Tag: Canberra

By arosema93

Canberra has a reputation throughout Australia as being boring, dull, and otherwise not worth visiting let alone living in. Internationally it would have a similar reputation, that is, if anyone knew it even existed. Its small. At only 300,000 residents, it is no large city, but it is very unique in that it is a planned city. Therefore, the city tends to at times be very spread out, but at other times feel almost like a real city. Unlike the grid system of most American cities which is taken to an extreme level in Washington D.C., Canberra is built with triangles and roundabouts and circles and squares and somehow it is all supposed to make sense. Granted though, while D.C. is functional and built to make sense, Canberra’s low population makes the city feel like it was built for a population four times the size. There is almost too much infrastructure in places. It never feels dirty, cramped, or unsafe.
An interesting article I read the other day attempts to explain away part of the negative feelings towards Canberra. The point it made is that the only thing really here that it is known for is the government and the capital. Ninety percent of when Australians hear the word Canberra, it isn’t referring to the city so much as the government. For example, Canberra passed this law today, or Canberra is making us pay more taxes this year. Much the same thing happens with Washington D.C. However, Washington has a lot more going for it outside of politics. As a result, people end up with a more negative view of Canberra; the majority of Australians have never even visited.
Another interesting fact about our small city is that despite the tiny population, it is the 8th largest city in the country. That gives a little bit of perspective to how small of a country this is, yet it still occupies the same land area as the continental United States. The entire population of Australia would be capable of fitting into New York City! Canberra does have its upsides however. There is still quite a bit to do here. It isn’t devoid of life as some make it out to seem. For example, last weekend I was given a fantastic opportunity through one of my courses to have a one-on-one interview with the ambassador from Brazil! He was a great guy and talked to me a lot about the diplomat life and what it is like to be an ambassador in a foreign country. Sounds like lots of positives and negatives. His biggest one is that he has a fear of flying. I don’t know how well that goes with the job haha. We talked for about 20 minutes after which two other men walked in and they conversed momentarily in a Spanish/Portuguese mix before he turned to me to introduce me to his best friend, the ambassador from Argentina! It was a great surprise and turned out to be a well worthwhile experience. Good opportunities are everywhere if you are lucky, know where to look, or are willing to get out there are find them.

By arosema93

Well the Australian election was today. So was the Australia vs. South Africa rugby game (Wallabies and Springboks). In terms of importance to the rest of the world I reckon the rugby game was probably more important. Australia got destroyed but it was heaps of fun to watch with a bunch of friends. In the election, the Liberal Party won by a landslide (read Liberal party as equivalent to the American Republican Party). I enjoyed seeing the results simply because I am a huge supporter of third parties, and in Australia those can actually make a difference. Over 20 parties were represented in the election with 8 or so candidates for prime minister. These included parties from all ends of the spectrum including things like Animal Justice, Bullet Train for Australia, Stable Population Party, and many other extremely interesting parties. While none of those actually gained any representation, some did, with one seat in the senate even going to one of my favourites, the Australian Motorists Enthusiasts Party.

In other news, spring is starting to get beautiful in Canberra. The first days of spring here are already just as warm as the summer is in America. Flowers are blooming, and there will be an upcoming festival in the next weeks known as Floriade which is just a massive park filled with hundreds of thousands of flowers. Supposed to be really pretty, but we will see how my allergies hold up. That is one thing I have noticed though, it seems that allergies in other countries for me are a lot different, meaning basically non-existent.

Last week I spent the weekend in Wollongong and Sydney and had a blast just spending time relaxing down at the beach and fitting in with the local culture by pretending I am a good surfer. Unfortunately, in reality, I was probably just laughed at the whole time. I have some family down in Wollongong, although they are very loosely related. However, their hospitality has been amazing. It seems that many of the exchange students here have some sort of family somewhere in Australia. I don’t know how loosely related, but it seems that everyone knows someone here which goes to show for the multicultural-ness of Australia. In fact, approximately a third of Australia’s population was not even born in the country! People come here from all over, and some simply choose to stay. Each year, there are tons of new immigrants and people applying for permanent residency and with such a beautiful country with a strong economy; it isn’t hard to see why. This is impressive progress considering the country allowed virtually no immigrants and only white ones up until the end of WWII. Now, only half of the country has parents who were both born in Australia.

Those figures are astounding as an American from Michigan where probably 50% of the people I know haven’t even been out of the country, and some have never even left the state. Perhaps the multicultural-ness of Australia is partially due to their small population, but Americans have never in the same way been as multicultural, or had such a love for international travel.