My Heritage

I am an Australian...............through and through........or so I thought, once upon a time. My parents are German and Austrian, and that has put a huge inprint on me. Every Christmas, my specialties, which I love to bake, are Austrian. Mind you I make a pretty mean fruit cake, which surpasses every fruitcake I have ever tasted, even if I say so myself - that's my Australian component of my Christmas cuisine.

Every Thursday, (when it's on) I watch "Inspector Rex". It's not the fact that it's an excellent show that I watch it, it's because it's in Austrian. Austrians speak German but it's as different as Australian English to English English! I hear the program come on and it gives me goosebumps. It takes me back to all the years that I spoke the language at home. German is my first language! I spoke only German until I went to school, and I still always had to speak it at home. It's funny, but I can come across someone in the supermarket talking to their friend/partner in German and I want to respond in German, especially if they are asking a question about something and I think I could help........bizarre, because I would never be so rude as to actually butt in. But the whole 'German' thing is so strong and so close to my heart. Even my dh pricks up his ears at the language and feels a closeness to it, which I find really sweet........

I am a proud Australian, with extrememly proud German and Austrian roots..........