First Report
My first two months in Brisbane, Australia, have been quite a whirlwind. I am happy to report that all is right and I am settling in very well. Brisbane is beginning to feel like more than just a home away from home to me, but really like home. The local Australians I have gotten to know have helped greatly to facilitate this, but even more so, the Australian Rotarians. From the moment I stepped through the Brisbane airport customs wing and was greeted with warm, smiling faces by my Rotary host counselor, Brian Springer, and his wife, Cheryl, I felt confident about this big life change I had made. I stayed several days in the Springers’ home and got to know their whole family and way of life—I even attended a workout class with them at 5am one day! I have to imagine that I was truly placed with the best Rotary host counselors in the entire Ambassadorial Scholarship program. They helped me find my classroom for my first day of Orientation at the University of Queensland, took me to their family birthday parties and BBQs, took me to the beach and to the lake to teach me how to waterski, took me shopping for a cell phone, helped me set up an Aussie bank account, helped me move a bed and desk into my new apartment, spent afternoons with me looking for koalas in their backyard, and we shared many great meals while comparing U.S. and Australian life and politics. I was immersed into the laidback, outdoorsy, and family-centered Aussie lifestyle immediately. This warm welcome was the perfect way to kick off my year as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar from the U.S. to Australia.
The view of beautiful downtown Brisbane from the scenic outlook on Mt. Coot-tha.
I am attending the University of Queensland (UQ) to obtain a Master’s Degree in International Public Health. So far, I love the program, my professors, and my diverse classmates. I am very confident that I have finally settled on the exact degree I want and one that I will be able to utilize in the job market upon graduation. The Australian school system is rather different than the American tertiary school system, but it has not been very hard to adapt to. The school system here in Australia is graded on a 7.0 scale, and I still cannot get a specific answer on exactly how this works. On our assignments, we receive a percentage grade, yet no one really knows how each percentage, or letter grade of the 4.0 scale, correlates to the 7.0 scale. It seems to vary per course. I do know that a grade of 7.0 is titled “High Distinction” and a grade of 6.0 is “Distinction,” so despite the specifics, my goals are to obtain all “High Distinctions” and “Distinctions.” I am on track for this goal, which is great as I am exactly halfway through the first semester!
I feel as though my family, friends, and sponsor Rotarian club were very helpful and generous in helping me prepare for my tenure as an Ambassadorial Scholar to Australia. Australians are generally a very lively and sociable people—many are not intimidated about asking someone a rather political or contentious question in a relaxed social setting. I was caught a little off-guard by this several times, but feel I was able to respond in a polite and diplomatic way, thanks to the preparatory help of my sponsor Rotary club, Visalia Sunset Rotary. In preparation for my District level interview in Summer 2009, four Rotarians in my sponsor club met with me several times and contacted me via e-mail. During these meetings, we touched on some politically-heated topics and how to discuss them in an intellectual, yet diplomatic, manner. Also, they taught me about Rotary International, the Foundation, the Four-Way Test, the Foundation Mission Statement, and much more, so that I was knowledgeable about the organization I would be representing. Because of this preparation, I have been able to represent Rotary to the best of my abilities. For example, when I was at a friend’s casual BBQ, one man brought a few other adults to meet me so they could gain insight on some issues like why Americans are allowed to carry guns, Obama’s policies, why Americans are “obsessed” with individual rights, and how the American healthcare system compares to Australia’s. It was a bit of a nerve-wracking situation, but I feel as though we all emerged from this complex conversation on a good, cheery level having each learned a lot from each other, most likely due to proper preparation by my sponsor Rotary club.
District 5230's Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to District 9600
My Rotary host counselor, Brian Springer, was the recipient of the Paul Harris Recognition at District 9600’s District Conference this year. Having such a generous and involved Rotarian as my host counselor has helped me to be pretty involved with Rotary, as well. This started within my first 72 hours of arriving in Australia—I attended the meeting of my Rotary host club, Pine-Rivers Daybreak, and gave an introductory presentation. Because this first presentation went so well, I was able to schedule several other presentations very quickly, and have completed six in these first eight weeks here. These presentations at all different age levels of Rotary-affiliated clubs have fostered my adaptation into the local Brisbane community. Through my attendance and participation at these Rotary, Interact, and Rotaract club meetings early on, I was made aware of local Rotary events and was able to get in contact with other people I would be able to go with. One such event was a fundraiser for the January Queensland floods, called Flood and Fire 2011. I got to meet many local Rotary members and local politicians who were also in attendance, as well as contribute to the Queensland Flood Relief and learn about this devastating natural disaster that hit the area only a few weeks before I arrived. While there, I also learned about the local Rotaract club of the neighboring district (District 9600 does not have a Rotaract club currently) and have been able to attend their meetings. This has been a great outlet for getting to know locals my age outside of classes who also have a passion for “Service Above Self.” With Rotaract members from the South Brisbane Rotaract Club, I attended a Lawn Bowling Fundraiser put on by the Rotaract Club of Redlands that raised money for an organization that provides subsidized at-home care to disabled Australians. Last month, I attended the Rotary District 9600 Conference in Caloundra and District 9600’s Scholar’s Night at the Kenmore Rotary Club. These were two great opportunities for me to get acquainted with the Rotary Peace Fellows who attend UQ; I feel very fortunate to be hosted in a district that is home to one of the seven Rotary Peace Centers. Each Rotary event I attend continuously widens my contacts and provides me with greater opportunities to get to know more locals, more Rotarians, and to assimilate into the cheery, friendly, laidback Aussie culture.
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Rubbing elbows with local congressmen at the Flood and Fire 2011 fundraiser for the Queensland Flood Relief Giving the Visalia Sunset Rotary Club banner to Maggie, the President of the St. Paul's School Interact Club.  Celebrating "Mardi Gras" at the District 9600 Conference in Caloundra!  |
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| Exchanging Club Banners with the President of the Rotary Club of Kenmore |
All of the Ambassadorial Scholars and Peace Fellows at Scholar's Night with the District Governor and District Scholarship Liaison.
My most rewarding experience with Rotary so far was through the ShelterBox fundraising booth that another Ambassadorial Scholar and I, along with the local ShelterBox representatives, assembled in the heart of the UQ campus two weeks after the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan in March. Not only was it a great way to get to know one of my fellow Ambassadorial Scholars, Morgan Wiggers, but I learned so much about one of Rotary’s most inspiring and effective programs, ShelterBox. This was the first Shelterbox to ever be approved to be set up on a university campus. The District 9600 ShelterBox representative, who is also my host counselor, kept calling our booth “the Rotary coup” because the booth symbolized the start of a new era and a new generation of supporters for Rotary ShelterBox that was never before allowed to be tapped into. Despite some bad weather that limited the amount of students we were able to reach, our single booth raised $917.30 in just four days. A local Rotary club donated the remaining $83.00 to help us reach our goal of raising $1000.00—the cost of one ShelterBox. Therefore we, the Ambassadorial Scholars and Peace Fellows to District 9600, were able to fund one entire Shelterbox for aid in a future natural disaster. However, a ShelterBox often serves as more than just temporary shelter for up to ten people in a time of crisis. For many of the populations that ShelterBox reaches, it signifies a person’s first piece of property for them to truly own, while also fostering new hope and representing new beginnings. I feel honored to have been a part of providing these invaluable facets of life to somebody, somewhere, in the near future. Please see the attached pictures of our booth.
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| All of the AMAZING contents of a $1000 ShelterBox fits in this one green bin. There's a tent that houses up to 10 people in hot desert weather, or snowy weather! Plus school supplies, blankets, a pop-up stove... so many useful things that we often take for granted, that really make a difference in the lives of people in the middle of a crisis. |
This is what a ShelterBox looks like all popped up! It took the 4 of us a couple of hours to set up, but I think it looks pretty good!
This is the Rotary Scholars' booth. Thanks to the help of Greville and Brian, District ShelterBox representatives, and Shaughn Forbes, the scholarship liaison who works at UQ, we were able to make Morgan's great idea a true success!
As I have previously described, my first impressions of Australia and its people were certainly positive. So many of the Australians I have met are friendly, engaging, and outgoing, as well as so worldly and highly educated. If I had to narrow them down to two, my favorite qualities of Brisbane are the ethnic diversity and the very apparent family-centered values. In terms of the diversity, it is mostly enjoyed in my university classes—in my International Public Health classes, I learn more from my classmates than from the course material itself! I have befriended physicians from Saudi Arabia, a Canadian representative from The World Health Organization, a midwife from Pakistan, an Economist from the Sunshine Coast, a public health officer from the Kenyan Ministry of Health, a therapist from Papua New Guinea, and a children’s HIV expert from The Gambia. Their opinions and anecdotes in class discussions and in group projects make me realize how valuable it is to be obtaining my master’s degree here in Australia versus in the United States.
One of the most notable ways that I have already been positively influenced by Aussie culture is in my mentality and ability to deal with stress. A quintessential phrase of Australian culture is, “She’ll be right, mate!” It more or less means “don't worry, everything will work out okay.” The frequent use of this optimistic phrase compared to the lack of use of it in the stereotypically high-stress and fast-paced American lifestyle accentuates one distinct difference between American and Australian cultures. This phrase has become my own personal mantra during my ups and downs of living and studying as a master’s student abroad. Adopting this iconic Aussie phrase into my daily life is just one such way that my time so far in Australia has impacted my life for the better.
From left to right: fellow Ambassadorial Scholar Morgan Wiggers (from Mississippi to Brisbane), me, DG Eric Wood, Peace Fellow Pantea Beigi (from Colorado to Brisbane), and fellow Ambassadorial Scholar Kyle Gunnels (from Texas to Brisbane). Guess Americans love Australia, huh?!!
I have had a lot of fun visiting some of the famous and culturally significant places in and around Queensland. The first of these, of course, had to be attending both a Rugby League and Rugby Union game. I also visited Surfer’s Paradise, one of the most famous beaches in the world—I was told that beautiful hot, sunny beaches are the essence of the Queenslander identity and way of life. While at Surfer’s Paradise, I went to the top of Q1, the tallest residential building in the world. To get a beautiful view of Brisbane city and the winding Brisbane River, I went to the look-out point on Mt. Coot-tha, a prominent landmark in Brisbane. To learn more about Australian culture in terms of its focus on environmental preservation, I went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. You can see photos of me holding a koala and feeding a kangaroo at the sanctuary in the attached files. I took a weekend trip to the neighboring state of New South Wales to visit Byron Bay and stood on the eastern-most point of Australia. While there, I visited the historical Byron Lighthouse. However, there are many culturally significant places that I pass by everyday while living in Brisbane that must not be overlooked. One of my favorite places in the city is South Bank, which was developed for the World Expo in 1988. In South Bank there are beautiful parklands, museums, open-air restaurants and shops, riverwalks, and a ferris wheel. Another is beautiful Anzac Square in the heart of downtown Brisbane. Anzac Square houses the Queensland State memorial that honors the men and women who have participated in overseas armed service. This includes the “Eternal Flame of Remembrance,” that was established in 1930, the WWII Shrine of Memories, and various statues to honor those who fought and died in the Vietnam War, New Guinea battles, the Second Boer War, and many others.
4 international students from North America at their FIRST Rugby game! Go REDS!
Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast
Yes, koalas look very cute but trying to hold one and smile for a picture is a whole other story... still, I got a Koala Cuddle!
Feeding kangaroos at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
Hiking in New South Wales to the Byron Lighthouse. Even the stormy weather couldn't cramp on a beautiful hike through a rainforest!!
At the Eastern-most point of Australia! The closest to home I'll be for these 10 months!!
Byron Lighthouse in Byron Bay, NSW
Anzac Square in downtown Brisbane
It has been a very interesting experience to live in another country that officially speaks the same native language as my homeland, yet at the same time can seem to be speaking a completely foreign language. Australian accents and the local Queensland lingo can be somewhat difficult to understand at times, however many Aussies have just as hard of a time understanding me as I do them. Yet this is not always a bad thing—due to my funny “American accent,” it is easy for me to strike up conversations about where I am from and to talk about my own culture. More formally than these conversations, though, I was able to share a piece of California culture when I attended the District 9600’s Scholar’s Night at the Kenmore Rotary Club. Here, four clubs from West Brisbane came together to hear four Ambassadorial Scholars and two Peace Fellows present on their home cultures and what they were studying as Rotary scholars. We were also asked to bring an item representative of where we were from to auction off. All of the proceeds of this “auction” went to the Rotary Foundation. I brought some old-fashioned style candies from California and a framed photograph I took of the California Central Coast, my family’s favorite place. As much fun as it has been learning about a new culture, gradually adapting to a new accent and Aussie lingo, and immersing myself in a new community, it has also been very fun and enlightening to share about my own background and culture.
Speaking at the Kenmore Club's Scholar's Night in March
In conclusion, I hope that, if nothing else, this first report on my initial experiences as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar expresses how happy and lucky I feel to be here in Australia and to be an affiliate of one of the most well-known and effective service organizations in the world. I am only a fraction of the way into my studies and experiences as a Californian in Queensland, but already have been able to make some headway into fulfilling my expectations and goals for my year abroad. Because of Rotary, I am able to wake up every single morning excited to get out of bed and to go outside to learn, observe, explore, share, and to give back. To anyone involved in Rotary International and the Ambassadorial Scholarship Program—thank you so much for changing my life in the best ways possible. Here’s to another great several months in Brisbane!
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