The group spent Australia Day down by the harbor and it was just lovely. Though it rained on and off, the sun came out every now and then and we experienced a lovely variation in temperatures and were able to enjoy a picnic lunch of pb&j sandwiches near one of the music stages in the sunshine, and listened to a fantastic and surprising cover of "Mmmbop." As I've mentioned to some of you, the atmosphere was a lot like Summerfest only with fewer rowdy drunks and nobody spilled beer on me.
At first, I think we all felt a little weird celebrating another country's independance day, but after a little bit, we figured that both nations both told Great Britain to sod off, so it would be all right. We even found a place where they were giving temporary tattoos of the Aussie flag. It's interesting me though that while I, and most of my friends, would certainly not get down with the patriotic ferver that was afoot to the same degree, or even to close to the same degree in the U.S., it doesn't seem too bizarre or tacky or redneck to get excited about another nation's independance. Even now, when I feel like I have a government that I can support, stand by, and not fear, I don't know th
at I would put a U.S flag on me, or even wear anything overly patriotic.
After that we split up, and I ended up back by the bats. My fellow traveler, Lauren, and I had a really good time people watching and watching the Australians being Australians.
We saw two women carrying green and yellow (OZ's other official colors) balloons down one of the walkways and they just sort of set them down and left them. Shortly after, a woman came and picked out one balloon for her daughter, who had the biggest smile on her face that I have ever seen. Shortly after that, a man struggled to get a balloon for his son, finally managed to do it, and then let the balloon go too quickly as he was handing it to his son. I have never seen anyone look as disappointed as he did at that moment--the son didn't seem to mind that much.
On the way back to the rest of the group, we found a number of strange things along Sussex drive. The car, I think, is reasonable to call a warning as well as an art piece--what else would you put in the center of a roundabout? But I'm not sure as to what the set of boxes are. They seemed to be made out of rock (granite?) and were sitting outside of an office building.
At first, I think we all felt a little weird celebrating another country's independance day, but after a little bit, we figured that both nations both told Great Britain to sod off, so it would be all right. We even found a place where they were giving temporary tattoos of the Aussie flag. It's interesting me though that while I, and most of my friends, would certainly not get down with the patriotic ferver that was afoot to the same degree, or even to close to the same degree in the U.S., it doesn't seem too bizarre or tacky or redneck to get excited about another nation's independance. Even now, when I feel like I have a government that I can support, stand by, and not fear, I don't know th
at I would put a U.S flag on me, or even wear anything overly patriotic.After that we split up, and I ended up back by the bats. My fellow traveler, Lauren, and I had a really good time people watching and watching the Australians being Australians.
We saw two women carrying green and yellow (OZ's other official colors) balloons down one of the walkways and they just sort of set them down and left them. Shortly after, a woman came and picked out one balloon for her daughter, who had the biggest smile on her face that I have ever seen. Shortly after that, a man struggled to get a balloon for his son, finally managed to do it, and then let the balloon go too quickly as he was handing it to his son. I have never seen anyone look as disappointed as he did at that moment--the son didn't seem to mind that much.
On the way back to the rest of the group, we found a number of strange things along Sussex drive. The car, I think, is reasonable to call a warning as well as an art piece--what else would you put in the center of a roundabout? But I'm not sure as to what the set of boxes are. They seemed to be made out of rock (granite?) and were sitting outside of an office building.
Well whatever those boxes are I like them. I love art installations in cities, I also like hearing about your adventures!
ReplyDelete"The World Turned Upside-down" makes me think of the Prince of Bel-Aire theme. If I were more clever I'd come up with an Aussie version of it. Alas, I am not very good with lyrics.