3857_Salesian experiences in Australia

By Cl. Matthew Saisawang 'Jack', SDB
Theology student Don Bosco House - Clifton Hill,

Melbourne, Australia, 2 Ajnuary 2016 - It is almost a year that I have been away from my country, Thailand: from March 31, 2015 until now. I would like to share my experiences and the challenges of living and studying as a Salesian international student in Australia. To be honest, when I first arrived in Australia, I could not understand a word. Even though I had been learning English for many years, the Australian accent sounded very strange; it is so flat and fast. Furthermore, Aussies use a lot of slang speech. For this reason, I have tried to learn some Aussie slang from Salesian confreres in the community in order to understand how the locals speak.

The second challenge has to do with the Australian culture, in particular, equality. While I was studying English at ACU, some of the students would address the teacher by his first name, which was strange to me, because in Thailand we have a hierarchy, and commonly address teachers by their title, such as teacher or professor. However, I have learnt that Aussies are uncomfortable with differences in status and hence idealize treating everyone equally. A final challenge has been that the ways of greeting and farewell are slightly different from Thai culture. The first time that I had to shake hands or hug someone as a greeting, I felt shy and uncomfortable. Now I realise that this is part of Western culture. These have been the main challenges facing me as an international student in Australia, and now I feel as though I’m settling in Australia.

Aside for learning slang in the community, the main purpose of my first year was to study the Academic English course at Australian Catholic University (ACU). I have learnt about English for Academic Purposes to prepare me for studying Theology. Initially it was quite difficult, so I had to study hard in order to communicate correctly and effectively. This sometimes made me feel stressed and despairing, but through the helps of teachers and my Salesian confreres in Clifton Hill, I have gradually learnt to use English more fluently than before.

I would like to share about Salesian life in Australia in terms of pastoral work. As I said before, my focus was to study English in the first year, so I could not do as much pastoral work as I was used to doing in Thailand. On the other hand, I was grateful to have the opportunity twice a month of going to the Youth Centre in Brunswick, where I learnt something of the young Aussie lifestyle, played soccer with the kids and practiced my English in speaking and listening to them. From this, I could see a different way of thinking between the young people of Australia and Thailand, which I believe will be useful for me in my future as a Salesian working with young people.

The most joyful and happy moments of my life have come from living in the Salesian community at Clifton Hill. There are now 11 confreres from many countries and different backgrounds, but we all share the same mission. In my opinion, I am very lucky to have the opportunity to learn and to share in different cultural values. I have learnt many things from the Aussie Salesians, for example; Aussie English (eg. Idioms, slang), traditional foods (eg. pavlova, BBQ) and Australian history (eg. Indigenous history and Colonialism). I have also come to learn about Timorese, Vietnamese, Malagasy and Chinese cultures. In this international community we share a common family spirit.

Therefore, I would like to thank God through the Thai and Australian Provinces for giving me the wonderful opportunity to live and study in Australia. In this year, 2016, I am looking forward to studying Theology, and to more EAO confreres coming to join in with the Salesian family spirit at Clifton Hill, Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.