I was always that tanned, tall girl back in Australia, a chaotic delinquent peering

into a window of tranquillity. Their quiet lives that I have watched since birth and
unknowingly inheriting their qualities, preferences and beliefs and losing the culture
I once shared with my parents, has shaped the very essence of who I am today. But
I am still not one of them, born and raised in this beautiful world but not entirely
apart of it. As I sit under the glare of the Tongan sun I hear the quiet murmurs of
the Australian girl, unbeknownst to them that I can understand the language but
stumble over each pronunciation as my true-blue accent reigns victorious in the
clash of my cultures, but how am I the Australian girl, when in Australia I am the
Tongan girl?
The cool breeze stings my hot skin as twilight slowly overtakes the harsh sun and
gives way for hints of red in a vibrant dulling blue sky, reminding me of the flag I so
proudly march alongside but never in hand and I walk the quiet dirt roads back to
the free two month hotel that is my mothers aunts home. A sad excuse for a fence
creaks loudly as I patiently make my way into the tiny, rundown yet intimidating
house, sitting snuggly on a wide dirt farm. I hear the quiet excited chatter muffled
only by the paint peeled door, the paint seemingly slicing every decade of loud
flamboyant chatter that I and my family have missed. Villiami and Sione refused to
join our parents escapade of keeping in touch with a life echoed thirty years back,
but I felt the need to confirm my identity, to understand what is real and what I
stand for.

A hush envelopes the audience as the announcer introduces the next act and I feel
the thrill of the quickly approaching stage time. All the months of practise for this
moment and it was like this every Multicultural day, but today I feel more a part of
the culture I am dancing for after the news of our departure was announced
yesterday My thoughts are interrupted by the loud applaud and the rest of the
girls shush and push into our respective positions and the music drifts into the quiet
of the wide hall and the audience erupt in a cloud of enjoyment.