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September 2008 
Australia - the Sunburnt Country
Posted on Jul 18th, 2008
by 
Kristin
Kristin
There is a famous poem about Australia that starts 'I love a sunburnt country...', and if I had to think of one word to describe how Australia feels, I'd say sunburnt. But now I'm here in the middle of winter, and it doesn't feel so sunburnt, but in other ways, it's just as it was when I used to live here, for 17 years, before I moved to England 2 years ago.
Being back, I'm struck by being able to walk across a street in a shopping centre without having to dodge cars, going into a chemist and being offered assistance with no queue in sight, open skies and single storey houses, blue sky and sun that makes me want sun-glasses (even in the middle of winter, although it did rain today, unusually!), newness, quietness, neatness, streets in which every house is different from its neighbour, sleepiness, not being looked in the eye in the street, slow traffic light changes - most strongly, emptiness! I was at a conference here last year with some people from Germany - they all asked where all the people were!
Emptiness can be good and bad - to someone who wants excitement, activity, buzz, social contact and stimulation, it is bad; to someone who wants to get things done in a city, it can be good. I miss the emptiness, but I'm starting to get used to the buzz of a busier country, with the feeling of being a bit hyped up all the time.
On this, my second visit to Australia since I moved to England, I'm starting to notice the things I miss about England - a great selection of frozen meals and organic food in the supermarket, great museums and art galleries, good central heating and double glazing, being able to find groups, clubs, activities and exhibitions close enough to visit, being able to get to any part of the country in less than a day, travelling to so any countries and places in only a few hours and being able to work with a wide range of interesting people and having more interesting conferences to go to than I can manage.
They both have their good points - I think my heart's still in Australia, but gradually moving across the world!
Being back, I'm struck by being able to walk across a street in a shopping centre without having to dodge cars, going into a chemist and being offered assistance with no queue in sight, open skies and single storey houses, blue sky and sun that makes me want sun-glasses (even in the middle of winter, although it did rain today, unusually!), newness, quietness, neatness, streets in which every house is different from its neighbour, sleepiness, not being looked in the eye in the street, slow traffic light changes - most strongly, emptiness! I was at a conference here last year with some people from Germany - they all asked where all the people were!
Emptiness can be good and bad - to someone who wants excitement, activity, buzz, social contact and stimulation, it is bad; to someone who wants to get things done in a city, it can be good. I miss the emptiness, but I'm starting to get used to the buzz of a busier country, with the feeling of being a bit hyped up all the time.
On this, my second visit to Australia since I moved to England, I'm starting to notice the things I miss about England - a great selection of frozen meals and organic food in the supermarket, great museums and art galleries, good central heating and double glazing, being able to find groups, clubs, activities and exhibitions close enough to visit, being able to get to any part of the country in less than a day, travelling to so any countries and places in only a few hours and being able to work with a wide range of interesting people and having more interesting conferences to go to than I can manage.
They both have their good points - I think my heart's still in Australia, but gradually moving across the world!
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