Too much information

Fortunately none of my friends were harmed in the bombings. The reaction here is strangely subdued, and life seems to be caring on here with little difference. At first I was shocked at the indifference but now I am beginning to realize there is still a type of maturity left over from the second world war and perhaps the IRA bombings that lets them move on unshaken. I think because Australia has never experienced direct contact with conflict it seems shocking to us to be near events like this. I know I felt strange when I passed Liverpool Street station yesterday and saw the flowers heaped in front of the closed tube station doors.

There is a maturity in character in Europeans that Australians don’t seem to have. Centuries of building and destroying each other perhaps. It seems to bring them a sense of certainty and ease of nature. I guess I have always felt closer to Asia and its ancient traditions, having grown up amongst that, and there too is a deep continuum that modern events can’t alter. I feel by understanding and relating to this I gain a sense of certainty in my own character and I begin to understand who I am, or want to be at the very least. It seems to have taken a long time getting here.