Interesting – the marketing of a nation

I really like documentaries. Last night I watched an interesting social history documentary called Ten Pound Poms, which told the story of Australia’s migrant population. Specifally, the Poms – British.
(Why “Poms” you ask? Varied answers include: POHM – Prisoner of His/Her Majesty; POME – Prisoner of Mother England; rhyming slang – immigrant was Jimmy Grant, then Pommy Grant (pomegranate) shortened to Pommy/Pom. The list of possible explanations goes on really.)
Anywho, what I learned from the documentary:

-After WWII, Australia felt it must “populate or perish.” England offered a deal for Britons to migrate to Australia for only ten pounds. The deal was you stayed two years, and you wre elgible for a return ticket (if you left before the two years, you had to pay your own way back home). Considering a return ticket would normally cost about 130 pounds at the time, 10 pounds was quite a bargin.

-In the 30 years following WWII, over 1 million Britons moved to Australia in what was one of the largest “planned” migrations of the 20th Centruy.

-Initially, migration was only open to “white” people in what was known as the White Australia Policy. Britons wanting to be a Ten Pound Pome had to undergo interviews (to make sure they were white) as well as thorough health check ups.

-Upon arrival, some Britons fell in love with Australia and the sunny climate. But, others felt it was “backward” with a “rough” landscape.

Where’d all the goblins go?

I love Halloween. It means that when I walk into Publix instead of being greeted by this week’s canned goods special, I’m welcomed by witches and goblins and huge bags of Snickers and Smarties.

Well, that’s not so much the case in Australia. So, I was kind of homesick to see and hear about friends and fam dressed up as bees and race car drivers. Although Halloween is gaining a bit more popularity Down Under as the years go on, it’s stilll not celebrated to the 9s as it is in the US. Trick-or-treating is rare, and if done, usually limited to suburban neighborhoods. On Halloween night, JP and I were walking around Burleigh and saw one group of families at a local restaurant, and some of the kids were in costume. Well, if you can call it a “costume” – it was more like, some paint on the face, one girl had a witch hat on (no broom, no cloak, just a hat). And, I saw some older kids (teens) that were walking around with what I though was a mask, but as they walked past me, I realized it was just a garbage bag with eyes and mouth holes cut out. A garbage bag!?

But, no worries, I did get a small does of Halloween – I went with a friend to a sneak peek of a new Haunted House attraction that’s opening in Surfer’s Paradise.

Anywho, the lack of Halloween has me thinking about how we’re going to get through Thanksgiving here. I have yet to see turkey for sale anywhere – a grocery store, a butcher, a restaurant. We’ll see how it goes.