We still have a very limited circle of friends, but at least we have some, and they are really good ones. The city is not fab, but we are starting to have a routine.
We know where to buy the best fresh products, where to have coffee and where to not have coffee, what restaurant we can afford that are worth going to. We have memberships to the QLD ballet and Opera, we know where to take the kids to play on a sunny day, or on a windy one. We have some trails we like, a BBQ spot, and a favorite beach. We have an OK job, good schools, a support system, and people we can count on.
BUT...
I am still baffled, on a daily basis, by the dramatic stupidity and nastiness of some Australians. Of course it's a country: not everyone here is the same, and I'm not pretending to generalize a nation based on some individuals. We're also living in Queensland, that claims to be the clever state, but that's clearly up for debate. Since we arrived, I've met some of the most selfish human beings of all time.
I've had conversations I wish I never had, such as why you shouldn't work full time and get some welfare and tax rebates instead (only applies to parents), why restaurants don't need a kosher menu (says the "gluten intolerant" yet non celiac bitch), why "casual racism" is a thing. I've had students tell me that they would move to Sydney if they were not that many Chinese there (sic).
I've heard people complain that their maid or nanny's family emergencies were poorly timed, and others say that moms who don't want to work after hours should not work at all.
The biggest problem is possibly that some of the most selfish, biggest idiots around here are leading the country and showing example. When Europe is writing one of the saddest page of modern immigration, looking for hundreds of drowned bodies at sea; trying to locate any survivor from the poor souls who tried and failed to cross the Mediterranean sea, Tony Abbott is telling our leaders to do a better job at locking down frontiers and turning boats away to solve the "problem". Put simply, compassion is not a frequent trait in Australians.
One thing I find shocking is that there is little consequence to being a a*hole. One can say whatever they think without being outcasted. It's a free country, mate!
In no specific order, here are possibly my fav' 5 horseshit stories for 2014-2015:
1- Belle Gibson pretends to have cancer on her wellness blog, then takes it back after spending all the charity money instead of giving it. But she takes it back, so it's ok.
Let's interview her in a national magazine (The Women's Weekly), to explain the world that it's not her fault: she didn't have enough toys growing up. Wait, whaaaat??
Read the comments on this blog, it seems that not everyone falls for the tormented act.
The bar was set high already for Australian bloggers, with Jessica A, kindly described after she passed as a courageous and young warrior promoting hope for cancer patients. She was in fact *in my opinion- nobody has to agree* a self centered blogger who promoted useless "natural" remedies to patients who might have benefited from chemotherapy. Her mom died from a breast cancer after Jessica suggested she dropped her regular chemo regimen. Everyone responds to cancer in their own way, and I think it's only human to hope there are things to save you. It's scary. You hear everything and its contrary about treatments and outcomes. Drinking green juice and practicing yoga is a great idea but lying to the whole wide world, stating coffee enemas (WTF is that anyway?!) is the cure while you know that you cancer is progressing and killing you? Jeez, don't write that on a public blog for other people to follow you!
That being said, did they deserve such a public outcry? Is Indonesia the worse state in the world to mistreat their population and kill their prisoners? Are they flogging and wiping their bloggers? Setting their women on fire? We are calling Indonesia a murderer state while doing everything possible to reinforce links with China.
Nobody seems to care that according to Amnesty International, China kills every year three times more prisoners than the rest of the world put together. No doubt that these prisoners deserve a second chance too, and many are likely to have not committed any crime beside opposing the government. Of course, these dying every day at our friends' place are not Australians, so why should we care...
I wish Australia were a bit more long sighted and less self centered; that they used this stories to discuss responsibilities of greedy drug producers, smugglers, dealers, vs the thousands of shattered lives.
I wish it had triggered discussions about the actual government cutting funding for associations that provide support to distressed families and addicts. The debate on death penalty might die shortly, now that no-one is left in the public eye. But the drug that did reach their target is still there, killing everyone just the same, including hundreds of Australians each year.
3- One of my coworkers explained me (3 times in a row because I didn't seem to be interested enough or to agree with her the first 2 times so she had to try her best to "convince me with true facts") that there were "so many more Jews in Germany at the end of WW2 than at the beginning of it, since all the nasty European countries expelled them there".
Funny enough, this website (and all others available on the internet) made me think that the Jewish population in Germany was down to ~30,000 in 1950, from half a million pre-war. And no, this was not the biggest community left in Europe, it's about 10 times less than In the UK, 8 times less than in France or Hungary. Do we really have to have this argument in 2015? My kids spend 7 hours a day at school, I wish they would learn something about the history of our world sometimes and not grow up to be such adults.
4- The Australian government has decided to cut funding to research, yet found 4 million dollars to support the creation of a novel center that will prove that global warming does not require action. The director is an eminent "global warming skeptic" but the center will be non-biased and provide neutral consulting to the government. Sure. At the same time when "we" decide to support coal and dump whatever byproducts on the reef, sounds pretty reasonable to me. Given the amount of taxes I pay, it's safe to say that I'm directly supporting these projects, and I wish I were asked about it before the money was spent. Read here what Nobel prize winner and national pride Peter Doherty has to say about Australian's place in the climate debate.
Also about government money and public spending, Australian admins are so bad, that they overpaid everyone on welfare last year (don't worry, I'm sure that people who need it most didn't get any) then paid debt collators millions of dollars to recover the overpayment. I recently found out that Australians students can avoid reimbursing their student lawn if they stay overseas to work. Knowing that the government wants to cut funding to Universities and promote deregulation of the registration fees, it sounds like a bad joke for the students who stay or come back here, and are paying back their education.
5- I could discuss the penal system in Australia, but this is just too dark. And boring. Mostly dark.
So instead, I'm going to be upset at the fact that you can rent goats on Amazon, but amazon DOESN'T WORK IN AUSTRALIA. Online shopping is one of many other things that Aussies just don't get. Like food delivery, tips for waiters, free street parking, reasonably priced
Amazon were finally allowed to have an Australian website last year, but they sell nothing on it, like Kindle e-books only. How disappointing.
I'm going to leave you here so that you can mull over that cute goat and wonder how an entire nation can be so opposed to technology and the progress (and joy!) it would bring home.
