REMEMBER the days when the world seemed so big that you could go about daily life in a bubble, blissfully unaware of any problems outside you own little bubble?
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The days where the impact of war created fear only on foreign lands and when the economy was self-sustaining on the back of local demand and forces.
Where information and events from faraway lands took days to filter down the line to our televisions and newspapers.
A time – not that long ago – where we didn’t treat people from nationalities other than ours or religions we so little understand with suspicion.
Little by little in recent months, our sense of the protective sphere surrounding Australia has been eroded. Whether it is more perception than reality, there’s an underlying vibe in the national conversation which gives it credence.
Not all is lost, however.
Ballarat may no longer be the epicentre of political trend nor at the pointy end of culture, but for a few days this week there was a worldly joy which defied recent events.
The World Masters Rowing Regatta is a sporting event only by name and process. More deeply, it’s a celebration of people who are part of a community which just happens to involve physical activity.
In the years since Ballarat was named as the successful bidder for this event, the question has often been: How much and how many? The cost versus the benefit.
However, what’s been largely exposed in the past days is that the regatta might be the greatest show of multiculturalism seen in Ballarat for decades.
Hundreds of competitors and their support staff from countries as wondrous as Israel, Estonia, Russia and Latvia ranging in competitor categories from their late 20s to the high 80s.
There are Italians Cosimo Campioto and Antonio Casaur, veterans of the 1956 Olympics who decided to make Australia home – such was the experience they had in Ballarat.
Then there’s the Japanese, some of whom huddled around a seemingly self-appointed interpreter on Thursday to read of their team’s travails in The Courier.
This week in Ballarat is an example to Australia and maybe more broadly that in a time where we fear where our world is heading, we should not underestimate the joy it gives us.
andrew.eales@fairfaxmedia.com.au