Adjusting to Australia

Overall, my first impressions of my arrival in Australia were great. While it was a bit rough the first day after not sleeping, I still had a great time on our initial tour of the area. Since I grew up in New York, it was a pretty easy transition into learning how to get around Sydney. The only problem I had when I was trying to transition into global life was adjusting my sleep schedule. Often, I found myself waking up multiple times within the night because I was not adjusted to Australia time.

In the beginning, I expectedAustralia to be a bit warmer. However, it was a pleasant surprise to realize that the temperature was very similar to springtime in New York, so there was not much adjustment to it. I also hoped that since the Hofstede’s dimensions for Australia were highly similar to the United States, that the countries would be similar enough that transitioning would not be too much of a culture shock. This expectation was met, because while there were some differences like the bacon being different throughout Sydney, it was not that hard to transition to the different culture. The biggest difference from the United states was the different types of food that they have here, such as Kangaroo, which we had on our first day.

Overall, I feel that the most effective preparation that I did for this trip was studying and expanding upon the Hofstede’s dimensions for Australia. By learning about the dimensions of Australia, I understood more about what to expect when I came here. Before studying about the dimensions, I assumed that the culture of Australia would be vastly different, and was preparing to have to adjust to a completely new experience. If I was given the chance to study about Australia and prepare for this course again, I would have looked more into the day to day logistics about living here. I overlooked the fact that the food would be so different and that the internet would not be the same quality, so I would definitely try to learn more about that.