It has been quiet here for the past few weeks. That was not entirely by choice. I have been dealing with a pinched nerve in my right shoulder/arm that has caused a decent amount of pain, but also numbness in my fingers. It has severely limited what I can do for the past four weeks. Even now I find it hard to type on a keyboard because the feedback you are used to from your fingers hitting the keys is not the same. At least my arm is not screaming in pain, so I guess that is progress. And even if I have been in pain we still have been doing things.
Term break
The kids second term break was marked by the fact that Anna flew off back to Europe to go to a concert with her friends. Thankfully I had planned an easy, kid friendly trip while she was gone. We headed down the coast to Torquay. Some may remember this town from our drive on the Great Ocean Road trip last term break. On that trip we only stopped for a few hours, but I found a resort style campground that offered cabins to stay in. Even though it is winter here and the weather was not great we still enjoyed going to the beach, playing mini golf, snakes and ladders (life sized where you use your own person as the player piece) and a few other things. We also went back to Cape Otway Lightstation. Again, you can read more about that in the post about the Great Ocean Road. And again, Isabelle enjoyed a week of swim lessons. These week long, intensive lessons that run during break are great. The progress made in just a few days is remarkable and the kids self-esteem soars when mastering a new skill! I’ve tried to add pictures of these past weeks in the Google Album that you can find in the menu.
Halfway point
Since the halfway point of our Australian adventure is fast approaching I thought it was a good idea to reflect on things. We left Norway because we wanted to experience something new. Break the mold so to speak. Has Australia lived up to everything we wanted? The short answer is no. It has certainly offered us the chance to get away and try something new. But oddly enough, Australia is in many ways similar to Norway. Of course disregarding the weather. But Australia is in many ways an isolated place. Norway is not geographically isolated in the same way, but in many other ways Norway is isolated from the rest of the world. Australia also has experienced immense prosperity in the recent past. And choices made during those good times now create some unique challenges in the current political and economic climate. It is hard to put a finger on it and explain precisely, but Norwegian and Australia culture are not so different as one might think. Of course, Australia has a much more diverse population with a larger degree of immigration in the past. And that is probably the biggest point of difference. Without the influx of Asian immigrants Australia would probably be, culturally speaking, as bland and boring as their previous colonial overlords. Which again, would be on par with Norway. But thankfully we get to experience what other cultures can bring to the table. Which makes me realize, personally, that really the place I would rather be is somewhere in South East Asia. So yes, Australia is nice. There are many things about a Australia that make it interesting and worth a visit. However, if you wanted to experience a non-western culture and really try to break with your cultural past then Australia is not the place for you. On an even sadder note, over the past year or two it is clear that many of the woes experienced here in Australia is being blamed on immigration. It is sad, because it is clear that Australia is built on immigration. And much like the US, without immigration it wouldn’t be what it is today. But instead of celebrating this fact, and cherishing this unique aspect of their country, Australians have doubled down and blame it for everything that is wrong. Again, that is reminiscent of the US and it leaves me with a sad feeling that Australia might be headed the same way the US is. Thankfully, at the last federal elections Australians rejected the right-leaning coalition and so I do have hope that Australia can overcome it’s current xenophobic tendencies. But do I want to hang around to find out? That is a question I thankfully do not have to answer quite yet.