Submitted by Devin O’Doherty on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in Australia and New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Business Administration…
This last week in Australia, my group and I had the opportunity to celebrate Australia Day. This is like the Australian version of 4th of July so we were all super excited for it as there were so many activities going on in the city! The night before Australia Day, we climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge. This was such an amazing experience and we got to see the entire city from a perspective that not many people get to witness. While we were doing the bridge climb, our tour guide told us a lot about Australia Day. This gave me a whole new perspective on it and taught me a little about the history of Australia. She explained how while some people call January 26th Australia Day, others, like her, call it “Invasion Day”. This is because January 26th was the day the British first discovered Australia. And yes, this means it was the day Australia was actually started as a place in the world, but it is not the day that Australia got its freedom from Britain like the 4h of July is to us. I compared this in my head to Columbus Day vs 4th of July. Columbus Day is when America was discovered, but this isn’t a day we celebrate our freedom, that is what the 4th of July is. While everyone in Australia has different opinions on the day, I thought it was really interesting to learn that it is not celebrated fully by everyone in the country and to learn about the history in general. It is always really cool getting to hear multiple perspectives on things and I loved getting to learn a new perspective on this day that we all had thought was just a big celebration for everyone in the country.
