Almost eight hours and 16, 209,53 kilometres between Italy, the “boot-shaped” country and Australia, land of kangaroos, koalas and Aborigines. The ocean and other continents divide them and their own cultures and traditions, giving the Italians who land for the first time in Australia the curiosity and the emotion to discover a completely different and far reality.
Hot and shining sun light, green palms everywhere, low and wooden houses, white old cars or suv and banana benders along the beach: these are the first images of the “land down under”. Still tired and dazed for the long journey, leaving the airport, you start forgetting the ancient and elegant buildings, fashionable shops on the main streets and the too much traffic of a big town like Turin, looking at everything around you. Instead of grey and dirty pigeons, colourful parrots sing you welcome and the sound of the near ocean waves invites you to have a walk on the beach. You walk as far as a white pier ends and from there you can see a great extent of clear, fine sand with lots of seashells and some seagulls. Even if it’s winter the temperature is very high, or maybe it is for us who are used to having snow and low temperatures in winter. Aussies, in fact, instead of wearing gloves, heavy jackets and boots, wear comfortable clothes, sunglasses and flip-flops (national shoes) but the funny thing is that nobody swims because it’s too cold. Strange? No, we are strange for them because we want to swim in winter!
After a few days of exploration in the bay you have to start school so you need to buy a uniform. You must wear uniforms at school, different from Italy where you can wear what you like. Here instead of buying and wearing fashionable and expensive clothes girls compete with the most original hairstyle. They dye their hair very often changing colour, especially “peroxide blond”, and haircut, and they embellish their hair with ribbons, fabric flowers and colourful hairbands. Piercings and tattoos are also very common for teenagers, both girls and boys. School starts at 9.00 a.m, ours starts at 8.00 a.m., but you have to arrive at 8.50 a.m. for the form-class. In Italy students are divided into grades and fixed classrooms, where everybody attends the same lessons together. In Australia students can choose six subjects by themselves and they have to change classroom and class according to the subject. “Marine aquatics”, where you can learn how to drive a motor boat, “dance”, “hospitality”, “recreational outdoor activities”, some of the “funny” subjects you can attend instead of our most boring subjects like “philosophy”,Latin and Greek”. At 11.05 a.m., when the bell rings a crowd of hungry children rushes to the canteen to buy sandwiches, fruit (not of many types) and fabulous chocolate cookies, getting ready for three more lessons. There is also a little break at 1.40 p.m. so at 3.00 p.m lessons finish, just in time to go home, eat an apple, change clothes and go to the beach to see the spectacular sunset at 5.p.m. accompanied by dolphins. Students, except for assignments, haven’t got much homework, and school isn’t as stressful as our Italian school, where in most of the cases people leave at 2 p.m., go home for lunch and spend the rest of the day studying for the tests of the following day. It’s especially relaxing for international students because they can’t work; almost all Australians in fact work in the afternoon or in the evening, saving Saturday or Friday nights to go to parties! Teenagers aren’t allowed to enter pubs or discos until eighteen, in Italy the surveillance isn’t very strict, so they organize parties at home with loud music and drinks. Another interesting difference is that Australians can drive a car accompanied by an adult before being 18 and when they’re eighteen they can take the driving license, while Italians, and also Europeans, can’t drive until eighteen.
Aussie life-style outside big towns like Sidney or Melbourne is quiet and slow, for some people too “bloody boring”. It’s a life far from the political problems and the corruption that there are in Italy and ,further than Italy, from the present economic crisis, far from the stress and the chaos of a sometimes frantic Turin. It’s a peaceful life, in the respect of animals and nature, where the most dangerous things are snakes and spiders. Australia is the perfect place not just for adventurous backpackers but for anyone who wants to have a “break” and relax, taking his time and enjoying the beautiful climate and landscapes. This is the Land down under seen through Italian eyes.
Carlotta Zago (4C)