Thursday, January 21, 2010

Am I UnAustralian?

I found this list on The Second Half

I've highlighted the ones I've done. I can't be bothered counting if I passed 50. Perhaps I am unAustralian after all

1.Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band. I'm hoping a school band counts here.
4. Visited The Great Barrier Reef.
5. Stood under the stars in the outback, the real outback – think Uluru.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to the Gold Coast’s theme parks – anyone, you take your pick.
8. Climbed a mountain. - not a very big mountain but still...
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sung a solo.
11. Bungee jumped, jumped out of plane, been paragliding or hang-gliding, hot air ballooning – you get the idea, you’ve been hundreds of metres about earth in a seemingly flimsy contraption. (Hell will freeze over first)
12. Visited Melbourne
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Worked with children.
16. Had food poisoning.

17. Been to the Snowy Mountains.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Visited the Brett Whitely studio in Surry Hills, Sydney.
20. Slept on an overnight train or bus.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Been backpacking.
23. Taken a mental health day.
24. Been buried in sand with just your head and toes sticking out.
25. Held a possum, kangaroo or koala – or any other native Australian animal.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Been in a fun run. (We used to have to do these at school. They weren't fun)
28. Been on the Blue Mountain cableway.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Played, or watched, cricket.
32. Sailed, kayaked or canoed our beautiful waterways.
33. Seen the Daintree.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Visited an Aboriginal settlement or mission.
36. Learned a new language.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Toured the Sydney Opera House.
39. Tried rock climbing (indoor or outdoor), abseiling or just simple bush walking.
40. Visit Queensland’s Gallery of Modern Art.
41. Been to the Tamworth Country Music Festival. (My Uncle takes his Bush Band...I don't think that counts)
42. Sunbaked at Bondi.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.
44. Visited Broome.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone fishing.
49. Seen Tasmania’s old growth forests.
50.Had an altercation with a venomous Aussie snake or spider.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre. (Xanadu if you're interested).
55. Been in a movie.
56. Driven the Great Ocean Road.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class.
59. Visited Norfolk Island.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Eaten a pie floatie or even know what one is.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Got flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma.
65. Gone jet boating.
66. Visited Port Arthur.
67. Read at least 5 books about Australian history.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favourite childhood toy. (Lucy Long Legs...a doll my great grandma knitted for me. As the name suggests, she has long legs)
70. Visited the Australian War Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Federation Square.
74. Been on the Murray River.
75. Lived in the outback.
76. Travelled, or climbed, over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Three Sisters at Echo Point, Katoomba.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited Perth in WA.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Been to Darwin.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited Parliament House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Saved a pet.
95. Been to the site of the Eureka Stockade.
96. Swum in The Whitsundays.
97. Been across the Nullarbor.
98. Owned a mobile phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.
100. Read an entire book in one day.

6 comments:

Catriona said...

I'm a bit bewildered about how some of these things are uniquely or even particularly Australian. "Read an entire book in one day"? "Lost a loved one"? "Sat on a jury"? And those are only the ones I can see at the bottom of the list. I seem to remember "Got flowers for no reason" from earlier, too.

Is there some kind of ranking system? You get ten points for nearly stepping on a red-bellied black snake (very Australian) but lose fifty points for losing a loved one (racially and culturally generic experience)?

I'm not directing my bewilderment at you, Wendy! Just at the list in general.

Wendy said...

Hmmm..yes I'm not sure about the ranking system of the various list items. And I agree some of them are not particularly "Australian". But I think I like it better than if it was a list filled with things like "thrown a shrimp on the barbie", "draped myself in the Australian flag", "drunk a slab of XXXX", "barracked for Warnie/ Hewitt", "gone to work with a hangover", "taken a sickie" and suchlike.

2paw said...

I like to think I am DisAustralian rather then UnAustralian. The list above seems like an Ocker List!!

Wendy said...

DisAustralian I like that....Perhaps we need "UnOcker" rather than "UnAustralian"?

Catriona said...

I suppose I'm just perpetually bewildered about things that are labelled "Aussie" when they really seem quite generic. The insistence that Australian is the land of the "battler" and the "fair go" are other good example: what, in all other countries everyone lives in clover, yet the socio-economic systems are based exclusively on systemic, persistent unfairness?

It's all very strange to me.

There were some Australianisms on that list that weren't necessarily "ocker." There were just so many, many, many points that seemed to have little if any direct relevance to Australia--or, at least, no more relevance to Australia than to any other country on Earth.

Wendy said...

It is all quite strange I agree. It was an unusual mixture of items..some Australian, some Ocker, some generic, but then perhaps that is nice because it is a broader definition of Australian...one that does not restrict itself to national stereotypes but allows us to connect across national borders in collective/shared experiences (real and imagined)
I think maybe that's why it appealed to me.
Plus, I can't resist any kind of quiz, survey as my poor fb friends might testify.