The latest in a series of articles featuring Slave Lake and area people from different cultures around the world
Chastin Martel
Lakeside Leader
In Australia, when driving, kangaroos bounce from out of nowhere and sometimes, they land in front of your vehicle.
For Tayla Stasow, career coach at Roland Michener Secondary School (RMSS), it is similar to hitting a moose in Canada.
“They’re (kangaroos) not going to come and attack you out of nowhere,” says Stasow.
Stasow was born in Ballarat, Australia. It is in Victoria, approximately an hour from Melbourne. Ballarat is bigger than Slave Lake, she says.
There is plenty to do in Australia but more specifically in Melbourne. There are sports to play and sports to watch. There are music festivals also.
“In Ballarat, I grew up playing sports, netball, basketball, gymnastics, swimming,” says Stasow.
There is wildlife all over the world and in Australia, they have a good share of it.
Spiders, snakes, kangeroos, koalas, wombats, and lizards are some examples. Spiders and snakes are not predators, says Stasow. That’s because they do not hunt you down.
Snakes only attack if they are threatened. The only bad experience Stasow had with wildlife was when she got bit by her pet snake.
“Everything kind of stereotypical that you hear about Australia is what you can find there,” she says.
When asked about the term ‘aussie’, Stasow says, “I think a lot of people think of aussies and they think like friendly, relaxed, want to have a good time, like to travel.”
Readers might find it interesting to know that Indigenous Australians are the oldest cultures in the world, says Stasow.
There are up to 250 tribes or ‘mobs’. Parts of Indigenous culture was learned when Stasow attended school, but there was more focus on the white people taking over Australia and glossing over what was done to the Indigenous people.
“I grew up on Wathaurong country. So every area is kind of named after an Indigenous tribe or mob,” says Stasow.
Moreover, Melbourne is one place Stasow recommends for first time visitors. It was voted as the most livable city in the world multiple times in the past, she says.
It is easy to get around in Melbourne. This is because a car is not needed. There are plenty of beaches as well.
“Before I moved here, I was actually living in Queensland, on the Gold Coast,” says Stasow.
“Everywhere in Australia is beautiful, and it’s beautiful for different reasons. Like you could do a big road trip and have an amazing time.”
Asked if Australians are known to be nice people, Stasow says they are. They enjoy chatting and helping out. Australians work to live, says Stasow. What this means is they work, save up money and go on vacation for six weeks.
In Canada, this is different because people work to buy a big house or a fancy car. “It’s more like we’re going to save up and we’re going to rent our house for a year and travel around Australia,” she says. “We’re going to go on a once in a lifetime trip to Europe for three months or something like that.”
The reason for moving to Slave Lake for Stasow was because her husband was born and raised here. “We met in New Zealand on vacation. So I’ve been here for six years now,” she says.
