The part of Australian deep culture I find most interesting is how relaxed and equal everyone acts. At CareGP, I call my boss by his first name, and in meetings, interns are expected to give their opinions just like everyone else. Decisions feel like a group thing instead of something passed down from the top. At first that surprised me, because I figured an intern should mostly listen.

The hardest part has been getting used to it. At Pitt and at my past jobs, I usually waited for someone to tell me what to do. Here, nobody really does that. People expect you to jump in, ask questions, and share your ideas, even if you’re the newest person in the room.

I noticed this firsthand in one of my first team meetings at CareGP. We were talking about how to set up a new financial dashboard, and my manager turned to me and asked what I thought. I froze, because I hadn’t planned on saying anything. I gave a pretty short answer, but he actually used part of my idea. After that, I started coming to meetings with at least one thought ready. It’s still a little scary, but it’s made me feel like a real part of the team.

The surface culture I connect with most is definitely the food. I’m obsessed with Tim Tams, which are chocolate cookies, and my friends taught me to do a “Tim Tam slam,” where you bite off the ends and drink hot chocolate through it like a straw. The cinnamon rolls out here are also amazing, and I’ve been taking full advantage.

I also went to my first rugby and AFL games with friends from class. Even though I barely understood the rules, the people next to us were happy to explain everything.

I’ve also picked up a lot of slang. “Arvo” means afternoon, “brekkie” means breakfast, and “heaps” means a lot. Flip-flops are “thongs,” which caused some confusion my first week. People use “no worries” for everything, whether they mean “thank you” or “sorry I’m late.”

My favorite tradition so far was the AFL finals, a huge sporting event that took place on Sunday. Me and my friends went to a local bar to watch, and the game didn’t disappoint. Brisbane ended up winning, and the atmosphere was electric.