Open door

In response to The Daily Post’s photo challenge : “Door.”

A door has three functions. To let you in, to keep you out or to keep you in. As a migrant I am acutely aware of doors. Doors have been opened to allow me to live in a different country, to work here and to share in its social and cultural life.

Here in South Australia the official state logo is an open door. This was an immense comfort to me as I waited the long, lonely weeks and months while my visa was being processed. I was fortunate, as a frequent visitor and an unofficial honorary South Aussie, to be invited to Australia House on the Strand in London to the unveiling of the new State Brand. I was also able to participate in the annual Eros Day celebrations on the first of October, also at Australia House, where the Agent General entertained us with Villis pies and Coopers Pale Ale and we could talk to our loved ones in Adelaide by Skype. The embassy staff were very helpful, reassuring and making enquiries on my behalf and finally the visa was granted just days before my flight out.

Flying via Melbourne, I had an internal connection to Adelaide, so my friends were able to be there at Gate 23, also a kind of door, to greet me, South Australia’s newest resident – at that particular moment. Being Adelaide of course, other friends just happened to be at the airport at the same time. It all added to the welcome and the sense of a new life, and of the the most significant door finally wide open in greeting.