AUSTRALIA - ADELAIDE
My first couple days in Adelaide have been a little bit stressful. I arrived in the city together with Desiree and the first thing we had to do is organizing stuff for our apartment. It is winter season here, so it can get a little cold, and we had nothing for the first night in our rooms. The day we arrived, first we had to buy blankets, pillows, and sheets that we could at least sleep without freezing.
The buildings here are built differently to Austria. They have very small windows with only one layer of glass. The structures and isolations are a lot thinner, because obviously it is a warmer country, and therefore it is not as much needed as in Austria. A new typical building in Adelaide is made of brick and other than that, they have old existing buildings which is very beautiful and makes the city interesting. Between any high tower or modern constructions is a smaller old building or even a little church. I would say that this is not typical for a bigger city and therefore makes Adelaide very special.
The culture of Australia seems similar and at the same time different to our culture. I learned that Australia has no own culture expect the culture of the Indegenous, but the Indgenous represent only 3.3% of the total population. Someone told me once, that they are stealing different habits or types of food from other cultures and sell it as their own. This creates the feeling of familiarity with my home country and at the same time an open-minded state of awareness. The country gives me the feeling of living according to the motto "live and let live". So here is no social pressure to follow the newest trends and adapt to the culture, but instead find your own right way to do things and live your life.
Nevertheless, there is one culture which is very present in Adelaide, and this is the Asian culture. I knew that Asia is a lot closer to Australia than Europe is but still I did not expect so many Asian people when I came here. I met and got to know so many Asian people and learned a lot about how they live. Asian´s are very different to what we are used to and inside of Asia there is again many differences between each country. Talking to them here in Australia is a good and easy way to get familiar with their culture, without having a completely shock moment when you travel there for the first time in your life.
Another impression that I got from the people in Adelaide is their chillness. They are never in a hurry and punctuality is not as obligatory as we are used to. Arriving after 15 minutes of the agreed time is normal and still on time for them.
Drinking alcohol or even just carrying around alcohol bottles is forbidden in Australia. I found out when I just had a can of cider in my hand walking down the street and someone came up to me to tell me that I need to hide that otherwise I would have to pay penalty. It is kind of the same as in the USA where you to hide the bottle in a paper bag but still everybody knows what is in there. Even in a grocery store is a separate part for buying alcohol and also a separate checkout counter than for the rest of the store.
Giving tips after dinner or in a bar is also very unusual for them. They look at you weird and it is not a recommended thing to do. I would say that they generally rather like to pay cashless with their credit card, and maybe this is a reason why they don´t really expect tips. What I noticed is that when you want to pay cash, they often get confused and stressed, because then they actually have to give back change or even calculate things and not just hold out the device for scanning your card.
So far, I really enjoy my stay here and I get along pretty well with the people and differences here. I would not say that I had a massive culture shock, but I was excited what expected me here. Me and Desiree have planed many more things to do in Australia and travel around to see even more perspectives of this culture. Maybe we find some Aborigines, so they can teach us about their Australia, their traditions, and their origin.
Adelaide, 30.08.2022 Wyonna Gabriel