This iconic song is a very apt summary of what it means to be Australian.
Please have a listen.
Lyrics:
I came from the dream-time From the dusty red-soil plains I am the ancient heart The keeper of the flame I stood upon the rocky shores I watched the tall ships come For forty thousand years I've been The first Australian
I came upon the prison ship Bowed down by iron chains I bought the land, endured the lash And waited for the rains I'm a settler, I'm a farmer's wife On a dry and barren run A convict, then a free man I became Australian
I'm the daughter of a digger Who sought the mother lode The girl became a woman On the long and dusty road I'm a child of the Depression I saw the good times come I'm a bushie, I'm a battler I am Australian
We are one, but we are many And from all the lands on earth we come We'll share a dream and sing with one voice "I am, you are, we are Australian"
I'm a teller of stories I'm a singer of songs I am Albert Namatjira And I paint the ghostly gums I'm Clancy on his horse I'm Ned Kelly on the run I'm the one who waltzed Matilda I am Australian
I'm the hot wind from the desert I'm the black soil of the plains I'm the mountains and the valleys I'm the drought and flooding rains I am the rock, I am the sky The rivers when they run The spirit of this great land I am Australian
We are one, but we are many And from all the lands on earth we come We'll share a dream and sing with one voice "I am, you are, we are Australian"
We are one, but we are many And from all the lands on earth we come We'll share a dream and sing with one voice "I am, you are, we are Australian"
Click the picture below to enter a great interactive website that will help you learn the story behind the tragic Battle of Gallipoli. As you remember it was a turning point in Australian history and an abrupt change in Australia/Britain relations. It gave rise to a strong sense of Aussie identity and resulted in development of "broad" Aussie accent.
Please click on all interactive elements on the website. It will take you around 20 minutes to watch/listen/interact with information there and you will need some of the facts for the test. So please do do it!
Western Front and the controversy of "voluntary" enlisting - click here.
PS
Rochardo's Lollies, please send your presentation to my email. We don't have time for another Zoom meeting.
The first part of the class is your turf - I'll be listening to the two remaining "R" presentations. After our Zoom chat is over, please read and listen to the materials listed below. 1. Australian Symbols
Begin with some serious reading here.
And then visit my beloved site for a less "purist" take on Aussie symbols ;-)
(click the pic below)
EUREKA FLAG - Eureka Flag is a symbol we already talked about when we covered the topic of Gold Rush and the Eureka Rebellion. Click the link if you want to go back to the video we watched together in class.
GOLDEN WATTLE- read to find out what Australian government wanted to do with the country's national flower and why ;)
2. Sport "Australian sport deserves quality piss taking or none at all."
Australians are a nation of active people and they like to joke that they spend more on excercising than on education, but it doesn't mean that they are going to worship their sportsmen and sportswomen blindly. They always retain a healthy dose of irony and humour.
Asked about cricket, they would say something like that:
Cricket is a game that moves about as fast as a Jamaican on valium. It involves watching 11 men in white clothes stand around a field for a few hours, then break to have lunch, stand around, then break again to have a cup of tea, stand around, then go home. The same thing occurs for another 4 days, and then after all that effort, both teams call the whole thing a draw...
Remember, "Australian sport deserves quality piss taking or none at all." So true ;-)
Australians pride themselves on inventing football. That's correct. Football. However "footy" may mean different games in different states. More on that here.
Some of you know already that I'm hopelessly in love with AFL. Unfortunately the Rona (=coronavirus) interrupted with the season which was supposed to start on Good Friday. Usually Eurosport 2 presents a game of AFL each week and I encourage my students to have a look. This time you can't. But at least you can learn the rules of the game.
Watch the video below.
Click HERE to watch an episode of Australia’s Heritage – National Treasures which explains the story behind writing the rules of AFL (this is something you'll need for the test).
Talking about sport, we can't possibly forget about Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
Sydney was the second Olympic Games organized by Aussies. The first one was in Melbourne in 1956.
That date also marks Aussies' love affair with swimming.
Another sport which is synonymous with Australia is surfing. Click HERE to watch a video that explains the birth this Hawaiian sport in Australia.
Surfing was also important for local industry, in terms of not only surfboards themselves, but all the gear and apparel. Two most well know wear brands which were born out of this surfing craze are Bilabong and Quicksilver.
Below you'll find a trailer for a movie called Drift.
Filmed on location on Western Australia's spectacular and rugged coastline, it is a story of two brothers and the birth of modern surf industry in the early 1970s. It also touches upon drug trafficking which was at that time done inside surfboards. But more about it when we talk about Australians at war and the realtions between Aussies and their American allies in Vietnam and Korea.
