Meeting the people of Australia has easily been my favorite part of completing my internship abroad. I am interning for an Australian Rules Football club, or “footy” as they call it. The boys on the team are the most fun and delightful group of guys. They were kind to me from the very beginning and made sure I felt welcome in this brand new environment. I was very homesick my first week in Melbourne, but these guys always brightened my day and made me feel like I belonged. Their accents can be hard to understand at times as they speak a bit faster than I am used to in Alabama where the people tend to talk a little slower. They acknowledge that they talk fast and always have a good laugh when I have to ask them two or three times to repeat themselves. the small things that they would do such as giving me a nickname, asking how my weekend was and how I spent it, and telling me that they appreciated me meant the world. On top of being kind, they are the funniest people I have ever met. They never seem to run out of witty comments and keen observations of otherwise mundane situations. My supervisor has made sure to make me feel welcome. Since it can be a bit of a pickle to use public transport to access the beautiful sights in Melbourne, she allowed me to stay with her at her house for a weekend and she drove me up and down the Mornington Peninsula where there are incredible beaches, cliffs, and views. I have just been blown away by the kindness of the community that I have found myself in. I felt very out of place my first couple of weeks here, but as I was able to explore and interact with my team every day, I found that small acts of kindness go a long way. They have all managed to capture my heart in such a short period of time. They are all making sure we stay in touch after I leave. The feeling of being apart of this team is something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I do not think my abroad experience would have been as wonderful without these incredible human beings. I do not see a world in which I do not return to Australia as I have completely fallen in love with it.
