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Published: December 3rd 2012
I remember the first time I knew Australia was home. I was 27 years old and returning to Australia after spending 5 months in Scotland as part of my PhD. As we were about to land in Sydney the pilot said "For those of you returning from overseas, welcome home!" I was completely overcome by emotion as we landed. For 16 years I hadn't felt that anywhere was home until that moment.
When we came to Australia in 1981 we flew into Perth airport. It's a strange feeling to be back in the same place but going in the opposite direction. Taking off I imagined what life might be like if this was forever as it was last time. Leaving the country I now call home and returning to my former home. Not knowing what will confront me in this land that is now foreign to me. It's just too much to feel. When we came to Australia my feelings were a mix of excitement and fear of the unknown. This time I feel more anxious than anything else.
We left South Africa because of apartheid. It was not easy to live in a country that was being torn apart by self serving belief systems. We lived in fear all the time. Our parents, of British and Scottish origin (with a bit of this & that thrown in) were much more international in their thinking. I remember my father being urinated on by a senior manager because he took the (subtle) stand of getting into the mine shaft elevator with "the blacks". I remember my mother knitting blue school jumpers for the local black children who had so little. I remember how my parents supported the local community by holding a church in their garage. And I remember our many babysitters who were paid a proper wage. My parents chose not to have a slave but instead they hired babysitters and a gardener and paid them the most they could without drawing too much attention. I remember not long before we left my father got a "talking to" for over-paying the gardener.
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Karen Lovering
non-member comment
Where is home?
I know your are apprehensive but we can take things one day at a time lol. Maybe this trip can overwrite those memories.