Boomerang

Hello, yes it's me again

Right, i will be doing a bachelor degree in arts ( Australian Studies ) with Griffith university in Australia ( via open learning australia "Distant learning" ) ( this degree has nothing to do with what i will study here in the Uk i have decided to do this degree part-time just to increase my knowledge of Australian society, history, culture, aboriginals, politics etc...

I have downloaded the modules that i will be studying so i decided to start doing some research in a particular subject which is Citizenship, so i have a few questions...

To the Australians currently registered in this site, What does it mean to be Australian in your view?

To the expats living in oz and that will (have) take(n) up Australian Citizenship, why is it important for you to become an Australian Citizen?


Regards,
Pedro

( 5 pages to go to finnish bill bryson - downunder book )

Peter

To me, being Australian is all about belonging. Can't really describe it any better than that. I know you wanted a larger rundown on the subject, but I cannot be any less specific.

jad n rich

To be Australian is just like being any other race we have good bad evil and wonderful. We things about our country we love, we have things we hate.


There is an ignorant element who carries on like we are the one and only golden contry, usually they have never left wagga tho You can find some terribly hick people here, but we are trying to leave that behind. We are trying to move forward, progress into a more international arena, difficult given the idiots we have as leaders, and our huge distance from anywhere. I think with those difficulties we are doing OK, I'm from Victoria and am very proud of the way we are integrating immigrants, and the way it trys to be international and diverse.

I would love to drop our attitude to sport it makes us look thick, as if we have nothing else going on, I would also love to drop our racism, we are a very ignorant nation on that one. Dropping our gimme gimme attitude would be nice too, people have lost the work ethic. A more open minded media would help make us a more informed nation too.

Apart from that I am proud to be australian, it carries well overseas, in the UK it wins absolute admiration which I found handy, not quite that in USA where it was sometimes confused with Austria or I was expected to leap about catching crocodiles.

We are a young country with a lot to learn, but on the whole a proud nation.

Badge

great balanced post - yet you are sill postive about your country. Like you, I also like the fact that australia is fairly fortunate in that it carries its reputation well overseas.

I am only PR but I only have to call a bank in England explaining it is long distance and the fact "I am in Australia" always seems to go down well.

BM

bondipom

Well put. Thats all there is to any nationality in an emotional sense. A lot of people want there to be more to their nationhood to boost themselves and their collective ego.

I will become Australian when I am legally entitled to but I've never felt any belonging to anywhere, including Britain and Australia.

renth

Australia has been very good to me. I love living here for loads of reasons and in in about 6 months time my family and I wil be swearing the oath (fingers uncrossed) and will be proud to call ourselves Australian.

NickyC

My feelings precisely.

I've always been very thankful that Australia was generous enough to give me PR and allow me to live here. I've always been very happy here and definitely feel I belong. I regularly (particularly on nice sunny days!) thank my lucky stars that I'm here.

Been a citizen for a long time.

Ceri

Some people are not going to like my answer:

It just gives me another passport that's all. It also leaves the door open for myself or any future kids.

Not important to me in any other sense, it's just sensible not to close doors, or burn bridges.

Personally I don't feel anything for the Australian citizenship I have.. it's just a piece of paper to me.

Simone

I'm a dual citizen, Dutch and Australian.
Officially, I think I'm more Dutch, cos my parents were Dutch and I was born there.
But I feel a bit more Australian(whatever that means anyway), cos I grew up here(5 till 14).

I don't know what it means. Nationality doesn't mean much to me.
I guess I'm proud to be both, but not like really really proud, I don't see Oz or Holland being so great, and so much better than many other countries. They just happen to be where I was born/grew up.

Oh, I don't know! It's a wierd question, I can't answer it!

jodesmc

I'm finding it hard since returning from OS to know what it is that I love about being australian. A lot of the things i loved are now starting to irritate me, the great australian dream of a happy family, a house a car and a backyard has all paved the way to materialistic dreams and hopes, iwe complain a hell of a lot as well. the air we breathe has rights, yet respect for people as individuals is diminishing. also the general ethos seems to be that everyone is covering their own back, society is becoming very litigous, maybe this is worldwide though.
Nevertheless, I do love this country, i love the space, the laid back attitude, and i love the fact that it is so multicultural. the best of all worlds can be found. I love the landscape and the diversity of the country. I love the weather and the fact that outdoor living is a way of life. I love the fact that we are sporty as a nation( i like the aspect of belonging to a team ). It's hard to identify any one factor, but this is my home, and my heart will always be here.

Ceri

If you are a "REAL" Australian- it's quite easy really. It is in your heart.. you can actually feel it. I have no gripe with people like that, and can understand very much where you are coming from. To me I am Welsh and always will be.. it's in my blood- it's my love for my land .. there is no where on this earth like my beautiful country. I don't understand people who have no love for their land. In fact I feel sorry for them

Like I said , the Aus bit means nothing at all to me... just a bit of paper. I am Welsh and always will be.. it's in my heart. And I have the greatest respect for real Australians who feel the same about their land ( any nationality).. I just find it so sad why people think they are something that they're not. A piece of paper does not define your nationality. some people are in no mans land.. I can't explain it.

cheers

Peter

You don't have kids Ceri? Wow, I took you for a mother of *adult* children. Oh well.

Simone

Yep, that's me!
What you have with Wales, I don't have that with any country.
Not that I really care, but it is wierd I guess!

Badge

Ceri once again you mention this point and you have a point. Many people who love their country of birth have every reason to.

Look at people who have been forced to leave due to famine, political strife, et cetera. They may not have had a fair go or a chance. They may feel every kinship with a new safe haven, especially if that place offers them everything they need.

So maybe, like Renth says, home is where you want it to be. Eitherwise you would never leave your parent's home!

Citizenship is very much, as you say, a piece of paper. But there is more to it than that. There are aspects of the UK I admire. But that doesn't stop me personally from going elsewhere..Australia suiting me is more important than something in my blood...and actually, while you mention it, Australia is more as you put it "in my blood" than in the UKs. But you don't have to feel sorry for me, no, because I am as happy as you with the place you would most like to live..

Maybe you are just very fortunate...

cheers

BM

Pollyana

Its odd but some countries seem to inspire more depths of feeling in their natives than others - England for example, not many people seem to feel as much passion for England, as we do for Wales. Welsh people seem to feel that they identify with the soul of their country, and talk about it with so much feeling. You rarely hear England talked about in the same way.
I am starting to feel that a little bit of me is becoming Australian, and I'm proud to be part of the country, but I don't think I will ever feel as strongly about being an Aussie as I do about being Welsh.