Cultural
flows describe the movement and assimilation of cultures, traditions, beliefs
and objects from one national boundary to another. My father is a living
example of cultural flows, bringing all his experience and culture with him
from around the world and introducing his brand of food to Australia’s already
multicultural society.
My
father grew up in a war torn East Timor (Timor Leste) in 1963. At the time,
East Timor was, and to this day still is a third world country, and was
defending their land from the Indonesian invasion. However, we are not of
Timorese background. My grandfather was a Chinese immigrant, who had left
southern China due to British rule and migrated to East Timor where over time,
a large Chinese community had developed. Towards the end of his teenage years,
moved to Portugal, where he worked as a kitchen hand for several years, before
finally moving to Australia to reunite with the rest of his family.
When
my father first arrived in Australia in 1985, his first thought was that “it
was like entering a whole new world”. Australia is a prime example of the power
of globalisation and cultural flows. When I asked him about his first
experiences in Australia, he delved into his passion of food and told me
stories about his first encounters with the vast amount of cuisines Australia had
to offer. Explaining the concept of globalisation is difficult when my mastery
of Mandarin or Cantonese is at a preschool level, but it was so easy when I used
food as an example. Food is a component of any culture and the cultural flows
allow Australia to prosper from all these cultures and beliefs.
Perhaps
too many cooks don’t spoil the broth :P
