Culture Shock

For one of my courses this semester, I’ve been learning about intercultural communication. I must admit, prior to doing this course I was quite oblivious and naïve to the whole idea of intercultural communication. This may have something to do with the fact that up until now, my entire life was spent in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast, and while it’s beautiful, lets just say it’s not the most culturally diverse place you can live.

In the 2011 census, 71% of people living in Noosa were born in Australia. This is equivalent to approximately 95 university lecture theatres at full capacity.

Coinciding to this statistic, the census also revealed that 90% of people in Noosa only spoke English.  This is equivalent to the entire population of Bundaberg (44,025) in Queensland, Australia.

So it was no surprise that when I moved to Brisbane to begin university, I was exposed to cultures I had never come across before. The course I’m currently studying: Identity, Culture & Communication, has proved to be a valuable and interesting course. One day, I intend to travel the globe, so this small migration from Noosa to Brisbane was definitely a starting point! 

I do miss waking up to this every morning though....

This data was obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics from 

http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/SED30065?opendocument&navpos=220