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Laynie
Ketelaars: Twice a Stranger (2)
A sequel to
the first part
Twice
a stranger (2)
It is since I was asked to write about being a
stranger, that my mind has been catapulted
into my past and keeps on going back to the years before I came to
Australia.
No, it is not only the years before Australia, more
the fact of my being here.
It is making me aware of what was, of what I am and
the realisation of this causes pain. It
emphasizes the loss of my Dutch environs. When I arrived in Australia,
I intended to become Australian as in: ‘When in Rome, do as the
Romans do’. And I did for years.
I never was looking for a Dutch community, but did
enjoy the Dutch people I encountered. I was not interested in becoming
a member of the Dutch Club.
However I felt the need for people who were on the
same wavelength. Every time when I read The
Bazuin, an opinion magazin from the Netherlands, I felt inspired.
When I read this it became clear to me that the Dutch philosophy must
be deeply ingrained in my psyche. Is that what it means to be Dutch?
It cuts deeper than I have ever thought. When I read
articles, and more so when written by
someone in my age–bracket, there is a connection. It is as if things
are being finalized. There is an understanding, and
an afirmation.
That is what I miss here. I do not find the same
reverberation in the Australian soul.
And all of this has surfaced because of the writing of
‘Twice a Stranger’. I am sure that
Holland and the European Union have far more progressed in their consciousness
than the populus of Australia. Therefore I do feel very much, and more
than I ever thought ‘twice the stranger.’
I am so much part of the Dutch Zeitgeist which is my
inheritance of middle class, rooted in the
Catholic Dutch tradition. My people are now part of a progressive
Church Philosophy and I am hungry for that same life–giving energy.
However I am in a void, I feel in a spiritual vacuum
as it were. ĚI am a well balanced
person.quite happy, most of the time, but it does not take away the
need for what I have lost. The pain has become acute.
Australia is indeed the arse-end of the world, like
Paul Keating once said when he was
Priminister.
Change and progression in Australia are very slow
indeed.Too slow.
Perhaps ignorance is bliss after all.
Lainy
Ketelaars (Popovic).
May 1996.
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