Last Night at Home Before 2nd Year

Tonight is the last night that I get to sleep in my bed in Toronto in a house filled with family, homemade Korean food and 3 packed luggages. I’ve been fortunate to be home for almost 2 months but time really has passed very fast. Tomorrow, I will fly to Adelaide and I will be disoriented by the journey again.

Looking back, it’s been a productive break. I did observerships at Sick Kids Hospital, Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network and Sunnybrook Hospital. I met some helpful people, got to see lots of things, and learned some things along the way as well. I caught up on some west coast swing and took some dance classes that my sister got me coupons for. Also went shopping for clothes, tea and biscuits. I did some catching up with friends from high school, church and university.

I find it harder to leave home this time than last time. I guess I missed my family more than I realized. I really love them. I feel sorry for so many things to each of them. I am so grateful for many things to each of them too, especially to my parents. I have so many things that I want to do for them. I am going to keep in touch with them better in 2011 than I did in 2010. Already I am looking forward to coming back to visit my family next winter.

My plans for tomorrow – clean my room and around the house, give my love Skylar a shower, maybe go to Shoppers to see if I need to pick up anything else, and eat food that my mom made before going to the airport. Tomorrow at the airport will be the most difficult time I’ve had in the past year. I love you, Appa, Umma, Julia, Albert, and Skylar.

Racism in Australia

In speaking to people who are not in Australia, one of the comments/questions that come up about it other than “Oh, it’s a beautiful place” and “How hot does it get there?” is a string of words said hesitantly and carefully about racism in Australia. I haven’t even been in Australia for a year and during that period, I’ve only been a student living in Adelaide. While my Australian knowledge is limited, I can comment on what I have experienced so far.

I understand that Australia is a country and you will get all sorts of people thinking all sorts of things with all sorts of attitudes. But a few things about it makes me uncomfortable to think about and because I don’t know enough about them yet, I am hesitant to go into detail here. By first impressions…general Australian attitudes and actions toward its Indigenous people confuses me; I don’t understand the harsh “love it or leave it” attitude about newcomers to Australia; it seems like there’s a lack of strong & persistent infrastructure to support Indigenous and refugee initiatives; and how Australia seems to be behind its time – surgical specialties are still very much the boy’s club and I have had too many instances when white people patronize me (or worse) even before I say a word, based on the colour of my skin.

I enjoy living in Australia. But coming back home to Toronto and being immersed in its environment, I realize how much potential my local Adelaide neighbourhood can realize when it comes to acceptance and commitment to change.

Wednesday ,January 26th is Australia Day. Like I said earlier, I don’t know much about Australia. But I know that it confuses me and makes me feel iffy sometimes. This is an interesting article by Michael Brull, “Why I Won’t Be Celebrating Australia Day”.