Mateship

As usual when I say something, something else must come up and prove me wrong. It makes me think about it while I'm sitting at beloved Starbuck's - thank you mankind for inventing such place -, sipping on my caramel and cinnamon frappucino and reading today's paper.

Referring to the remark in my last post about "mate", I came across to a very nice piece of writing which goes as follow:

"Mateship is one of the values we as Australians hold most dear. Mateship crosses any boundaries set up by gender, or by ethnic origin, or political affiliation, or bank balance or street address. A mate can be your husband, your wife, your son, your brother, or your best friend. Or the digger behind you on the battlefield. Or a near total stranger. It is the great equaliser in Australian society. It is not an exclusively Australian expression, but you will hear it used most often here, and in all kinds of contexts. It is mostly, but not always, a term of endearment, and it underpins our notions of and belief in, an egalitarian society.

We believe in equality, irrespective of race, religion, gender or national origin. Every man or woman succeeds or fails in this nation according to their personal dedication or their personal worth. They succeed or fail irrespective of their birth, or their birthplace, or their racial origin. We value our prosperity, our tolerance and our compassion. We are straightforward and largely self-reliant and as we have shown repeatedly, ever ready to provide help wherever it is needed." (John Howard, Friday, Sept. 15th, 2006).

It is 100% true. It might be irritating at first cos they say it so frequently but it truely gives a sense of familiarity and brotherhood. Luca, you had better think twice before ranting and letting it all flow out.

Deeply apologetic.

Good news. Yesterday I decided to put an end to what seemed to be an endless and pointless roof search. So I drew a list of all places I had a look at. And I made up my mind. Obviously I contacted Laura at least five times before.

Ladies and gents, I am pleased to announce my new flatmate's name is Helen - not sure about the spelling though, I will enquire and let you know -. The flat looks really nice. It's on two storeys and is rather cheap for being so centrally located. It's on Broadway which is fantastic cos it is close to either all places in the City and all buses to work - it won't take more than 20 minutes to get there: great!

The Chinese girl has her own room downstairs while I'm staying in the kitchen/living room upstairs which she claims she has hardly ever used. She used to live with her best friend who decided, alas, to get married and left the apartment. I hope we will get along well. This way I won't be bothered every time she happens to come upstairs. She's gay-friendly and has queer friends as well which is good. I would like to take her out to dinner some day next week so we can get to know each other better. She works in a hotel and is at her last semester at uni - studying similar shit as me - so I figured it as she is pretty busy. We'll see.

Anyway, I'm moving in tomorrow after 6, I already gave notice to the hostel guys.

I think that's all for now folks.

I just want to say thank you for all the emails I keep receiving and sorry if my reply is not prompt. I will catch up with it soon, but not now cos today the sun is hining bright, breeze is blowing gently and I'm off to the luna park in Kirribilli. Or shopping, haven't decided yet. Or maybe both...

Anyway, Cheers!

P.S. As promised, I post here some pictures I've taken with my mobile. For some unexplained reasons my camera seems not be working at all. They're not top-quality photos but I like them.