Why am I here?

In America, I am able to experience a lot of different cultural experiences. However, they are all Americanized. So they are normally very appealing to tourists and are there to make money. It is interesting to see the highlights of other cultures, but I wanted to experience another culture for myself first hand. I chose to come to Australia because my father study abroad here during his high school years. For me, studying abroad was one of my first steps in becoming a global citizen.

It is hard to recognize the troubles of the world when you only hear about them from the news, experiencing things first hand is a real eye opener. I cannot say that I have experienced a lot of the troubles that are plaguing the world here in Australia. There was definitely a drought going on when I arrived, and that is something that is a probably for many farming communities.

Australia is pretty similar to home. There are socioeconomic classes, there are places to go and shop, there are restaurants, there are people that are better off than others, and there are people that struggle to make ends meat. The JCU campus has a large international student body, so the other students are quite used to interacting with people from other countries. I was hanging out with a large group of people from my frisbee team, which is made up of Australian and international students. Some of the people on my team are American, and I was listening to them talk to the people from other places. One girl in particular was saying things to the other international students (who are from England and Norway) that were somewhat offensive. She wasn't really paying attention to the reactions of the people she was talking with, and the room got sort of quiet. It was pretty awkward.

I've encountered this situation a few times, coming from all different people. A lot of the times, people are not sure what to say so they say everything that comes to mind - and often times those things are based off of things we heard from others. Stereotypes that are already present in our mind influence the way we interact with other people, and the culture that we are raised in dictates the way that interaction plays out. People are uncertain of the cultural rules in new places, and this leads to uncomfortable situations. This helped me to remember that all people are ignorant of other cultures unless they truly experience the culture themselves. And, pretending to know about them or spewing stereotypes is extremely uncomfortable for everyone present. Everyone is ignorant, and it is better to admit that ignorance and to learn than to ignore it and push forward.