"The Right to Leave"

I felt kind of sick after reading this. I'm struggling to believe that this has come out of the 21st Century. Not that this sort of thing is being written, but that this is considered NORMAL, completely reasonable and not at all racist. Read on.

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"Australia - The Right to Leave"

After Sydney not wanting to offend other cultures by putting
up Xmas lights..

After hearing that the State of South Australia changed its opinion and let a Muslim woman have her picture on her driver's license with her face covered..

This prompted this editorial written by an Australian citizen. Published in an Australian newspaper.

Quote:

IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It! I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their
culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.

However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the 'politically correct' crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia.

However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand.

This idea of Australia being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle.

This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.

We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, Learn the language!

'In God We Trust' is our National Motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.

If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like 'A Fair Go', then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.

We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from.

This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this.

But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our National Motto, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,

'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE!

If you aren't happy here then move on! We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted. Pretty easy really, when you think about it.

I figure if we all keep passing this to our friends (and enemies) it will also, sooner or later get back to the complainers, lets all try, please.

No matter how many times you receive it … please forward it to all you know.

This comes a little late in the piece, but I'd like to tell you about Navidad en Bolivia!

This is a Christmas fundraising project initiated by Adrian Nickols and friends both in Bolivia and at home.

The project gives us the opportunity to directly impact the life of one of 50 Bolivian children in 3 orphanages. These orphanages rely on donations and at Christmas, it is difficult to put a gift under the Christmas tree for each child.

A series of one-off Christmas sponsorships are available, to support the children. In participating, you can choose from a list of sponsorships to either provide a Christmas present for one of the children, or assist in providing clothes, shoes, school materials, additional tuition, an eye test or speech therapy.

Sponsorships range between $16 and $130. Sponsors will receive a Christmas card to give to a loved one, containing a picture and a brief profile of the child that will receive support (a bit like the cards you can buy from TEAR or Oxfam - but professionally printed with the Navidad en Bolivia design :) ). In giving someone this card, you are also raising awareness of the needs existing in Bolivia.

It's really easy:

Step 1: Go to the Navidad en Bolivia page and browse through the list of available sponsorships.

Step 2: Contact me and let me know which one(s) you've chosen - either email renae.peters[AT]gmail.com or text/call 0439 048 202.

Step 3: I'll provide you with bank transfer details. After funds are transfered, you'll receive a card in the mail.

BUT.... Get on it soon, because sponsorships are running out (running out the door at crazy prices in actual fact). Since Navidad en Bolivia was launched about a month ago, we've raised (and this is current at time of writing) AUD $2725!!! How incredible is that! God is incredible. Our target (the total of the sponsorships) is AUD $4862. So already, we're 56% of the way there! To quote Bill Nighy from Love Actually, "It's going to be a very good Christmas."

Why I'm So Pumped About Going to Sydney!

I'm going to Sydney this weekend to work at the Sydney Adventure Travel & Backpackers Expo, on the Discover Tasmania desk. Then I get 2 days to just be at tourist. I've only been to Sydney twice before - somehow I've never had many opportunities to make it up there. The first time was farewelling Adrian in April, when we whizzed across the harbour in a ferry, and had a bit of a look at Circular Quay. The second time was a week after that, when I flew out of Sydney for Europe. I didn't see anything but the airport and a hotel. So, this weekend I finally get to see the city. Why is that so exciting, you might ask?

Well, the answer is Ruth Park. My life-long love. Since I was a little kid, I've adored Ruth Park's novels, most of which are set in Sydney. You know when a book just gets you? Something about her writing just appeals to me in a huge way - they evoke something that no other writers can! And for this reason, I am devoted to Ruth Park novels for the rest of my life. They may only be simple Australian stories, but they are my kind of story. I love them.

I particularly like the way she evokes a sense of place, and a love for her characters. After first reading the Harp in the South (my favourite) when I was a kid, I remember desperately wanting to go to Surry Hills and Narrabeen, just because I so desperately missed the people and places once I'd finished the book - it's always a sad thing to finish one of her books. They are that good. To me, anyway.

I wish I could meet her - she's still alive as far as I know. She wrote her first novels in the 1940s, when she was living in Surry Hills with her husband D'Arcy Niland (he wrote The Shiralee - and, on a bizarre note, my current boss Jen is related to him! I was so excited to find that out). So this weekend I'm going to explore the Rocks, where Playing Beatie Bow was set, and hopefully I'll get to Surry Hills as well as catch a bus to Narrabeen (where parts of Harp in the South were set). Childhood dreams come true! I'm a little obsessed, aren't I?

Something I learned when I was travelling...

What's the difference between an Australian and a piece of cheese?

After awhile you'd expect the cheese to have grown some culture.

Cafe Culture

Ok, so being a small-town girl (haha, who in Tasmania isn't - unless you're not a girl), I am intrigued by the cafe/coffee culture that is rife amongst some of my friends, particularly the ones that go to my church. I love these people. I love to observe the unspoken rules and taboos associated with buying coffee, and I wish I knew half of what there is to know about good coffee, but I will never understand it, and so I just listen and observe. I have been intrigued by this for quite some time, but tonight I had a full education in coffee connoisseurism and what is and just isn't done. So I thought I'd make a note of what I have learned:

1. There is an unspoken, but widely agreed upon 'best coffee in Hobart' - clearly Villino.
2. As for the second best coffee in Hobart - well this depends on your priorities. Do you value service first? Or is quality all that matters?
3. Villino can do no wrong. They ARE coffee.
4. Your loyalty to a cafe is of prime importance. If you change your alliegance, you should explain to the losing cafe why you are taking your custom elsewhere. Preferably put this in writing (ok I made that part up).
5. If a cafe owner goes to the effort of delivering coffee to your workplace, just for you, they really value your loyalty, and you should consider this factor when choosing where to buy coffee.
6. Service is extremely important - you have to feel like they want to be your friends. They should know your name if you regularly go there.
7. Baristas need to use the correct implement to make latte art. Like, don't use a pen.
8. If you're practising your latte art, it's important that you just use slightly older coffee - the kind that's not good enough for drinking.
9. Do not have sugar in your coffee.
10. It's important to know your tea as well. You should own at least 20 varieties of leaf tea, and know the key ingredients of each (this isn't so important - but I think it shows diversity to be versed in your tea knowledge in addition to coffee).
11. Do not even use the word "instant". That is not a real word.

I think I'm learning. Too many times I've made the faux pas of admitting that I like instant coffee. Which isn't such a bold statement, as I'm sure a lot of people do. But there is apparently some very good coffee to be had in Hobart, so maybe I will start dropping by Villino a little more often.

Facelift

I'm making over my blog! The team at Renae Across the World have decided that to increase visitor numbers, a redesign and some re-branding was required (I hope you appreciate my efforts in colour coordination!) Also, my advisors have suggested that I should write on my blog occasionally, to generate traffic. I've lost motivation to blog recently, because I have this impediment where I have to be in a 'writing mood' to write. But I'll be back here more often now, so stick around and don't give up on us yet.

This is a Wordle of my blog (www.wordle.net). As you can see, it's been pretty boring lately. I've sort of given up on my blog, as I just haven't had the desire to keep it updated - it comes and goes in phases. Very soon though I'll post something about Navidad en Bolivia, an exciting project that Adrian and I (and others) are getting ready for this Christmas. So stay tuned for that.