One of the hardest things for someone living abroad to come to terms with is learning to weigh the positives and negatives of both countries. There are good and bad things everywhere, yet it is the act of living with a new set of negatives that helps make homesickness happen. Getting used to the negatives of an adopted home, and eventually not seeing them as glaringly, is part of the acclimation into a new culture. The negatives of home don't seem really pronounced for me. I miss friends and family and Michigan itself. All of it very valid. I miss temperate summers; I miss the first snowfall and taking a quiet walk after dark through the falling snow; I miss the hype of the three magic months with Thanksgiving, Christmas and Halloween; I miss the type of friendliness that is uniquely American; I miss the it's-a-natural-part-of-summer feeling of listening to a Tigers game on the radio; I miss walking along Main Street in Rochester. All the stuff that makes sense to me without thinking about it.
Over the last few years I have grown to see the beauty of the land here. This is a rugged and exotic country, roughly the size of the USA, yet the center, instead of our breadbasket, is an expansive desert. The cities sit along the coast of the country, beautiful and cosmopolitan, with the brutal beauty of the outback just hours away. Oz has droughts and hot summers. Yes, there a ton of things that can kill or maim you in the sea, air and land. The beach is always stunning and going body-surfing over Christmas break is really something I've gotten used to. The fact that the country has a public health care system that takes care of every man, woman, and child, and takes care of them well, is such an amazing example of decency applied on a large scale. University is covered by a loan from the government that you don't have to repay until you earn a minimum threshold (around $36, 000/year) and then a percentage is pulled out of every paycheck until paid off...interest free! And of course there is that old chestnut of not being in the cross hairs of every twisted psycho wanting to make a point about the West.
America is an amazing place with opportunities found nowhere else, with many of the top universities and research facilities in the world. It's a country offering a diversity of cultures found nowhere else. We are an optimistic, ambitious, and friendly people. America is skewed towards the ambitious and if you have a dream to be successful America is where you go. Australia, on the other hand, takes care of a larger chunk of its people. They have first class education and culture...even though their comedians tend to suck. Aussies are friendly, but not gushing, and they have a strong cynical streak.
As a result of being Terra Australis Incognita a large portion of the population travels and works overseas after they graduate from either high school or university. They have a world view that is well-rounded and sophisticated and developed through first-hand experiences. Nina lived in Holland for a few years, speaks Dutch, and developed a sense of the world through her experiences in Europe. Her sister travelled throughout Europe as well, and has been to the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and is moving to Canada for a year to work at a Ski Resort. Of course I have met some glaring examples of insular racism and ignorance here, but that's something found in most countries, I would guess. Oz has its contingent of people who frame their views of the world beyond its borders through television as well.
America is so diverse that to travel to another state is akin to a trip abroad. We take it for granted that we have such a varied culture, but it is an amazing thing, since to visit another state may well provide foreign landscapes, food, cultures and histories. And it's cheap to do it. All of Australia's major cities are very pretty, but they were settled around the same time and generally by the same people, so there is a homogeneous quality to them that makes travelling abroad that much more tempting.
Most kids play a sport here. Education is important, but sport is part of the culture. The lifestyle is active and healthy and it's easier to defend against the pop culture crap as it doesn't seem to be as all-pervasive.
Well, this is usually how I end up when I start to think about these things...it's hard to say what is better, and I've learned that it isn't about this, anyway. It's about finding all the fantastic things available for you where you are. If you surround yourself with good people and enjoy where you live, you're ahead of the game, I think. And you can always travel.
I've attached photos of the last camping trip Nina and I went on with Libby, Dave, Rex and Maddy, and the kids. We canoed over four days up the Glenelg River, stopping to set up camp each night. Lots of great times, food and drink, fishing, and swimming. This is a big part of why I consider myself pretty damn lucky to be here.
Good Times
Morning Glory
Morning Mist
Before The Morning Coffee
Nina Fishing with the Kids
1 comment:
Hi there,
I think you've made some really well put and valid points about the positives and negatives of either place. The grass is always greener, especially if homesickness sets in.
You do need to be optimistic to see through the bad elements of a place, and for a lot of expats that's near impossible. Often we start with why the place is so much better than where we came from (afterall, why are we there and not home?), but we often unite on common grievances that put us in a space of them against us. No matter where you are, find the good, of course consider the bad, but weigh it. More times than not, you'll find the experience of even the less positive things gives you a rich perspective and ensures you don't take the good for granted.
Our comics may suck, but if that's the worst on offer, we've got things pretty good I reckon!
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