The Other Day I Became an Australian Citizen!...

After living in Australia for 6 1/2 years, the other  day I  became an Aussie Citizen! I am now required to vote in all elections, serve jury duty and get my Aussie passport. It's been a decently long journey, 11 months to be exact. The test I took in January was fairly easy, I got a 100%, but that's because the government here is very similar to that of the US. The things I had to really memorise were the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flags and the dates the Constitution were formed and so on. Before taking the test I had to be a Permanent Resident for 4 years before applying for citizenship. I applied in October 2017, received notice to take the test in January 2018, received my acceptance letter in May 2018 and had my official ceremony in September 17, 2018, so all up almost a year to become a citizen. The Ceremony was cool, I sat in front with all the other soon to be citizens, there were 93 of us. Quite a few were families, most were well dressed and some wore jeans and sneakers, one girl wore leggings that had holes in them.  The ceremony began with the Town Cryer (that's funny Toowoomba has one). Mayor Paul Antonio began the formal proceedings. Some of us stood and recited the Australian Citizenship Pledge: From this time forward, under God, I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I will uphold and obey.  The others stood after us and recited: As an Australian citizen, I affirm my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I uphold and obey. Hubby noticed most people stood for the first one.We then got called up alphabetically by name, received our Citizenship certificates in a sealed envelope and a grevillea (yay another addition to our collection) and our photos taken with the Mayor. Those photos will be sent to our homes in a few weeks, how cool! After everyone received their certificates everyone stood and sang Australia's National Anthem. Afterwards we had refreshments of lamingtons and 2 types of sandwiches.