How "Australian" do you feel?

[Diane]

Just interested if this is something that comes with time, or whether some people start to feel like "locals" quicker than others - perhaps it's to do with their character, or how often they've lived abroad previously, or whatever.

 

I'd have said - despite having lived here for over eight years and actually havng been born in Australia - that I was one of the least Australian-feeling persons: I still listen to British radio through the PC, still watch mostly British TV, still read British newspapers online, still support British (well, English!) teams in support.... but today I realise that insiduously I've actually become more Australian than I thought!

 

One of the things that I liked about this country most when I came here was the fact that your average Australian-in-the-street feels no compunction about being openly and loudly patriotic about Australia. Flags are flown on Australia Day, bad behaviour is referred to as "un-Australian", and there is a general feeling of being "proud to be Australian" - whatever the ethnic background.

 

Well today I realised (after reading another thread about bringing in food produce from half way round the world rather than sourcing it locally, that left me feeling slightly uncomfortable and ashamed to be British in many ways) that without even knowing why, given a choice between Australian and overseas produced food, I will choose Australian every time. Given a choice between South Australian produced and rest of Australia produced, I will pick South Australian. I would rather shop in Foodland than Coles or Woolworths - South Australian. I would rather pay a bit extra for my meat and fish from a local butchers or local fishmongers - supporting local jobs.

 

I don't know if this is because I prefer my food to have less airmiles on its report, or a lower carbon footprint, or because I do genuinely believe that Australian food production standards are mostly better to those in somewhere like Europe (pretty sure they've not found any undeclared horse in any Aussie meat products yet!) Or perhaps it's because buying Australian food means that I am supporting the Australian economy in more ways than one, and this is the economy that is supporting my family these days! I have even been known to complain in Coles when they are selling US-grown lemons, rather than local ones (let's face it, people with lemon trees here usually can't even give them away, they are so plentiful!) I know everyone complained about the price of bananas and wondered why Australia couldn't import some cheaper stock from the Windward Isles like Britain does, but if my family was making its living from banana-farming in Queensland, I would quite understand and fully support the monopoly. Speaking to many Australians here, they seem to feel exactly the same. Perhaps why Buy Australian has worked a lot better than a similar Buy British campaign was a few years ago. Perhaps it's an ingrained, and acquired feature of being Australian that makes you want to be more supportive of your adopted country, which is something that seems to be missing in British people - or is that just English people?

 

So looks like I'm more Australian than I thought I was - but I'll still be supporting the Lions in the upcoming rugby tour!

[adelaidenow]

On a slightly different tact, I had been here a year, and was converting prices to pounds in my head. I had to go back to UK, and I was converting prices to $, so I decided when I was in UK I was obviously Australian, but when in Aus I was English!

[Sallyh]

Married to an Australian for 13 years and have known adelaide all that time so I have always felt a bit Australian here... it never quite felt like I'd moved to a new country. Having said that, I do like some English things and occasionally friends ask what they can send that I can't get here. Ummmmmm big squeezy marmite, clipper fair trade tea, and galaxy chocolate are the best I can come up with but I don't send for them. I have no qualms about that, we used to like my parents in law to send cherry ripes by the parcelful occasionally in the UK.

 

But I drive around and this "feels" like home. It doesn't feel weird or new, or like it is something I don't recognise (roads and the pretty garish business signs, seeming lack of planning law, etc, were the first things that took me by surprise in Adelaide). When we drove near the airport a few weeks ago, I just had this feeling of the end of a trip, where you land at an airport, and driving out of the airport, recognise it as "home". That is how the area around the airport feels for me. I can remember the feeling of being "home". I don't feel like I am living "overseas" or still on holiday. I feel like I am home.

[Misplaced]

Good topic this Diane.

 

As you know I'm an Aussie who is still in UK :-( but all the time I have been here I have supported the Aussies when they were playing the POMS in whatever sport, always made for some great banter at work and with friends :-) Have always bought Aussie wines, still consider Vegemite to be far superior to marmite and still get Milo when we can afford it.

 

In answer to your question I still feel Australian but unfortunately I am still in the UK :-((

[Guest Guest5035]

Fish will be fresher here than there:wink:

 

Stevo

[Diane]

I do get my parents to bring out some stuff from home occasionally (quavers!) but I would never go and pay the incredibly over-inflated prices they charge at some of these ex-pat sweet shops they have here for a packet. Do you get vegemit sent out to you, Misplaced, or do you buy it somewhere for three times as much as you'd pay here?

 

(Although I am informed that Aussie wine costs the same or less in the UK as/than it costs here! How does that work, for goodness sake?? Wish I knew the free freight and shipping company they use - cost me $50 to send my daughter some timtams and vegemite to the Uk recently!!)

[Misplaced]

Vegemite is quite widely available in places like tesco, booths and even our local farm shop :-0! The price is about £1.95 for a jar ( not the large jar but the medium size one).

 

Aussie wine is cheap over here because the wineries get about 99 pence a bottle off the supermarkets.......according to the guy at Rosemount winery. He did tell us the story where tesco wanted to pay even less but they refused and that's why for years you could not get Rosemount wines from tesco........don't know if you can now as we shop at Lidle now. I bought a bottle of Rosemount Shiraz on Friday for £4.99 it was on offer! Normal price would have been £9.99.

 

When we were over for OH visa activation we had a lovely bottle of wolf blass and it tasted superior to the wines you get in the UK. It was a mid range wine as well. I reckon the lower priced Aussie wines in the UK are the ?clear? ?clean? skins........can't remember what you call them :-((

Edited March 3, 2013 by Misplaced

[Jessica Berry]

I reckon I must be Australian (or just being blonde!!!) because when I looked at the thread 'What came first...the penguin or the tim tam?' I thought it was a joke about a penguin and I had completely forgot about the penguin biscuit!!!

 

I felt immense pride and actually felt quite teary at our citizenship ceremony a couple of years ago. I always say to people I meet that we feel very lucky to live here and thankful.

[jo_marnes]

 

(Although I am informed that Aussie wine costs the same or less in the UK as/than it costs here! How does that work, for goodness sake?? Wish I knew the free freight and shipping company they use - cost me $50 to send my daughter some timtams and vegemite to the Uk recently!!)

 

Where do you get this info from? Last time I looked (I use Tesco to deliver bits to relatives at Christmas etc), the Aussie wines cost the same in GBP as they were here in $. So they were more expensive in the UK for sure!

[Guest Guest5035]

Where do you get this info from? Last time I looked (I use Tesco to deliver bits to relatives at Christmas etc), the Aussie wines cost the same in GBP as they were here in $. So they were more expensive in the UK for sure!

 

They are well off in Essex..

 

Stevo

[Diane]

Where do you get this info from? Last time I looked (I use Tesco to deliver bits to relatives at Christmas etc), the Aussie wines cost the same in GBP as they were here in $. So they were more expensive in the UK for sure!

 

Just on a blog I follow, one of the posters said last time he was in the UK (last summer I guess) he was able to buy Jacobs Creek for about the same price it costs here.

[Anne B]

It makes sense to buy local products and support the local economy. I think it is terrible how multinationals in food and toiletries (for example) are taking over the world, support your local producer! I won't buy Heinz tomato sauce anymore after they closed down their Australian factory and moved production to New Zealand. A thriving local economy has knock-on effects on everything, it is so sad when a small family run business closes down after 50 or 100 years because Nestle or Kraft have muscled in, selling the same products you can buy everywhere from the UK to Asia to the USA. It the differences that make life interesting!

 

When we lived in the UK we always bought Australian wine, although when we knew we were moving back we stopped and only drank French, Chilean, Spanish etc, knowing that non-Aussie wines are generally expensive or unobtainable in Australia. Vegemite is sold in Tescos, so don't waste money sending it to the UK. Even Tim Tams used to be available sometimes, although they are so revolting (way too sugary) so not worth buying imo. Waitrose sometimes even had Coopers beer!

[Lazy Cow]

I feel Australian.

 

This is my home,

 

I now have enough of a history here to know what, or whom, people are talking about. I get the jokes, pronounce many of the words in a suitably SA-fashion, love love love AFL, I work, vote and play here. I love my surroundings and my friends.

 

I feel lucky, proud and grateful that South Australia accepted us as immigrants and I totally barrack for SA and Australia.

 

Oh, and I absolutely support buying local. As Anne says, it's supporting our community and local economy.

 

LC

 

PS. I am now so moved I shall have to sing the first verse of 'Advance Australia Fair' into the fridge - it dulls the sound so the dogs will hopefully not join in.

[Lily Rainbow]

I feel half and half!:cute:Tbh I hold no attachement as such to either country.Having lived pretty much equally in both the UK and Australia,I tend to support both local economies as much as possible.