I want you to imagine what it’s like to be in front of your boss. Or your professor. Or anyone in a “higher level” than you. Imagine you clear your throat, maybe hold out your hand for a formal shake, and address them with sincerity and respect. Maybe everything coming out of your mouth is more polished than you’d ever truly say, and your posture has gotten the most attention out of the whole day. 

Now take that tension and forget about it. Here in Sydney, you aren’t expected to impress your boss by being “lower” than them; they are simply a coworker who has the authority to tell you what to do. As Australian’s say to many things, it’s “no worries.”

Australia may not seem to have a crazy culture difference to America—at least that’s an expectation I had prior to coming here. In some ways, it’s true. We’re both countries comprised of immigrants, we both have British colonial heritage, we both value coffee and barbecue. However, just because our differences aren’t distinct, it doesn’t mean they don’t exist. That’s something I’ve clearly learned as I’ve adjusted to Australia’s deep cultural landscape.

Assimilating to Australia’s “deep culture”

As I’ve introduced, the dynamic hierarchy is vastly different here. Companies, of course, have levels of management, but the interactions between those levels is not nearly as distinct. 

This shows in a simple conversation: you just meet someone in passing and all of a sudden they’re making a blunt joke. To Aussies, it’s all in good fun. The casual conversation is what drives their interactions, a forward approach to creating Australia’s “relaxed” culture. 

In my own experience in the office, I’ve noticed that I get a lot of hands-on feedback from my boss directly. At first, I thought this was because my company is small; sometimes it’s only Michelle (my boss), Digger (the office dog), and myself in the office. However, upon speaking to my other friends, I’ve learned that it’s a part of their work environment as well!

There’s parts about this I like and dislike. The blunt jokes and overly-casual conversation I love, perhaps because I like to overshare and learn a lot about a person up front. However, it certainly catches me off guard at times. For instance, my professor for my International Finance course asked someone on the first day if he was sober, only because he had shared that he goes to Arizona State University. It felt like a joke someone would make privately among their close, personal friends, so when I heard it coming from my professor, I was amused, but surprised. 

It’s great to be casual, it’s certainly something I’ll miss when coming back to the States, but I can see it becoming confusing if I were to be here for longer. What I fear is that I wouldn’t know when it’s okay to joke around or when it’s time to be serious—there’s such a fine line between those situations, so it’s truly a “read the room” type of decision. 

Navigating across cultures

Like I said earlier, I had very few expectations coming to Australia, which is a mistake in itself. Even though Sydney (and the other places I’ve been in this country) are very similar to areas I’m familiar with in America, it’s certainly not exactly the same. In any new area, you need to learn the local norms. Seems simple, but having the premonition that there is nothing new or different to expect misled me from remembering this truth. 

Although I can’t speak for everyone, I think a lot of people, most people, make generalizations about a country as a whole, rather than understanding it’s composed of parts. I’m no exception to that. Before I came to Australia, I had a mental imagine of what this country was like before I came here. Even now that I’m here, I’m asked questions from family back home that reinforce that mental image: Have you seen big spiders? Have you tried Vegemite? Did you box a kangaroo yet?

In reality, these are just parts about Australia that make it unique, but they’re not all Australia is worth. If you break down the country into little pieces, you see how much more there is to love in each city. For instance, I visited Melbourne this past weekend, and I felt how different it was from Sydney. In Sydney, you can almost feel the airy coast on its border; in Melbourne, you can sense the richness of the Yarra Valley to its side. It might seem dramatic, but truly, a city holds its natural landscape, even under its concrete masterpieces. By generalizing Australia as one, I neglected that.

That’s how I’ve navigated this culture: being susceptible to things that surprise me, letting go of my expectation of no expectations, and witnessing how vast this country truly is.

Locals, friends, people

What I love about Sydney in particular is that I’ve met equal parts native Australians to immigrants. From my experience, at least, Australia is welcoming to immigrants. Of course, there are certain groups who feel different ways; for example, there are people who feel that Sydney is “overpopulated” with Asian immigrants. However, the support is certainly different, and generally more positive, than in the United States.

I have a new Australian friend who told me that even though Australians are known to be laid back and welcoming, their older generation tends to be more …opinionated towards certain groups of people, just like in the United States. Specifically, he described that the Aboriginals, their indigenous (and original) population, experience certain, unkind, treatment. 

Another Australian friend I met told me something similar. I had asked her how Australians perceive their government, and she told me that most people agree that they take very good care of their environment, but there’s conflict with the Aboriginals as well as economic tension with their housing crisis. 

I invite these conversations with the people I meet. A big part of why I like to travel is because I like to gain perspective. There’s only so much you can read from American journalists about the world outside our home, and there’s only so much that any journalist or reporter can tell you about the truth of a situation. Being able to mingle with people and obtain raw accounts of how they feel about their world, and mine, is helping me grow.