Hello and welcome to My Australia, the show about people from overseas having Australian
experiences.
On today's show Nimit learns how to surf,
we meet Bhoom who loves to help other people and decides to volunteer with the charity,
Meals on Wheels
and we find out just how hard it is to make a buck out of busking.
First up today one of the great Aussie sports - surfing.
Every morning thousands of Australians grab a surf board and head down to the beach to
catch some waves.
You might think it looks easy but let me tell you it's not as easy as it looks.
I've only ever tried it once and let's just say I spent more time under the water than
on top of it.
Let's see if Nimit does any better than I did.
I'm from India.
I miss my family a lot.
I grew up with my mom and my brother and my dad is a master mariner so he was always travelling
around.
I love that picture.
It's a picture of me, my father and all my brother's friends
It was taken the day my brother was leaving for Australia when he was coming here for
the first time.
The only reason I decided that I wanted to come to Sydney was my brother was already
here so he was well established.
I came here on a tourist visa just to visit him and I loved the country.
I loved the people so I said, yeah, this is where I want to stay, this is where I want
to live for the rest of my life.
I'm studying Bachelors in Hospitality Management in William Blue College of Hospitality Management.
It's in North Sydney.
It's a good course.
First day I went I made friends.
Hi guys, how're you doing?
I do a lot of different types of push-ups, weight training in the gym.
I love kickboxing so I train a lot.
Well, sometimes the tree wins …
actually most of the time.
I live with my brother and the flatmate.
See, I'm going to bump into you just to let you know that I am here.
In my free time I love playing video games, watch TV, listen to music.
Other than that I love sketching.
I am working at Masti Indian restaurant in Macquarie Centre
I love the ocean.
I never had the time to learn surfing so that's one thing I really want to, like.
I want to surf.
That's really Australian I believe.
We're at a beautiful beach in Sydney.
This is where people come surf, spend their days in the summer, beautiful people, beautiful
boards.
It's really inspiring to see a lot of kids surf.
Surfing does include a lot of balancing and I've been doing a lot of kickboxing, a lot
of martial arts so I don't think there should be a problem.
I should learn it quickly but let's see how it goes.
Hello mate.
How ya goin'?
I'm Rob.
Nimit.
I'm into extreme sports, like anything that gives me a rush.
I'll do it.
Anything you can get hurt on, aye?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I can relate to that.
Yeah.
The only thing that I'm scared of is getting stuck in a rip man.
Rips are one of the most dangerous things.
You have to really know how to spot a rip and I can run you through that a bit later.
Well, actually there are a few things you have to see when you are in Australia and
a few things you have to do and I think surfing is one thing you really have to do.
I just want to feel the rush of riding a wave.
Oh, it's amazing.
I'm really excited.
Weather looks great and the waves,
they're not that big so I'm not scared and I just met a lot of new people,
really nice people so yeah, really excited.
Yeah, we just met a ranger who said no sharks today so that's also good news, yeah.
But not really worried about sharks and all, don't really scare me.
I'm really looking forward to riding the waves and just want to get in the water.
Okay, watch out, sit down puppy.
Okay guys, the most important part about you surfing at this stage is catching a wave.
If you can't catch a wave you will never be able to surf, okay.
How you position on the surfboard will determine how well you move along the water.
Fingers forward and step 1, yep?
Arch right back.
Step 2, back foot, front foot.
And stay down low, okay.
Everyone go 'Wooooo!'
Woooo!
Sick.
That's sick.
Every person has a different style okay.
Everyone's got their own unique style.
It's what's so beautiful about surfing.
Everyone can be themselves okay.
Coming in, a wave is coming in.
Accelerate and stand up.
One, two,
back foot, front foot
It was amazing, learned a lot of new things.
Yeah, let's all hope that everybody will see me surf today.
Stand up!
Yeah
Ah, my surfing experience, so far it has been just amazing.
Enjoying it so much.
It's just a culture, you know, it's just surfing culture.
It's a surfing nation.
It's in our blood.
In it's in our genes I think.
If you spread your legs more, you'll get a more lower centre of gravity.
Yeah!
Victory.
Woohoo.
It's just an overwhelming feeling the first time I stood up.
It just felt so great like I've achieved something.
He's quite an extreme kind of guy.
He likes to push it all the way and he's doing a very good job.
He's got a good, big noticeable style out there and he's actually going quite well.
You've caught your own wave.
Welcome to the surfing world man, you've just become a surfer, officially.
Stay low, stay low, bend your knees.
Oh my God.
I don't have a big enough word in my vocabulary to describe how well you guys are doing.
All right, you are absolutely doing a brilliant job.
It's actually quite easy to do.
All you have to do is just try and it's a lot of fun.
Watch out!
Woo hooo hoo hoo!
That was a good shot.
With a bit of self-confidence it's amazing what they can achieve.
I never thought that I could stand on the board after a couple of hours, so it's very
nice.
It's been my biggest dream since I was a kid.
I always thought I would go Australia and learn how to surf, so, yeah.
Here my dream came true.
Yes, I would suggest everyone who visits Australia they should try surfing.
So I guess all Nimit's kickboxing training came in handy for balancing on the board.
Let's find out a bit more about this Australian obsession with surfing.
Just the culture I think, just everyone down at the beach here.
What do you like best about the ocean?
We just live across the road actually so we're in a pretty good position to learn how to
surf, yeah.
And are you teaching this young chap here how to surf?
Yes, that's what we just did today.
We just went out for a surf and he's lying on his tummy being pushed onto the waves.
He loves it.
It's just cool.
And we're cool.
Basically, if I'm not working I'm at the beach.
Would you have any advice for people who are just learning to surf?
Don't crash into people.
You go out there and you have your space and you can think and then you can paddle and
exercise
and that's what releases endorphins and then from that you can come back to the world and
be yourself and be happy.
And that's what surfing's about man, is being happy and sharing it.
Our next guest, Bhoom, is passionate about community service which is a big part of Australian
culture.
Unlike in some other countries, older people don't always live with other family members
so charities, like Meals on Wheels, who deliver food to the elderly and disabled, are very
important.