A Great Lifestyle in Australia

Submitted by Cayla Carter on the 2018 spring semester program in Sydney, Australia…

This was the first full week of classes and of my internship in Australia. In class, I am with other American students, so the only real culture differences I noticed were when I was at work as an operations intern for Athletics New South Wales. There, I help with membership data maintenance during the week and volunteer at track and field events on the weekends. In the office, there was one difference that stood out to me, the office culture is much more casual than I had previously experienced and power positioning is very low here compared to the United States. This relaxed culture makes making friends with the locals much easier as well, as we learned while hiking in the Blue Mountains that weekend. Almost everyone you come across is friendly, helpful and wants to have a conversation. As I sit outside in 70-degree weather in February, I’m thinking I could get used to the Australian lifestyle pretty quickly.

Me during the hike through the cold rainforest in the Blue Mountains near Sydney
A rock formation called “The Three Sisters” that has cultural significance for the Aboriginal people in the area.