State Pride

Queenslanders have it. Texans have it. Even us those of us who have left to live on the other side of the world have it to some extent for the state where we grew up (for me, that's Mississippi, where state pride means sorting through the scars of history to find those parts that still shine). But no matter what anybody else says, nobody has state pride like a Queenslander. Not even a Texan. And contrary to what I first thought, it's not just because they've never been anywhere else. Despite being about as far away from anywhere else as you can get, Australia pushes its young adults to go explore the world. And many do. But they almost always come flocking back home. Especially the Queenslanders. Sure some get lost in the pubs of London for 4 or 5 years. But one early morning after Australia Day celebration in the big, grey city, and they emerge from the Slug & Lettuce and next thing you know, they're back in Brisbane. So do you have to be a native-born Queenslander to get it?

I moved to Brisbane, Queensland and immediately tried to forget I was here. I put air conditioner units in our house and shut the doors to the Queensland weather. I stocked my pantry with grits and cornmeal and cooked the Southern recipes I was used to. I'd traveled all over the world, self-righteously viewing myself as anything but the American tourist I was. I embraced the cultures I visited, eating their food, learning their languages (well, at least "please and thank you"). I was determined not to be the stereotypical American tourist in the middle of an Italian piazza, loudly complaining that there's no McDonald's. Yet for nearly four years, in a place I was supposed to be calling home, I have been just that. (Well, maybe not the McDonald's part since I'm not proud of that American achievement). I have been too busy clinging to America to see what it is these Queenslanders are carrying on about.

So here's to letting go. Not completely. I'm still keeping my air conditioner. And flyswatter. But I'm ready to give it a chance. Welcome to the Sun State and my travelogue of home.