Preparing for College Life at ANU

By Alex Moore, ANU, Canberra Australia

Accommodation is a massive part of organising your year or semester abroad. At ANU, this looks very different to the accommodation you would have experienced in first year. Each accommodation functions as a college, complete with a committee and its own social events and balls. There are both catered and non-catered, but I’m writing this from the perspective that I have spent my year in a non-catered hall. The main culture shock is the fact that instead of having a flat of say 10 people that you know and share your kitchen and showers with, you are now in a college where you are sharing your kitchen with everyone in the whole accom and your showers with a floor of people you may not meet. I think that I was definitely thrown into the deep end with this as I was in Burton and Garran, home to the second largest non-commercial kitchen in the Southern hemisphere. It is massive and at peak times gets very full which in the first week was very overwhelming to walk into when you know very few people. But on the flip side, this is a great environment for meeting so many new people.

Personally, I was scared that it would be all first years and as a third year it would feel strange living back in halls. In a way it definitely does and despite there being 17 year olds (cause of how Aussie years work apparently) at ANU people stay in accommodation for two years which meant that I met a wide range of people of different ages which was fun, and means that now in second semester I know people in share houses. The only common spaces being open to hundreds of people forces you to be social, even going to the kitchen involves seeing at least a few people. For catered halls, from what I have heard, it is very much the same as everyone is in the same cafeteria at the same times for meals. It is not all as intense though, as there are common rooms in each block with a kettle and microwave if you can’t face the kitchen that day, as well as quiet hours in the kitchen to make it less intimidating.

Another difference is the way that the accommodations run like societies; by this I mean that they have student presidents, sports reps, social reps, treasurers just like a society at Manchester does. They also run events on Thursdays and Weekends throughout the semester, very similar to Wednesday socials. When you arrive at the start of their second semester you come into what they call ‘Bush Week’ which has different events everyday for the week, like a freshers week, run by the student committee. This makes it perfect for a year abroad as it makes it so easy to meet new people and it allows you to experience a different type of uni culture.

As for recommendations, I would suggest Burton and Garran as it is the cheapest and has a strong social life reputation. But if you are not looking to be back in a single bed, then I have friends who have stayed in Wamburun, where they enjoy double beds and TVs in their rooms (can’t say I’m not jealous), and they loved it. As for catered halls, Ursula’s is the cheapest and has a close-knit community. With Wright, you get your own balcony, so each hall has its perks. Finally, there is also the Lodges which are pricier but are arranged in flats for a closer experience to UOM halls. But they tend to not be as social so it may be more difficult to meet people if you don’t already know people in Canberra.