![\"Osmington_White_Horse\"](\"http:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Osmington_White_Horse.jpg\")
<\/a>The Osmington White Horse, Weymouth.<\/p><\/div>\n
Growing up in England was cold. My children will never know about taking shoes and socks off in class and warming them on radiators, going around the shops as a winter activity, or the joy of English pub food in front of a roaring pub fire after a walk in snowy forests. From Sydney, I cannot share with them any such English ‘experiences’.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Young-me reading “The Wizard of Oz”.<\/p><\/div>\n
A big part of my ‘culture’ growing up evolved around books, not because of my environment \u2013 I was a relative academic compared to my family \u2013 but because I loved books so much. Tick. I can teach my children my love of books.<\/p>\n
What else?<\/p>\n
I cannot take them to May Day<\/a> and show them Morris dancers<\/a>, to a Bonfire Night<\/a> or to see a strangely gigantic chalk horse on a green hill. My son plays soccer and loves a cooked breakfast, my daughter loves fish and chips, but luckily those are as much a part of Australian culture as British.<\/p>\n But we were in our local video library recently and I realised the answer was staring right at me \u2013 movies…<\/p>\n As a kid, I loved watching movies with my family. There was nothing better than settling down on a Friday or Saturday night to share some popcorn and chocolate while watching a film. It was something we all enjoyed. VHS became DVDs, which become SKY movies\u2026 but the tradition remained over the years. Our collective<\/em> favourite genre was science fiction and fantasy (sorry, Mum!). We loved it so much we\u2019d watch television sci-fi too \u2013 Star Trek<\/a>, V<\/a>, Battlestar Galactica<\/a>, Buck Rogers<\/a>, Blake’s 7<\/a>, Red Dwarf<\/a>, The X Files<\/a>, Doctor Who<\/a>, etc. It was a huge influence on me, and my writing. I guess that’s why my brother became a film producer \u2013 we grew up in a household with a big movie culture!<\/p>\n As a teenager I\u2019d also host film nights for my friends. We\u2019d watch popular movies and horror.<\/p>\n Going to the cinema was then a treat I relished and anticipated with great joy.<\/p>\n So when I realised my children were old enough to start watching some more grown-up non-animated science fiction and fantasy, I realised I could also start to share with them a part of who I am, without flying half way around the world. I could share with them my movie culture! They\u2019d already watched the original Star Wars<\/a> trilogy and Jurassic Park<\/a>, so we hired the recent trilogy and the other Jurassic Park movies, getting us ready for releases in those series later this year.<\/p>\n What about you? Did you have a movie culture in your household growing up? If so, what was it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Over the last few years, I’ve found myself asking this question more and more, because of where I live and why. In his early twenties, my Australian husband went on a working-holiday adventure to England, which is where we met. I was the souvenir he brought back, he he! I\u2026<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>Then we moved onto the Marvel Universe<\/a>, watching all the Avenger-related movies, as well as movies like King Kong<\/a>, John Carter<\/a> and After Earth.<\/a> There are still so many movies to show them! I\u2019m having so much fun, raising my children in a similar manner to my childhood \u2013 they\u2019re finally getting to experience a part of my heritage, and the fact that it\u2019s popular culture means they can also talk about it with their friends.<\/p>\n