Amanda Lee ’11

It is culture shock
That will help me win the prize
While I am abroad

The trip from Dulles
Took a good twenty hours
And a lost Friday

I’m in Australia
English is their native tongue
This is mine as well

Winter to summer
The change is catastrophic
To my complexion

Abbreviation
Is the way to understand
Australian accents

University
And Pavilion turn into
The uni and pav

If you want some food
And are craving a burger
Go to a Maccers

If you understand
You will have low culture shock
But if not beware

The prices are high
And the people are tranquil
And they smile too!

It is too different
Compared to the big cities
Which reside northeast

The constellations
Look grander up in the sky
Then ever before

The water hurts me
A change in bacteria
Is some adjustment

It’s Americans
Make Australia their home
In the apartments

They buffer the shock
Of being in a new place
So I suffer less

I need to branch out
From my new Americans
And be with locals

Making foreign friends
Has been the hardest thing yet
Save the homesickness

The sun is so hot
On my pale wintertime skin
I feel it sizzle

The paradise beach
All along this sunny coast
Has given me strength

Along with the strength
My skin has been burnt so fierce
It is hard to move

Checking out the shops
And becoming accustomed
Will take some more time

I will force myself
Outside of my comfort zone
To have the best time

I must remember
To keep in contact back home
So no one worries

The rainforest lives
As if it breathes in and out
Providing more life

In this land of grace
I could get used to living
We’ll see how this goes!