What does Australia Day mean to me? Yianni Agisilaou, Grade 4B, Jan 24, 1988

WHAT DOES AUSTRALIA DAY MEAN TO ME?

Yianni Agisilaou, Grade 4B

January 25, 1987

My name is Yianni and I’m Australian but sumtimes I don’t feel like it.

My name is hard to spell, and sumtimes when I tell it to people they ask me where I’m from. I say Australia, but then people ask me where I’m reely from and I don’t understand what they mean.

One time I said St Vincents hospital (which is where I was born) and the person larfed, so now when people ask where I’m from I say St Vincents Hospital and most people larf which is better than asking where I’m reely from, but I don’t reely know why they’re larfing.

My teacher told us that that all the states decided to have an Australia Day on the 26th of Janyuary because this is when Australia was discuvvered.

I asked her how it was discuvvered if there were already people there, and she said sumthing about it was when Captain Cook came.

I asked which day the indijennus people arrived and she said it was to long ago to know, so maybe that’s why they’re having it on the 26th of January because people had calenders then.

I asked my pearants what day they came to Australia and they said they didn’t remember but Mum thinks it was May and Dad thinks he came in September.

I asked my teacher weather we could have Australia Day on the day my parents came or sumone’s else’s parents came, but she said that was silly.

I said it wasn’t, and every day cood be Australia Day because people came here on all diffrent days, and choosing the day when only sum of the people came is like everyone having to have their birthday on one kid’s birthday even thou it’s not there birthday because that kid is more importunt and it would make the other kids feel left out.

She said I was being facetious, and I know what that means and can spell it even thogh it’s a hard word because my Mum said it to me one time and I looked it up in the dictionary. I told my teacher that facetious was one of the only words that had all five of the vowels in order.

She said that question time was over and I said okay and then I didn’t ask any more questions.

I think I’m confyused about what beeng Australian is. When I go to my Yiayia’s house (that’s my Grandma in Greek) inside the play equipment at the park there’s lots of grafeety that says SKIPS RULE, WOGS PULL and WOGS RULE, SKIPS PULL.

I asked Mum what the skips were pulling and she didn’t want to tell me. I got upset she wouldn’t tell me and started yelling then she told me to get a grip on myself and then Dad laurfed but I didn’t understand why.

I think maybe I don’t undastand what’s funny and what isn’t. Maybe I’ll be betta at it when I’m older.

A wog is a bad word for Greek people that you say if you don’t like them. And Italians too so I’m not sure what it is because how can it be the same word for different people?

Sumone called my Dad a wog and it wasn’t nice and he felt bad. I asked him why sumone called him that and he said that sum people think that Australia should only be for serrtan people.

I said is it the abbarijinal people who think that and he said no and I thort that was confusing because normally if you have sumthing first then it’s yours.

But then I thought about the time my littul brother and me got ice creams and I dropped mine and I was upset so I took his, and when Mum came out I screamed IT’S NOT HIS IT’S MINE IT’S MINE even though it wasn’t and I think I yelled more because I knew that it wasn’t reelly mine.

I said to Dad is it the skips who think sum people aren’t Australians and he said it’s confyusing, so I felt good because I was confyused and if grown ups are confyused too then it’s probably hard to understand.

Yianni Agisilaou. Grade 4B