Friends Australia
Making new friends
Living overseas and living in a totally different environment can make anyone feel lonely sometimes. If you are finding it difficult to make new friends in Australia, here are a few tips for you:
- Have an open mind.
- Try your best to accept invitations and show up at the events.
- Join a local sports group (e.g. football groups, bush walk groups etc.) or club (e.g. food clubs, chess clubs etc.). You will be able to meet people who are interested in the same activities as you are.
- Strike up a conversation with your neighbours or with your colleagues after work or with your local grocer, or whoever. It's all about talking to people and getting to know them.
- Invite people to public events and festivals and encourage them to bring other people to these events.
- Fire up the barbie at your place or at the park, invite people to bring a plate and be ready for a lovable and very Australian afternoon barbecue.
- Hopefully, you will be able to make some new friends with these tips. Remember, it's all about meeting people, having an open mind, having a smile on your face, and talking to and getting to know them!
Having friends to support you and share in your experience will make this change easier and a happier one. It is hard leaving your friends and family back home and usually coming to Australia and not knowing anyone but with time the process will become easier.
When you begin studying and taking classes, you will meet more people like you, same age, likely to have the same interest as well. Having these things in common can create a great opportunity to connect you with other individuals.Understand that friendships are rarely made over night and it might take some time, some bumping into each other around the school or having brief conversations.
Through time you will find out that you have more in common and will enjoy spending time together and slowly a friendship will be developed. Where to find new friendsIs not like looking into a magazine and just picking someone out to be a friend, but some great places to met new potential friends are is right in school.
You are spending most of time in school already and you meet a lot of different people, or even in the school clubs, productions, in camps, pay attention to activities and keep an open mind. While you might find it easier to make friends with people from your home country, make the effort to reach out to Australian students and people from other countries. Australian friends will help you to quickly connect with your new home in Australia.You can look around your community for other events. Try fill nights, joining a local sporting team, religious groups, getting involved in community volunteer work, music nights or online discussion groups.  Your neighborhood and school is a great start.
How to make friends
Joining a club and meeting new people is great and is a positive start but in the end is not enough. You need to make eye contact with people, be friendly and smile, talkative, outgoing if that is your personality, don’t try and hide who you are because you are afraid people wont like you, just be yourself because people want to get to know the real you not the you; you pretend to be. You never know which one will turn out to be your life long friend.
Make small talk, like the weather, class you just had, tell them your name, make sure you know each others names that is important. If you have common interest, TV show, band, love for animals ask them more about you and share your thoughts on it as well.You could suggest getting together later to talk more, maybe exchanging emails or telephones, if you have classes together maybe you can study in a team, eat lunch together, make plans to go out in groups on the weekend.
If someone isn’t responding to your efforts to make friends, try not to take offence. Some people just take longer than others to open up and want to get to know new people and let them in.
Some people aren’t looking for more friends; some may like to keep to themselves. Everyone is different and you have to respect their boundaries. Try to take things slow and not to force a friendship that may put the other person at feeling uncomfortable. If you are finding it hard to make friends, talk to your institutions guidance counsellor, talking to someone who can understand where you’re coming from is good.
How to make friends while living in Australia
It is not hard to make friends in Australia when there are so many different types of people and communities within every pocket of the continent.
The first thing to do when moving to another country to study and work is to get in contact with community centres in your area of abode and find out what events and groups are available to you as a whole. What is it that interests you in your home country that you can become involved with in your new home of Australia?
Making friend
Friends will be an integral part of your stay in Australia. Sharing new experiences with other people is often what makes them so memorable. In your new environment you will be among many like-minded individuals and whilst it can take some time to make good friends you will have many people in the same boat as you and many opportunities to meet people from a diverse range of backgrounds. From these people you will get support and you will learn a lot about the place your living in and yourself.
Where to find friends
Your institution will be your first point of call. Take advantage of the numerous clubs and services that are available to you, where you will find people that are interested in the same things that you are. Join a sporting team, or a volunteer group and also if you find employment in Australia that is also a great way to meet people. You might find meeting people from your own culture easier. Whilst this is true and it is good idea to get to know people who are going through similar experiences you will benefit hugely if you make Australian friends. Your language will be helped immensely and they will be able to help in a range of things that only a local can.
Be open to new experiences
Perhaps as an international student you are worried about making friends once you move to Australia. Don?t worry, there are many other students who feel the same way and have had to push themselves into social situations that they might not otherwise thought they were capable of doing. Once you make that step into unknown territory, it opens up a whole new world of opportunities and interests. Most people are friendly in Australia and opening up the lines of communication or perhaps swapping some personal stories with another person can help to make new friends.
Take up a sport
Another affective way to make friends is to take up a sport. Australia is a country that loves sport and this is often a fabulous and healthy way to stay fit and meet new people who have similar interests. There is always a local ?Aussie Rules? football team to train with, soccer (or football) club, cycling club or cross-country training club in your area. Almost everyone is welcome to join in a club and the more the merrier.
Explore on campus events and activities
If sport is not something you are particularly interested in, then get down to student campus and have a look at what social activities are posted on the notice board every day. There are plenty of people looking to team up for a holiday road trip, learn how to speak your language, (or perhaps have a ?language swap?) learn how to play an instrument or get involved with the local community arts events.
Travel
Quite often the best way to meet people is off the beaten track and meeting people from all walks of life. Australia is one of the easiest places to travel as it has a large tourism industry that relies on the backpacker dollar. Hostels and Backpacker lodges are designed in such a way that people can socialise and find work through the hostels and will often be travelling on the same circuit as the seasons take them.
Australia is a land of diversity and multi-cultural events to get involved with. It is unusual for anyone to not make friends unless they are not prepared to make the effort to circulate and join in the group activities. It will quite often make living in a new country a much more enjoyable experience having made some friends who share the same interests or who can extend a helping hand of mutual support and friendship.
