Can a girl get some Cheez-Its?

My roomies Cierra, Claire, and Albert:]

It has come to my attention that both my wallet and I are losing weight. Not a day goes by that my American friends and I don't talk about how much we miss Cheez-Its, Doritos, popcorn and the like. You can joke about fat Americans all you want, I've come to grips with it, it's true--we love food and we eat way more of it than necessary. We are trying to embrace the culture and remember the fact that we are in AUSTRALIA all we can but sometimes you just want a spoon and a jar of peanut butter to the face. We've already started to plan exactly what we would like our parents to have waiting for us at the airport when we arrive back home--mine is a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee, Chex-Mix, and a bagel with cream cheese. The best part is that we have a roommate, Albert, who is a great cook and has cooked basically all our meals for us, and in return we do the dishes. In fact, yesterday we tried Kangaroo for the first time. Not bad but I probably wouldn't have it again.

As for my wallet: I came to this country with $6500 and am now down to $4000, and I've been here for less than a month....BUT the big spending should be over with now. $2000 of that money has gone to a Spring Break trip I will be taking, and the rest has gone to the start-up necessities of living in an apartment such as bedding, cleaning supplies, toiletries, etc. Food and alcohol is also much more expensive than we are accustomed to. It's no big deal to the Aussies, however, because most I know get paid at least $30 an hour and wouldn't get out of bed for more than $20.

In short, this is the adjustment period at its finest! Stay tuned.

Culture Shock

Surfers Paradise

The first stage of culture shock is sort of a honeymoon stage where you love everything about the country, complete euphoria. Then comes the shock part of it and homesickness. I definitely went through the honeymoon stage and definitely had a day of the shock part. There was one day where I just hated everything; the expensive prices, the not so good food/lack of food, the obnoxiously loud birds, the dirtiness of our apartment, the cold showers, and the fact that we hadn't even stepped off campus yet and explored. I was getting extremely antsy and irritated.

While these things are still annoying, it has also settled in how completely beautiful this country is and how nice the people are. We finally stepped out of our little bubble and went to the beach and it instantly made me feel so much better. The water was so clear and blue and the city was so much fun to walk around. I can't wait to get out and explore some more.

For now, here are some fun differences I've noticed:

My Kangaroo friends

• They use very proper phrases on their signs. In America a sign would just say "no smoking", in Australia it says "smoking doesn't belong here"
• Their cigarette packages have pictures of mouth cancer and people who have died from smoking on them. This would never happen in America. But surprisingly it does not deter the Aussies from buying cigarettes. 
• A bed comforter is a "doona"
• School is "uni"
• "Hey" is "what?"
• They don't understand our sarcasm at all...say something with a serious face that you are joking about and they will give you a weird look.
• They think it's gross that we snack so much...it's not my fault I can finish an entire normal sized bag of popcorn by myself..
• They don't eat cereal either
• The yolks of their eggs are orange instead of yellow because they don't feed their chickens chemicals like we do
• When they try to do our American accents, they sound like their from California: "fer sure man"

Aussie life

What a crazy first week. Australia is a place of no worries and everyone is nice. After being on a plane for about 22 hours in total, we arrived in Sydney and immediately went on a tour of the city. Our hostel had an amazing view of the harbor and the bridge. The next day, we went to the Sydney Zoo and of course saw all sorts of cuddly and not so cuddly creatures. Then we watched an aboriginal performance--the didgeridoo playing is amazing! Then we painted our own boomerangs. 

If you are going to visit Sydney, Darling Harbor is a must! It has all sorts of restaurants and an aquarium and a chinese garden. 

Testing the Waters: Office Culture

No one ever tells young college students such as myself to think about what type of "office culture" we would like to work in when we get out of school. It may sound obvious, but many young graduates jump at the first job opportunity they get and then find themselves in a working environment that they don't quite fit into.

Sterling Communications visiting Deutsch and Ruder Finn in NYC!

At Susquehanna University, I am involved with a student-run PR firm called Sterling Communications. This past semester, we went on a field trip to NYC to visit Deutsch, Inc. (an advertising agency) and Ruder Finn (a PR firm). This was a great opportunity to see two completely different office cultures in action. At Deutsch, it was a very open and welcoming environment. Everyone was dressed pretty casually, pets were brought to work, people were eating lunch outside on the balcony enjoying the gorgeous view, and everyone smiled at us as we walked in. I completely fell in love with the company and knew this is the type of place where I belonged.

That thought was confirmed when we visited Ruder Finn. We were welcomed by very intense sculptures and other artwork displayed throughout the office. The offices were very closed off, and the people working there were not as friendly. It had a very professional and serious tone. I'm not saying at all that this is a bad thing, for many people that is just what they prefer. They are a very powerful private PR firm and the tone of their office may add to their credibility from their client's perspective. It just goes to show that everyone is different, which is why you should try to check out as many different office cultures as you can before settling in somewhere.

Earlier this week, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to shadow Emily Collard at Edelman in NYC, which is the largest PR firm in the world. She gave me a tour of the floor she works on, which was a completely open floor plan, where no one had their own "office", which I loved. The majority of people working there were 20-something year old women, which I thought was cool too, and many of them seemed to have become good friends with their co-workers. The vibe was very friendly and upbeat. I got to listen in on some meetings between Emily and people on her various teams, and between her and a client. I had no idea what was going on of course, but to just see the interaction was a great learning experience. I couldn't stop smiling and definitely felt like I could see myself working there.

I also had the opportunity to have a video meeting with Sarah Fudin who is the Director of Inbound Marketing at 2U, Inc. She told me all about what her and her marketing team does, which involved getting the company more visible on the internet through search engine optimization (SEO), which is exactly what I have been working on during my internship. She actually asked me what type of office culture I was interested in, and luckily by now I had a straight answer. She said her office culture is exactly how I described, and she loves it. She said that when she was looking for a job after college, she ended up taking this sports marketing internship in Maryland. She said it was terrible: she was the coffee girl, the paper filing girl, and learned absolutely nothing. She said at that point she learned she never wanted to be in a work environment where she felt like they didn't care about her. She said where she works now they really want you to learn and they take the time to teach you, which I thought was great.

So, before accepting a job offer....

• Try to shadow people at companies you might be interested in working at and see if you could see yourself working there
• Talk to as many people as you can about the culture at their office
• Think about your personality and what culture you might fit best into
• Make sure the company giving you the offer wants you to learn and grow-you should even ask questions about this and the culture at the interview

Dana