Education Abroad Student Blog

Only about four weeks to go and then the semester is over. It is unbelievable how fast everything has gone by. But this probably means that I am having a good time here! As exams are approaching everyone is getting a bit worried about studying and the library is getting busier. I am taking four subjects this semester and I really like three of them.

The system here is quite different from what I was used to in the Netherlands. There the main focus is usually on the final exam which is a substantial part of your final grade (about 80% to 100%). Here there is a much greater focus on presentations and assignments throughout the semester. For one subject I don't even have an exam at all!

I am quite looking forward to when the exams are over because there are some nice trips that I have planned. First I am going to Tasmania for a week. After that my parents and sister are visiting me and we are going to take a trip towards Cairns, Brisbane, Sydney and the Great Ocean Road.

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This month I decided I would do a blog full of things in Rotterdam that stand out to me as being different to Melbourne, some are big things, but most are just little observations I have made. Let me start with something useful for any exchange student coming to study in the Netherlands. My uni is structured much different to back home. For each class there is only a single 1 hour and 45 minutes lecture each week and no tutorial. But there is much more reading and studying to do at home. At first I thought this was bad, but I look at it a bit differently now, if you look at it with the view that you need to study independently a lot to do well in any of the courses - it teaches you to do just that work efficiently and productively independently. That's a trait any employer would be happy to see.

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The European university semester finishes in mid December which means I have approximately 5 weeks left until I finish here. I am sure all the other exchange students will agree with me in saying, 'I know I have consumed one or two bottles of wine while abroad but if I have not been blacking out, where have the last few months disappeared to????'

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Planning for the future (as one of my lecturers beautifully put it!) equals the planning of almost two months before commencing my sixth semester - my internship - here at Swinburne. I simply can't wait! I won the lottery when the examination dates were finalised. Lucky me has two final examinations on the 27th and the 28th of November. The very last two days of the entire examination period, so I am currently being tortured hearing about everyone else who's just about to leave for their respective adventures somewhere else than in Melbourne...

But sure... I've had a once in a lifetime experience studying in Australia, just like everybody else has who have ever been studying abroad, so a week more or less will not physically kill me - only torture me psychologically! The plans for the next couples of months are the following: from now until the 5th of December: studying for exams, writing project for my home institution, dreaming of the 5th of December to commerce.

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I've got more excitement to add to my story.:) I did a bit more traveling/sightseeing over the last month, and I got a new job! 

I am very proud to say that I got a job bartending, though I've never done it before. Back in the States, bartending is a great way to make money because of the way customers will tip. Here, tipping isn't such a common thing (especially in bars and cafes), but I'm really just hoping to get some experience. I got the job mainly because my housemate is already working at the Geebung. She's going to be leaving there soon also, so I think they'd be looking for more employees. The Geebung is only five minutes from my apartment which is great, and the managers are much nicer than my old boss. The whole environment is so much better! [Read More]

The sun is coming out more often and it's starting to get really warm. Time for Barbeques! Sitting in the yard, having a beer and making a barbie and enjoying the sun is just awesome. Even the beach here is awesome. I drove down to Anglesea and spent a whole weekend just relaxing at the beach and doing nothing for Uni...

I stayed there with a few Australians I know and it was nice seeing how an Australian family lives. Everybody was just so nice and of course a barbeque for lunch couldn't be missed.

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The last month has allowed me to settle in more to the routine of university life in Rouen. My subjects have all turned out well. The subjects at ECS are very hands on and practical. They are also not as demanding academically. I am studying the equivalent of 3 subjects back home (still a full time load) which is 6 subjects in Rouen. This has allowed me to have Fridays and Mondays off to do homework and to travel on some weekends around France. I am studying French, wine studies, cross cultural issues and critical thinking. [Read More]

Only two months left and so much work to do! The Media Lab has been super busy with a lot of us working well into the night but the projects are fun and interesting so the time goes by quickly. We've started watching movies once a week in the Media Lab, and as our department is quite international, we take it in turns to bring movies from our respective countries.

Out of school, I continue to explore Helsinki whenever I get the chance. A couple of weeks ago I played "tourist" with a friend of mine and we ran around the city and did things that one or both of us had never done before. After a quick bite at Cafe Engel - a great restaurant for breakfast and lunch, we started our day by walking to the marketplace. This is the main market in Helsinki. It's by the harbour and is always bustling on the weekends.

Once we arrived we discovered that there was a festival going on. As well as the usual food and craft stands, there were many old traditional sailboats lining the harbour... it was the Baltic Herring Festival! I'm not such a great fan of salted herring but all the Finns were pretty excited. The old sail boats were also crowded with Finns feasting on salmon soup and rye bread. We were craving something sweet however, so stopped at a crepe stall and bought crepes with jam and cream. It was really nice sitting outside, people watching and listening to a few guys nearby play the accordion.

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Something happened last weekend which told me that I've been having too much fun. My camera reset its counter that names the photos because it reached its limit of 10,000. I've run out of space on my computer for all these photos and I still am yet to make my big trip around Central and South America!

What have I been taking photos of? Well since my last entry, I've visited some amazing places and had some experiences that I never would've thought possible.

One of the most beautiful mountains here is named "Saddle Mountain" as it has a peak that looks like a horse saddle. It towers over Monterrey at a height of nearly 1500m above the city and I've been itching to climb it for a while now! So we did, at 7am on a Saturday morning we set off for the 6 hour round trip that takes us to the top of the world and it was spectacular.

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Hallo again, hope everyone is well, I guess I should tell you what I have been up to. Two weeks ago I realised one of my teenage dreams and attended Oktoberfest in Munich, with a bunch of friends of mine. We got a lift from Rotterdam to Germany with our friend Andreas on his way back home to Italy. (So weird how you can just drive through countries).

Our destination was our friend Sebastion's house and we found him thanks to Andreas' GPS, in the little country village of Mertigen about an hour and ten minutes out of Munich. It was great to see Seb and we were happy for him to show us his way of life, because until then we had only met him briefly in Thailand on our way to Europe in early August.

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G'day again everyone! Well, I've officially passed the halfway point of my time here in Melbourne, and so far, so good. School has been going well, but let's face it: who travels abroad just to study?[Read More]

Hallo Alles! I can't believe it's been a whole month since my last post. I'll start by telling you about my student residence. Here in Mainz, there are several different student 'Wohnheim(s)' (as the Germans call it), mine is called Münchfeld. It is only around ten minutes by bus from the main station, from where you can catch several buses taking you around town. Its extremely convenient and even though most students ride bikes everywhere, I am choosing not to get one as I think the buses will be easier (and warmer) in winter.You can buy a second hand bike from 50 Euro and then sell it back at the end of the semester.

Münchfeld is the smallest of all the residences housing only 90 students, where some of the others house 600. My room is very comfortable and comes with a fridge, desk, bed, basin, wardrobe and two big book shelves. I re-arranged the furniture, so it would feel like my own little place, and through many walks around the town, I've found posters etc. to give the place some more life!

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Since last time I posted anything time has passed by so quickly. We are already in week 9 out of the 12 scheduled weeks. Amazing! During the mid-semester break we went on a small roadtrip to the Great Ocean Road. We packed the Landrover, the puppy and ourselves and drove along the Princes Highway all the way to Warnambool to start the road-trip heading towards Melbourne.

Along the way we saw the Twelve Apostles (or the six left!) in rain and hail and we saw truly wild koalas! We slept in the car along the way which is durable for a few days but not something I will recommend if you drive in a Landrover for a longer period! We made space by folding the backseats down but still we had to sleep diagonally or with our legs up in a 90 degrees angle to fit in. It was definitely fun for a few days but after that it starts to hurt! :-)

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Time flies when you're having fun! As I am writing this, it is the last day of my mid-semester break. This means that I am already halfway through the semester! It is amazing how fast time is going by.

My semester break was awesome. I took a trip to the Great Ocean Road which was really beautiful. Although the weather was a bit disappointing the day I visited the twelve apostles (it was raining the whole day), it was still very impressive to see everything. I could have stayed there watching it all day. But there was more to see: I also visited some rainforests (in the rain!), some pretty waterfalls and some old volcanos. There was so much beautiful nature! Also it was amazing to drive for a long time without meeting any other car. This country is so big!

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G'day Mates! Wow... I have familiarised myself with some Aussie slang!

My friends told me to eat 'Vegemite' to become an Australian. I find it a joke, as I hate vegemite, but I like milo! So I bet I have to drink and eat a lot of milo to become an Aussie! Also, I eat out at 'maccas' once in two weeks! You know what 'maccas' is? Find out!!!

Anyway, this is my second monthly report and believe me, I just got so much to share with you that I have no idea where to start from. OUCH!!!..........

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