Hi, Have you ever had homestay
family whom you spend your daily life with? Actually, I live with my host
family now and I am really enjoying the moment with them. I do think that having
host family is absolutely a good way to widen your experience in Melbourne and
also grows up yourself more and more in many ways. However, from my experience,
I have to say that it’s not always easy to spend your life with other people as
there are some things you have to consider carefully in terms of etiquette.
Especially in the city like Melbourne where a variety of cultures are mixed,
you should not stereotype your host family. Of course, it’s essential to know
about what is usual Australian home culture in advance and try to adjust it.
But, I just have realised it is not necessarily useful way to get used to life
with them and make them feel comfortable. Each family have their own rules and
customs in their daily life to follow. Before, I sometimes asked my host family
the question which starts with the sentence like “Does Australian~~?” Why
Australian~~?” or something like that sort of question. This question annoyed
my host family because they felt like they were stereotyped by me, so they
never gave me an answer as I expected them to say. My host father always says
that you can’t say that all Australians have the same culture. I was so
impressed by his word as it changed my thought greatly. Briefly, we have to see
each family and independents not from fixed way but from flexile way. This idea
could also apply your whole life in Melbourne.
Hi, Marina!! I completely agree with your idea!! For instance, I used to think mistakenly that Chinese people were quite confident and stingy. However, I had many Chinese friends in Deakin University, and I realized that my stereotype was by no means correct. Also, I stay in a family which has an England father, a Japanese mother, and 2 children. The kids fit the stereotypes of neither the English nor the Japanese. Therefore, we should not have stereotypes especially in Australia, where there are a lot of mixed races.
ReplyDeleteHello, Marina. How are you doing?
ReplyDeleteThis post is relevant because it is essential for us to understand that Australia has various nationalities and their culture entirely depends on their family and an individual.
And, waht's more, it seems to me that your father might have wanted you to say "Do you~?" and "Why do you~?", which express your respect for him as an individual. This is simply a matter of phrases, not of cultures.
Thanks for your interesting topic! I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Moeko Ogawa (oga-oga-moeko.blogspot.com)
Hello, Marina. It is really great opportunity to live with Australian host family. I’m currently living in dormitory, but I used to stay with Australian family. I was surprised the different things between Australia and Japan. Every day, I learned new things. That experience made my thought and view widen. Your topic reminded me we should not have stereotype thoughts especially in foreign country. Also, we should realise the stereotype we have is not true.
ReplyDeleteHi, Marina. I greatly sympathized with your topic about multiculturalism in Australia even though I am not staying in a home stay house. I think your idea help us think how to broaden our horizon and accept a variety of value. The fixed idea would sometimes generate a misunderstanding between us and people who have different custom, religion, culture, nationality and the like, so that your idea is quite reasonable and makes me consider how to communicate with other people more smoothly.
ReplyDeleteHello Mariana! how are u?
ReplyDeleteWell about your topic, I'm glad you're really enjoying this time in Australia and you are living with a nice family, I have experienced living in various countries of the world and chose never want to live with family. They often have many rules or sometime they are not local people. so from that side I congratulate you're doing very well. However, I have two friends who have not had the luck you had your.... In the other hand, it is true that to enjoy any country only need good spirits and want to enjoy without having to live with family or in a shared house...
Regards.