I remember, in 1989, I met an American who had moved to Australia and his parents had shipped a Camaro over from The States, and meanwhile, had bought a Ford Falcon. Aside from him saying that he went to turn the indicators on but he turned the wipers on (the Falcon is right-hand drive and the indicators and wiper column stalks were on opposite sides), he whined that he didn't like the Falcon because he claimed it didn't have any power. (He'd raced a Mustang V8 and the Falcon is a six-cylinder).

I learnt Japanese for ten years and still remember a lot of it, and I went to Japan when I was 21. About five weeks after I returned, a right-wing populist politician delivered a preposterous and xenophobic rant about the changing nature of Australia and foreign immigrants. She also railed against multiculturalism. One reason why I am not overly proud of the Australian culture that the right-wing populist is, is that like the US, Australia was colonized by another country, and the First Nations Peoples decimated.

I have been able to be myself, since I have adopted Japanese cultural things into my lifestyle. Even before I learnt about Japan, I always felt wrong about being Australian.

I believe that travel broadens the mind, and with it, experiences. And you need to experience other cultures in their context.

I find you can be a happier, more grounded person, if you travel and incorporate other cultures into your life.