The Study Abroad experience has no single definition. Those who insist that it is defined by gaining fluency in a new language close themselves off to the possibility of a different type of cultural immersion. Studying abroad in Australia has given me the opportunity to create a new home base and to learn a new set of mannerisms, rules, and procedures for daily life.

Studying abroad in Australia encompasses a slightly different application procedure, because you can enrol directly in a University as an overseas student. However, this also means that you are singly responsible for every aspect of your study abroad experience, from enrolment and housing to selection of classes and external activities. In Australia, study abroad is truly what you make of it.
From the day of my arrival, my experience differed immensely from those of all my friends who have studied abroad.

I’ll outline it for you: I had my ticket to Melbourne, Australia, knew vaguely that class started a week later, and had a hotel room booked for my first night in the country. Beyond that there was nothing. No housing, no schedule, no one waiting for me at the airport. Without the language barrier, though, I was able to work through the system and figure out all of the necessary logistics.

Acclimating myself to Melbourne involved a wide range of things from the small—asking the workers at 7/11 how the tram system works and what sort of tickets I needed to buy—to slightly larger—essentially waltzing into a residential college and asking if I could live there for the semester.

Culture goes far beyond language. There are ways of behaving in a dining room, on a tram, or in shops that differ greatly from American manners of conduct. From the simple greeting “How ya going?” to ‘making a call’ at dinnertime (meaning getting everyone at your table a hot drink when you go to get one for yourself), the differences in expectations are clear and noticeable.

When studying in your native language, no excuses can be made for disrespecting these often-unwritten rules. You are expected to fully immerse yourself in the culture and to be virtually indistinguishable. By doing this, however, you open yourself up to truly making Australia home.

The most difficult part of studying abroad in Australia has also been the most rewarding. Unfortunately, Study Abroad must come to an end. Most of my close friends here are Australians I have met through activities I have participated in and the residential college in which I live. These friends do in fact live on the other side of the world. Soon the long distance chapter of our friendships will begin.

The city and country of Australia are interesting in their own right. For example, I have spent the past few nights camping in sacred aboriginal ground watching the meteor showers and listening to stories passed down for generations. But, for me, studying Abroad in Melbourne has really been about creating an independent and comfortable life for myself in a foreign country. It is an experience that I will not reflect on as a single moment in time, but rather one I can return to at any period of my life.