Exchange Down Under

We all know the stereotypical aussie’s with tanned body wearing a corked hat to get rid of flies and also short on words but long on ability to sink the stubbies (i.e. get drunk) with his mates whilst cooking up a BBQ and unhurried form of lifestyle. But if exchange students where to study in australia, how much of the sterotypical culture would be true and would I need to explain other cultural differences. 

The name Australia comes from the latin word ‘Terra Australis’ or ‘Southern Land’, It is a continent surrounded by water and is located in the southern hemisphere, thus all seasons are changed in comparison to the United States, with summer being in December, January and February. This Is where I would start if I was hosting an exchange student whom had never been to Australia. I would then go on and discuss some of the main cultural differences of Australia to the rest of the world. I would start by saying that the living expenses in Australia are very expensive partly due to our high taxes and higher income average.  Mateship would be a big cultural difference in Australia, mateship stresses equality and mateship over all else and the glorification of Australia's early soldiers in the Boer War and World War I reinforces these values.

One result of the prevalence of the 'mateship' culture is that Australian society is stringently anti-hierarchical. Australians are expected to behave with humility and not think of themselves as better than their peers. Any disloyalty to their 'mates' is treated harshly, and is known as the tall poppy syndrome, where people who grow greater than their peers are harshly criticized as being narcissistic, or 'up themselves'. Even the most successful and beautiful Australians are eager to proclaim how ordinary they are. This egalitarian social system makes Australian society appear 'laid-back', or relaxed to visitors. Most forms of address are by first name or nickname, and only children regularly use titles such as 'Mister' or 'Sir' for authority figures. Australian tends to love the ‘aussie battler’ the person who works hard and just earns enough to feed the family. In history Australian settlers experienced great hardship and had to support each other in order to survive, The battle against the elements led to the nickname of a member of Australia's working class being the 'Aussie battler'.

In relation to sporting culture many Australians are passionate about sport, and it forms a major part of the country's culture, particularly in terms of spectating, but also in terms of participation.

Cricket, Aussie rules football, rugby, tennis, netball and soccer are all major sports that many people participate and spectate in. Different states of Australia follow different sports, such as rugby is big in Sydney whereas AFL (Aussie rules football) is big in Melbourne and Adelaide. 

Australia has no official designated national dress, but iconic local styles include bush wear and surf wear. Bush wears including brands such as R.M.Williams, which are mostly worn by country men and farmers. In relation to surf wear, many people wear boardies (board shorts or swim suits as people in the United States say) as everyday shorts even when not going near any water. 

In relation to the stereotype, The stereotype exists, of course, but few Australians can be quite so easily categorized these days as the majority of Australia has surpassed these stereotypes but there are still many cultural differences to other countries in which I would explain to exchange student before arriving in Australia in order to avoid problems or disrespect to the Australian culture.