Randomness From My Memories of Australia

As mentioned in my first post, this blog is a platform for me to share about my memories and also to remind me of what my life had been when I lose my memories. And some of the best memories were the ones of my years in Australia, where I was privileged to have studied and done some work.

I have to say that I'm tremendously thankful to my dad for gathering the resources to send me to Australia to obtain my degree in Physical Education after very indifferent results in the GCE "A" levels. Australia was a perfect choice: it was close enough compared to the US and UK, the exchange rate was pretty reasonable then, and for my personal reasons, the onslaught of the Aussie culture in the late 80s and early 90s.

In a nutshell, my years in Australia gave me the best education in life that I could ever have. There were many unforgettable memories: made some tremendously wonderful friends, bad experiences with people, wavered with my educational pursuits, seen the underside of Australian society.. My life has been very much shaped by the experiences in Australia, although most of the life lessons didn't quite sink in until the last 5 years or so. I often reminisced about the times that I'd had when I was in Australia, in particular when times have tough for me. But that's the funny thing, because I often miss my family in Singapore during the quiet moments in Australia, wondering what my parents were doing. It was also at that point in time when I started reconciling (internally) with my dad, and appreciating my parents. I guess it's called "growing up".

Despite being an outsider, the years in the Lucky Country is easily the best years of mine simply because of the experiences that I'd had. In the coming posts, I'll be posting recollections of my life in Australia. Do come back and walk me with down my memory lane.

In the meantime, have a listen to this song called "I Still Call Australia Home", written and originally performed by Australia songwriter/entertainer, Peter Allen. Qantas has been using it for their ad campaigns, and it always gives me goosebumps.