Friday 24 February 2012

Study Abroad Australia 4# Conquering social awkwardness

As I came out of arrivals, I saw my taxi man straight away. Yay!

But, contrary to what I thought was going to happen, I wasn't the only one being picked up. Surprisingly there were a about ten of us that were being collected at once to be taken to the university residences. This was incredibly coincidental as we all booked our flights separately but hey ho! The only downside is that I had to sit in the airport for another two hours to wait for everyone to come through... I think a couple of people actually got stopped and asked questions by immigration or customs, so that made it all longer as well.

However, all was not lost because I was able to get talking to a couple of other people who'd also come from Europe. The three of us have stuck together ever since, and I've been at Deakin for a couple of days now. It was really great to get talking straight away, because it takes off a lot of pressure to make friends. We were all glad to have someone we knew the face of to kind of stick with as we were introduced to all the new things.

The bus journey took a while, but it was SO great to finally get out of the goddamn airports at last. Because I had adjusted my sleeping pattern on the plane, I was feeling pretty awake. Weary and aching, yes, but not tired. Our bus driver was unfortunately, not of Australian origin and it was a slight struggle to convince him to drop us off in the right place, but apart from that it was relatively painless. We arrived at our student village (which is incidentally a 2 minute walk from the campus) and went straight to the office as instructed.

It was fantastic to put faces to names of the people we'd been corresponding with via email about our rooms, and the welcome was very warm.

It should be noted that I am not really very good at being social: I dread big gatherings, /especially/ if I don't know the people involved. But on study abroad, even if you are shy or worse than me with social disgruntlement, you HAVE to make friends as soon as you get there, you HAVE to get up and introduce yourself to someone. Do it straightaway- everyone else is also in the same boat. You will find that everyone is super friendly and just as worried about themselves as you are, so if you get it over with, remember as many names as possible (hard), and be generally open and friendly, you'll make friends without realising it, and it'll be easier to slot into your place in the community.

I DO still feel awkward and worried, but I have to push those feelings down because they are silly! Aussies are pretty laid back, so I'm going with the general flow of things.

The student village I'm in is relatively small, and only international students and australian reps are here at the moment (others move in on the 26th) so we've all kind of mingled at one of the units to get to know one another. They seem really good at that kind of thing here. Deakin actually give residences money to organise parties!! Drinking is allowed and encouraged on campus in social situations and weekly and monthly parties are organised by the reps. Also everyone goes out periodically, or otherwise hangs out altogether on the green or with each other. :) If you go outside, you're guaranteed to meet SOMEONE. It's great! You can have your alone time in your room but you can find people anytime you want/need to.

I've had a couple of days to settle in and get used to the place now. Tomorrow I go to Great Ocean Road on a 3 day beach tour as part of my international orientation- it's totally paid for by the university and I can do surfing, hiking, beach yoga etc as well as all meals and accommodation already sorted! Incredible! (It's not like they want to impress their partner universities at all! ;) Well I'm sold).

So, considering that, I won't be updated for 3 days, but when I do, I'll tell you all about the 'aussie' experience they're promising us! Almost bed time for me- AND SO FREAKING HOT >.< Sweating balls here.

Laters.

Room, colour co-ordinated by moi

Kitchen/diner/common room thingymajigem

 Scenery on my 2 minute walk to Deakin campus

 This guy was just chilling.

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