Australia: What I Absorbed
Updated: May 18
I wrote this piece several years ago while contemplating my memoir. It reflects the unfiltered impressions of my younger self trying to make sense of Australian culture. I was born in Finland but grew up in Australia from 1970 to 1991, between the ages of six and twenty-nine.
Australia. South. My youth. A fish out of water.
Many faces
and extremes
The heat… the passion
The unfiltered, rough people
reflecting the outback
Hard-working ockers
beer-bellied men
wolf-whistling at women
They call you “Sheila”
Watching footy
Summers on the beach
free and wild
Sweaty school days
cold icy poles
Milk bars
fish and chip shops
drive-in bottle shops
BYO barbies
No matter what…
she’ll be right mate
A note on language:
Ocker: rough Aussie male
Icy poles: popsicles
Milk bar: corner store
Bottle shop: liquor store
Barbies: barbeques
