Excerpts from Steve Shelden’s Letters from Perth, Australia:

Impressions and reality: I managed to come here without any blatant stereotypes stuck in my head. My uncle kept sending me emails about not stealing Aboriginal people’s souls with my camera and my friends couldn’t stop talking about wrestling kangaroos, but I was a little more realistic. My biggest misconception was what I thought the land itself would be like. Expecting California weather and Cancun landscape, I got Kalamazoo weather and Michigan landscape. It was a little disconcerting. But I adapted and did my best to throw myself into the country.

Ups and downs: In the beginning, things seemed out of control. We were given hardly any time to get the hang of the place before they took us on our trip 3 hours south of Perth, so I wasn’t able to call my family or my girlfriend and talk before we took off, which really threw me off balance. Once we came back I was overwhelmed by the logistics of beginning a life in a completely new place. I had to pay bills and establish a bank account, buy food and get in contact with the rest of the world back home. I was so bogged down at the start that I really let it get to me, and I didn’t kick back and just enjoy the ride. Fortunately I didn’t give up, because I’ve discovered that this really is an incredible place.

The people are as a whole nicer and more helpful than any others that I have met anywhere or at any time during my life. The country is so beautiful and Perth is such an amazing place to live in that I can’t imagine this experience anywhere else. I’m having the time of my life, and learning an incredible amount about this country and myself.

Encountering problems in unexpected places: I’ve continued to have my share of problems while I’m here, though my guesses as to where I would encounter these problems before I left have proven completely wrong.

I’m not having trouble with the Australian lifestyle; in fact, I kind of like it. Things don’t have to start on time (including TV schedules…. weird), nor do they have to finish when scheduled. I went in for what I thought was a 15-minute meeting with my Resident Director and left after an hour and a half, most of which time was spent talking about Australian Rules football.

But I have had trouble with American lifestyle. That is, the American lifestyle that some people brought with them and have refused to relinquish, if only temporarily. Many of the Americans I see here have been incredibly reluctant to give up some of their preconceived notions about this place. The “Disillusionment phase” that the Study Abroad handbook talks about as lasting three weeks and is characterized by “why don’t they do things like they do back home?” has in fact lasted the duration of our time here so far, for some people, and it’s intensely frustrating.

Grappling with racial issues in a new place: I’ve also had some trouble getting used to the racial interactions in this country. It seems to me that tolerance of Aboriginal people is something like 40 or 50 years behind the attitude in America towards African-Americans. Some of the words and phrases that I’ve heard have embarrassed me and made me feel guilty just for having heard them. The situation is not helped by the way one of my teachers talks about race in class; my classmates and I often feel like he takes a “You vs. me” attitude. I enrolled in this particular class hoping for an interesting and informative investigation of what I knew to be a very difficult topic. I feel that I’ve received a glorified attempt at brainwashing.

Positive moments: A friend of mine got me a job at a night club here, and after a month of working there I wandered in on a Saturday night and suddenly discovered that I was part of the gang. I was greeted, hugged and kissed, and was initiated into the three-part handshake all the guys do. The feeling of being welcomed and liked was so overwhelming I couldn’t believe it.

I’ve had other great moments, too. Like when I looked down from the incredible sand dunes onto the Southern Ocean. The whole thing was so gorgeous; I felt like it belonged on a post card.

There’s also the time I’ve spent training Song Ng at the University Fitness Centre. Song is a 23-year-old man with Down Syndrome who is a part of the Fit & Able program sponsored by the Fitness Centre and Curtin Volunteers. Once a week I work with him for an hour and a half in the weight room. He’s an incredibly friendly man, and I feel really good every time he calls me his “bro”.

Attitude adjustments: "I'll admit it, I laughed at the CIP and counseling center’s presentation on “Study Abroad Emotions". I’d left home before, and I never get homesick. Counseling center… What do they know? Such was my opinion. I hit bottom the 3rd week I was here. Classes were starting and were not what I had expected. Getting around was harder than I had expected. The weather was colder than I had expected. I was definitely not having as much fun as I had expected. In short, my expectations had failed me. On top of this, I was missing my close friends from home terribly. One day while I was trying to keep in touch with my girlfriend via "Instant Messenger", I was thrown out of the computer lab for breaking the rules on "online chatting". I went back to my flat embarrassed and angry, and wrote in my journal: "I’m not having fun and I don’t like it here. There, I said it. Australians are NOT as friendly as they’ve been made out to be. I feel embarrassed and humiliated and so close to saying I just want to go home." Since bad moods breed worse moods, the day got no better. I got in a screaming fight with one of the other K students here, my phone card wouldn’t work, and I even burned my dinner. Needless to say I went to bed pretty upset. I woke up the next day with a slightly better mood, but still not happy. My advisor commiserated with me at our weekly meeting and reminded me to keep things in perspective. I walked back to my flat, and read through my journal up to the day before, thought things through, and wrote: "I need to remember that I’m not in America anymore, and that I’m not better because I’m from America. Whether or not the computer lab attendant is nice, the country as a whole is. I can have a tremendous time here or a miserable one; it’s up to me to decide." With 3 months of hindsight, I realize that I coped with my overreaction by simply stepping back and seeing it for what it was: damn near nothing. When push comes to shove, I’ve got it a lot easier here than many of my K College peers studying in other countries. The locals here speak English (albeit a somewhat slang-ridden form of the language at times), the cost of living is low, the standard of living is high, and the staff has bent over backwards to help me. I’ve found that this has really been true of my experiences during my entire privileged life. Compared to the most of the world, especially to the indigenous folks I’ll be working with for my ICRP, I’ve got it easy. What is getting tossed out of the computer labs compared to endemic diabetes? What is getting lost in a big city for two hours without a bus pass compared to living a thousand kilometers from a hospital? This is one thing that the past 3 months have taught me and taught me well: how to put things in perspective.

Advice for future study abroad participants: Get involved in something long-term. Without a doubt, these experiences have been my best since I arrived. Last weekend I played in a football game then left immediately afterwards to catch a train down to Fremantle for my lacrosse team "wind-up party" to celebrate the end of a successful season. I hadn’t seen my team mates in a month, but as soon as they saw me they were welcoming me like their long-lost brother, offering me drinks and food, and just treating me like I was one of them. When the party ended at midnight and I made noise about catching a cab home I was roundly shouted down and invited out to a club with the team. We stayed out until 4:30 in the morning when I went home and crashed at the home of one of my teammates. I feel the same inclusion when I huddle up with my football mates, or when I go to work on the weekends. These groups, which I basically have forced my way into, have been nothing but friendly. I have never had a bad experience with them. The feeling is indescribable.