Topic Tuesday// Home Away From Home// Tuesday 28th February 2023 5:30-7PM AEDT

[TideisTurning]

On Tuesday 28th February, we’d like to invite you to join us for a discussion about immigrating to a new society/culture and the impacts this can have on mental health and integration/ reconciliation of multiple identities with Peer Support Team Lead @Former-Member 

 

 

The event start times across Australia are below:

WA: 2:30pm 
NT: 4:00pm

SA: 5:00pm 

QLD: 4:30pm

NSW, ACT, VIC & TAS: 5:30pm 

Want to receive a reminder on the night? Hit the 'Support' button below and we will tag you 30 minutes before the event starts. 

New to the forums or want to get involved in this discussion? Check out the How To Guide for Topic Tuesdays.

Hope to see you there in the chat on the night!

[TideisTurning]

We will be kicking off this discussion in about 5-10 minutes! To come along please refresh this page at 5:30pm and join the conversation. 

We can't wait to see you there, see you at 5:30pm!

Tagging those who supported this post and may be interested in contributing or reading along: @BlueBay @Captain24 @Prosperity @RachSANECEO @Emelia8 @Exoplanet @Historylover @Jlol @Judi9877 @Kermit @Meowmy @Meri @Smc @SmilingGecko @StuF @greenpea @tomatosauce 

[TideisTurning]

Welcome to everyone joining us or reading along tonight. We would first like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the various lands across Australia we are all joining this discussion from. We pay deep respect to the Elders of those Countries, past and present, and we further extend that respect to any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people with us tonight, reading along, or reading back.  We are joined this evening by Peer Support Worker @Former-Member  to talk about experiences of immigration, culture and mental health.  

To get us started, I will invite @Former-Member  to introduce herself to the community. We would also love to hear from members of the community joining us this evening about what's brought you here tonight and what, if anything, you are hoping to get out of the discussion 😊 

[Former-Member]

Good evening folks! I am @Former-Member  - a proud immigrant, Team Leader for the peer work team & advocate for amplifying lived experience voices of the CALD communities in Australia. I moved to Australia 5 years ago with big dreams & hopes to pursue my higher studies and have been here ever since. My friends joke that it was in the stars as idolized Steve Irwin as a kid, but I am truly grateful to be living here and supporting the community.

[amber22]

Welcome along! @Prosperity 

I'm very keen for this discussion as someone who is also an immigrant 🙂

[TideisTurning]

I'll get the discussion started with our first question: How has immigrating to Australia impacted your understanding of culture and what culture means to you? @Former-Member @amber22 @Prosperity 

[Former-Member]

Culture is ever-changing and evolving. It’s important to stay true to your roots, but also necessary to learn about the way of life in a country to make your transition smoother. It was the little things for me- understanding the local slangs, communication styles and cultural boundaries. Every culture has its merits and demerits. There is so much to learn from the east and west both. I have always had an interest to learn about new cultures and ways of life since I was a kid. When the time came to immigrate here for higher studies, I felt ready to embrace the change. As the old saying goes, home is where the heart says. When some nights get lonely, it is comforting to have that scaffolding to fall back on.  

[TideisTurning]

As we go into this discussion too, I just want to note that anything I may share myself tonight is from my perspective as an Australian born and raised, based on and informed by my interactions with others who have immigrated to Australia or who are from different cultural backgrounds and have very kindly shared parts of their stories/ experiences with me to help shape my understandings of the living/ lived experience. Similarly, I look forward to learning from more of you through the discussion this evening!

[amber22]

I absolutely agree with your lovely answer above, I love 'home is where the heart says' @Former-Member 

After moving to Australia, I definitely experienced a bit of ‘culture shock’ and found it difficult to understand how much more of a laid-back lifestyle Australia had compared to the country that I lived in before. But it also opened my eyes to how each culture has a unique feeling, and way of going about things that makes learning about it and experiencing it even more beautiful 😊

[Former-Member]

Absolutely. Home often meant being in a state of survival- immigration comes with its set of struggles but the emphasis on work life balance and the relaxed culture was a breath of fresh air 🙂