Astăzi am fost la staţia de radio ‘Vocea Evangheliei’ din Melbourne (www.3mdr.com). Este un program multietnic susţinut de guvern. Gazda mea radiofonică,  Corneliu Tuclei, este venit de la Suceava cam prin 1990. Ne-am întâlnit pe vremuri şi în staţia ‘Vocea Evangheliei’ de acolo. Tocmai şi-a căsătorit aici ultimul copil, o fată care s-a dus să facă medicina în România, pentru că diplomele din spaţiul european sunt recunoscute aici (după un anumit examen, totuşi mult mai uşor decât în America). N-ar strica să mai vedem câţiva medici români pe aici.

Timp de două ore am conversat pe teme diferite, sperăm de interes pentru ascultătorii de aici. Am vorbit însă şi în afara emisiei pe antenă. Am aflat astfel încă un lucru interesant despre Melbourne. Cei  pe care-i considerăm noi ‘australieni’ sunt şi ei în mare parte venetici ca şi românii. Pe lângă populaţia anglo-saxonă, de departe cea mai numeroasă, existe şi alte grupe etnice masive. Urbea are aproximativ 300.000 de greci. La un meci între Australia şi Grecia, biletele s-au epuizat în două zile. Cu această populaţie, Melbourne este al treilea oraş grec din lume, după Atena şi Tesalonic …

‘In 2006, the Greek language was spoken at home by 252,222 Australian residents, a 4.125% decrease from the 2001 census data. Greek is the fourth most commonly spoken language in Australia after English, Chinese and Italian.’

Există însă o mare instabilitate în acest grup etnic. Mulţi se întorc în ţara de origine:

‘Greek-Australian citizens have an exceptionally high rate of return immigration to Greece. In December 2001, the Department of Foreign Affairs estimated that there were 135,000 Australian citizens resident in Greece. It is assumed that these are mostly returned Greek immigrants with Australian citizenship, and their Greek Australian citizen children.’

Australian-born Ellie Doulgeris says relatives are planning to move here. Picture: Jake Nowakowski Herald Sun

Fed up with unemployment above 17 per cent, hundreds of aspiring migrants have bombarded local Greek organisations looking for ways to call Melbourne home.

Department of Immigration figures show Australia is on track to record a 65 per cent increase in Greek migrants this financial year, after an influx in the last six months of 2011 as Europe’s economic woes deepened.

And Melbourne – which has more Greek-speaking people than any city outside Athens and Thessaloniki – will take the lion’s share, says Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne president Bill Papastergiadis.

He said the organisation had been swamped with hundreds of inquiries a month from Greeks wanting migration advice.

“That really took effect once the economic situation deteriorated in Greece,” Mr Papastergiadis said.

The number of Greeks visiting Australia on short-term visas also increased, with nearly 4000 arriving last year, up 21 per cent on 2009.

Melbourne already is home to more than 300,000 Greeks, with many arriving in the 1950s and 1960s when government migration schemes sought Greeks and Italians.

Lazarus Karasavvidis said his international recruitment and training firm Skillup Australia had witnessed a tenfold increase in the number of Greek people wanting work in Melbourne in the last six months of 2011.

“The vast majority of them are young, urban professionals. They’re well qualified, they’re looking for a new home,” Mr Karasavvidis said.

Melbourne’s Ellie Doulgeris, 20, said Greek relatives planned to migrate. “Some are willing to stick it through, but things aren’t great,” Ms Doulgeris said.

Şi pentru că a venit vorba despre grupuri etnice, unul din cele mai mari sunt italienii:

Italians

Between the 1920s and 1950s, Carlton was the main destination for immigrant Italians. Today the suburb’s proportion of Italian residents is about four per cent, compared with 30 per cent in its heyday. However, Lygon Street remains a joyous celebration of everything Italian. This popular strip is lined with double-storey Victorian terraces that house dozens of Italian shops, cafes and restaurants. This is the street that introduced an espresso machine to Melbourne in the 1950s, launching the city’s famous love affair with coffee.

Another fragment of the local Italian story is found at the public pool in neighbouring Fitzroy where AQUA PROFUNDA is emblazoned in metre-high black letters at the deep end. Every October, the Lygon Street Festa celebrates the city’s Italian heritage. The Festa famously features the Italian waiters’ race and a spaghetti-eating contest.

Un alt grup numeros sunt chinezii:

Chinese

People flocked to Victoria in the 1850s after gold was discovered, including thousands of Chinese migrants.

Their impact is evident throughout Melbourne, but can be particularly seen in the streets and alleys around Little Bourke Street. Melbourne’s Chinatown, Australia’s oldest, began around 1854-55 as a cluster of shops and boarding houses in Celestial Avenue. Today the precinct is a bustling, colourful area packed with shops and restaurants.

Several shops still stock goods similar to that of the earliest stores. The Num Pon Soon building, built in 1861, has always been a meeting place and worship hall. The narrow, three-storey building in Heffernan Lane has been a restaurant since it was built in the 1860s.

În cinstea revederii noastre, Iconia, soţia lui Busuioc, ne-a dat o cină pe cinste şi ne-a servit cu nişte clătite cu brânză împăturite şi înecate în sirop de mure şi căpşuni … o minunăţie!

Categories: Personale