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O-Week and first week of lectures
By Tom Collins (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia). On my first morning at Burton and Garran Hall, I’m not gonna lie, I was scared to leave my room. It was the first time I realised I was actually on the other side of the world and had no one. When I finally did leave my room, I went over to the main block and we were all divided into groups of about fifteen and were taken on a tour of the city centre, which they call ‘civic’ in the same way we’d call it ‘town’. Each group bought food and cooked together and everyone shared the food. It’s a really…
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My time abroad so far!
By Grace Griffiths (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia) So as well as my video blog (which is my main blog so check that out if you haven’t!) I just wanted to write a little something something – mainly because it gives me a further reason to procrastinate from work, but also because I forgot to mention some stuff in the video. Firstly, the name of the tour guide to the Blue Mountains was Rod. He was great – your stereotypical outgoing, sarcastic, says-it-as-it-is Ozzie. I’ve noticed that a lot since being here. Australians keep it real, their humour tends to be quite honest and deadpan and I love it. Also,…
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Flight, Perth and Arrival in Canberra
By Tom Collins (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia). Having to wake up at 4:30am, I can’t say I was exactly excited (I love my sleep). This morning, as always seems to be the case with flights, didn’t go according to plan. My brother lost the car keys, but luckily my sister had stayed at ours that night so she took me to the airport! Crisis averted. The flight itself was so much better than I thought it would be. First was a seven hour flight to Abu Dhabi. I didn’t get to see much of Abu Dhabi as I just ran through the airport to get to the gate. The next flight…
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Pre Departure
By Tom Collins (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia) I finished my Semester 1 exams in Manchester exactly 2 weeks before I flew to Australia. Do not underestimate how much there is to do in this time. I had already sorted out my visa, insurance, flights, and accommodation long before this stage. You feel like you are planning for the trip forever! You’ll need a Student Non-Award (Subclass 575) Visa. It came through really quickly (literally within half an hour mine was granted), but you will need to pay ($540). You also need Overseas Health Cover (OSHC). Shop around for this, mine cost $192 for 6 months cover. The obvious task…
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Pre-departure Blog
By Grace Griffiths (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia) I want to go back in time and give past Grace a tap on the back for deciding to apply to study abroad. Recently, motivating myself to work has felt like wading through mud whilst carrying a panda bear. I don’t know why a panda bear – it was the first heavy thing that sprung to mind. I may be alone with the analogy but I know I’m not alone with the feeling – exam season can be a bit soul destroying for all of us. You can imagine then, how nice it is and how lucky I feel that as soon…
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Easter Adventure on The Great Ocean Road
By William Kelly (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia) The Easter holidays began and I was very fortunate to be invited on a road trip down along the Great Ocean Road. For those who do not know this, this 243 km of road along the south eastern coast of Australia between the cites of Melbourne and Adelaide. Our plan was to start from Melbourne and to drive down the coast till we got to Warrnambool. Then head back to Melbourne for some sight seeing and a night out. Unfortunately, the drive from Canberra to Melbourne is eight hours! I complain about driving from Manchester to London, but that is a laugh…
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Amanda Blog 9: Manchester, I am back!
By Amanda Chan (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia). So here I am, back in Manchester, typing up what might possibly be my last blog post on ‘Manchester on the road’. Even after being back in Manchester for a month, I still couldn’t believe how I have already finished my exchange in Australia. Anyway, let me update you guys on how I am coping. Questions to expect when you are back: How was your time in Australia? Do you miss Australia? Are you keeping in touch with your friends? How is it like being back? What is the biggest difference? As you can tell from my previous blog posts, I have…
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Amanda Blog 8: Recap and Reflection
By Amanda Chan (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia). Time flies, and exceptionally fast when you are having a good time. That is how I feel over the past 5 months, past year. It’s unbelievable that not only my time abroad in ANU, Australia has already come to an end, but also the year of 2013. Year end is always a good time to do some recap and reflection and this is what I am going to do in this blog, to look back into my exchange times. Here is a slideshow summarizing the things I have done during my time in ANU study abroad – slideshows For more details about…
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Amanda Blog 7: Exploring the capital of Australia
By Amanda Chan (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia). Do you know what the capital of Australia is? When I told my friends that I am going to the capital of Australia, the common respond I got was either “is it Sydney?” or “is it Melbourne?”. It is Canberra! Canberra was built to be the capital in 1908 as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne, the two largest cities in Australia. After spending time at ANU which is situated in Canberra, I have decided to explore the place and spread the words, so more people will get to know Canberra and the fact that it is the capital of Australia.…
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Amanda Blog 6: Places to go and things to do in Brisbane
By Amanda Chan (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia). After my adventure in Sydney (as mentioned in blog 4), my next trip around Australia was to Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. The cheaper, better way for us to travel to Brisbane from Canberra was to take a coach to Sydney then fly to Brisbane. As people have been saying, an advice is that the earlier you plan your trip, the cheaper the tickets will be. Brisbane was named after the river on which it sits, so the best way to tour around Brisbane is definitely along the Brisbane River. To make things more convenient and dedicate to a better Brisbane, the…
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Amanda Blog 5: Academic Experience
By Amanda Chan (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia). Just in case you haven’t seen blog posts on academic similarities or differences by other global ambassadors, let’s start with a myth buster. There is the myth or impression that exchange/ study abroad students don’t have to work hard, they can travel around and chill since all they need is a pass. I am not sure about other universities, but for most exchange/ study abroad students from UoM, marks from abroad are going to be converted and will contribute to your final degree grade in Manchester. So, always WORK HARD, PLAY HARD. I am glad that to me, the general outline of courses…
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Amanda Blog 4: My adventure in Sydney
By Amanda Chan (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia). As mentioned in my first blog post, travelling around Australia is one of the things I wanted to do during my exchange time at ANU. So why not start at Sydney, the iconic city of Australia and the biggest city closest to Canberra. So far I have been to Sydney twice during my time here, once to visit my relatives in Sydney and the second with other exchange students I met in Ursula. 18/7- 19/7 @ Blue Mountains – Jenolan Caves Instead of starting off in the city centre of Sydney like most people would do, I chose to begin my journey…
A study abroad journal by students, for students.
