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Coolabah, Vol.1, 2007, pp.2-5 ISSN 1988-5946    Observatori: Centre d’Estudis 
Australians, Australian Studies Centre, Universitat de Barcelona 
 

INTRODUCTION 

 

 

 

 

Coolabah 1: This Foreign Country is the first edition of the online journal of 

the Australian Studies Centre of the Universitat de Barcelona (Spain). The 

previous printed journal, Eucalypt, had four volumes, respectively guest edited 

by Dr. Bill Phillips, Prof. John Barnes, Prof. Christopher Lee and Brian Beasly, 

and Dr. Elisa Morera de la Vall.   

This edition was first conceived as the last printed edition, but a slight 

delay in the publication allowed us to have This Foreign Country as the first 

number of Coolabah. The name was chosen because it refers to a kind of 

eucalyptus (Magnoliophyta, Genus: Eucalyptus Species: E. Coolabah). It derives 

from the Indigenous Australian word “gulabaa” in Yuwaaliyaay language and 

it is included in the quasi national anthem “Waltzing Matilda”. Therefore, the 

word “coolabah” included three very important aspects: first, it was related to 

the previous printed journal (Eucalypt); second, it acknowledged the traditional 

inhabitants of Australia; and, finally, it is known by all Australians.  

In this edition, the use of the term “Indigenous peoples” instead of 

“Aboriginal” is defended. “Indigenous” is written with a capital “I” because it 

is a nationality and it is preferred to “Aboriginal” or “Aborigine” when the 

noun designates the name of mainland Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. 

Furthermore, “peoples” is written in plural because, before the colonization of 

Australia, there were many clans with more than 600 different language groups 

and each clan spoke about four or five different languages or dialects. 

Therefore, the heterogeneity of the traditional inhabitants of Australia cannot be 

forgotten in their naming.   

Copyright ©2007 Caty Ribas Segura . This text may be archived and 
redistributed both in electronic form and in hard copy, provided that the 
author and journal are properly cited and no fee is charged. 
 



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The title of this issue, This Foreign Country, makes reference to a thought 

all collaborators to it shared at some point during their time in Australia. As 

none of us was born Down Under we perceived it as a “Foreign Country” and 

our experiences there influenced us deeply.  

All the writers share the treat of having been exchange students between 

the Universitat de Barcelona and La Trobe University (Melbourne) and/or 

Southern Cross University (Lismore) between the years 2000 and 2006. 

Australia has provided us with a huge baggage of feelings, emotions, 

experiences and memories we will never forget and for some of us Australia 

became a turning point in our lives, personally or academically speaking. 

This edition was born as a tribute to our experiences, as a moment to 

reflect and remember how we once perceived Australia as a foreign country. At 

some point before, during or after our exchanges, we all thought Australia was 

such a foreign country: because of the different season-month calendar, the 

trading hours or the custom of walking barefoot at home and sometimes even 

on the street, to give a few examples. Contributors were asked to write a text 

where this foreignness was dealt with, in any style and format. The outcome is 

the mix of creative, academic and personal writings that follow.  

The reader of this journal will encounter a “dance” among the topics of 

the writers, as each paper, story and poem is completed by the following one: 

from one view of a topic to another aspect of the same topic, which, at the same 

time, suggests or deals with other aspects further developed in the following 

contributions. This is the reason why the arrangement of the table of contents is 

not alphabetical, but thematic.  

The reader will find theoretical articles, creative pieces of writing and 

personal papers dealing with different aspects of the “foreign country” that 

Australia was for all contributors. Each one of us had the freedom to choose the 

style and the minimum length of the contribution but the topics chosen can be 

described by four main keywords: city, nature, identity and migration. 



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The first contribution is Ruth Sancho´s poem “Melbourne in Winter”, a 

wonderful piece which makes the reader feel as if they were walking through 

Melbourne.  

In “What can We do about It?”, Elena Xampeny makes us think and 

reflect about the importance of nature and global warming.  

Mila Martínez´s “A View on the Dialectic Between the Individual and the 

Environment” discusses the relationship humans have with cities and nature. 

Carles Serra´s “Reflections on Phenomenology and the Poetry of Kevin 

Hart. Foreignness and Strangeness at the Heart of Australian Identit”y takes the 

reader through a poetic journey in order to understand the relation between 

individuals and nature. 

A second poem written by Ruth Sancho takes us through a literary, 

sensual and mythological journey in her “Gulliver Surfs into Alice´s Virgin 

Bay”, where the loss of innocence and the end of Dreaming are dealt with.    

Iissues of identity and place are explored in David Calderón´s 

“Expatriates: Who are They?”, where he approaches this subject from a 

sociological point of view.  

Victòria Gras “Mama `poma´, dad `apple´: Raising a Child with Catalan 

in Australia” explains her personal experience of migrating to Australia and 

deciding to raise her daughter in Catalan and English. Therefore, here we find 

the opposite point of view: that of an immigrant to Australia, not of an 

expatriate from Australia. 

In Anna Zamora´s “Destination: Down Under” the issue of identity is the 

main topic in a fictional account of the experiences an exchange student from 

Barcelona in Australia. 

Lena Lund´s personal experiences in Australia, especially her 

relationship to cities, villages and nature and meeting her husband there, are 

the topic of her paper “Australia: The Land that Changed My Life”. 



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To finish with the personal accounts, in my paper “This Foreign Country 

Fascinates Me”, I write about my relation to Australia and about the many 

experiences I had there.  

Finally, Ruth Sancho´s third poem “Why do You have to Own 

Everything Nice?” is the perfect closing text as it deals with city, nature and a 

farewell.  

 

As the reader can see, the structure of this journal is circular and the 

reader can appreciate the theoretical articles, personal experiences or creative 

pieces of writing. I am sure all texts will make the reader reflect on the issues 

raised by the authors and will agree that they all have in common a view of 

Australia as “this foreign country”. Enjoy the reading! 

 

 

 

Caty Ribas Segura 

Palma de Mallorca 

Balearic Islands, Spain