Posted on by Gary

Go back where you came from

Go back where you came from

Have you ever been told to go back where you came from? In 54 years of receiving racist comments, I can’t remember being told: “Go back where you came from”.

Brussels sprouts on a stalk

[maxbutton id=”10″ ]

I wake up around 4 am every day and on weekdays I get straight out of bed and go for a walk. The path is simple and it takes me 40 minutes to complete. I get just over 5000 steps which leaves me the rest of the day to achieve my goal of 10,000 steps.

The other morning close to the Belconnen Owl statue I approached a zebra crossing and noted a car approaching on my right. The velocity of the car appeared to be slowing so I progressed across the zebra crossing to cross the road.

It was still dark, the earth’s rotation wouldn’t enable sunlight for another hour and a bit. It was a small car, red in colour but I couldn’t make out the make or model and I couldn’t see the driver’s face. I could hear the driver though as the driver yelled, “Go back where you came from.”

I have to pay credit where it’s due. When I walk at 4 am and the temperature is around 0 °C (32 °F), I wear a black beanie and a few layers of dark clothing along with a dark blue coat. My trousers are khaki but at night, there’s nothing that would reveal much about my form. At that crossing there are street lights but that footpath is poorly lit. The driver’s eyesight must have been good to detect that I’m not caucasian and therefore not entitled to call Australia home.

Of course the driver may consider any non-Indigenous person an alien and “Go back where you came from” could be a pretty standard approach to strangers on the street.

I did giggle when I heard it. If I didn’t love my job so much, I’d be happy to go home, somewhere warm. But where is home?

I grew up in Brisbane. Definitely, my home town albeit in terms of surface area it’s about the largest city in the southern hemisphere. It’s a warm and moist place. A place I do think of as home in many ways. My daughters live there. My parents live there. one of my two brothers lives there. I went to school, university, and qualified as a medical practitioner and specialist pathologist there.

The thing is I also lived in Darwin from 1996 to 2007 and I often tell people that’s where my spirit lives. I left something behind there and I don’t feel the same anywhere else. When I visit Darwin for work, I always have a sense of happiness come upon me and I feel full of joy. Mind you, it could just be my ichthyotic skin ‘drinking’ in all the moisture from the air, but I do feel different in Darwin and it’s a good feeling.

So while the driver of the small red car may think home is somewhere in South East Asia, the screaming “Go back to where you came from” gave me an opportunity on a cold frigid Canberra morning to reflect on the warm and moist atmosphere of places I love being in.

Update on my broken tooth

I went and saw a dentist this week. I’m now on my third dentist in Canberra. The examination and repair went well. I was able to get it fixed in one appointment for $310.

What have I watched this week?

Stargate SG-1

Singularity

I loved this episode about a young child whose name is Cassandra. She has a potentially explosive device in her chest. A device powerful enough to destroy the Stargate. We see how Cassandra and Captain Carter develop a relationship.

Master Chef Australia

This week featured Maggie Beer and much to my surprise her favourite product, viz., verjuice didn’t rate much of a mention.

I’ve never cooked with verjuice. Maybe one day I will. Maybe one day when I heed the call to “Go back where you came from” I’ll make something with verjuice.

LAW & ORDER

I’ve started on season 15 and there is no more Detective Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach). In his place, we have Detective Joe Fontana (Dennis Farina) who is more about expensive Italian shirts and fancy cars.

What have I listened to this week?

Bad Blood

I finished listening to the audio book version of this book about a start up company which speculated on point of care technology and whose founder has been subject to criminal charges for fraudulent behaviour.

It was a really good book to listen to. If you have any interest in medical diagnostics, ethical behaviour, corporate ethics, or medical misadventure, you’ll enjoy this book.

It’s a good reason why we have medical testing accreditation in reputable Australian medical testing laboratories which are managed and led by qualified pathologists and medical laboratory scientists. While university ‘drop outs’ have gone on to be very successful people, the subject of this book, in my opinion, should have stayed in university and completed the chemical engineering degree to get a better footing in the scientific approach to solving problems.

Meet the microbiologist

Metagenomic analysis of clinical specimens for the diagnosis of infectious diseases is revolutionising laboratory medicine. It’s not new though to be mindful of polymicrobal infections. I think the notion of one infection one microorganism is only held by people who don’t really appreciate the complexity and marvel of infectious diseases. Occam’s razor is a wonderful thing, however, we shouldn’t lose sight of the realities of the interactions between microorganisms and the host and the balance between health and disease can easily be tipped by many variables.

Listen to Julie Wolf from the American Society for Microbiology interview infectious diseases physician and researcher, Charles Chiu from UCSF.

What have I eaten and photographed this week?

This is a gallery of photographs. Click on one image and scroll through the rest of them.

  • Wilted spinach leaves, steamed egg, and Coon cheese
  • The Owl Statue on Monday morning
  • Winter tree and construction on Lake Ginninderra
  • Mixed frozen berries with unsweetened yoghurt
  • Pan-fried crispy skin salmon, steamed egg, wilted spinach leaves, and Hollandaise sauce. #yummylummy #foodphotography #hypop #foldio #lowcarb yumlum.co/BlenderHollandaiseSauce
  • The Owl Statue on Thursday morning
  • Pan-fried crispy skin salmon, avocado, and leftover homemade Hollandaise sauce. #yummylummy #foodphotography #hypop #foldio #lowcarb #MasterChefAU Recipe at yumlum.co/BlenderHollandaiseSauce Blender Hollandaise Sauce Ingredients 3 egg yolks ¼ teaspoon of Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon of lemon or lime juice 1 small squirt of hot sauce 120 grams of butter Instructions In the blender bowl, add the egg yolks, Dijon mustard, lemon or lime juice, and hot sauce. Cover, and blend for about 5 seconds. Melt the butter in a glass measuring cup with microwave radiation for about 1 minute. With the blender whirring on high speed pour the butter into the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream. It will start to thicken. Keep the sauce warm in a pan of hot tap water.
  • Celery, carrot, and Coon cheese
  • EFTM prizes. EFTM cap and Sony speaker.
  • The Owl Statue on Wednesday morning
  • MEATER made Chicken Maryland with a kale, cabbage, radicchio salad. #yummylummy #foodphotography #hypop #foldio #lowcarb #MasterChefAU Chicken, Kale, Cabbage, Radicchio, Coriander, Lemon zest, Lemon juice, Tomatoes, Avocado I cooked the chicken with a thermometer in an oven. The salad was bound with some mayonnaise and American mustard.
  • Carrot, celery, and Coon cheese for low carb lunch
  • MEATER Graph Chicken
  • Leftover sous vide steak with peanut paste kale cabbage curry with coriander, lemon juice, and coconut cream. #yummylummy #foodphotography #hypop #foldio #lowcarb #MasterChefAU #sousvide Steak, Peanut paste, Kale, Cabbage, Coriander, Parsley, Coconut cream, Lemon juice, Curry powder I wilted the cabbage and kale in a frypan with curry powder. Then I added 100 mL coconut cream and lemon juice from one lemon. I tossed in coriander and parsley and a big spoon of peanut paste. The thinly sliced steak was stirred in at the end.
  • The Owl Statue on Friday morning
  • Chinese gooseberry and unsweetened whipped cream
  • Frozen berries with unsweetened yoghurt
  • Coffee at work
  • Combination noodles from Garran Kitchen
  • Leftover MEATER made chicken with vegetable broth. #yummylummy #foodphotography #hypop #foldio #lowcarb #leftovers Chicken, Kale, Cabbage, Coriander, Parsley, Vegetable stock, Capsicum, Spring onion I boiled the vegetable stock and added the cabbage, kale, coriander, spring onion, and parsley. The thinly sliced steak was stirred in at the end.
  • Wilted spinach, steamed egg, and melted Coon cheese for Saturday breakfast
  • Free Dobinsons Bakery Black forrest cake and coffee
  • Free Dobinsons Bakery Black forrest cake and coffee
  • Kale bowl with coriander, radicchio, parsley, butter, and cream. Topped with almond flakes.
  • Marinated chicken, ready for sous vide cooking
  • Brussels sprouts on a stalk
  • Brussels sprouts on a stalk
  • Brussels sprouts on a stalk
  • Brussels sprouts on a stalk with olive oil, iodised salt, and freshly cracked black pepper
  • Brussels sprouts on a stalk with olive oil, iodised salt, and freshly cracked black pepper
  • Brussels sprouts on a stalk with olive oil, iodised salt, and freshly cracked black pepper
  • Brussels sprouts on a stalk with olive oil, iodised salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and bacon
  • Sous vide marinade chicken and bacon Brussels sprouts stalk #yummylummy #foodphotography #foldio #hypop #sousvide #chicken #bacon #brusselssprouts #lowcarb Chicken, Brussels sprouts, Bacon, Iodised salt, Salt, Pepper, Black pepper, Chilli flakes, Olive oil Recipe on the blog later
  • Sous vide marinade chicken and bacon Brussels sprouts stalk #yummylummy #foodphotography #foldio #hypop #sousvide #chicken #bacon #brusselssprouts #lowcarb Chicken, Brussels sprouts, Bacon, Iodised salt, Salt, Pepper, Black pepper, Chilli flakes, Olive oil Recipe on the blog later
  • The Owl Statue on Friday morning
  • The Owl Statue on Saturday morning
  • Lake Ginninderra on Sunday morning
  • Wilted spinach, steamed egg, melted Coon cheese, and an avocado cheek
  • Wilted spinach, steamed egg, melted Coon cheese, and an avocado cheek
  • Frozen berries with unsweetened yoghurt
  • Fried corned beef with tomato and spinach

Yummy Lummy this week

This week I found inspiration from Guga from Sous Vide Everything and I made sous vide anchovy chicken with bacon Brussels sprouts stalk. Check it out.

Sous vide marinade chicken and bacon Brussels sprouts stalk #yummylummy #foodphotography #foldio #hypop #sousvide #chicken #bacon #brusselssprouts #lowcarb Chicken, Brussels sprouts, Bacon, Iodised salt, Salt, Pepper, Black pepper, Chilli flakes, Olive oil Recipe on the blog

[maxbutton id=”11″ ][maxbutton id=”12″ ][maxbutton id=”13″ ]

Final thoughts

  • Have you ever been told to “Go back where you came from”?
  • Where is your home?
  • Where is your happy place?

14 Replies to “Go back where you came from”

  1. I agree Gary. My sister’s boyfriend (he’s a former boyfriend now) had to go back to South Africa, they eventually broke up. This “go back to where you came from” incident happened a couple of years ago. But I hear he has recently come back to Sydney for his work and is happy to be in Australia, so I don’t think the incident affected his overall view of Australians.

    1. It’s great to read that even though he experienced an awful incident, he feels strongly enough to return to live in Australia. I hope Sydney is a good home for him.

  2. It’s a shock when something like that happens… but glad you had a giggle. That hasn’t happened to me with those same words but once when I was walking on the Bondi to Bronte coastal walk at 6amish (the path wasn’t crowded) a woman jogged past me and told me to “Keep to the left, Stupid!” It cut through the peaceful ambiance like a knife. Once when I was in a car with my sister and her boyfriend who was visiting from South Africa (a long-distance thing), an angry driver in another car told him to “go back to where he came from” when he heard his accent when he opened the window to politely ask about parking. This was in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. I felt so ashamed of my fellow Australian resident for making my sister’s visiting boyfriend feel so unwelcome here.

    1. It really is awful that in 2019 things like this still happen. I hope your sister’s boyfriend didn’t leave Australia feeling less about us as a people.
      I hope our future is a brighter one without this sort of behaviour from people who should be grateful every day that we can live in Australia.

  3. I think you handled that incident really well Gary. Are Chinese gooseberries Kiwi fruit?

    1. Thanks, Sue. Life’s too short to get too upset. For all I know the driver was in a bad mood for other reasons.

      Yes, the Chinese gooseberry originated in China and similar to how Hawaii appropriated the Queensland nut using the Genus name Macadamia, the people of New Zealand have appropriated the gooseberry and named it after a nocturnal flightless bird.

  4. What a miserable incident. I’m glad it didn’t ruin your day. I can’t relate to the experience. Have a better rest of day.

  5. Sorry you got yelled at enjoying your morning constitutional 🙁 That sucks.

    Is that really how brussel sprouts grow?

    Glad you are enjoying SG1. I am up to somewhere in season 3 or 4 in my rewatch. I should get back into it now I’m done with Scrubs.

    1. Such is life. Thanks, Tim.

      Until I saw them on Masterchef Australia a few weeks ago, I had no idea. Of course, once it hits Masterchef Australia, it has to be in Coles shortly after…

      I wish I’d watched Stargate when it was a thing on free to air TV.

      I still need to finish watching Babylon 5.

Comments are closed.

    Mentions

  • 💬 A couple of nights in Geneva for work, plus what I watched on flights.
  • 💬 Mum's pork and peas with Chinese sausage bringing back memories
  • 💬 Not my favourite meal | What I think, watch, listen to, and eat each week