Reflections of Murdoch culture

Running head: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
1. Reflections of Murdoch culture
1.1 Difference of culture of Murdoch and the home culture
I come from Bhutan where the culture is very different from the culture of Murdoch. The
difference is that the places are situated across two different parts of the world. The Murdoch
community is located in Perth in Western Australia whereas I come from Bhutan, located in the
Himalayan region of Asia, more proximate to South Asia and China. Due to the great distances
there are some essential differences in culture. The language used in the Murdoch University is
English, however in my home country the language is Bhutanese or Tibetan. Bhutan is not a
diverse community with large number of Asian and particularly Ethnic Bhutanese and Tibetan
people. In Perth however, I got to find that the cultural diversity is much more than Bhutan.
However, I saw that in the Murdoch community people from various backgrounds are present.
There is an environment of intermixing that is very good in Murdoch. The formal rules in
Murdoch are different in the sense that they focus on the better life organization of the students.
The rules are more focused towards helping the students develop a more responsible outlook. In
Bhutan, the formal rules were more flexible and study was more an individual endeavor. The
informal rules in Bhutan reflected a national and royal spirit. In the Murdoch community the
informal rules are more focused towards building a safe environment for all community
members. Members are supposed to lead the newer people towards better intermixing within the
community. The expectations in Bhutan was that I would have to take care of my studies
individually with not much help from peers. In Bhutan people are cooperative but the
opportunity to study is much lower than in Australia. In the Murdoch community an essential
factor is present that promotes community intermixing and cooperation. I now expect help from

2COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
other as well as help others myself. The systems are effective and promote harmony and cultural
diversity.
1.2 Reflections on the First month at Murdoch
The first month in Murdoch has been a great experience for me. In the University I have
got to meet people that are really inspirational personalities. I got to attend classes of professors
that were the most knowledgeable and inspirational. The first month has been an important
learning experience for me. I got to know more about the Murdoch community, the inner and
outer campus areas. The Perth campus of the university is also aesthetically pleasing. I got to
witness a community that was filled with diversity, cooperation and group value. The most
important thing that I experienced in Murdoch was the culture of helping others. The facilities
for the foreign students are very good. The CSR activities of the organization are good and
effective in bringing out the best from the people. The organization offers essential support to the
people that are affected by various problems in the community. Murdoch has truly lived up to
my perception of a global center for learning and teaching. An important factor that I noticed
was that the faculty was very much focused on the development of the students. Moreover, the
peers are very much inclined toward helping their fellow students develop in their academic
lives. There is a very good setting in the entire campus community.
1.3 Dealing with cultural differences
At first dealing with the cultural differences became very difficult. I was nervous as I saw
that there were people from diverse cultural backgrounds in the campus premises. The first few
days I was unable to intermix effectively with the fellow students. However, then I was able to
gather strength to speak with many of my peers after one or two classes. I decided to initiate