AUSTRALIA - ADELAIDE

I did my semester abroad in Australia. I liked it very much. All in all, the way of life in Australia was actually quite similar to Austria.

There were small differences, but I was able to get used to them quickly. At the beginning, I noticed that Australians don't atach much importance to punctuality. No mater in which area private or professional/school. However, I got used to this very quickly, since I myself am not always the most punctual. That made it normal, and I didn't have to feel guilty about being late.

Something I had to get used to, was the small talk you have all the time. With cashiers, people waitng at the bus stop, or otherwise people you meet in everyday life situations. Personally, I am not the person who talks to stranger’s about "unnecessary" stuff. That's why it was very unusual for me. But with time you get used to it and depending on the conversation you also find pleasure in it. I would say that even I sometimes started a conversation because of it, which I would not have done in Austria.

Also, our fellow Australian students at university had a different definition of stress. For me, university life was very relaxed because I'm used to doing a lot more for it at home. I had to do assignments, of course, but it was much less and much less pressure. However, the students in Australia already thought that their student work was very stressful. Even if it sounds strange, I still had to get used to that at first. Because in the first few lessons I had already done the assignments out of habit and so the lecturers often didn't know what to do with me. That's why I adapted to the way the other students worked and managed their time. Which in the end wasn't that bad because it gave you a really good work-life balance.

Furthermore, the criticism at the university for my university projects took some time geting used to. In my opinion, in Liechtenstein the lecturers are much more direct, they tell you what they think is good and what they don't think is good. In Australia, it seemed to me as if the lecturers did not dare to give negative criticism. They were generally never direct. They always talked around it for a long time and tried to express it in a nice way. However, this was a bit annoying for me at the beginning, because you never knew whether the lecturer thought the idea was good or just talked it up. So, I had to learn to read between the lines. But with time, I got used to it.

Every now and then, in the evening after university, we went to a club . Compared to Austria, clubs close much earlier. While in Austria you can be out until 5 in the morning, at least in Adelaide this goes at most until 3 in the night, if not already 2 o'clock. But you can get used to that quite well, you just go out earlier and can go to bed earlier again.

I think it was good that I once lived alone for half a year and also had a new environment around me. Through that I have developed personally. I have a new perspective on the world, of course not completely changed, but by the fact that Australia is also so attentive to biodiversity and nature, I think that I noticed again more how built-up Europe actually is. But also, through the contact with people from all over the world, I have learned to appreciate things that I took for granted before. For example, that I live in Austria, study in Liechtenstein, have a boyfriend in Switzerland and half my family lives in Germany. Those are four different countries and I never have any problems crossing a border. When I made new acquaintances, they almost couldn't believe me. They found it fascinating that I can easily cross borders without visas or anything else. Outside the EU/EEA or Schengen area it is not so easy. And of course, I knew that's not normal everywhere, but before these conversations I never really thought about it. I value it very differently. These are all things that I knew, but that I have only now learned to appreciate. I am very happy that I was allowed to make this experience. I would do defintely do it  again.