Education Abroad Student Blog

Classes are almost over and a few of the European exchange students have already gone home. I have my last class on Monday which is a critique for Silkscreen Extended. I'll be silkscreening figures onto a cricket bat that my friend made in the wood studio. I've really enjoyed taking subjects that require me to use more traditional art techniques. It's been a nice change from sitting behind a computer and has given me many ideas for new media projects. [Read More]

This semester is passing by so quickly. I don't know if it's because I have so much work to do in such a short space of time or because I'm having so much fun!

Last week I was in Lapland on a trip organised by TaiK. We were joined by a group from the Sibelius Academy which is the only music university in Finland and one of the biggest music universities in Europe. It took 14 hours to get there by coach which was fine for me however the Europeans who aren't used to travelling more than three hours weren't so keen. We stayed in a fairly basic old lodge which which was heated by old wood stoves and had it's own sauna by the river.

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Since my last entry work at uni has become very busy. I've sat my Finnish oral and written exam, handed in a few assignments and started work on two larger projects. Before I was looking for extra subjects to take and now I'm looking for extra time.

Despite the increased work load I'm still making sure I do something 'touristy' each weekend. A few weeks ago Helsinki had a good covering of snow so four of us jumped on the bus, headed to Vantaa (an hour out of Helsinki), found a hill, built a jump and down we went.

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My name is Margaret Plaisted. In Melbourne, I work full time and study MA in Multimedia Design part time at Swinburne's Prahran campus. I'm currently on exchange in Helsinki, at the University of Art and Design Helsinki, known in Finland as TaiK. [Read More]