Category Archives: Inspiration

Anzac Day

I am winding up my last week here in Sydney before I head home to San Francisco via Singapore. I have been enjoying the frenzy of activity that usually comes with the wrapping up life in one spot: impromptu coffees, trips to the footy, dinners with old friends.

I am also in the throes of trying to work out the most effective way to get all of the stuff home with me (posting? shipping? excess baggage?) but I won’t know until I actually just pack. You see, the issue of packing is really quite mundane, but I am only concerning myself with this because if I stop to consider how sad I am to leave my loved ones, this whole last week will be miserable. Onwards, Bec, with strength and filing the happy memories away for the future.

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Tomorrow is Anzac Day and it’s a big day on the Australian social calendar. It’s the one day of the year we pay tribute to all those who have served Australia and New Zealand in battle. The day starts with the Dawn Service at thousands of venues around the nation, and a few other sites worldwide (such as Gallipoli in Turkey). I love the tradition, the history of this day. I love reciting the ‘Ode of Remembrance’:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

There’s something about a crowd of people repeating the last line of the Ode, and the lone bugler playing the Last Post that makes me cry.
Every.
Single.
Time.
Just beautiful.

A Digger is flanked by two young men displaying the medals of a relatives in the Anzac Day Parade, 2011.

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Following the Dawn service at the Cenotaph in Martin Place, there’s a televised parade featuring the vets and those currently serving, and the families of those who served. Everyone heads to the pub for a beer and a yarn, and then there’s plenty of BBQs, barefoot bowls or footy games to watch. Tomorrow, there’s even AFL being played in New Zealand: the Swans take on St Kilda in Wellington, so I’m looking forward to seeing that. It’s my favourite Aussie holiday, alongside Melbourne Cup day.

I’ll raise a glass of Waterfords Blood Orange to the Anzacs tomorrow, and enjoy the day with family and friends. Lest we forget.

Notes on an Engagement

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Tonight, two of the greatest people in the world stood up in front of their friends and family and formally announced their commitment to each other. There were fancy cocktails, jugs of Pimms and Mediterranean antipasto plates. Dresses, gravity defying hairdos, half-dancing and big hugs. It was a night to celebrate love and the momentous decision of forever. And it could not have been more perfect.

Friends from all of the various circles the happy couple runs in were represented, including some teammates from the days of UNSW softball. Being back with them, calling them by their softball-specific nicknames, and reliving old Australian Unigames adventures was so energising. It felt as though we were speaking our own language. I barely made it around the people I knew before I called it a night.

Over the years, I’d shared a good amount of time with both families after crashing on their couches. It was touching to hear both fathers reveal their softer sides, and how welcoming they are of the official alliance between the Harris’ and the Hodges. Mums Hodge and Harris baked phenomenal cupcakes for the occasion and were great conversationalists.

“If you gamble everything for love, you’re gonna be alright.
– Ben Lee

As I drove home, I couldn’t help think about how surreptitious life can be. These two independent women were once unknown to each other. But they took a gamble and said yes to love, yes to the adventure. And I’m so pleased they did! It has taken them all over the world, through multiple degrees, new jobs, saving for an apartment, the purchase of valuable Sydney property, the renovation of said apartment, and to adopting an adorable Corgi mix, Dudley.

For over a decade, these ladies have been such an important part of my life, and are still very special to me. They’re the type of friends I can go years without seeing (being that we live on entirely different continents) but we kick off exactly where we left off. No need for explanations or side notes. Now that’s a good ol’ fashioned friendship.

Seeing them together makes me smile. My heart filled with joy when I heard the question had been popped and that the recipient said yes. Their love is tender, respectful, honest, elevating. They treat each other with kindness and are not afraid to disagree. They complement each other perfectly. So it was marvellous to see the overflowing goodwill towards them tonight.

There’s something special about making it ‘official’. And I can’t wait to see how the next phase will play out for them.

Celebrating Australia Day, Stateside

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I have penned a little something in honor of today, Australia Day, over at Ustralian: the hub for everything Aussie in the United States.

Whenever I see that old Qantas ad with the schoolkids singing Peter Allen’s ‘I Still Call Australia Home’, I break into large, heaving, homesick sobs. Those words, the sweeping music, the images of the physical beauty of the country in which I spent most of my life – it’s the perfect combination to tug on the heartstrings of Australian expats everywhere. Even though I have not lived there for more than six years, I still call Australia home. Read more…

Australia Day is the day we give our nation three big cheers in honor of her birthday (and she’s looking pretty good for 225, don’t you think?). We kick back with family and friends, with good food, cold drinks and great conversation. It’s a day where we celebrate the traits that make us great: ingenuity, irreverence, cheekiness with a keen sense of humour. It’s also a great opportunity to engage in hearty debate over the issues that affect us, things like whether we should ditch the Queen and become a republic, and whether or we should change our flag.

As for our Australia Day celebrations here in Kuala Lumpur, they’ve been pretty low-key. We’re currently staying in a pretty reasonable hotel in Chinatown. I spent part of the day in the lobby of a fancy hotel, enjoying a Teh Tarik whilst I did a little writing. I wandered around the Petaling markets whilst they were setting up, and then returned to our room to listen to Triple J’s Hottest 100. I have barely heard any new songs in 2012, but I was pleased to hear that Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” scored the #1 spot. I first heard Thrift Shop when I was back in Sydney last November and thought it was pretty bad ass.

And tonight, we added this little guy to our family unit. We call him Teddy.