When we came to the realization that we wouldn?t be able to travel to Australia for the study abroad, I was devastated. I thought there was no way we would be able to get even close to experiencing the culture and the business practices from halfway around the world, but I was wrong. Mrs. Sanders and CIBS went above and beyond to create a wonderful virtual study abroad.
Throughout my research into Australia, the student presentations, and all of the virtual cultural events, I have learned so much about how the U.S. and Australia differ and what makes Australia special. Australia as a whole is similar to the U.S. in a lot of ways but it is also very different. A common theme that I saw throughout all the events is that Australians love to be outside and enjoy nature. Whether it is just getting outside and enjoying the city or spending time at the beach or how the Aboriginals are so intertwined with the land, Australia really cherishes the outdoors. This idea transcends into how Australians tend to view things. They tend to be much more relaxed about things than Americans. I found it really interesting to see how that plays into business in Australia. People tend to have more solid boundaries and respect for time. You won?t see as many people putting in 60-70 hour work weeks, like you do in America. They structure their tasks to fit within their typical work week and then they log off. They value family time and personal time and I found it really cool to see how that balances out in the business world. Americans tend to work to the bone, putting in long weeks and not always prioritizing things outside of work. This is really quite the opposite of how Australians conduct business.
I think my favorite cultural experience that we got to take part in was the Aboriginal art class. I did a bunch of research on the Aboriginal culture for my presentation so it was really cool to get to talk to an Aboriginal person and hear about his art. Aboriginal art is so different that western art and I really enjoyed challenging myself to create an art piece in the Aboriginal style as opposed to what I am used to. Aboriginals are really inspired by nature and looking at things from an aerial view. I was really inspired by the examples of art that they shared during the presentation and found it very useful for getting into the correct mindset for the art style.
I would say that overall my initial impression of Australia was very accurate. From our virtual experiences, everyone was very kind, positive and knowledgeable about their country. I had the impression that Australia was full of hard working, polite, and upbeat people and that proved true. Australia truly is a beautiful country and I hope to get to visit one day.
The first takeaway that I have or thing that I learned from the entire virtual experience would be just how unique Australia is in terms of land and animals. The land of Australia is very diverse from the outback to the coast and it is home to so many different animals, many who you can only find in Australia. The second thing I learned is how successful Australia was at handling COVID. While it means that we cannot travel to Australia as Americans, Australia has virtually returned to normal life. Australia made the decision to close its borders very early, but it saved them from experiencing a ton of losses due to COVID. COVID had a large effect on the tourism industry but it has also encouraged Australians to travel to different parts of Australia. The third thing I learned was that America and Australia are very similar in the way that their governments are structured. Both countries have a federal government and local governments and these branches handle things very similarly. They do differ in that Australia is a monarchy, so they do have a Queen.
Overall, this virtual experience has been so special and incredible. While I do hope to be able to travel to Australia in the near future to get to experience the culture and sights in person, this virtual study abroad has been the next best thing, especially in the world of COVID.
Here is a picture from our virtual Zoo visit! We got to see so many cool animals, many of whom are unique to Australia. Rob and Sharni, our guides, were so knowledgeable and I could tell how much they love the animals they get to work with.
Here is a picture of the art I created during the Aboriginal art class. It is an aerial view of the lake my family went to every summer growing up. My dad also went there in the summers when he was a kid. It is Gull Lake in Minnesota.