An American Abroad

I've always been interested in learning about other countries' cultures, and now I'm finally going to be able to experience it first-hand for an extended period of time!  I can't wait to see how life is different (and similar!) in an other English-speaking country.  Australia can be very similar to the United States in terms of culture, but also quite different.  I don't think adapting for me will be overly difficult, and I embrace the learning experience.  I scored fairly high on the "Independence" section of the self-audit; the low scores in that section were about asking others for help and meeting new people and initiating conversation.  Since I am happy and comfortable travelling alone, this shouldn't pose much of an issue for me.  I scored on the higher end of the "openness" section as well, so really getting to experience the culture won't be as much of a challenge.  Something I discovered while completing the Cultural-Context Inventory is that I am a low-context person, which I was surprised to find out was typical of the U.S.  I was also surprised about how many generalities are believed about the U.S., such as the people being fast-paced, busy, blunt, etc.  Coming from the Northeast, I can see this more commonly, but since moving to the South it seems almost the complete opposite!  That has made me realize that even though there are probably just as many assumptions about Australians, it could easily differ by location, especially in a country as large as Australia.

Something I will probably struggle a little with would be meeting new people and talking to other students.  As I said, I am comfortable travelling alone, so it won't be as big of a deal as it would be to other people perhaps, but since I will be living there for a few months, it would be a good idea to get to know some people!

One aspect of Australian culture I am particularly interested in learning about is their way of living.  That may sound extremely broad, but what I mean is the feel of the country.  How fast do people walk? Do people way to each other on the street or make conversation with grocers?  Are people more relaxed and laid back or are they tense?  Many of these things you can get a feel for as soon as you get to an area.  Just walking around in New York City makes me walk faster and feel like I'm on a schedule, whereas visiting family in a tiny rural town in Illinois makes for a leisurely stroll and greeting every person you pass.  These are the sort of things I want to see and compare to life here.  It is difficult to say what I want to teach about my own culture, as I'm not sure what they already think of it.  It will be interesting to answer their questions as best I can, and see what they're surprised about.