Having lived (briefly) overseas before, I was quite accustomed to the fact that Australia never makes the news unless it's one of those "How weird is that?" type stories - these usually involve shark or crocodile attacks, or some kind of cute koala story.
In the three months that we have been here, Australia has only made the sport news. The Brits are quite gleeful in their reporting of Australia getting thrashed in the cricket, although now Shane Warne is no longer playing they don't have someone to pick on in the tabloids. Their coverage of cricket is sure to pick up when the Ashes start here in July, and they'll find another target within the team.
However, the Victorian bushfires are now the number one news item on all TV stations, before British news, and even before Premier league football.
It's horrific to contemplate what's going on back home, and the coverage of the disaster is indepth in both newspapers and on TV. Our hearts go out to everyone who has suffered any kind of loss in the fires, or who has loved ones there. I don't feel as separated from events as I would if I was back home and the tragedy was happening in another country, because coming from Australia means familiarity with bushfires.
People at work have been kind, asking if I have family or friends in the affected areas. The weird thing is that everyone has expressed utter incredulity at the idea that anyone would purposely start a fire. While I also can't understand why anyone would do it, it's not such a foreign idea because each dry season there are idiots who start fires. But the concept is so unknown over here - possibly because it rains so often, no fire would take if the underbrush was lit.
It's strange seeing Kevin Rudd on TV - he has such a round head! - and also strange hearing so many Australian accents on the news...it makes me more aware of how my accent must sound to other people.
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4 comments:
Hey Kitty,
I know what you mean, when we were away John Howard was on the news in the UK for some reason and his accent sounded so broad and thick it was a real shock to hear.
Tom
All the pictures and footage they show make me cry! I was watching Sunrise this morning and Kochie showed footage of a car that was half in the dam, on the edge and all around the dam was burnt. My heart sank. The fruit shop has written on their A-frames "Please pray for Melbourne families" instead of today's specials.
-B
Haha. Kevin Rudd does have a round head. Just like Tintin.
I'm glad you can keep in touch with what's happening. I remember desperately searching for news on a former colleague who had disappeared, but couldn't find out anything because it wasn't important enough to be in the news.
It is sad that we Australians do understand that idiots light fires. We don't understand WHY, but we know it happens every year.
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