Today I gave myself a much needed mental health day. I had a dose of sunshine, companionship, good food, beautiful surroundings, art, second hand shopping and finished up with a bit of yoga
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It is possible to go against the cultural grain in Australia, especially if you live in a big city. Growing up, my sister and I went to the National Gallery almost every weekend and spent a lot of time reading books (and being read to and taken to events for kids at the local library). As we got older, our parents took us to every production of the Bell Shakespeare Company, as well as other plays, dance and classical music concerts. They took us to concerts of musicians they liked. During the holidays, we went to art camp or music camp. While some of those things required money, a lot of them were free and open to anyone. I feel that it was this foundation that gave both of us our enjoyment of, and interest in, the arts. My sister in particular spends a lot of time in art galleries, at concerts and festivals and so on.
I never felt particularly outside the mainstream, because Canberra is such a middle-class bubble and everyone was doing this. Most people I know in Australia who like sport like art too.
Yeah I know there are people enjoy both, but my point was that it's not ingrained in our culture... like it is in some other places.
And Canberra, while being fairly middle class in the epicentre, is not as much when you wander out into the suburbs where I went to primary school (pretty bogan). Did you not have that whole "if you're not good at sports, you must be a dweeb" thing in primary school?
And growing up and being surrounded by people from all over Australia at work, I just felt... that so many people don't value the arts and literature... that said I was at a department which also didn't put much value on social skills in general.
Not that I don't think there are other great things about Australia, there totally are, but just for this stuff, it's lacking.
And it's not that France doesn't have its problems. While overseas I met the nastiest Parisienne girls ever. And my French housemate said they have a word for this type of typically Parisienne girl, une pouffe (perhaps not the right spelling).
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I never felt particularly outside the mainstream, because Canberra is such a middle-class bubble and everyone was doing this. Most people I know in Australia who like sport like art too.
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And Canberra, while being fairly middle class in the epicentre, is not as much when you wander out into the suburbs where I went to primary school (pretty bogan). Did you not have that whole "if you're not good at sports, you must be a dweeb" thing in primary school?
And growing up and being surrounded by people from all over Australia at work, I just felt... that so many people don't value the arts and literature... that said I was at a department which also didn't put much value on social skills in general.
Reply
And it's not that France doesn't have its problems. While overseas I met the nastiest Parisienne girls ever. And my French housemate said they have a word for this type of typically Parisienne girl, une pouffe (perhaps not the right spelling).
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