The " Integration " Issue !

What a strange place Australia must seem to newly arrived migrants from an entirely different culture.  The frenetic shopping surge and the custom of giving gifts and celebrating Christmas with a meal that seems a food extravaganza would seem bewildering to those experiencing it for the first time, and this enormous man with a red suit and a flowing white beard.   Do people really believe that he comes from the North Pole - and enters homes by way of the chimney ?

Then there is the day that follows Christmas which we call " Boxing Day " !   It seems we are still celebrating the putting down of an uprising in China that occurred between 1899 and 1901 during the Qing dynasty.  It seems that the Chinese began to resist the trading concessions forced on the country by foreign powers and rose against the embassies in the capital  There were pitched battles and many lives lost before relief forces saved the day- and we are still celebrating over a century later.

Perhaps the reason America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have been successful in integrating migrants from all over the world is the distance separating them from their old cultures.  This form of integration was not practised in Europe and consequently it was a great source of friction in that continents many wars.

Religious upheavals and pogroms forced many families to relocate but often a distance of a hundred miles saw them in a different country.  Even a dozen generations later, they still  retained their original nationality, spoke that language at home and observed their old country's national holidays.
This was particularly evident at the start of the second world war. Most surrounding countries had vast numbers of Germans as residents and their allegiance was to Germany rather than their host country.  They supported and assisted the German invasion, and when the war ended they paid a heavy price for what their hosts deemed treachery.

New arrivals in what some termed " the new world " were glad to shed these old prejudices. Their children were quick to learn a new language and accept new customs - and by the next generation they were fully integrated. Their input expanded the pot-pourri of dishes and tastes that became the national menu and the receiving nations became richer for what they brought to our gene pool.

Now the migrant source has changed and we are receiving input from the Middle East and Africa. It will not be helpful if we turn our back on these people and make them unwelcome.  They will struggle with a new language and it is very important that their children find a place in our culture. The schools will play a big part in integrating the new arrivals because they will be the intermediaries that will resolve the language problems with their parents, as it was with the original European migrant wave - and later from Asia.

It simply takes time for the customs of another religion to integrate with the religion they bring to this country and for curious customs like Boxing Day to enter their understanding.  That is a process that has been taking place for a very long time and it has delivered the Australia that has an established  culture in the world of today.