The Waiting Room #2- Australia
I was born in Bunbury, WA, and spent the early years of my life in one of the most mundane environments you could possibly imagine…
And now, we’re back here.
Of course, my childhood seemed great at the time. But I hadn’t been exposed to the outside world at that point. I was full aussie. Now I’m not quite what they’re used to.
All of my relatives live in suburbia, or those self-contained communities that they call things like Shorewood or Green Acres or what not. Yes, these are beautiful, but they’re so superficial.
It’s all about the lawn and the weather, and how the fish aren’t biting. There’s no substance. And for two months of a year, that’s what my parents take me back to.
Then there’s the farmers, who think they know everything, just because they learned how to drive when they were 8. Good job, you can name all the parts of a tractor. I’m so happy for you.
I’m sorry if this is very bitter, but I am so sick of this place, and I’ve been here for 2 weeks.
A good example of the narrow mindedness present within my blood relatives is their reaction to the places we live-
Romania- “Why would you want to go there?” “Is that in Africa?” “Why don’t you come back to Australia?”
Ghana- “Africa? isn’t that dangerous?” “Are you going to be living with nigg-noggs?” “Is this really what you want to do with your life?”
This ignorance is really bothering me..
-kels.
July 9th, 2008 at 4:05 am
LMAO!!! I was going to ask you to tell me what Ghana is like, I haven’t been back since I was six! I do know it’s the most stable democracy in Africa…and you should eat some peanut butter soup (my favorite dish) while you’re there… And as well some chocolate.
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July 9th, 2008 at 5:17 am
Offtopic: Doreen, can you give us a recipe for peanut butter soup? I’ve been wanting to try this ever since you mentioned it awhile ago. :p
I found one but not sure if this is right.
http://metachat.org/index.php/2007/11/28/p28220
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July 9th, 2008 at 6:43 am
haha. i’ll let you know when i get there for sure.
thanks for the tips. =]
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July 10th, 2008 at 2:31 am
Ayako, that recipe looks good, but here is the one my mom makes as well:
Ingredients
½ cup smooth peanut butter
1 Ib bone in chicken, skinned
¼ cup tomato paste
2 cup chicken stock
1 medium onion, chopped
Salt
Hot pepper
A little oil
½ cup water
½ Ib Chopped frozen spinach thawed, or the equivalent of chopped fresh spinach (optional)
Method
In a medium sized sauce pan, add chicken, onions, and salt, and sauté in oil over medium heat until the chicken is no longer pink. Add the water and tomato paste and mix until the paste is dissolved, over low heat. Next add the peanut butter and mix thoroughly until completely dissolved. (If necessary turn off heat to complete this process.) Once you have a smooth paste of peanut “concoction” add the chicken stock and turn up heat to medium until the soup comes to a boil. Lower heat to simmer. Season with pepper and salt to a desirable taste. Add spinach if using. Continue to simmer until chicken is well cooked. If soup is too thick, add a little water.
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July 10th, 2008 at 3:55 am
Breathe, and take it all in your stride.
I’m also living in WA, moved here about 10 months ago now, and I’m absolutely hating it. The people I hang out with at school are pretty much what I like to call ‘the UN’, but the ignorance of my own family living here is stifling me, and I honestly cannot wait to get out of here either.
The one thing that bothers me the most here are the Asian groups, I dunno if you notice it. I never really had any of these ‘asian groups’ problems, but now that I’m here and I actually notice it, it;s bothering me to no end. First they think they’re better than everyone else and that they’re so cool because they’re ‘asian’ [when they dye their hair blonde, don’t know how to speak their local language and don’t know their own culture] and then they think they can make fun of every other race and nationality.
I don’t like WA…=(
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July 10th, 2008 at 5:29 am
Is it so weird that when I read “WA” I first thought Washington? Difference of experience, I suppose, haha.
I sympathize though. I felt much the same way anytime I went “back” to Texas, or when I was living in Michigan. You can’t escape the small suburb close-mindedness anywhere, really. My recommendation? Get out when you can, but until then, just work with it.
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July 10th, 2008 at 9:11 am
@MISH
I remember going to Chinatown in Sydney to do some food shopping and some of these Asian chicks were giving me the evil eye like I had no right to be there. I also noticed they all had blonde-hair, blue contacts, eye surgery and wore (fake) designer items.
If I wanted to be a bytch I could have said “I am not welcome here but you are trying to look European? Do you want to BE me, hon, is THAt why you hoes are mad?” But I am not the type who believes that people should ONLY partake in interests of there own cultures so I didn’t say nothing. I just felt sorry for there low self-esteem…
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July 10th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Doreen: Woooo - thanks.
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