Abigail Thorne

Delegates

Bachelor of International Relations & Bachelor of Arts (Geography & Chinese major)

4th year

What language/s can you speak? Or what language/s would you love to learn?

I can speak a bit of Chinese and some French!  Aside from getting my competencies up in Chinese and French, I would love to learn Tok Pisin - it has some really interesting linguistic features and history as well as the fact that achieving a decent level of fluency from being a native English speaker doesn't take as long as some other languages.

What made you interested in Asia and the Pacific regions? Where would you ideally travel?

Living in Australia, I feel as though there is a greater sense of connection with the Asia-Pacific given that’s where we’re geographically located – you can get a flight to Jakharta from Melbourne in under 12 hours but it would take you almost 24 to reach somewhere like Paris! If I could travel anywhere in the Asia-Pacific it would have to be China or New Caledonia! I’d love to travel to China or New Caledonia to practice my language skills, and despite learning Chinese since first year I’ve never had the opportunity to travel there. Within China, I’d like to go to Harbin in the North-East which is nicknamed the ice city and has had a lot of Russian influence on its culture, or Zhangjiajie which is famous for its mountainous scenery.

What issue in Asia or the Pacific regions are you most passionate about/intrigued by?

I’m most passionate about food security within the Pacific and how cartography and popular representations of the Pacifc shapes how we understand space and place – What really sparked my interest in this was being shown a map of the Pacific that afforded oceanic territory the same weight and significance as terrestrial territory and how vastly different this was to political maps of the region. 

Do you have any favourite books/movies from Asia or the Pacific regions? Why would you recommend it?

Not a book or a movie – but I love the Chinese reality show If You Are The One! It was definitely the first exposure I ever had to Chinese pop-culture watching it on SBS as a kid, but as far as reality dating shows go, if you are the one is leagues ahead in entertainment value of any other similar shows on TV. 

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Updated:  11 May, 2022/Responsible Officer:  Dean, ANU College of Asia & the Pacific/Page Contact:  CAP Web Team