How Australians assert their identity in East Timor

Ages ago, my friend Julia and I were chatting while we were walking back to work from lunch, and I asked her permission to put the following exchange up on my blog.

We were talking about the animosity between Portuguese and Australians, and it led to this exchange (paraphrased):

Julia: It’s weird, you know. It’s so strong, even if you don't feel this way back home, you really identify as an Australian here.

Kate: Which is weird, because it’s not like we have that much to unify us. I mean... apart from things like good education, good health, clean water...

Julia: *and the desire to crush Portugal*

Julia and Kate: laugh uproariously