Australian Culture

My time in Australia was simply unforgettable. I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity to travel the world and see a these beautiful places that I probably will never have the opportunity to do again. There were things I was expecting to see and experience in Australia from films and through word of mouth, but there were also many unexpected things I noticed while in Australia. One similarity I noticed was their accent and way of talking. In many of the films we watched for class the Australian characters had accents and used sayings like “cheers”. I noticed that basically everywhere we went in Australia. Even when I moved over so a man could use the hand dryer in the bathroom he said “cheers”. It is a funny stereotype that is certainly true. Another similarity that was represented in film was how friendly everyone is in Australia. People would hold doors for me, say good morning or “g’day,” and always said cheers to me even if they didn’t know me. It really made the trip very enjoyable and Australian’s being depicted as overly nice is certainly true. All of our tour guides went out of their way to make sure our class enjoyed our time in their city and had a cheerful day. I really loved visiting Australia and all the people I met there. There were also many differences about the culture than how it was represented in films. First of all, the wild life was not as “wild” as it is made out to be. In movies like Crocodile Dundee there were many exotic animals he came across in the wild. During our time in Australia, I didn’t see many animals in the wild besides birds. The Zoo’s and animal exhibits we went to on the other hand were amazing, but I didn’t get to see many truly wild animals. Another difference I noticed was there wasn’t that “outback” vibe that I saw in so many of the movies we watched for class. I know we stayed in many major cities, but I was still expecting to get some feel like I was in Australia. At times it felt like I could have been in a city back in the states. Overall, Australia and its culture was an eye opening experience. I was so glad I got to see everything we researched during class in person and it was a life changing trip for me. Australia is certainly a place I will want to visit again later in life. 

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