Destination Swinburne

Enschede - Melbourne

Hi everybody, I am Pieter van Elderen and I am an exchange student from the Netherlands.  I'm coming from Enschede and study at the University of Twente. In Holland I study Mechanical Engineering and here I am doing some subject of Mechanical Engineering, Management and Logistics, all subjects at the Hawthorn campus of Swinburne. I arrived at the 16th of February after a long 28 hour flight, ready for the adventure here in Australia.

The first week was relaxed, getting a room at Unilodge, seeing the surroundings and visiting at little bit from Melbourne City. The second week was the introduction week. It is nice to see all the other exchange and abroad students from all the different countries. On Friday a trip was planned to Healesville Santuary to see most of the Australian animals. It is nice to see kangaroos, wombats, koalas, dingoes and all the other animals. We also tasted some Australian wine in the Yarra Valley.

On the 1st of March the classes began. It was strange to experience the Australian way of learning. It is different if you compare it to the style in Holland. But after 5 weeks you become familiar with it. Next to the study it is a lot of fun. During the weekends I went to Dandenong Ranges, St Kilda Beach to play beach volleyball, Wilsons Promontory, see Melbourne-City and did The Great Ocean Road, most of the times with other international exchange students.

Time flies when you are having fun, but unfortunately it is true. We already finished our 5th class week, and after the Easter Holiday, we have only got 7 weeks left. More about my experiences in the next blog. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask and I hope I can give you an answer.