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Post #21: Austria

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Welcome to the twenty-first post of the Great Writing Challenge of 2012.
 Five days a week for six months, I will be given a topic to write about. The stipulation: it must be 250 words (or more), and positive in ton
Thanks to Rai for today’s topic. If you would like to suggest topics for me to write about, please email me at TheRebeccaProject [at] gmail [dot] com.

I really want a piece from you about “Austria” – whatever you associate with it, be it your trip here or something completely different like what you were thinking growing up or when it first appeared on your mental screen.
— Rai

Post #21: Austria

I cannot say for certain when the country of Austria first popped up on my mental map, but no doubt it had everything to do with the Sound of Music. Like many children in the English-speaking world, the Sound of Music was such an integral part of my childhood. And most of what I knew about Austria was framed through the eyes of that film.

Yet it was not until I met my Austrian friend, Rai, that I learned one of the most astounding facts about Austria: Austrians are generally not familiar with the Sound of Music. And for so many of us, it was our only concept of the country.

Eight years after first meeting Rai, I finally managed to travel to Austria and see it for myself. And from the moment I arrived, everything went wrong. I had crazy girls in my hostel room. I dropped and broke my camera. I couldn’t find a department store to buy another. I was missing the American enormously. So much about travel is about dealing with the tough days, and try as I might, I just wasn’t feeling Austria.

I wandered around Vienna, and willed myself to be impressed that this building was older than my country. I went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, and only managed a “meh”. I watched the ice skaters skate the course in front of the Rathaus. I felt so alone, so disconnected from everyone and everything at that time, and imagined that I would always feel this way.

But all it took was meeting a friendly face to help me emerge from the funk. It was a great reminder that so much of what we need as humans is connection. I gained so much more from hearing Rai speak about his city than I did from any guidebooks or tours, and just the to-and-fro over dinner was exactly what I needed. Not everywhere you travel do you know someone, but for those few hours with Rai and Martin, I felt a real sense of belonging in Austria.

When I dream of travelling places, I dream less of the physical surroundings and more about the potential connections I can make with those who live there or are just passing through. I want to engage with people, find out about them, their thoughts and experiences.That’s what makes travel so alluring for me. People are fascinating creatures, but you have to put yourself out there first, and be willing to open up.

Post #20: 30 Minute Challenge

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Welcome to the twentieth post of the Great Writing Challenge of 2012.
 Five days a week for six months, I will be given a topic to write about. The stipulation: it must be 250 words (or more), and positive in tone.
If you would like to suggest topics for me to write about, please email me at TheRebeccaProject [at] gmail [dot] com.

Post #20: 30 Minute Challenge

[For this challenge, it was written and posted within a 30 minute timeframe.]

Sometimes, I wish people around here valued life and happiness. When did violence and death and murder become so commonplace? Why are we living in a society that tolerates this behavior? I want to write about sunshine and rainbows and unicorns, but my reality is far from it.

Sometimes, I want the headline of the newspapers to report who won the meat tray at the local pub. I want to know that Mrs Smith won the local Garden of the Year award, or that the local rugby team is holding a fundraising BBQ to fund their upcoming tournament interstate. I want to know the people who live either side of me, and collect their mail when they’re on holiday.

I want to be able to walk around outside when the sun has set and feel safe. I want to be able to hang my washing on the line. I want to be able to buy a sailboat and set off on adventures of my own choosing. I want a sense of community.

 

 

Post #19: Acknowledging

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Welcome to the nineteenth post of the Great Writing Challenge of 2012.
 Five days a week for six months, I will be given a topic to write about. The stipulation: it must be 250 words (or more), and positive in tone.
If you would like to suggest topics for me to write about, please email me at TheRebeccaProject [at] gmail [dot] com.

Post #19: Acknowledging

I had to take a couple of days off last week, which has thrown me a little behind my intended schedule. But that’s life, and I’m sure you understand.

Today I saw something that sparked my interest. It was a TED talk about vulnerability by researcher Dr Brene Brown.

She believes the human response to vulnerability is to make the uncertain certain. I build walls of my thoughts and beliefs, and these walls become fact. Suddenly, I’m 30 and lost in a maze of my own making.

One of the many walls I have constructed, is the one about children. For years, I have been rather vocal in my opposition of them existing entirely and of ever having any myself. Recently, I’ve found my attitudes toward them altering, but I built the wall years ago: REBECCA HATES KIDS. I have said it so definitively. I made the uncertain certain.

I am now in a place where having babies is acceptable, and I have to admit to thinking more about the choice as a conscious one. Yet I have already constructed a wall that does not allow flexibility for my evolving thoughts, feelings, and life situation. And consequently, I have denied myself the opportunity to evolve as a person. That makes me a hypocrite.  I said “never ever” and here I am, entertaining the idea of having babies. Humility is all I have to offer: I was wrong.

I have done this about so many things. I have to let go of them, unsaddle myself, and give myself permission to evolve. I will acknowledge that I am imperfect, and that I have the option to change my mind accordingly.

Post #18: Barcelona

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Welcome to the eighteenth post of the Great Writing Challenge of 2012.
 Five days a week for six months, I will be given a topic to write about. The stipulation: it must be 250 words (or more), and positive in tone.
If you would like to suggest topics for me to write about, please email me at TheRebeccaProject [at] gmail [dot] com.

Post #18: Barcelona

I fell in love with Barcelona the day I arrived. The city is so vibrant, and so interesting. I could imagine a life for myself there.

We stayed in the old town, just off Las Ramblas, in a former brothel frequently patronised by Picasso. We wound our way through the small lanes, and rarely taking the same route twice.

Plenty of alleyways to explore

Having just arrived from frigid Switzerland by way of torrential rain in the Basque region, the warm Mediterranean city with a laid back vibe had me hooked instantly. I had anticipated the German-speaking legs of the trip to be more my style, so connecting with Barcelona was unexpected.

We ate, we drank, we walked, we admired, we lived in Barcelona for the week we were there. We sang with the proud Catalonians at the Camp Nou, and saw FC Barca hammer home nine goals. We took walks along the beach front, and sipped lattes at beachside cafes. We explored the Eixample and Gràcia on foot, admiring the modernista architecture that makes Barcelona unique. We strolled las Ramblas at night, the trees illuminated and the pickpockets nowhere to be seen. We hiked to the top of Park Gruell and photographed the crisscrossing of contrails. We woke to the sounds of the bells from the numerous churches around our hotel, and saw the nuns walking to evening prayers as we went in search of dinner.

View from the Park Gruell

Barcelona is a beautiful city, and I would love an opportunity to return. I know the American agrees with me. I can only imagine just how crowded and bustling the city is in the summer.

Even winter is a beautiful time to be in Barcelona


Post #17: Stop Human Trafficking!

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Welcome to the seventeenth post of the Great Writing Challenge of 2012.
 Five days a week for six months, I will be given a topic to write about. The stipulation: it must be 250 words (or more), and positive in tone.
Thanks to Maia for the suggestion. If you would like to suggest topics for me to write about, please email me at TheRebeccaProject [at] gmail [dot] com.

Post #17: Stop Human Trafficking!

Did you know that the average age of kids forced into commercial sexual exploitation in this area is 12? Here, that’s Middle Schoolers. Middle Schoolers.

Some of these kids (and it’s not exclusively girls) are nabbed off the street walking to and from school, from bus stops and shopping malls. Some are runaways or foster kids, some are lured by the promise of a fledgling romance with a cute boy, and some are invited somewhere by other young girls who are under the control and instruction of a pimp. They are taken from our streets and end up enslaved, working all around the country.

I work in Oakland, home of ‘the Track’: a section of International Boulevard that is one of the hotbeds of sex trafficking in the Unites States. Pimping, in particular the commercial sexual exploitation of minors, is far more lucrative than selling drugs. Five or six kids, at $80 to $200 a trick, can earn trafficker $600,000 a year. And unlike drugs, these kids can be sold again, and again, and again, with minimal outlay.

Many people think human trafficking is an international problem, something that’s not in their own backyards. But it’s a domestic problem, where local kids are being sexually exploited for commercial gain. They are sold out on the Track, in motels that charge by the hour, and online. A recent article in the New York Times told the story of Baby Face, 13-year-old girl who managed to break free from the control of her pimp long enough to alert the police:

[The internet] is a godsend to pimps, allowing customers to order a girl online as if she were a pizza.

The more I come to know about what is happening out on the street, the more passionate I am to help change the situation. And we are. Find out more at the new website we’ve just launched to help inform people about human trafficking: HEAT Watch.

If you see something that is not right, speak up. You might be helping a kid who really needs it.

Post #16: From A Land Down Under

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Welcome to the sixteenth post of the Great Writing Challenge of 2012.
 Five days a week for six months, I will be given a topic to write about. The stipulation: it must be 250 words (or more), and positive in tone.
If you would like to suggest topics for me to write about, please email me at TheRebeccaProject [at] gmail [dot] com.

Post #16: From A Land Down Under

I am an Australian living abroad. That informs so much about how I see the world. I get to talk about Australia a lot with the people I meet. I love being asked. Gravitating to fellow antipodeans in the area stems the homesickness with a good ol’ yarn and an exchange of imported groceries from someone’s trip home. There’s some things you just can’t get anywhere else but home.  I’ve yet to find a place to pick up a ‘Dog’s Eye’ with ‘Dead Horse’, or some hot chips with chicken salt.

Today is Australia Day. It’s “unAustralian” not to celebrate Australia Day.  It’s a day when you attend barbies. You eat until you’re full as a goog. You drink till you’re off your face. You watch the cricket. You visit the beach. You listen to Triple J’s Hottest 100 countdown.  You get so burnt that you peel.

During this day of obligatory nationalistic fervour, I felt obliged to acknowledge the efforts of my fellow country men and women.

I hail from a nation responsible for attaching corks to hats to keep flies at bay. A place that makes sponge cake, dips it in chocolate, inserts some cream and rolls it around in dessicated coconut (lamingtons). We invented the wine cask and the esky.

 

I am an Australian living abroad, and that informs so much about how I see the world. I find that I get to talk about Australia a lot with the people I meet, and I love being asked. Gravitating to fellow antipodeans in the area stems the homesickness with a good ol’ yarn and an exchange of imported groceries from someone’s trip home. Haven’t yet found a place to pick up a ‘Dog’s Eye’ with ‘Dead Horse’, or some hot chips with chicken salt: there’s some things you just can’t get anywhere else but home.

So technically, today is still Australia Day. A day when you attend barbies, eat until you’re full as a goog, drink till you’re off your face. You watch the cricket, visit the beach/water, listen to Triple J’s Hottest 100 countdown and get so burnt that you peel. It’s “unAustralian” not to celebrate Australia Day.

So during this day of obligatory nationalistic fervour, I felt obliged to acknowledge the efforts of my fellow country men and women.

I hail from a nation responsible for attaching corks to hats to keep flies at bay; a place that makes sponge cake, dips it in chocolate, inserts some cream and rolls it around in dessicated coconut (lamingtons). We invented the wine cask and the esky, too. 

Here’s a quick list of what Australia has given the world off the top of my head:

  • the black box
  • Tim Tams
  • Dame Edna
  • Hugh Jackman
  • Our diggers, the ANZACs stuck it to the enemy, as well as the British
  • INXS
  • Pavlova
  • The Eureka Rebellion
  • The Late Show
  • AFL
  • AC/DC
  • The Crocodile Hunter
  • The Great Barrier Reef
  • Kylie Minogue
  • Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo
  • Neighbors
  • The Go Betweens
  • The Castle
  • Crowded House
  • The Lawn Mower
  • Summer Heights High
  • The Constitutional Crisis of ’75
  • Cold Chisel
  • Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
  • Breaker Morant
  • The Mabo Decision
  • Steven Bradbury winning gold
  • The greatest racehorse in the world, Phar Lap.
  • Kath & Kim
  • Custaro
  • Don Bradman.

You’re welcome, world.

Another bright Aussie Expat I know here (and you should really follow her on Twitter and visit her blog because she’s hilarious!) polled her friends on Facebook the other day:

Favourite Australian PM & why. Go.

My favourite is Harold Holt, for the simple fact that the leader of a free nation just walked into the ocean for a swim, and was never been seen again. True story. I think that’s AWESOME.

Even with the good and the not-so-good aspects, I am proud to be Australian.