Friends in Australia

Making friends

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 offense. 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 counselor, talking to someone who can understand where you’re coming from is good.