地球村的实现似乎还有待时日，但出国确实已走近我们的生活。世界的各个角落越来越多地出现了中国人的身影，而中国本土则吸引着众多热爱东方文化的各国来访者。世界在缩小，而这些穿梭其中、生活在别处的人们也许最能直接地体会到不同社会、经济、文化之间的差异，并成为国际传播的重要群体之一。新栏目“人生广角”之“生活在别处”旨在带来最真实的生活故事，为你开启一扇了望世界的窗口，同时也让你通过外国友人的独特视角了解多彩的中华文化。

　　Australia maybe is one of the most multicultural countries in the world,swherespeople from more than two hundred nationalities live in harmony. They talk in Aussie<注1> English with different dialects and many of them speak a second language at home. The overseas students who study in Australia also come from all over the world, which contributes to the multiculturalism of Australian universities.

　　For many overseas students, living in an international environment is an exciting experience. In Australian universities, most courses require a teamwork assignment which sometimes even takes up 40 percent of the mark of the course. It is a good opportunity for students to communicate with each other and establish friendship. One of my best teams was in the course of Information Campaign. Our project was about how to run an information campaign to control the spreading of malaria in Brazil. The founder of the four-member team was Jennifer, a girl from America, who once was a reporter in a TV station of Florida. The other two girls came from Norway and India. Luckily it was not a big problem for us to understand each other. However, debates were unavoidable because each one viewed the project from her own perspective and tended to solve the problem in a way influenced by her own cultural background. As time went by, the differences between us became increasingly clear. Jennifer was good at managing the team, the girl from India liked doing research, the Norwegian girl was an excellent problem-solver.While I, a Chinese student, knew the theory perfectly well. After proper division of labor, we realized how wonderfully the team was composed of. We headed for the library to borrow the vedio about the introduction of malaria, made powerpoint slides and designed the brochures for the campaign. But we had wasted so much time on debating in the beginning that we barely finished our preparatory work before the day of presentation. However, we were chosen to be the firstsgroupsto present the project in that class. Only Jennifer was confident enough due to her experience as a TV reporter, while the rest of us three appeared rather nervous. At last, our project turned out to be a big success. The lecturer's comment for our performance was "a well-organized group, an impressive campaign" and finally we got an A for our assignment.

　　Australia attracts overseas students not only because of its international atmosphere, but also its natural ecological environment. A good example is the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, which I visited last November with my two classmates who are respectively from Malaysia and Korea.

　　Taronga Zoo first opened to the public in 1916. Situated on beautiful Sydney harbor, it is only a short ferry ride from Circular Quay.<注2> It is a constantly changing landscape aiming to provide the most natural habitat for the native and exotic species on display. Most of the animals there are not imprisoned in cages. Instead, they are put in the fairly natural surroundings so that they can retain their living habits. It is man that is kept away so as not to disturb the life of the wild animals. Some animals that are used to the close contact with human beings are open to the public so that visitors can come near them, touch them and feed them. The kangaroo, which is one of the symbols of Australia is the most popular animal in the zoo. Children like to have photos taken with them and the mild animal seldom appears impatient.

　　We three Asian students were quite surprised to see "a small farm" in the zoo. There were cows, pigs, sheep and rabbits as well as some farming tools. And the names of the animals were labeled. This interesting "farm"actually reflects Australia's farming history, which is regarded by Australians as an important part of their culture.

　　Walking along the lake, we saw swans, wild ducks and other birds we had never seen before. They seemed to like staying near human beings to show off their beautiful feathers. We looked at them and they looked at us. Occasionally, a peacock walked beside us just as a normal passerby.

　　The zoo staff handed us a booklet in Chinese of the zoo when I told them I am from China. Obviously, more and more Chinese visitors had been there for sightseeing. I hope more people outside Australia can come to see and appreciate the harmonious coexistence of wildlife and human beings here.

　　(麦迪于1999年毕业于北京外国语大学，2000年赴澳大利亚留学，获国际传播硕士学位。）