Marking Time - Part 2 - Cultural Differnce & Turning Points

Why were the Afghan people in Brackley referred to as 'boaties'?

I believe the term 'boaties' in this sense is a derogating term. The people in Brackley assumed these people came by boat, they put these people in a category as 'different', the thought of these people to not have the same quality to be respected. Australians didn't see refugees as people, just where they had come from, what they looked like, their culture and religion.

Why did the boys steal Randa's scarf?

They treated this as a joke, it probably wasn't meant effect Randa the way it did. It showed that Randa is different from others at her school and they didn't respect that. The boys didn't understand what her scarf means to her and what it means to her culture, they treated it as a joke, a way of showing off with their friends, it is a general part of Australia culture, to not take things seriously. I think it really effected Randa and upset her and probably made Randa think lower of the people of Brackley.

The returning of Randa's scarf

After the boys had stole Randa's scarf Hal and his friends got it back and Hal used his own time to go the the high school and give it to Randa himself. This showed kindness, and respect and changed the way Randa thought of all the people of Brackley. This scene could have made Randa more aware of Hal.

Significant scenes

Other scenes that really made this mini series change, were scenes such as when Randa's house was on fire and the scene where Hal bought the car Randa 'liked'.

Randa's house on fire

In this scene Randa's house was on fire and what made it significant was when Bullet took responsibility and action and called Hal and made him aware. Bullet acts like a carefree person who doesn't care too much about anything at all but this showed he looked beyond where Randa was from and saw her as a person, for what she really was. It also could have been because Randa is with Hal and Hal is friends with him, but the writer chose Bullet for this action to promote 'change'.

Hal's new car

In this scene Hal saw Randa and some girls looking at a small Mazda and at this point Hal was aware of his feelings for Randa. He bought the car. In this scene showed that people are willing to do anything to get the people they want and change for the people they want.

Marking Time - Part One - Marking Time

How things changed over time.

During this mini series lots of things changed over time. The way people thought of others, peoples attitude, the changes within people, and the changes in the way people treated each other. 

I think this mini series was called "Marking Time" because of the issues and events that occurred during this times. Issues like refugees and the way people treated them by calling them "boaties" and giving them disrespect for their lifestyle and religion in public and the workforce, when Bullet showed disrespect to the Afghanistan people at his work as a trade worker, when the boys stole Randa's scarf, the disrespect the boys showed the Afghans in the streets of Brackley and the unfairness the locals of Brackley gave these people about what they did, where they lived and what they did. I think after the September 11 attacks in America during episode 3, this behaviour and disrespect got a lot worse and people began to hate the Afghans because of what the terrorists from their country or similar countries did. The people of Brackley and people all over Australia thought these people were all the same, all terrorists. They thought another war would break out. Things went from bad to worse over time. These Afghan people were sent away by the Australian government. 

This was a big issue during 2001 so I believe it was called "Marking Time" because of the 'mark' in time when these issues occurred.

A Letter From Randa - Marking Time

Dear Hal,

I have left Australia and I am now in Pakistan. Life is very hard now. I am with my father once again. It has been a tough few weeks and I haven't had a lot of sleep. We are living with lots of other people from lots of places such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, China, Iran and Iraq. All these people I am living with have been sent away from Australia just like I was. There are lots of children and it is very noisy and there isn't alot of food. 
My father is trying to find work. He looks very sick. It is very dry here and I miss the people of Brackley. This place isn't as clean as Australia. The culture in Australia is very different, but I enjoyed my time although the Australian government only helped my family until things changed. I think Australia was wrong about people like myself and my father. 

I miss you Hal, you were very nice to me and you helped me a lot. Your father was very kind. The people in your town started to build respect for me and my father but then the attacks in America happened and the world changed forever. 

Will I ever see you again?

From Randa

Work Experience- St. John of God Hospital Ballarat

Travelling to Ballarat by train each day was one big step for the start of work experience, having to wake up early and be there on time and not miss the train! It was a lot of fun at first but as the week went by I got tired.

I walked each day from the station to the hospital which was about 5 blocks and at the end of each day I would meet with Caitlin at Central Square where she was working at Myers and finished at 5:30pm.

At 5:55pm we would both walk to the station and catch a bus back home.

Arriving in the hospital was a little strange since I hadn't ever had to be in one. I arrived early and waited on the couches for the supervisor. Inside the hospital was warm and comforting and everyone was nice.

Once the supervisor had met up I realised that there was 5 other students doing work experience in the hospital as well. 2 of them were doing hospitality work in the staff cafeteria and 4 of us were doing nursing in separate wards.

Each morning break we would sit with the nurses from our ward and listen to discussions about various things. At lunch break the nurses only had 30 minutes and work experience students got 1 hour so us work experience students world sit with each other, usually the nurses would let us take longer than we needed so it was quite a breezy week with loads of freedom.

Working in my ward which was 2 East meaning it was on the second floor on the east side, it was quite an amazing week even though I mostly did filing and observing, all of the nurses were nice and open, they were all asking questions about where I was from and why I chose nursing, they also asked if I wanted to be a nurse!

In 2 East it was the wound ward where they were a lot of patients with wounds and patients which had had knee replacements and hip replacements. There were Ward Clerks, Nurses, and a Physio and the occasional doctor of surgeon walking through the ward. There were also university students on placement which I often talked to! The patients were also very talkative!

I helped out with a lot of different nurses, I observed dressings of wounds, needles and I helped with observations such as, blood pressure and blood oxygen levels and I got to test patients temperature through their ears. I also got to make patients beds in the mornings after they had gotten up for breakfast and showers.

The food at the cafeteria was amazing, they cooked scones and muffins for morning tea and you could have hot drinks such as coffee, Milo or tea. At lunch the hot foods were vegetables, lasagna, baked potatoes with sour cream, cheese and coleslaw, roast meats, pasta, pies and pasties! They also had sandwiches, rolls, salad, fruit salad and yogurt! It was great food, plus work experience students got as much as they wanted for free!

During the week I learned a lot and got over my fear of needles!