So often, the conversations we have about what it means to be Australian focus more on the divisions between us than our similarities – are you white Australian, First Nations, or culturally diverse? Are you from the east coast or west coast? Mainland or Tasmania? City or regional? Who do you support in the State of Origin each year?
With all of these caveats attached to an Australian identity, you could be forgiven for thinking there are no shared traits that create a sense of ‘Australianness’, unique to those of us who have grown up on this land.
But for me, a year spent overseas in Scotland showed me that there really are some special characteristics we share as Australians, and they’re not necessarily what you expect.
My experience of being an expatriate made me realise that there’s far more that unites us Aussies than just our accents.
While living in Edinburgh, I expected people to ask me where I was from. As a Fijian-Indian Australian, I get asked that question all the time at home, but it’s based on the presumption that my skin colour means I can’t possibly be from the country I have called home since I was three.
In Edinburgh, though, when people asked me where I was from, it was because of my accent – and everyone accepted I was Australian based on that fact alone.
Soon, my experience of being an expatriate made me realise that there’s far more that unites us Aussies than just our accents. Day after day I was confronted by little reminders of what it really means to be Australian (and why I am so glad I am Australian).
Australians love our coffee – earning us an international reputation as coffee snobs. I was horrified to watch colleagues at my part-time job happily slurp instant powdered coffee, and then surprised when they were equally bewildered by my purchasing of a latte each morning.
Back home, buying a coffee isn’t just the right way to caffeinate for the day ahead, it’s also a team-building activity, with the shared walk to the café a chance to have a chat and catch up with your colleagues. It’s a ritual that I realised is somewhat unique, and one I missed dearly while overseas.
Equally strange was the disinterest most people had in small talk with cashiers at the supermarket, or takeout. I realised that Australians have our reputation for being incredibly friendly for a reason – we genuinely do seem to chat more with strangers.
When a stranger in Australia asks you how you are, while bagging your groceries, they really do expect an answer. In Scotland, not so much – I found myself genuinely missing the chit chat I had grown so accustomed to back home.
Despite the identity crisis I have as a migrant Australian, Australia really is where I feel most myself.
Another big trait I realised that Australians share is our love of our natural environment, and our sense of responsibility towards limiting our impact on it. I was shocked at how much litter crowded the streets in Edinburgh, and how often I would actually see someone casually dropping their rubbish on the ground as they walked.
I, like many Australians, grew up participating in Clean Up Australia Day, and being reminded of how important it is to discard of our rubbish thoughtfully, for the sake of our flora and fauna. If I saw someone littering in Australia, I know that I would be joined by many others in calling them out there and then. This was not the case in Scotland – for a while, I picked up rubbish constantly as I walked to work or to meet up with friends, until I realised the volume was so intense I’d become a permanent garbage lady.
These character traits may seem minor, but in a time of transition in a foreign country, they were a source of cultural pride, and a reminder that there really is something special about being Australian. I’d hear the sound of an Australian accent in a local café, and find myself soon engaged in the kind of trivial chit chat that is common between strangers back home, drawn to strangers purely because we could act as a portal to our shared home.
There are things that only Australians can understand (vegemite and good coffee amongst them), just like there were many things that Scots thought were normal that completely bewildered me (Why call capsicums ‘peppers’?).
Talking to a fellow Aussie would transport me to a brief moment of feeling at ease again, and made me realise that despite the identity crisis I have as a migrant Australian, Australia really is where I feel most myself.
We might struggle to see it ourselves, when surrounded with our countrymen and caught up in the day-to-day debates that often polarise sub-sections of our community, but Australians really do have shared values. They’re values of friendliness, respect, a love of our land and a palate inspired by the many cultures that join together in this nation.
There’s a reason why ultimately, we still call Australia home.
