Another shot from Panyiri, which shows the way most cultures are embraced by Australians in general. There is occasional bad press accusing Aussies of racial intolerance, and I am here to use a good old English word in Our Defence - Balderdash!If you peruse the faces in this photo and the crowds in the two or three previous ones, you will find faces of every race represented, there paying their money to enjoy the parts of The Greek Culture Festival that are nearest to their own hearts. In my case it was seeing the kids dancing so enthusiastically and the FOOD, (Maybe not in that order).
After leaving the festival We went straight to Chinatown where there are Asian restaurants of all kinds of cuisine, and I have even been known to dine at McDonalds to get the taste of true US Cuisine, hey no favouritism here. Most of my Army career was spent in Darwin which I think is recognized as one of the most culturally diverse communities in the world when you take in the percapita population. If you can't blend in with other cultures up there you will NOT survive, as that city is the most wild west town I know of in the developed nation.
Don't go believing, any bad press you hear about racial intolerance here in Australia, yes we have some Bad Uns (I bet your country does too) And some who have suffered at their hands are right to complain (but NOT to generalize). We are a country of total immigration everyone of us came here from somewhere else if you go back far enough into our history - even the Aborigines (Although 40 - 100 thousand years ago) apparently came here from somewhere else.
We better be tolerant of others cause we is others too! Everyone has origins that began elsewhere. Celts I have been told originated in Northern China where they were driven out by the forebears of the Monguls (For being too violent) and ended up with only remnants in Ireland and Wales. Take my word though, their seed has been sown everywhere, the potato famine ensured that they made it to the New World too. So hey let us all enjoy the best parts of all the cultures of the world, ignore the bits that don't attract of effect us and lets all get on.
6 comments:
Ron, I do like the composition of your shot - seems to be a great angle to show both the dancers and their audience.
Not going to touch your rant with a 10 foot pole though....
Love the perspective of the image, and hey, we are all just one bit "melting pot"! :)
I also like the composition. As previously noted, you've captured the whole story here and the negative space of the dance floor pulls the eye in. And I for one haven't heard anything about intolerance of the Aussies. I was under the impression you were all like Steve Irwin or Crocodile Dundee and always "throwing shrimp on the barbie" when you weren't feasting on Vegamite. It may be that it's highlighted more in the local news than internationally. The conservative stations here tend to point out what good friends the Aussies are when it comes to being strategic allies in the past confilicts in Iraq.
Like the colorful costumes and the composition of your shot here. It tells a story: Other nationalitie's heritages are as near and dear to them as ours is to us. I'll rant with you (:D). The Bible says it best: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. We should all have that motto engraven on our souls.
Good composition and this has been a nice series to view.
It's nice that there were tables and chairs situated where you could see the kids in their colorful costumes.
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