Good or bad, the first few days in Australia were
not what I imagined…they were hard. I was forced to do something I hadn’t done
in awhile; step outside my comfort zone. Each place I visited was foreign, every
person I met was a stranger, and the country I had come to live in was
overwhelmingly intimidating. I realized that the friends and family that I once
clung to for security were now thousands of miles away. To sum it up in a few
words, I had to start all over again.
Things started to get better after the first couple
days. It was very gradual at first, but I started to notice a trend of each day
being better than the previous one. This trend began when I got a job. One
morning, I went into the Hub Coffee shop in our university’s student union to
get some breakfast and relax. After eating my food, I thought to myself “what
the heck, I’ll ask if they have any job openings.” I approached the counter and
asked. Jess, the girl behind the register (who would later become my boss),
told me to come back with a resume. Two hours later I handed in my resume. Jess
looked at it for about 30 seconds, and with a smile on her face, she told me to
show up for training on Saturday.
The trend continued as I began to know my housemates
better. There are five of us in all; Harris from South Korea, Korina from
Malaysia, Anna from The Netherlands, Joanna from Malaysia, and me…The American.
From day one I got on well with Harris. He is a hard guy not to like. There is
still a bit of a language barrier between us, but each day I feel like we
understand each other a little better. In contrast, things were kind of awkward
with the girls at first, mainly because of my reaction when I first met them. I
was not expecting to live with girls when I came over here, so it caught me
really off guard. On top of the problem of my initial awkwardness, it became
even more difficult to build a friendship with my female housemates because
Korina and Joanna were both very shy for the first few days. I don’t know who
it was that let down their guard first, but once it was down, friendships began
to form. My housemates are all respectful of one another and incredibly easy to
live with. I can honestly say that I appreciate each of them and look forward
to building stronger friendships with them over the next few months.
The big turnaround was about a week into my trip. It
was a Tuesday night, and I was sitting alone in my room with nothing to do.
Suddenly my phone rang. When I picked it up I was greeted by a “G’day David,
this is Chris. Your housemate Joanna told me you were interested in a bible
study. Would you like to come with me tonight?” I met Chris outside, and was
both shocked and delighted to find that it was the same Chris who helped me
find an RA my first night in Australia.
I don’t know
how to explain it, but from that night on, foreign places have become familiar,
strangers have become friends, and Australia has become home.
