Saying Tamara Blackmore experienced culture shock when she arrived here last September is an
understatement. It was more like culture trauma (extreme form of “culture shock”) for this adventurous
student who left Melbourne’s Monash University to spend her junior year at Boston College (BC).
Bkackmore, 20, was joined at BC by 50 other exchange students from around the world. Like the
thousands of exchange students who enroll in American colleges each year, Blackmore discovered
firsthand (learned by directly seeing or experiencing) there is a sea of difference (very big difference)
between reading about and experiencing America firsthand. She felt the difference as soon as she
stepped off the plane.
As soon as she landed in Boston, Blackmore could feel the tension in the air.
She was about to taste (to experience) a lifestyle far more hectic (very busy) than the one she left.
“Driving in Boston is crazy,” says Blackmore. “It took me a while to get used to the roads and the driving
style here. I was always afraid someone was going to hit me. It was particularly tricky since the steering
wheel was on the wrong side of the car. In Australia, it’s on the right side.” Beyond the cars and traffic
jams, Blackmore said it took a while to get used to so many people in one place, all of whom seemed like
they were moving at warp speed (traveling very, very quickly).
“There are only 18 million people in Australia spread out over an entire country,” she says, “compared
to more than six million people in the state of Massachusetts alone. We don’t have the kind of
congestion you have in Boston. There is a whole different perception of space”.
The pressing problem for Blackmore was making a quick adjustment to the American lifestyle that felt
like it was run by a stopwatch (a watch which can be started and stopped by pressing a button). For this
easygoing Australian, Americans seemed like perpetual – motion machines (machines that never stop
moving). “Americans are very time-oriented,” Blackmore says.
“Everything is done according to a schedule. They are always busy, which made me feel guilty about
wanting to just sit around and occasionally watch television. Australians, on the other hand, value their
leisure time. The pace there is a lot slower because we don’t feel the need to always be busy. It’s not
that Australians are lazy; it’s just that they have a different concept of how time should be spent. Back
home, I used to spend a lot more time just talking to my friends”.
It didn’t take long for Blackmore to adjust to Americans rhythms (get used to American lifestyles). “I felt
the pressure to work harder and did more because everyone was running around doing so much”, she
says. When BC students weren’t huddled over books, Blackmore found it odd that they were
compulsively jogging, running, biking, or doing aerobics in order to be thin. “Compared to home, the
girls here are very skinny”, she says. “Before I got here, I heard a lot of stories about pressure to be thin
and that many young American women have eating disorders. I’ll go out with a friend and just tuck into
a good meal (enjoy a meal) and have a good time, whereas an American girl would just pick at her food
(eat only a small amount of food)”.
When it comes to drinking, Blackmore says, Americans have a lot more freedom. “We are more casual
about drinking at home”, she says, ”whereas there are many rules and regulations attached to when and
where you can drink in the United States, not to mention a legal drinking age of 21 compared with
Australia’s legal age of 18”.
But it’s BC’s laid back (relaxed) and friendly learning environment that sets it apart from her Melbourne
college experience. “Generally speaking, learning facilities are a lot better in Boston”, she says. “In
Australia, students and teachers have little contact outside the classroom. It’s a formal and
depersonalized relationship. College is a place you go for a few hours every day and then go home. Your
social life and school life are separate”.
It’s just the opposite at BC, according to Blackmore. “BC students and faculty (the teaching staff of a
university) are like one big happy family”, she says. “There is a real sense of team spirit. It’s like we are
all in this together. Going to school here is a lifestyle, whereas at home we are just a number. We attend
school to get a degree so we can graduate, get a job, and get on with our lives (move ahead in our
lives)”.
Another pleasant shocker was the close and open relationships American students enjoy with their
teachers. It’s a sharp contrast to Australia, where college students keep a discreet but respectful
distance from their teachers.
“I was surprised when I learned students go out to dinner with their lecturers”, she says. “We just don’t
do that back home. Professors deal with hundreds of students and you are lucky if they remember your
name”.
When Blackmore returns to Australia at the end of the school year, she’ll have plenty of memories, most