I’m the Aussie, the foreign guy at Sigep, the guy with the cool accent that people can’t understand, but most people just call me Christian. I’m an exchange student here at UC Riverside from the University of Western Australia. And for some reason I joined Sigep in the Fall of 2007.
Curiously, the only topic I remember talking about when I first met some of the guys was the quality (or lack thereof) of American beer and what a good beer really was. Well, that and the fact that every second question was either “do people really have pet koalas” or “have you ever seen a kangaroo?” It didn’t really paint the clearest picture as to the intellectual abilities of these guys, because my first thought was ‘are Americans really that stupid?” The second thought was then “well, if they are this stupid, it means I can play games with them”. So I started telling them that a lot of Australians had pet kangaroos in their backyard, and instead of teddy bears every Aussie kid had a koala to cuddle up to. I told stories about the boxing fights with kangaroos and wrestling crocodiles, for some weekend fun, of course. I guess it was the larrikin Australian spirit coming to the fore and the guys were such easy and naïve targets.
Australia doesn’t have the fraternity and sorority system at all, so the only information that Australians have about Greek life has been gained from such masterpieces as Old School and Animal House. I hadn’t actually intended to join a fraternity at all, but I did want to find out about the Greek system and how it functioned here at UC Riverside. I wanted to know if the movies told the truth, because Hollywood would never lie about these things, right? Well, yes and no. I found out quickly that there was some truth to these movies, with some chapters still living along the drinking and partying principle. But, I also very quickly realized that some chapters were very different. Not only were they able to socialize and party but they were able to maintain a high GPA and be successful on the sporting field.
I didn’t know a single person here in Riverside when I arrived, so the first week of class was an interesting experience. I have no doubt I would have survived somehow and met people, but I doubt I would have had as much fun as I have. I met a bunch of guys with similar beliefs and values, guys that knew how to balance school, sports and their social lives (well, most of them) and I now have a group of guys that I will call brothers for life. Even then, this path wasn’t an easy downhill cruise. For one thing, apparently American is spoken over here, not English! I was sadly mistaken in thinking that Americans speak English, as I consistently had to repeat myself because people didn’t understand me. Now, I may be Australian, but I don’t have a thick, true blue, Australian accent. At times, I felt I may as well have been speaking Japanese, going by the blank, questioning looks on people’s faces as I talked to them. It was even worse when on the phone. Apparently the guys didn’t understand a word I said and just said yes, making me think that they understood what I was saying. The guys were kind enough to tell me this many months later. Hopefully this language barrier has now been torn down.
Brotherhood is an interesting concept. Every fraternity claims it has the best brotherhood and I probably didn’t understand what it truly meant till a while after joining Sigep. Some chapters used hazing as a means to creating brotherhood but I learned that you can’t force brotherhood. It only happens by having a similar values and belief system and through shared experiences. It is a powerful idea knowing that if were ever in need of help that every one of my brothers would immediately help out in any way they could, which goes far beyond just friendship. It’s not easy transplanting yourself literally on the other side of the world and there were times when I needed help or advice, which I always received.
So, now, when I get asked how my exchange is going, my answer invariably has something to do with what we as a chapter have been doing. For example, our semi-formal in Vegas. Vegas is one of those once in a lifetime “things to do” in Australia. Not only did I go, but I went with 26 brothers and their partners for a semi-formal. Unheard of in Australia! It’s not just the big things, but very much the small things that have defined my exchange. An afternoon of football, a bbq, a day at the beach or a quiet night in with a couple of the guys – these are the things that have made my time here at UCR as a proud Sigep enjoyable.
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