Let's Celebrate Harmony Week! (15-21 March 2021)

[Former-Member]

Hello wonderful forum members,

This week (15^th to 21^st March 2021) is Harmony Week 🎊 🌏

What is Harmony Week, you may ask?

It is a time for all of us to celebrate multiculturalism and diversity in Australia. Australia is one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world, and we should celebrate this and work to maintain it~ 

Harmony Week is about inclusiveness, respect, and belonging for all, regardless of cultural or linguistic backgrounds. The theme of this year’s celebration is #everyonebelongs

Did you know that nearly half of Australians were born overseas or have at least one parent who was? & since 1945, more than 7.5 million people have migrated to Australia. Wow! 👏 🙌

In celebrating Harmony week, please share with us a dish, item, or activity that represents your cultural background OR is from a place you would like to visit 😊 

[Mazarita]

Hi @Former-Member and everyone. I love the idea of Harmony Day.

Today is St. Patrick's Day, a day of great celebration of Irish culture around the world. My mother's line of my ancestry traces back to County Cork in Ireland. I actually visited the town of my great grandmother, and stood at the Cobh pier from where she and a very large proportion of the Irish population emigrated in the mid to late 1800s, after a severe famine.

Ireland has ancient spiritual symbols carried forward from the time of the Celts, who I have read arrived in Ireland about 500BC. Celtic culture in Europe is said to go back thousands of years earlier. Here is one of the Irish Celtic symbols that is meaningful to me...

Triquetra, also known as Trinity KnotTriquetra, also known as Trinity Knot

[Appleblossom]

croquettes

waffles

[Shaz51]

hey hello @Former-Member  and everyone. I love the idea of Harmony Day.

hey my Scotirish sister @Mazarita , wow i will have to go there one day and we must be related 

the food looks yummy and interesting @Appleblossom 

how about cornish parties 

[Appleblossom]

Ha ha @Shaz51 

Dutch food is not known to be that exciting ....certianly did not get good recipes from my mother.

[BPDSurvivor]

Hey @Former-Member ,

Thanks for this thread! 

I'd like to mention, that although we have so much diversity to celebrate in our multicultural land 'down-under', fundamentally we have the same need - the need for connection - EVERYONE BELONGS!

Hi my fellow-friends! @Appleblossom @Shaz51 @Mazarita 

[BPDSurvivor]

@Appleblossom ,

The food looks sensational!

[Appleblossom]

@BPDSurvivor 

Internet images can be deceptive, even though bright and cheery.

Thanks for like and comment.

I talk of the land down under a bit... or the great southern land ... etc etc ... .  A way of being relaxed and casual in a good way.

[BPDSurvivor]

Hehehe @Appleblossom ,

I've never tasted any of the listed foods bar the waffles.

[BPDSurvivor]

Hi everyone,

My attention has clearly diverted from dear @Former-Member' original post by yummy-looking food!

Anyway, my ancestry dates back to the goldrush days when many Chinese immigrants came to Australia in search of a better life - from Hong Kong actually who were under the Bristish rule and were hence quite different to mainland China.

Unfortunately, being several generations Australian, I have little awareness or knowledge of my ancestry besides what I read in text books, see in movies, and what people around me talk about.

English is my mother tongue. I grew up on steaks, BBQs and potatoes...

I do, however, love Chinese noodles. I don't like rice though! 

I think I can use chopsticks, though the Chinese would laugh.

I speak as much mandarin as my 5 year old niece who probably knows 'Ni Hao' (hello) from school.

Interesting point, I have visited mainland China and Hong Kong (about 20 years ago). As a child, I just wanted to go home (Australia). I have travelled to many parts of the world, but I have no desire to live anywhere else but Australia.

I have a highly multicultural extended family. Not a single family member has married a Chinese. Just to name a few, my immediate family and first cousins consist of Indians, Sri Lankan's, Filipinos, Russians, El Salvadorans, Australians, Dutch, Greek, Slovak, English.... the list goes on!

In future threads, I will discuss some of the issues associated with my multicultural identity, but for now, let's just celebrate together!

@Appleblossom @Former-Member @Shaz51 @Mazarita