I became a citizen today.
The last step of becoming a citizen is to attend a ceremony where I pledge to be a citizen. My non-religious version of the pledge goes like this:
"From this time forward, I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I will uphold and obey."
Reading the pledge aloud (with others) was probably the most serious part of the hour-long ceremony. The rest of the time it was more like a party. We walked into the room with a happy version of Waltzing Matilda playing at the background, and the ceremony ended with everybody singing the National Anthem together (the official one). Of course, it is still not very up to the happiness standard of real Australians. One of my colleague asked me afterwards, "Did they give you a couple of beers in the end?"
"From this time forward, I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I will uphold and obey."
Reading the pledge aloud (with others) was probably the most serious part of the hour-long ceremony. The rest of the time it was more like a party. We walked into the room with a happy version of Waltzing Matilda playing at the background, and the ceremony ended with everybody singing the National Anthem together (the official one). Of course, it is still not very up to the happiness standard of real Australians. One of my colleague asked me afterwards, "Did they give you a couple of beers in the end?"
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