When you travel overseas, your accent becomes one of the most important (and obvious) distinguishing factors between you and the thousands of other tourists traipsing across the world. Fortunately, the Australian accent in my experience has always been received well and its usually the number one talking point when you're interacting with locals. I'm a very proud Australian and when I'm abroad, I subconsciously find myself promoting the country, especially whenever I'm asked about our quality of life in comparison to the country I'm in.
I remember being 17 and my parents taking my sisters and I on a summer vacation to Tasmania (an island just off mainland Australia). At the time, I couldn't have thought of anything worse than spending my precious holidays in a place that is most famous for its natural resources, environmental wonders and flora and fauna. I know who I am and an 'outdoorsy' girl I am not.
I was being a particularly moody teenager on the trip, when my mother turned to me and said "one day you'll travel the world and realise just how lucky you are to live in a country with all this natural beauty. People come from across the world to experience this and you're taking it for granted". At the time, her words went in one ear and out the other without a second thought, but now, I can confidently say she was right. Truthfully, I am still not overly excited by the outdoors and would much rather stick to the big cities, but I have come to appreciate how diverse and unique Australia really is. I have been to some of the most popular beaches in the world- San Sebastian, Miami, Nice, the Greek Islands, and still I couldn't help but look at each of them and compare it to the beautiful beaches which line the Australian coast. If Australia adopted the sun bed and umbrella culture like they do in Europe, our beaches would be perfect.
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| [ Positano, Italy ] |
While traveling the United States with my friend Justine, she turned to me one lunch time and said "Natalie, you're such a good ambassador for Australia" following a conversation I had had with the waitress serving our table. Her compliment surprised me but made me realise just how much I loved being able to call Australia home.
My travels have exposed me to some of the most beautiful cities, exciting places and diverse cultural melting-pots in the world, but each time I return home, I find myself with a little more appreciation for the quality of life we have. I'm the first to admit that I crave big cities and would happily move back to London in a heartbeat, but deep down inside, I think I'll always want to raise a family and settle down in Oz.
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On the way home from the airport, my dad was filling me in on the latest local news, when he told me a piece of information that got me feel all patriotic inside. He said that the annual Global Livability Report had recently ranked Melbourne as the most livable city in the world. What I found most impressive however, was that 4 of the top 10 cities were within Australia. The top 10 looks like this:1. Melbourne, Australia
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Vancouver, Canada
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Calgary, Canada
6. Adelaide, Australia
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Helsinki, Finland
9. Perth, Australia
10. Auckland, New Zealand
So in conclusion, I suppose my promotion of Australia was not unjust or biased, but rather an accurate reflection on the country I call home. Our grocery prices may be rising, we unarguably pay too much for petrol and we may be far away from the rest of the world, but we also have a free health care system, above average wages (with a relatively low unemployment rate) and an abundance of sunshine. So in my opinion, the pros of being an Australian far outweigh the cons.
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