Backbencher

In lecture 6, we went back to the founding mythology of Australia and New Zealand. Australia was originally a convict settlement and dealt with the overthrow of the sqauttocracy and the reign of the bourgeoisie, whereas New Zealand was a planned settlement with retaining ties to the empire and sports a classless society. They continually try to separate themselves from their neighbor by saying they are "not Australian." Australia continues to urge people that they are "not English," while New Zealanders claim that they are better than England. Along with this comes a self-proclamation that a New Zealander is merely just a "handy Brit." However along came one man who took it upon himself to write in his book "Story of New Zealand" that New Zealand was nothing more than a variant of British experience. This enraged many New Zealanders and has caused them to constantly express themselves as better than England. Australians on the other hand, prides themselves with the widely known Australian Legend. Evidence of this Australian Legend shows up in many "bush ballads" and popular literature. It talks about bush values, such as mateship, bushrangers, and bushmen.

Lecture 6 also introduced us to Australian and New Zealand sport. For both countries, rugby is the sport of choice and the most popular among the people. Rugby has three sets of rules depending on where you play the game. They are rugby union in NZ, Australian rules in OZ, and rugby league elsewhere. Cricket is also a popular sport. What interested me about cricket was that it is such a slow paced game and that it takes over four days to play one "game," and how immensely popular it is. The Ashes Series also sparks my attention and how the English had to bend the rules and come up with a way to stop Australia's Braddock in the Bodyline series. It seems a little shady if you ask me, but what else would one expect from the English.