Vanessa Pratt, Global Business Institute: Sydney Summer 2023
While in Australia, I have only had positive experiences with the locals. Easy for me, there was no language barrier between myself and the Australians. Going into this trip, I was extra precautionary expecting a foreign land to feel less safe and less friendly than the United States. To my surprise, Australians are incredibly friendly and helpful with anything and everything. I believe they owe this to their strong sense of internal personal responsibility, which is easily displayed by their lack of littering and the likelihood to pick up trash on the street. Anytime I had questions about navigating the city, Australians were eager to help and offer suggestions. In comparison to living in the city of Pittsburgh, I was surprised that the entirety of the time I was there, I was not catcalled once and did not feel fearful of my items being stolen. As a woman in the United States, I often find myself scared walking alone at night, but in Sydney, I did not feel endangered once. It was also nice to know that at large public gatherings or at public schools, I also did not have to be worried about the possibility of a shooting, which is something I have always grown up with.
During my internship at the environmental nonprofit PlantingSeeds, I made lots of personal connections with the staff. My supervisor was very encouraging of us exploring new places in Australia and gave us recommendations she had experienced herself. Even though she had clear expectations of what tasks we were expected to accomplish, she was very flexible, as she understood we had limited time in Australia and we would be taking long trips during some weeks. Our supervisor also gave us a tour of the neighborhood she has lived in her entire life, Bondi Beach, and even took us to her favorite local brunches at the iconic location. Along with our supervisor, the entire staff was incredibly supportive and eager to get to know us and our home life in the United States. Even though only half of the employees grew up in Australia, they knew a lot about their country of residence, as well as their home country, both of which they were excited to share. Many of the boardroom-style office conversations were open to anyone and consisted of many individuals sharing a mix of ideas. I learned a lot about the typical day in the life of an Australian, as well as their politics, sports, and food. Relating to food specifically, the staff went out to lunch with us and showed us an amazing new spot located in Sydney’s Central Business District every week. Outside of the office, we were more than happy to hang out with our fellow employees in a leisure setting. I established extremely close connections with those who attended the education sessions as well, often people around my age. Although, these connections did make it incredibly sad to say goodbye to these people I’ve grown so close to in such a short span of time.
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