As many of you know, I was not the most social person growing up. However, I consider myself to be social now and some of my friends have even been surprised to learn that I was shy as a kid. Although I have come a long way in my ability socialize and make friends, I still feel shy around groups I am not a part of. Before I left for Australia, one of my goals was to meet people. While I have not been in any one place long enough to establish close relationships with people, even the brief interactions with people at the hostel are preparing me for the "real world"--particularly next year in DC--where I'll have to go out of my way to meet people.
One of my favorite things about Australia is how friendly people are. Unlike most places in the US, many Australians take the time to talk to you or go the extra mile to make your stay more pleasant. From the people at church in Toowoomba to my receptionist friend in Brisbane to those at my hostel, most everyone has been friendly, open, and genuine. I have had some very interesting conversations with people ranging from travel, religion, food, healthcare, and education. Also, people here are more open to talking about subjects that many Americans would consider "taboo," particularly homosexuality.
I am currently staying in a hostel, and one of the perks is that I have been able to meet people from all over the world. So far, I have met people from Belgium, Japan, France, and Australia. Meeting the two guys from France was exciting because I had the opportunity to speak French with them. One of them even told me I speak French very well, which was nice to hear given that I have not taken formal language classes since high school (UP waived my language requirement due to taking French all four years of high school!). Yesterday evening, I got two new roommates and we stayed up late chatting. Jill and Taylor are originally from Brisbane, but are here on holiday because they had never been to Cairns. They are both very nice and I enjoyed learning from them about some of the differences between Australia and America.
Being able to get to know Australians and travelers is one of the reasons I like traveling on my own so much. While I had great experiences abroad, I feel like I missed out on meeting locals due to being in close proximity to other UP students. Being with the same students and staff almost 24/7 for six weeks, getting to know people outside of the UP bubble is hard. While I think the London program was a good stepping stone to traveling internationally independent of my parents, if I were to apply for a second study abroad program, I would have chosen one that would have allowed me to live with a host family instead of UP students. Although Salzburg is one of my favorite cities and I enjoyed my classes and excursions, I was not too fond of the social dynamics. Most of the people in my group were already friends, and to be quite honest, I did not feel like I fit in and often felt like I was back in high school. Even though I have often hung out with groups of people (mainly from church), I found them to be very welcoming and genuine. While everyone is different and group dynamics can be quite complex, traveling on my own has given me the opportunity--if not forced me--to take the initiative to meet and get to know other people because I can choose who I want to be with and not worry about fitting in with people who I have to see on a daily basis.
Tonight concludes my time in Cairns, as I'm off to Sydney tomorrow. As always, thanks for reading!
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