Sociology and Cultural Differences

First day of classes and we are all looking very smart in our black pants/skirts, white short and scarf or tie. Even the guys have scrubbed up. Even the faculty are wearing black and white.

Let me describe the conditions I am living in. Can you imagine a room with bunk beds accommodating 4 early 20’s chicks and me. Well, I made sure I got the bottom bunk in case I couldn’t make it out of bed in the middle of the night to use the loo. The shower is unusual in that it sprays water for 10 seconds then stops and then you have to press the button again to restart it. 15 presses of the button later your shower may be complete. Another strange design feature is the one and only mirror in the room which is placed so high on the wall that I have to stand on tippy toe to apply my makeup. Poor Liz who is is of Portugese background and much shorter than me has to use a chair to stand on.

All the girls in my room have brought large hair straighteners, hair dryers, large bottles of hairspray, even hair extensions. To think of the trouble I went to to procure the smallest containers I could find, and even a tiny straightener .

I woke when Liz came to bed at 4am and my mother’s instinct made me concerned and I wondered where she had been all night. I later found out she had been ringing her boyfriend and family as it was the only time she could get them. American girls have a close affinity to family and like to keep in touch often and reassure their parents that they are OK.

Class this morning was interesting. Dr Scott took us for a rather interactive session on differences in culture and how it would affect a restaurant or hotel supervisor. I was called upon to provide the nuances of culture from an Australian perspective. Funnily enough, whilst we learn the American way of doing things through TV and movies, in the US they don’t get any Australian shows apart from ‘Crocodile Dundee’ type movies. ‘Throw a shrimp on the barbie’ featured often at last night’s bbq. So their view of Australia is fairly stereotypical. They were all amazed to learn about the 4 weeks annual leave we get and the 3 months long service leave after 10 years.

Just had lunch at the Stayokay – smorgasbord style consisting of breads, cold meats and cheese, salads, yogurt fruit, coffee, juice and chocolate – in fact it looked a lot like breakfast. We were told it would be the same every day. I’ve nicked an extra banana as we won’t be getting dinner on the house.

I believe that after lunch there will be a group activity and we have homework to prepare tonight. I reminded the guys about this when they suggested we all go out drinking. Andrew said we can conduct the discussion from the bar.