Strangeness And Difference
January 3rd 2010 09:08
:
an ode on my Australian mode
Category: No Category
In a way, it was comforting to be identified so readily as an outsider in Thailand. I didn't even have to open my mouth to be instantly, upon first glance, relegated to 'farang' status. Here, I had become accustomed to importing with me a sense of aloofness and weirdness for others superficial consumption, in a vain attempt to prevent this happening on a deeper level. I know, I know - it's others notions of strangeness and difference I'm consuming.
Anyway, most Australians seem to find my accent American (and this is a problem because Australians have a bit of an identity complex whenever America is consciously brought into the picture... I have seen quite a few people here whiplash from distaste over American 'winner/loser' mentality to starry-eyed enthusiasm over their favourite US musical act), and I do wear my eccentricity on my sleeve, which not everyone takes to immediately, or at all. Their loss.
If Thailand is the exception upon which the rule establishes itself, I wish to flip continents - it doesn't matter where - any movement from Australia, outside of Oceania, is a huge leap across vast amounts of territory. Traveling a great distance perhaps inspires confidence in a traveler who has Australia as a home base to fling themselves out into the great unknown, take storming the globe up to dramatic levels.
I have just been reading Pico Iyer's chapter on Australia for his book 'Falling Off The Map', and it has made me more aware than usual of my favourite island-continent's placement in the world...
I wonder why I never devoted much time to comparing London and Paris... It's perhaps not surprising that I find London much more instantly accessible, and hence more enjoyable (due to the lack of language barrier, and its greater internationally-oriented identities). I only thought to compare them when my friend Debra mentioned that she was thinking about going to one of the two. I suppose their physical proximity is part of the reasons the two are often compared and contrasted. Having visited Paris first, I thought London would be a very different creature, however I was surprised to find that I wasn't surprised by that much - England seems very much a part of Europe, even though it clings to its own unique identity within it, and apart from it. I now recognise this claim as rooted in the myth of the superiority of English culture over its continental accompaniment.
Nevertheless, I could easily live in Paris as well - it's a lively city with enough open-minded and charming people to keep me regularly enchanted.
~*~
I often wonder if Tall Poppy Syndrome / Jante's Law is a natural fit for me. There are many benefits that arise from these somewhat negative identifications - a streamlined sense of 'belonging' (on the modernist side of the spectrum, anyhow) being one. Perhaps it is more that Australia is a (much, much) better fit for me than Bulgaria. And even though the Scandinavian countries have a great deal of appeal to me as destinations to visit, I begin to be conscious, as I type, that I would probably feel more at home in a developed Western nation without this restrictive, artificial and often numbing code of conduct in place.
~*~
I haven't yet revealed to you, my reader, my favourite places in the world...
They are:
San Francisco, USA,
Barcelona, Spain,
Then:
Sydney, Australia,
Paris, France
London, England
Then:
Tokyo, Japan
Shanghai, China
Istanbul, Turkey
There are many other places I would love to spend more time in, such as anywhere in Western Europe, English-speaking North America, Byron Bay and the Asian countries of Japan and Thailand. I would also return to Hoi An, Vietnam, if I had the chance, though I am somewhat deterred by the thought of having to pass through another Vietnamese town first.
~*~
I became a tea drinker in 2009 - I look forward to my cup of Earl Grey with great pleasure, and sometimes, when I feel self-destructive, contemplate becoming addicted to it. Perhaps in a subtle kind of way, I already am, even though I feel I could stop at any moment.
I am becoming more aware that I have unresolved issues with myself this year, and so I'd like to meditate upon different writing styles:
I used to speak and write very slowly and deliberately - each word the perfect addition, a firmly idealistic and passionate position in process, a dance of life-and-death proportions. I used to explore my sense of ever-transforming self publicly with little hesitation.
These days my ideas are more porous, my words more interchangeable. I write a bit and go back and edit my work into and out of new shapes. I attach one afterthought to another and let it live in its loose-fitting, brashly melodic structures...
I think somewhere in between too much and too little, and press send, enter, insert a question mark or a full-stop, accentuate with a hyphen or a comma... let it breathe with ellipses;
In my life at the moment, friends are coming and going. I am constantly saying hello and goodbye - and that's an ideal state that I keep returning to the pursuit of, once my connections become less fluid.
---
The luxury to drop a thought.
The luxury to return to it.
The economy of recycling old thoughts as part of new thoughts.
Postmodern paradigms,
A new love...
An old hate...
No place for it but your internal state
Anyway, most Australians seem to find my accent American (and this is a problem because Australians have a bit of an identity complex whenever America is consciously brought into the picture... I have seen quite a few people here whiplash from distaste over American 'winner/loser' mentality to starry-eyed enthusiasm over their favourite US musical act), and I do wear my eccentricity on my sleeve, which not everyone takes to immediately, or at all. Their loss.
If Thailand is the exception upon which the rule establishes itself, I wish to flip continents - it doesn't matter where - any movement from Australia, outside of Oceania, is a huge leap across vast amounts of territory. Traveling a great distance perhaps inspires confidence in a traveler who has Australia as a home base to fling themselves out into the great unknown, take storming the globe up to dramatic levels.
I have just been reading Pico Iyer's chapter on Australia for his book 'Falling Off The Map', and it has made me more aware than usual of my favourite island-continent's placement in the world...
I wonder why I never devoted much time to comparing London and Paris... It's perhaps not surprising that I find London much more instantly accessible, and hence more enjoyable (due to the lack of language barrier, and its greater internationally-oriented identities). I only thought to compare them when my friend Debra mentioned that she was thinking about going to one of the two. I suppose their physical proximity is part of the reasons the two are often compared and contrasted. Having visited Paris first, I thought London would be a very different creature, however I was surprised to find that I wasn't surprised by that much - England seems very much a part of Europe, even though it clings to its own unique identity within it, and apart from it. I now recognise this claim as rooted in the myth of the superiority of English culture over its continental accompaniment.
Nevertheless, I could easily live in Paris as well - it's a lively city with enough open-minded and charming people to keep me regularly enchanted.
~*~
I often wonder if Tall Poppy Syndrome / Jante's Law is a natural fit for me. There are many benefits that arise from these somewhat negative identifications - a streamlined sense of 'belonging' (on the modernist side of the spectrum, anyhow) being one. Perhaps it is more that Australia is a (much, much) better fit for me than Bulgaria. And even though the Scandinavian countries have a great deal of appeal to me as destinations to visit, I begin to be conscious, as I type, that I would probably feel more at home in a developed Western nation without this restrictive, artificial and often numbing code of conduct in place.
~*~
I haven't yet revealed to you, my reader, my favourite places in the world...
They are:
San Francisco, USA,
Barcelona, Spain,
Then:
Sydney, Australia,
Paris, France
London, England
Then:
Tokyo, Japan
Shanghai, China
Istanbul, Turkey
There are many other places I would love to spend more time in, such as anywhere in Western Europe, English-speaking North America, Byron Bay and the Asian countries of Japan and Thailand. I would also return to Hoi An, Vietnam, if I had the chance, though I am somewhat deterred by the thought of having to pass through another Vietnamese town first.
~*~
I became a tea drinker in 2009 - I look forward to my cup of Earl Grey with great pleasure, and sometimes, when I feel self-destructive, contemplate becoming addicted to it. Perhaps in a subtle kind of way, I already am, even though I feel I could stop at any moment.
I am becoming more aware that I have unresolved issues with myself this year, and so I'd like to meditate upon different writing styles:
I used to speak and write very slowly and deliberately - each word the perfect addition, a firmly idealistic and passionate position in process, a dance of life-and-death proportions. I used to explore my sense of ever-transforming self publicly with little hesitation.
These days my ideas are more porous, my words more interchangeable. I write a bit and go back and edit my work into and out of new shapes. I attach one afterthought to another and let it live in its loose-fitting, brashly melodic structures...
I think somewhere in between too much and too little, and press send, enter, insert a question mark or a full-stop, accentuate with a hyphen or a comma... let it breathe with ellipses;
In my life at the moment, friends are coming and going. I am constantly saying hello and goodbye - and that's an ideal state that I keep returning to the pursuit of, once my connections become less fluid.
---
The luxury to drop a thought.
The luxury to return to it.
The economy of recycling old thoughts as part of new thoughts.
Postmodern paradigms,
A new love...
An old hate...
No place for it but your internal state
Does the world contain you, or do you contain the world? A riddle as an ornament - forget unlocking it, just enjoy the symmetry that suggests an elegant chaos is about to emerge... within you! 
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Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
I love Earl Grey and San Fran is my fave city also - it's only a stone's throw from Yosemite - my fave place on Earth.
And your words are still the perfect addition, a firmly idealistic and passionate position in process
Awesome pic too!!
Comment by Postmodern Critic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
I haven't been to Yosemite yet, but I have seen so many mesmerising photos of it that I imagine the real life thing must be a place of unparalleled beauty. There are some really nice ones on www.terragalleria.com, if you'd like to refresh your memory.
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness