A Fellow Artist's Statements: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Tomorrow brings both a new day and a new continent. While I’m very excited to be going to Malaysia(!) it will be a bit bittersweet. Australia has been such an amazing adventure. Of course, there are a few things I won’t miss such as trying to explain to people "no, I don’t have a speech impediment, I just have an accent," gawking at the price of everything, or trying to justify the amount of peanut butter I eat.
Still, on the whole, Australia has been good to me and here are the things for which I am most grateful, the things I’ll miss the most.
1. Being in constant awe of their social policy.
I realize that this one is a bit weird, but it’s true. Whenever I talk to an Australian about social policy (which just by the nature of what I’m doing here is daily) I feel as if I’m a time traveller to the future. A college education with no money down? Check. A generous welfare system? Check. Universal healthcare? Check. Gun control? One massacre and they put in stringent policies. Incredible leave policies? They make me want to have my future children in Australia. (And yes, they still get to complain about them, so that simple pleasure still exists too.)
2. Blending in.
This doesn’t really need much explanation. Though I could be one of them until I open my mouth, once I do Australians have been in two groups—those that immediately ask me where I’m from, and those who cut me off mid conversation to ask just that. I’ll be honest, I’ll miss having everyone speak English... and since I’ll be in Asia, most likely until February, I don’t need to tell you why I don’t think I will blend in too well for a while.
3. Art Shows
I am sure I’ll find these other places but it has been amazing how many I’ve seen. For instance, this week I took the train just out of town to a free contemporary art contest sponsored by metro. The location didn’t make much sense, but it was an amazing venue, and a fun show.

Credit: melbourneinphotos.com

4. Cheering for a "football" team that isn’t terrible.

I’m from Indiana, and I like college football. The last time we made it to a Rose Bowl I was -23. If we’re not the team with the most losses ever, we’re close. (I won’t talk about Hamilton’s team, and I basically only cared about their tennis program anyway.) You can therefore understand my excitement when my adopted football team only lost once in my time here. I even got to go see a game. My favorite thing about the experience was the man a few down from us who kept shouting, "you mongrel!" I’ve never actually heard anyone ever use that word before.
5. Passionfruit
It’s delicious. Try it.
6. "Good on you."
A great saying.
7. The people (and dogs) I’ve met.
Cliché, I know. I’ve been so lucky to have had the pleasure to meet so many wonderful people. I feel like one of the family here, and will really miss them. I roughly counted that I’ve talked to about 55 people about my project. Only once did I have someone not eagerly respond to my questions. In fact many times as soon as I told someone what I did they would automatically tell me what they thought about it. A great example would be when I was in Hobart. Doug introduced me to one of his friends who was a teacher there. He agreed to talk to me the next day. Not only did he then show me around his classroom (which has an arts focus), and talk to me about it for four hours but he then drove me up the mountain because I hadn’t yet seen the view. I wish I had a better picture-- it was glorious.