5 Lessons I learnt while Living in Australia for 8 Months
Can Australia be your dream country?
Creating a home away from your home is tough. It can easily be back-breaking when you do not know anyone in there, live alone, run jobs, try to save some bucks, deal with taxes and/or you are extravagant.
If you still remember me or my last story, which was months ago, I moved to Australia as an international student in May last year. I have got plenty of experience to finally write about how it feels to live in Australia and the lessons I learnt.
But first of all, Australia is beautiful, wonderful and surprising. There’s no doubt about it. So far, I have got the chance to travel a lot and every time my expression is, “Oh my god! I love this”.
When you start living alone, there are a lot of lessons you learn. In my case, it is my first time away from home and that is more than 7500 kms.
What does this mean?
I can not run back home if I encounter a challenge. I have to stand, fight and win. If it’s not a win, it will be a lesson. Right?
So, here I am back with some of my lessons that I learnt so far in Australia:
You are on Your Own
When I shared my plan to study abroad with my parents, they’ve always said, “We don’t have any family or friends in there. How will you manage?” I always believed that as long as I have faith in me, I can sustain at new places without much trouble.
I still remember I went to check out an accommodation on my day one. I had no idea about the life in Sydney. I did not know we could check trains from our phones (I used TripView app for NSW). Majority of the people here don’t carry cash and just use ‘Tap and Pay’ feature to directly make transactions. You will have variety of cards for basically everything; Opal for travel, Officeworks card for print-outs and copies, Proof of age card as your ID so you don’t have to carry your passport. (I have listed the common ones which every student needs)
I came here alone. I found job for myself on my own. I make my own meals. I am responsible for my decisions. Whatever I do, I have to deal with the consequences at the end of the day. I never have my guards down when I am out. I know it is safe but I have to be ready for just in case.
If you are coming to Australia, You are on your own, love. You have to deal with your nature and stay calm. You have to be with you in all ups and downs. You don’t have the option to let your parents handle your mistakes. You don’t have anyone who will always be with you in your hardships. So, you gotta believe in yourself.
You know what Responsibilities are
I will explain this to you by drawing a simple comparison from my life. Back in India, I was raised by my family. Whatever I wanted, they got me. I am super grateful for that. Coming back to my present life where I am making my life on my terms, I sound mature. Rather than chilling out with friends on weekends, I spend my day-offs doing laundry, groceries, cleaning and other chores. I am not saying I do not hang out with my friends. I do. But I have started prioritising some basic things over entertainment because even if I don’t do it today. I have to do it tomorrow, no matter what.
Life is really fast pacing in here. You will find yourself saying, “Time goes quickly here” someday for sure. I am living in Australia for more than 8 months now. But it’s funny how I don’t feel it’s been that long.
Thus, in this advanced life, you become responsible, especially if your family is not funding you. If they are, you will not realize the value of each dollar you spend. Saving something for yourself is beyond.
Give IT a Shot
Now that you know you are on your own and have your responsibilities with you. What’s next?
Of course, getting out of your comfort zone.
I have never shared it but I am a pure vegetarian person. (I will eat desserts having eggs though) When I was in India, the only thing in non-veg I ever saw was eggs. After coming here, I noticed majority of people eat meat. The first job I ever got here was in the Deli section at Coles where I saw ham, prawns, lobster, chicken, bacon, beef and much more. I did not even tell my family about this first because how can someone from a pure vegetarian family work there?
I had two options; either wait and apply for more jobs or grab the opportunity. Of course, I chose the second one because why not? How can I manage at a new place without knowing their food and life?
I said yes and started working there. I still work at Coles, in fact. It feels good to interact and help customers with their shopping list.
What if I chose the first option and spent more time waiting for something better? If you are coming to Australia, let me tell you from the experience of every international student. Finding a job is not easy. It will never be.
I have worked at two Coles stores and I have met with countless of lovely people at work.
Whenever I look back to my beginning days, I feel proud of myself for getting out of my comfort shell. Meat brought me my first income from a part-time job and I am thankful to that.
So, if you are new and confused about whether to accept a certain offer, trust me and give it a shot. As long as it is respectful and safe, you will be happy you made this choice.
Be ready to learn new skills
I am so proud to share this with you all that I have successfully mastered the art of cooking. Yay! I still go to YouTube to search for recipes but I do tons of experiments too. Whatever I have tried so far turned out to be mouth-watering.
I want to learn barista whenever I’ll get the chance and time. I have got some more add-ons in my bucket list which I want to try as soon as possible.
Let me spill a secret. I even tried walking from my workplace to back home. It took me 55 minutes of continuous walking. I could get an Uber but I wanted to see how much time it will take. Funny, no?
If you wanna create a happy life for yourself in here or any new place, be ready to try, learn and improve. Unsure about what, how and where? Start from your home first like I did. I did my laundry first time ever after arriving here, lol. It can be an achievement you can brag about if you want, specially if you have never done it before.
Learning little things in the beginnings feel awesome. If you have tried something small in any field whatsoever, I wanna read your experience below in the comments.
No matter what you do, you will surely learn something new after coming out of your comfort.
Australian People are Lovely
I saved it for the last for a reason. (I wanted to share some beautiful memories)
I am not sure what image you have of Australians in your head. Aussies are wonderful people. I know there will be a few rotten apples but which place doesn’t have them?
You will always find Aussies smiling at you when you step out. When I started working at my second store, I had a lady customer who asked me, “I’ve never seen you here before”.
I said, Well, I am new here, smilingly.
She got so happy hearing this and went on saying, “I wish you lots of happiness and luck. Don’t worry about anything. You don’t have to feel nervous. You’ll manage everything well. I wanna see you enjoying working here.”
My heart melted. I was like, Oh my God! What a lovely lady.
I have made numerous new friends in customers where we always interacted whenever we saw each other.
I had another customer, Su. When I shared that I am moving to a new place and hence, a new store. She immediately asked me, “When are you working last here? I will come to see you off.”
We did meet and she wished me all the best luck for my future. How sweet is that?
I know it is hard to start from scratch at a place where you’ve never been earlier. I have been there too. But once you start, you will find good people supporting you and they don’t have to be your friend or relative to do that.
And yes, don’t pay attention to people who go rude and screaming at you. They are pissed off with their existence too. Don’t bother.
Also, don’t do anything bad to make your parents feel they made a wrong decision to send you away.
Just focus on yourself and keep on working hard in the right direction. See the brighter side and keep on going.
You will make yourself and your loved ones proud of yourself.
If you got any questions, find me in the comment section below ❤
