DISCLAIMER: This blog post does not in any way endorse any political party nor does it reflect the author's political affiliations and opinions on Australian politics
All this time in Australia, I very rarely saw anyone famous other than tennis players during the Hopman Cup. In fact, up until last Wednesday (December 3, 2014) I could recall the only two occasions in which I saw celebrities of some sorts. The first one was when I went to see Michael Buble's concert, thanks to a friend of mine who got some extra tickets and asked me to go. The second one was when I saw Bill and Giuliana Rancic at Westfield Carousel (Western Australia's largest shopping centre), this time thanks to Anindya Intan who is a HUGE fan of the couple and their reality show on E! (after seeing them, I can understand why people admire those two!). Apart from that - well, until last Wednesday anyway - there was nothing else. Which should not be a surprise, seeing that Perth, bearing the pride of the most isolated capital city in the world, is tiny compared to those cities in the eastern states, e.g. Sydney and Melbourne.
That is to say, I'm still taken aback by the fact that just a few days ago I met Australia's first ever female Prime Minister!
Oh, did I say that she follows me on Twitter? Heh, even my own country's President does not.
I always have a soft spot for Julia Gillard, despite the fact that I drew a caricature of hers with a speech balloon that said, "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" - for some odd reason one of my lecturers in my first semester told us all to draw a caricature of Gillard with a reference to Alice in Wonderland. Of course, my understanding of Australian politics is limited, but there's just...something likeable about her. Not because she's a female who has been in a position dominated by males. I guess that's her no-nonsense nature and the fact that she always makes it clear that she can kick some arse if she wants to. Of course, not in the level of Margaret Thatcher or Queen Elizabeth I of England (almost impossible to top those two!), but she's pretty decent - which is to say that sadly there are some people who are nowhere near decent. And she uses social media quite well. Definitely better than most politicians, IMO.
So, on December 3, 2014, which was a day off in between days of working (I now work for a travel and lifestyle magazine and website) I forcefully dragged my lazy arse to Westfield Carousel because I needed to exchange a suitcase I had bought two days before with a smaller one, simply because my brain had not been functioning well when I had bought that and I hadn't realised the ridiculous size of the suitcase until I got home. Alright, just imagine. It was December in Australia, and I had to take a bus from Victoria Park to Westfield Carousel (well, it's not too far actually) carrying around a huge suitcase. At least it had four wheels!
Then I went to the State Library to return books that I had borrowed for one of my uni assignments, a biography of Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia. Off I went, with my smaller suitcase this time and thick, hardcover books on Russian history inside. I passed by Hay St Mall, and I decided to make a quick stop at Dymocks. I like that place, really, simply because it's a bookstore and it's bloody good. Except for the fact that most new books are ridiculously expensive...for me, at least. As usual I took a look at the aviation section, particularly QF32 by Captain Richard de Crespigny, about Qantas Flight 32, an Airbus A380 which suffered an engine failure en route from Singapore to Sydney. Ah, it was about $33. I thought I'd just wait to find a secondhand copy.
When I left Dymocks, I realised that there were so many people queuing. It was a really long queue. Hmm, I wondered what it was? I follow a lot of accounts dedicated to Perth news and information on Twitter and Facebook and I didn't recall seeing anything about some event at Hay St Mall. When I looked around, there was this sign that I hadn't seen earlier.
WHOA! So Julia Gillard was coming to Perth to sign copies of her autobiography! I knew that she'd just released an autobiography not too long ago as we had discussed that in one of my classes, but I had never thought to actually pick a copy and read it. As much as I like to discuss politics, I'm never really interested in (auto)biographies of political figures. There have been talks over Julia Gillard: My Story, which supposedly has some controversial bits. I saw people in the queue holding their copies of the book in their hands, some freshly bought from Dymocks. There were also quite a few people coming to the store to get the book before they got in the queue. I looked at my phone, still a few minutes until her scheduled arrival, so I decided to take a look at some of the stores in the city. When I came back, I was ready with my phone camera on (at that point I was cursing myself for not bringing my somewhat proper camera with me!), and so were other people. I took a look at the queue and I thought, well, I never knew she had many 'fans' over here! For some reason my heartbeat got faster, probably because I don't see world leaders very often (the closest I got to an Indonesian President was during my holiday to Indonesia a few months ago when I was stuck in the traffic in Jakarta and I saw Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's, the former president, car with him inside). Add the fact that this one is my most famous Twitter follower, and that she is the first woman to take the highest post in her country's government.
Suddenly I heard someone say, "There she is, there she is!" and there Julia Gillard, Australia's first female Prime Minister, was with her grey suits and glasses. I hastily snapped pictures along with everybody else. There was a group of high-spirited women singing "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow", which reminded me of Virgina Wade's 1977 Wimbledon victory in which the crowd sang the song during the trophy presentation. Then I started considering getting in the queue to take a picture with her, but then I thought everyone in the queue had to have her book already. I was right, because a man next to me asked a Dymocks staff member if he could get a picture with Gillard without having the book and the staff member said no. The atmosphere was quite nuts. I was lucky that I was in a good position to take pictures, but there were so many people behind me and we got too close that we almost blocked the entrance to the store. Staff members, trying to look and sound perfectly happy, repeatedly shouted, "GUYS, I KNOW IT'S VERY EXCITING, BUT PLEASE DO NOT BLOCK THE ENTRANCE!" Kudos to them for all the smiles! Well, alright then, I would just stay there for a few minutes and snapped some more pictures.
I thought I had enough (and I managed to upload a couple of pictures on Path, Twitter, and Facebook - being the 19-year-old that I am, that's to be expected :-p), then I made my way to the State Library to return the books. Having done so, I came out of the library and took a look at my phone. I saw a friend of mine post a comment one of the pictures I had uploaded on Path earlier, which said, "Darl, could you get me a copy?" Instantly my eyes grew wide. I WhatsApp-ed her to confirm that she did want the book and she would love to have it signed, and I marched back to Dymocks, still dragging my suitcase. The queue was still long and there were still so many people in front of the store. I slipped into the store and bought the book. About $32.99...not too bad actually, considering that it's a hardcover book. I went through the queue and was totally amazed. It was so long and it was interesting to see these people willing to go out on a hot day to queue to have their books signed by their former PM. Wickedly, I imagined that had it been the current PM coming to sign books, the reaction would've been totally different!
I placed myself in the bottom of the queue and tried my best not to whine. At least I could still see the Dymocks sign from where I was. People started to line up behind me and I thought this could go on forever. I had my phone in my hand with the camera on, and I saw that the battery was running low. Luckily I always bring my portable charger with me! I took a step further every few minutes or so and the Dymocks sign was getting closer. There were gaps in the queue because we were not allowed to block entrances to stores along the street. I tried to kill time by fixing my fedora hat, looking through my Twitter timeline, and talking to a few people in the queue about iPhone and Samsung...for some odd reason. There was also a lady handing out free copies of 10 Short Stories You Must Read in 2011, a collection of short stories written by Australian authors. I hadn't gotten myself a new book for quite a long time, so this was a really nice treat! Then, before I knew it, I was so close to the signing table.
A lady in front of me had her picture taken with Gillard; she asked someone to take the picture. I thought I could do that, like I did with some tennis players during the Hopman Cup, but seeing that I now have a phone with better features, I might try something a little bit different. A few seconds later, I handed in the book for her to sign.
"Hello," I said cheerfully, trying to sound normal.
"Hello, nice to meet you!" she said. Then she saw that I was dragging a suitcase, and she said, "Whoa, you're moving house!"
Well, I didn't expect that! I, of course, laughed and told her I had just gotten the suitcase. I don't know if that's just the way Australian politicians are, but it definitely left me impressed. In my country it's relatively uncommon to see (former) leaders interact with us common people so casually; most of them always make their status and importance clear, which explains why some of Indonesia's 'new' leaders including President Joko Widodo, Mayor of Bandung Ridwan Kamil, and Mayor of Surabaya Tri Rismaharini very quickly reached immense popularity with their willingness to get close to and interact casually with the people, therefore breaking assumptions that people with their positions are difficult to approach and prefer to maintain a distance from us common people. Of course, my experience interacting with (former) world leaders are limited, especially here in Australia, but I do hope that what Gillard showed that day is not uncommon!
Back to Dymocks, I asked if she could write my friend's name on the book along with her signature. She said she was sorry that she couldn't, given the limited space of the page she was signing. No problem. Then came my favourite part.
"Do you mind if I take a picture with you?" I asked.
"Alright, quickly, quickly!" she said with a smile, referring to dozens of other people lining up behind me (yeah, in the meantime the queue kept growing!). I took my phone, set up the front camera, and...
There you go, a selfie with a former Australian Prime Minister. Even better, the one that made history as the country's first female Prime Minister and the one I always have a soft spot on. Plenty of other people took pictures with her, but very few took proper selfies. I made an effort to act like a 19-year-old, so I did that and, of course, posted it on social media. Bear with me, not everyday one gets to meet a (former) world leader on a day off! One obvious thing in the picture is that you can easily spot the difference between a well-maintained set of teeth and a crooked one :-)
Like I said, my understanding of Australian politics is limited. People may cringe at this post because Gillard clearly has had her lows, especially when she was still Prime Minister. But as a person I reckon she's quite likeable. People stood queuing under the sun to meet her and their wait was worth; she treated us very nicely and left good impressions. I guess when you get the experience you will fully understand. Even the security personnel and Dymocks staff members were awesome. They did not treat us like junks, they all had smiles on their faces and were always ready to provide assistance when necessary. The atmosphere was great, on top the whole experience of meeting an important figure. and being treated just as importantly. If that really is the thing with Australian leaders, who knows, you might see me take a selfie with a certain Mr Abbott!
Who knows. Around the same time pigs might fly. And if you think pigs will never, ever fly, you need some serious help.
All this time in Australia, I very rarely saw anyone famous other than tennis players during the Hopman Cup. In fact, up until last Wednesday (December 3, 2014) I could recall the only two occasions in which I saw celebrities of some sorts. The first one was when I went to see Michael Buble's concert, thanks to a friend of mine who got some extra tickets and asked me to go. The second one was when I saw Bill and Giuliana Rancic at Westfield Carousel (Western Australia's largest shopping centre), this time thanks to Anindya Intan who is a HUGE fan of the couple and their reality show on E! (after seeing them, I can understand why people admire those two!). Apart from that - well, until last Wednesday anyway - there was nothing else. Which should not be a surprise, seeing that Perth, bearing the pride of the most isolated capital city in the world, is tiny compared to those cities in the eastern states, e.g. Sydney and Melbourne.
That is to say, I'm still taken aback by the fact that just a few days ago I met Australia's first ever female Prime Minister!
 |
| Julia Gillard, first female Australian Prime Minister. Photo courtesy of Australia China. |
I always have a soft spot for Julia Gillard, despite the fact that I drew a caricature of hers with a speech balloon that said, "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" - for some odd reason one of my lecturers in my first semester told us all to draw a caricature of Gillard with a reference to Alice in Wonderland. Of course, my understanding of Australian politics is limited, but there's just...something likeable about her. Not because she's a female who has been in a position dominated by males. I guess that's her no-nonsense nature and the fact that she always makes it clear that she can kick some arse if she wants to. Of course, not in the level of Margaret Thatcher or Queen Elizabeth I of England (almost impossible to top those two!), but she's pretty decent - which is to say that sadly there are some people who are nowhere near decent. And she uses social media quite well. Definitely better than most politicians, IMO.
So, on December 3, 2014, which was a day off in between days of working (I now work for a travel and lifestyle magazine and website) I forcefully dragged my lazy arse to Westfield Carousel because I needed to exchange a suitcase I had bought two days before with a smaller one, simply because my brain had not been functioning well when I had bought that and I hadn't realised the ridiculous size of the suitcase until I got home. Alright, just imagine. It was December in Australia, and I had to take a bus from Victoria Park to Westfield Carousel (well, it's not too far actually) carrying around a huge suitcase. At least it had four wheels!
Then I went to the State Library to return books that I had borrowed for one of my uni assignments, a biography of Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia. Off I went, with my smaller suitcase this time and thick, hardcover books on Russian history inside. I passed by Hay St Mall, and I decided to make a quick stop at Dymocks. I like that place, really, simply because it's a bookstore and it's bloody good. Except for the fact that most new books are ridiculously expensive...for me, at least. As usual I took a look at the aviation section, particularly QF32 by Captain Richard de Crespigny, about Qantas Flight 32, an Airbus A380 which suffered an engine failure en route from Singapore to Sydney. Ah, it was about $33. I thought I'd just wait to find a secondhand copy.
When I left Dymocks, I realised that there were so many people queuing. It was a really long queue. Hmm, I wondered what it was? I follow a lot of accounts dedicated to Perth news and information on Twitter and Facebook and I didn't recall seeing anything about some event at Hay St Mall. When I looked around, there was this sign that I hadn't seen earlier.
 |
| The text reads, "In-store book signing. Wednesday 3rd December, 12.30pm." |
 |
| The queue |
Suddenly I heard someone say, "There she is, there she is!" and there Julia Gillard, Australia's first female Prime Minister, was with her grey suits and glasses. I hastily snapped pictures along with everybody else. There was a group of high-spirited women singing "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow", which reminded me of Virgina Wade's 1977 Wimbledon victory in which the crowd sang the song during the trophy presentation. Then I started considering getting in the queue to take a picture with her, but then I thought everyone in the queue had to have her book already. I was right, because a man next to me asked a Dymocks staff member if he could get a picture with Gillard without having the book and the staff member said no. The atmosphere was quite nuts. I was lucky that I was in a good position to take pictures, but there were so many people behind me and we got too close that we almost blocked the entrance to the store. Staff members, trying to look and sound perfectly happy, repeatedly shouted, "GUYS, I KNOW IT'S VERY EXCITING, BUT PLEASE DO NOT BLOCK THE ENTRANCE!" Kudos to them for all the smiles! Well, alright then, I would just stay there for a few minutes and snapped some more pictures.
I thought I had enough (and I managed to upload a couple of pictures on Path, Twitter, and Facebook - being the 19-year-old that I am, that's to be expected :-p), then I made my way to the State Library to return the books. Having done so, I came out of the library and took a look at my phone. I saw a friend of mine post a comment one of the pictures I had uploaded on Path earlier, which said, "Darl, could you get me a copy?" Instantly my eyes grew wide. I WhatsApp-ed her to confirm that she did want the book and she would love to have it signed, and I marched back to Dymocks, still dragging my suitcase. The queue was still long and there were still so many people in front of the store. I slipped into the store and bought the book. About $32.99...not too bad actually, considering that it's a hardcover book. I went through the queue and was totally amazed. It was so long and it was interesting to see these people willing to go out on a hot day to queue to have their books signed by their former PM. Wickedly, I imagined that had it been the current PM coming to sign books, the reaction would've been totally different!
I placed myself in the bottom of the queue and tried my best not to whine. At least I could still see the Dymocks sign from where I was. People started to line up behind me and I thought this could go on forever. I had my phone in my hand with the camera on, and I saw that the battery was running low. Luckily I always bring my portable charger with me! I took a step further every few minutes or so and the Dymocks sign was getting closer. There were gaps in the queue because we were not allowed to block entrances to stores along the street. I tried to kill time by fixing my fedora hat, looking through my Twitter timeline, and talking to a few people in the queue about iPhone and Samsung...for some odd reason. There was also a lady handing out free copies of 10 Short Stories You Must Read in 2011, a collection of short stories written by Australian authors. I hadn't gotten myself a new book for quite a long time, so this was a really nice treat! Then, before I knew it, I was so close to the signing table.
 |
| Near the finish line! |
"Hello," I said cheerfully, trying to sound normal.
"Hello, nice to meet you!" she said. Then she saw that I was dragging a suitcase, and she said, "Whoa, you're moving house!"
Well, I didn't expect that! I, of course, laughed and told her I had just gotten the suitcase. I don't know if that's just the way Australian politicians are, but it definitely left me impressed. In my country it's relatively uncommon to see (former) leaders interact with us common people so casually; most of them always make their status and importance clear, which explains why some of Indonesia's 'new' leaders including President Joko Widodo, Mayor of Bandung Ridwan Kamil, and Mayor of Surabaya Tri Rismaharini very quickly reached immense popularity with their willingness to get close to and interact casually with the people, therefore breaking assumptions that people with their positions are difficult to approach and prefer to maintain a distance from us common people. Of course, my experience interacting with (former) world leaders are limited, especially here in Australia, but I do hope that what Gillard showed that day is not uncommon!
Back to Dymocks, I asked if she could write my friend's name on the book along with her signature. She said she was sorry that she couldn't, given the limited space of the page she was signing. No problem. Then came my favourite part.
"Do you mind if I take a picture with you?" I asked.
"Alright, quickly, quickly!" she said with a smile, referring to dozens of other people lining up behind me (yeah, in the meantime the queue kept growing!). I took my phone, set up the front camera, and...
 |
| "But first, let Julia Gillard and I take a selfie!" |
Like I said, my understanding of Australian politics is limited. People may cringe at this post because Gillard clearly has had her lows, especially when she was still Prime Minister. But as a person I reckon she's quite likeable. People stood queuing under the sun to meet her and their wait was worth; she treated us very nicely and left good impressions. I guess when you get the experience you will fully understand. Even the security personnel and Dymocks staff members were awesome. They did not treat us like junks, they all had smiles on their faces and were always ready to provide assistance when necessary. The atmosphere was great, on top the whole experience of meeting an important figure. and being treated just as importantly. If that really is the thing with Australian leaders, who knows, you might see me take a selfie with a certain Mr Abbott!
Who knows. Around the same time pigs might fly. And if you think pigs will never, ever fly, you need some serious help.
No comments:
Post a Comment