I probably need some kind of Aussie icon

[meteordust]

It's kind of hard to work up enthusiasm for a day that commemorates not some great act of nationhood, but the day a British fleet landed to build a penal colony, a day which indigenous Australians still regard as Invasion Day. The anniversary of Federation would have been a far better choice for our national day, since that event more truly marks the birth of Australia. It's just a damn shame that the constitutional convenors chose 1 January, leaving us with the messy prospect of stacking Australia Day on top of New Year's Day. So I guess for lack of a better alternative, we're stuck with 26 January.

Still, we get a public holiday. And it's probably more typically Australian to be thinking, "Woot, long weekend!" than swelling with national pride.

My favourite entries on the You know you're Australian if... list:

1. You know the meaning of the word "girt".

13. You believe it makes perfect sense for a nation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns and sheep.

16. You're secretly proud of our killer wildlife.

19. You believe that cooked-down axlegrease makes a good breakfast spread.

21. Hamburger. Beetroot. Of course.

24. You still don't get why the "Labor" in "Australian Labor Party" is not spelt with a "u".

35. You still think of Kylie as "that girl off Neighbours".

36. When returning home from overseas, you expect to be brutally strip-searched by Customs - just in case you're trying to sneak in fruit.

42. You know, whatever the tourist books say, that no one says "cobber".

Comments

This is my Aussie icon

[calla-s.livejournal.com]

...though it might be too completely celebratory to be appropriate for Aus Day.

I really liked a few of the others on the list, but I forget which ones. I do remember being a bit disappointed by the "bastard" usage one, because while I love the various shades of meaning of the word, I'm not *entirely* sure they got it accurate.

My favourite of your list is #36. Ok, and #16.

And yeah, damn the Jan 1st Federation thing. Am hanging out for some major Event to make a plausible alternate national holiday. Other than some sort of armed revolution, it might need to be declaration of a Republic.

Re: This is my Aussie icon

[meteordust.livejournal.com]

Nah, it's a great icon. (Though that's another thing I don't get - why our sporting colours are different from our flag colours.)

I remember seeing that bastard quote somewhere else - I wonder if Richard Glover has used it in an earlier column. It's probably more clever than accurate.

I'm sure one day we'll see the republic. Though they'll probably declare it on 1 January again for administrative purposes.