It’s Australia Day! So that means a road trip to Echuca, rafting on the Murray with VBs in hand, and sleeping in a swag. And I know that there’s plenty of controversy surrounding this day, this year more than ever, but I truly believe that this should be a day of celebration. The Aboriginal people who know this country like the blood in their veins, the second or third generation Australians whose grandparents settled the family here a hundred years ago, and even the foreign nationals, like myself, who have more recently emigrated to Australia and now call it home― we all share a great love for this sunburnt country! That is what today is about.
To me, Australia is my greatest adventure. Coming here was the scariest thing I ever did, and it was also the first thing I ever did truly on my own. I grew up in Seattle, but I moved here at 18, so my entire adult life has been in this country. I’ve never signed a lease in America, filed a tax return, or even gone to a bar. I started and finished a degree here, lived in campus housing, lived in half a dozen houses and apartments with friends, worked countless jobs, saved for long overseas trips, and moved cities. Mum always told me that you change so much between 18 & 25. So far, all that changing has been in Australia.
This is my home. I could live anywhere, but I choose to be here because it feels like where I belong. So, Happy Australia Day, from this adopted Aussie xx
