Being myself with Manga

One of the main sub-cultures that have influenced my life has to be anime and manga. As a child, I was obsessed with Pokemon and Dragon Ball, and when we got our first dial up connection I delved further into the world Japanese comics and cartoons. Through my teenage years I became an avid reader and watcher of anime including Naruto, Bleach, One Piece and Full Metal Alchemist. I became further involved with the online community and started helping with the process of taking the raw Japanese comic and translating and cleaning pages for distribution around the world.
My acceptance into this online culture was a major factor in my life. In the real world my friends did not share these same interests as me, with our friendships evolving from a love of sport instead of anime and manga. But online I was able to be completely open with a global group of individuals who shared these same interests as I did. I still read manga on a weekly basis and while my contribution on forums and blogs has waned over the years, I still feel a strong connection to the community as it allowed me to share the other half of myself with the world, in a time where I was only being half of myself.

"It was like entering a whole new world" an afternoon with Father.

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

About me

Hey guys, my names Will but mates call me House. I'm a pretty simple guy, I could probably sum myself up in a short list -

- Deakin student, studying Media & Communications and Public Relations.
- Love chicken, hate chocolate.
- Love my sports - Malvern Lacrosse, Essendon Bombers, Chelsea Football Club, Greenbay Packers
- Also a bit of a closet nerd - I play LoL, read both American comics and Japanese manga

That wasn't too hard. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy my blog :)