My one reflection today is to ponder why my birth country takes away my voting rights after only a few short years abroad, whilst my adopted home land lets me vote no matter how long I am away.
Australia Day has never been a really big celebration for me. As a child it marked the winding down of summer. During my teen years it was the busiest working day of the summer (and a public holiday which meant good pay). For my first few years in the hotels it was a working day… then I moved up the ladder and it became a day off. When you are on the ships days cease to have the same meaning they do on land: if it’s Sunday then we must be in Hong Kong is about the extent of it.
Finally moving to Finland, it is just another day. Until the rise of social media, there were very few reminders that Australia Day was even on. Certainly Australia Day is the last thing on your mind when it is -5, the sea is frozen and you have to dig the car out of a snow mound 🙂
Nothing more to say after that last comment! 🙂
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