A little piece of home

I was lucky enough to have my oldest and bestest friend come all the way from California to visit me in Brisbane during my break between semesters! It was so fun getting to show her around my new city (after 5.5 months, I'm just about feeling qualified to do so!) and to have a little piece of home here in Australia!

The beautiful sights of Brisbane on Molly's first day!

Molly's first authentic Aussie meal: steak and chips, of course! 

Picnic dinner on the Brisbane River 

2 American international students to Australia! We were torn over where our loyalties lie!

4th of July BBQ in Roma Parklands--I got Molly to eat kangaroo kebabs! She even liked it!

Beautiful day on the top of Mt. Coot-tha 

Me and Ellie at UQ St. Lucia campus--she is from the US, too, and studying in my master's program! 

Beautiful Hamilton sunset 

Molly and I went to the Rotaract Fundraiser and got to see Harry Potter 7 Pt 2 on the opening day in 3D!! Not only was the movie amazing, but the proceeds went to Paradise Kids--"Paradise Kid's is a Gold Coast Children’s Charity founded in 1996 to help children learn life-skills to deal with grief through death, loss or illness. Whether the loss is the death or approaching death of a parent, grandparent or sibling, grief through the stress of separation or divorce, or the child’s own chronic life-limiting illness, Paradise Kids provides programs to 'help heal the heartache.'" Learn more about it at http://www.paradisekids.org.au/ 

 Picnic at Surfer's Paradise!

I taught Molly the #1 rule in Australia: only swim between the red and yellow flags! 

This is Molly in front of Q1, the tallest residential building in the Southern Hemisphere

Yep, Q1 is pretty tall! 

We had a yummy afternoon date to Max Brenner Chocolate shoppe in South Bank! I love chocolate on chocolate with a side of chocolate. 

My generous Rotary hosts, Brian and Cheryl, even treated us to a day at the Australia Zoo! It was sooo cool, plus the weather was a bit rainy so we had the whole place to ourselves! We saw so many koalas, kangaroo, crocs, reptiles, cassowaries... everything you'd hope to see in Australia! Even the official Croc Show (Steve Irwin's legacy) in the Crocoseum!

Molly and her first live kangaroos! (she had already eaten bbq'd kangaroo!)

Brian got us this kangaroo food from a vending machine!! Haha, only in Australia :) They were quite friendly!

"Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave but not our hearts." ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
It was tough to see Molly go after 2 weeks of a visit. It's not until you get about as far away as possible from home (how about a hemisphere?!) that you realize just how true the above quote is. Getting out of California and living here in Queensland has fulfilled just about all of my dreams and expectations, yet has gone even further and made me learn a lot about myself-- as much as I love, and live for, new cities, sights, and sounds, I love my family, my bestest friends, and the familiar places I know as home, even more. That's why having my oldest friend from home come to visit me in my new city was truly the best of both worlds!!

NAIDOC Week 2011

The first week of July was NAIDOC week across all of Australia. Originally, NAIDOC stood for "National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee", a committee that organized national activities during NAIDOC Week. Now, the acronym has since become the name of the week itself, according to the NAIDOC website: http://www.naidoc.org.au. I was lucky enough to be able to attend the 2011 NAIDOC Launch in Inala this year. It was my first opportunity to see the Aboriginal citizens of Inala really embracing their traditional culture through song, dance, dress, and art. Torres Strait Islanders performed in the festivities, as well.


The theme this year was "Change: The Next Step is Ours". It was great to see that this year's nationwide theme reflected the exact sentiments and goals of the Aboriginal citizens in Inala that some avidly voiced during the suicide focus group meeting I attended a few weeks ago--the empowering idea that change must must come from the community members themselves. 

Here is a short clip of the first Aboriginal dance performed. There is live didgeridoo accompaniment in the background! (Technical difficulties! I'm afraid the video won't upload! If anyone has techie advice, please let me know...)

More dancing continued outside to celebrate the opening of Urban Dreaming, an Aboriginal Art Gallery in the Inala City Centre:

Several local counselors attended the NAIDOC launch, and I was able to meet a few of them quickly: 

All the way on the left is Lyn, the amazing woman from The Smith Family who has taken me under her wing and helped to get me involved in Aboriginal mental health issues in Inala. I wouldn't be able to be nearly as informed or even be able to go out to Inala without her help and generosity!

From my first initial introductions to the community, traditional Aboriginal culture seemed almost completely unobservable in everyday Inala life. It was heartwarming to see the community members dancing, singing, clapping, smiling, laughing, and celebrating their cultural roots that all too often get suppressed, as is the case with most indigenous cultures worldwide. While it was not exactly what I expected (I was surprised to find the music being played from an iPod, in the center of a very modern shopping mall, hooked up to an amazing sound system and official stage, decorated with colorful balloons, and the provided food consisting of sub sandwiches and cheese platters), it was truly representative of the "change" Australian Aboriginal communities are having to adapt to and find ways to thrive within. The NAIDOC Launch was a quick glimpse at how Aboriginal traditions can complement a modernized and globalized society when given a welcoming chance.