Let Us All Combine

For those who've come across the seas. 

We've boundless plains to share; 

With courage let us all combine

To Advance Australia Fair

-------------------------------

This Thursday I spent Australia day in the city and made a point of going down to Fed Square.

The town I come from is tiny and not particularly multicultural, but spending the day in the city with people from all over the world really made me proud of how multicultural our country is. It was a truly wonderful day and even if the origins of the day may be shady, it was beautiful to see everyone integrating and socialising and just celebrating the fact that we are in this country.

It was a bit disappointing coming home to my small town and seeing the blatant racism from people who I considered good friends and family members. I'm ashamed of this part of our culture. People who think that nobody should be able to migrate to our country, let alone a legitimate refugee seek safety here. People who honestly do not acknowledge or accept the fact that our ancestors mistreated the original owners of this land grossly over the years. 

I tend to get really political when it comes to any form of discrimination, and especially based on a person's appearance or background, and seeing people who I have been so close to in the past be so proud about their wish for people who are not visually caucasian and don't conform to their limited version of what Australian's should be to "get the hell out" or "go back where they came from" just makes me completely ashamed. Especially when they base it on religion and claim that our way of life is the "right way". Everybody has a right to live in this country and nobody has the right to force their views on others or cause them to feel victimised.

This post wasn't meant to be quite so aggressive or political but I have so many feelings towards this topic and this time of year is rife with racism.

So a few weeks ago I moved into RMIT Village in Melbourne, and this is my cute little room.

I'm living on my own at the moment, and my roommate is moving in next month from Queensland. I've made a few friends and aside from a few scary moments I'm assimilating quite well into the city.

My favourite part? The music.

I am so close to lots of amazing venues, and my nights are lined up with music gigs of bands I've never heard of but end up loving. I'm planning on going to the MTC performance of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll next week with some girls who used to be in my literature class when we studied it.

Basically, my life is completely random at the moment, very expensive and pretty stressful, but also so different to my previous day to day life.

I spend every day missing my dog and my family, but this city is full of lovely distractions.

NSC

I went to this last night and despite having never heard any of the musicians before I loved each and every one, especially Duke Batavia and their amazing three part harmonies. I also recommend The Barebones, who performed a lovely, catchy song about the streets of Northcote which is going to be on their soon-to-be-released EP. Last night they also had a stand in who was brilliant, especially with his improvised kazoo-less kazoo. 

(I may have also had a little happy dance when I bumped into Scoddy from Tripod)

I ended up with a doof-doofy cd, which I may be passing off to my friend, and Mum got a cd excitingly titled "Doo Wah" that then didn't work :( 

When I get home and have proper access to internet I may upload my mix-cd's.

This was my first real 'event' since moving to Melbourne, and it did mean Mum coming down and driving me there, but it was worth it. Now I just need to make other friends who I can drag along to night gigs too. 

Apologies!

I have been a lazy lazy blogger once more, but this time tomorrow I will be living in Melbourne!
I'm excited and terrified and slightly nauseous but it will be, as Granna said, my 'next big adventure'.


I'll have lots more spare time soon and lots of inspiration, so expect some lovely things as I begin to document my adventure.