*Disclaimer: This blog is not intended to offend or accuse anyone, the views written here are based on personal experience and observation*
This is a blog I’ve been meaning to right for a while. Australian culture is not too different to that of the UK, they have a similar education system, speak english and even drive on the same side of the road. The main difference is the sun; there is a lot more of it. This lends itself, to an increased interest in outdoor activities, from running, surfing, paddle boarding and many other physical activities, also leading to an increased promotion of a ‘healthy lifestyle’. There are increased trend towards begin vegetarian or vegan, become gluten and lactose free and many shops and cafes are targeting this particular niche market, which doesn’t surprised given the active nature of the people.
With the good weather, come increased exercise and this is not a bad thing. People can go and be social outside in parks, at the beach, by the bays, meaning you quite easily gain a network of friends. The nightlife culture focusses more of bars than it does clubs, with many of them closing around 12 or 1am. This was actually refreshing sometimes, as you could still go out and have a good time, but be in bed by 12 and get a decent night sleep.
Academic life differs in its approach to study. More emphasis is put on study, with many units opting for a more coursework heavy approach, meaning that more work is required throughout the semester, unlike Manchester (and other English universities), where exams form the core of the unit. There is also more freedom within the course structure, particularly at the University of Western Australia, where there are many broadening units that a student must undertake in order to be able to graduate. I wrote a similar piece on this back in November.
University sports has a completely different structure to that in the UK, especially in Western Australia. With the city being so isolated, and only around 5 other university in the surrounding area, the sports network is nowhere near as vast as the UK. Every year there is a big tournament, the UNIGAMES, held in the Gold Coast, where thousands of trained athletes compete to bring home the title. They do however has many social leagues, like in Manchester, were you can play anything from Netball to ultimate frisky, which is fun but also taken quite seriously.
However on the flip side, upon my arrival within Australia, it has been noted that aboriginal culture, whilst celebrated in minor part, has generally been overlooked and misrepresented, especially here in Western Australia. Merely observing my surroundings walking around Perth city, you note the number of homeless aboriginal people in comparison to ‘white’ Australians.
To me, it seems that aboriginal people are targeted, especially by local authorities as being a ‘menace’ and a ‘nuisance’, with many on the streets being stopped and searched for stolen goods. Whilst yes some are found guilty of shop lifting, not all are out to cause trouble. Police patrol the streets of Perth city daily, making sure there is no trouble and you often see groups of officers approaching groups of aboriginal people. Im not saying that the police are being discriminatory to indigenous people purposefully, these are merely observation that i have witnessed during my time in Perth.
I have friends here that are studying law and politics and they tell me that, there is so little academic literature regarding the treatment of indigenous people within the country, that they struggled to right essays that were focussing upon indigenous culture. What saddens me is that the UK and British rule is in some part to blame. Early settlers to the country were captains and solders, bound on ships towards the Western Coast, invaded indigenous lands. The tribes values and morals have been in some part forgotten, and many indigenous people have been forced out of there native lands.
Discrimination towards Aboriginal culture comes in all forms. There have been many recent articles over the Australian love of ‘Blackface’; The use of makeup, typically in a white person to represent that of black person. I intended to partake in a Indigenous studies unit this semester, however due to timetable clashes it was not possible, but it is definitely something i would love to look into more.
Drugs have become an issue within this community of people, with Crystal Meth use becoming a major concern. But it is also a country wide concern. Drug and alcohol abuse is one of the biggest killers in Australia and cost the health turn millions each year. Many TV campaigns are actively trying to reduce the number of underage people turning to drugs and alcohol in order to try and contain the situation. Other drug related problems are linked to increased steroid use. As mentioned previously Australians as a nation, i would consider to be much more active and with this comes steroid abuse, as a way of gaining muscle to look as physically fit as possible. There is still a long way to go however, as the problem has become so widespread, its going to take a while.
Despite this, my experience in Perth was not dampened, discrimination happens in every country unfortunately, however efforts are being attempted to reduced the severity of the discrimination.
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