Experiencing Australian Culture

Recently, I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Australia. I attended the University of Newcastle in Newcastle, Australia NSW. While there I learned many new things about their culture and how my views on the world have been very focused on the “American way.”

Growing up I always wanted to travel to Australia, with all its beautiful beaches and interesting wildlife. It was fueled even more after watching H20 with my little sister, hearing how Chloe, Emma, and Ricky, and watching them explore. My aunt has a friend from Australia, and after meeting him when I was younger I knew I would have to visit Australia at least once in my life. Having met my aunt's friend, I realized that they were super laid back, go-with-the-flow, and very happy people. This idea of Aussie was further enforced by watching Chris Hemsworth in movies and interviews.

First Few Days:

My family and I were very curious about everything that had to do with Australian culture. When riding in an Uber or taxi we would start a conversation with the driver asking as many questions about their life in Australia as possible. We learned much about the economy and the Australian people.

We noticed that the cities were very clean and there were very few homeless people. One driver explained that this was because the government gives the unemployed $500 a month and highly encourages people to get jobs. The minimum wage is very high in Australia. The driver also explained that the few homeless we did see usually had a mental illness, but to not worry about them because people in the community handled their affairs and took care of them.

One of the Uber drivers talked to us a lot about universities and paying for university work there. Students who decide to attend university have their college paid for by the government and they don’t have to start paying the government back until after they have graduated and are making at least $50,000 a year. One of the best friends I made while there, also informed me that different degree paths cost less or more depending on how useful/important they are to the future.

Driving on the other side of the road was the biggest shock of being in Australia. My dad decided to be brave and rent a car to get us around for the week that my family was there. However, after he left I no longer had a car. It was very interesting to use public transportation every day to get everywhere since I had never frequently used it in the past. Most Australians use public transport, especially students since most still have their leaners licenses. I also had to get used to walking long distances.

Classes:

Adapting to the style of classes was more difficult than I had anticipated. While there I took Global Tourism, Destination Marketing, Social Entrepreneurship, and Creating and Managing Brands. Almost all of my professors had very strong Aussie accents and used lots of Aussie slang while giving presentations in class. On the first day of my Global Tourism class, we were given a handout asking us to create a flight path for a Kiwi. I thought it was a bit weird that I was identifying a way for a fruit to fly to Australia, but I was not about to ask the teacher. Luckily the girl next to me was Aussie and explained that a Kiwi was a slang word for someone from New Zealand.

The way in which the classes were taught and graded is very different from how the US does. The high number percentages on projects are very hard to obtain, which was difficult for me because 70 to 80 was the highest. On one of the first papers I wrote I received a 65, to say I was distraught was an understatement. Thankfully, the people I was partnered with in that class were all Australian and they let me know that that was a good grade. The curriculum is also very different. While there I never did a quiz and my grade for my classes was based on papers and a final exam. At first, I thought no quizzes and one final was a blessing, but I will happily take a quiz every week now over writing 3000 to 5000-word essays every other week.

Living On Campus & Roommates:

When I got to my apartment on campus, I found that it was co-ed and I had four other roommates. Having only ever lived at home I was a bit shocked and nervous. I had three male roommates and one female roommate. Two of my roommates were from South Korea and two were from different parts of Australia. It was a great experience getting to live with people from different cultures! I was blessed to have roommates who were very clean and were welcoming and nice. The kitchen always smelt amazing as one of my roommates from South Korea loved cooking and would let me try his food.

Living on campus allowed me to experience the party life of Australians. Aussies love to party and go out as often as possible. They often start going out on Wednesday nights. They start their nights early though by going out around 5 pm and getting home by 10 pm, so they can wake up at a decent time for classes or the gym the next morning. The different housing areas on campus could at best be described as Greek life to other Americans. The different houses throw parties and the housing area I was in had a pool and would often through pool parties. The campus also had a bar/club venue that often had different events on weekends.

Friends:

It was very nerve-wracking to be in another country, let alone not really knowing a single person there. For the first week, I was having a difficult time meeting new people and making friends, but when school started all of that changed. I had the opportunity to meet many amazing people, and since Australians lived up to my idea of being super nice, it was very easy to make friends in classes. Two of my best friends I made over there, whom I met through my classes, were very excited to share stuff about their culture and include me in social outings.

I also met people through joining clubs The two girls that I hung out with the most and traveled around Australia with I met through the Education Abroad group. One of the girls was an Australian

from Newcastle and the other was a British-American who was going to school in Liverpool. My Aussie best friend Alice was very helpful when traveling, especially because she knew how to navigate the cities by train or bus since we didn’t have a car.

I never fully experienced a culture shock while in Australia, I feel like going to a country where they spoke the same language and had some American-themed food helped with not being shocked. When I was shocked or surprised by something I would ask one of my Aussie friends what it was or what it meant. They were always open to explaining things to me and were also always interested in learning more about American culture since most of their knowledge came from American shows and various politics. Most of the slang I learned was because of my friends and their insisting on writing as many words as they could think of on my list. I made many amazing lifelong friends that I can’t wait to go back and visit. Maybe sometime in the future, I will even find myself living there and fully adapting to the culture.

Some Aussie Slang:

• Arvo: Afternoon

• Ute: Truck/Utility Vehicles

• Bubblers: Drinking Water Fountain

• Servo: Gas Station

• Mozzy: Mosquito

• Brekkie: Breakfast

• Chips: Fries

• Lollies: All Candy

• Yeah Nah: No

• Nah Yeah: Yes