award ceremonies (for “Australia Day Citizen Award,” “Australia Day Young Citizen Award,” etc.), I asked when the ferret racing was. The flier and internet advertisement had said there would be ferret racing, and I was beyond stoked! I cannot express the depths of my utter disappointment when I asked and was told that the race was cancelled because it was "too hot for the ferrets." Don't ferrets live in the freaking desert?! The funny thing was that I had had a feeling before we left that we’d either miss the race or it would be cancelled. My gut was right. Ah well, I guess that’s just one more thing to add to my “bucket list”: watch ferret racing. 

 One of the old vintage cars at the Kongorong Australia Day barbeque and fair. When I told Chris to do the Vanna White, he had no idea what I was talking about. What a sad life without “Wheel of Fortune”!

After wandering around for a bit and eating pavlova, Chris and I headed to the beach, about a half hour drive from Kongorong. The past week or so has been very hot (upper 90s) and the beach sounded like a perfect idea. Of course on the day we decided to go the temperature had dropped about 20°F and the wind had picked up. It was still a lovely day but way too chilly for lounging on the beach (and DEFINITELY way too chilly for a dip in the already-frigid ocean water). We got fish and chips from a beachfront shop and ate them in the car, and then took a short stroll along the beach. We headed home and continued our “Big Bang Theory” marathon. After many years of my friends telling me how good the show is, I have finally started watching it and I do agree, it’s quite funny.

At the beach on a VERY windy day.

We’ll have to go back on a more beach-appropriate day. Aka any other summer day except the day we went.

I had a fantastic time celebrating Australia Day and partaking in local community events. I love being part of a small community where things like the breakfast and the fair are eagerly anticipated and well-attended. Australians are definitely a proud people who love their country, and who also love to poke fun at themselves. I’ll leave you with two parting thoughts:

The first is the full advice given to the newly-sworn in citizens at the Citizenship Ceremony earlier in the day: "Don't bother learning the Aussie anthem, no one knows the words anyway. We all know 'Australians all let us re-Joyce, for she is young and free duh duh duh duh wealth duh toil dah dah dah girt by sea hmm hmm hmm hmm Advance Australia fair’. And don't call yourself 'Australian', we say ‘Strayan’. S-T-R-A-Y-A-N. And one last thing, you gotta learn this: 'Aussie Aussie Aussie!' (and crowd yells back ‘Oi oi oi!’)."

The second is a song, titled “The Vasectomy Song,” by Aussie country singer-songwriter John Williamson. This song (and many of Williamson’s other songs) epitomizes the Australian attitude and outlook on life. You gotta’ love Australia!: "The Vasectomy Song"