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Notes from AbroadQuestion: “Describe a friendship you have made with a local student (from your host country) or resident. How has this relationship influenced your experience?”
By Jeremy Koufakis
Since school doesn’t start here in Melbourne, Australia until February 27, I have become close with several Australians while working at the Australian Open. Working with all of them really had a positive impact on my experience so far.
Even though we all speak English, there is definitely some terminology that I had to get used to. For instance, instead of saying “college” they say “uni.” If you say thank you they will respond with “no worries.” The funniest one is that that instead of saying “flip flops,” they call them “thongs.”
I’ve had tons of funny conversations with my fellow employees comparing America with Australia. There are several things that surprised them about American customs. One of the biggest surprises about America for them was tipping, because here, you basically never tip at all for anything.
Minimum wage in America was another thing that surprised them because it was so low. In Australia the minimum wage is around $20/hr but it varies depending on your age. Even though you do get paid a lot more here, it evens out, because everything here is more expensive.
So overall, I couldn’t be happier with my experience here so far. Being able to work and interact with just Australians for an entire month was such an amazing experience. Unfortunately, that’s over, but I still have four months left in Australia!
