We are Australians!

On Thursday night we attended our citizenship ceremony at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. It was a really special night for Max b/c he got to stay up late and have an exclusive outing with M&D. Unfortunately, we didn't bring the camera. Such a shame! It would have been nice to document Max asleep on Tim's lap at the cafe after the ceremony.

The ceremony itself was nice if not a bit long. Max really enjoyed the aboriginal dancing, the children's choir and the Australian Army Band. It was strange to see a banner with a life-size photograph of the queen standing behind the official party. Tim's query: "Is that a cardboard cut-out of the queen up there?" Each speaker began his speech acknowledging the traditional inhabitants of the land on which the Convention and Exhibition Centre lies. They used the exact same words, verbatim. It is some sort of official requirement (I looked it up in the Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code, p 36).

We wanted to get a photo of Max with the Lord Mayor but the Lord Mayor's robe and gold medallions put Max off. He looked a bit like a rapper Father Christmas.

This is the previous Lord Mayor: the current one is taller and gaunter, like Father Christmas. There aren't any pics of the new Lord Mayor in ceremonial garb b/c he had just been appointed the morning of the day of the ceremony.