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Building a Life Abroad
By Tara Brougham, University of Melbourne, Melbourne It’s coming up to the time when many lucky people will be finding out their exchange placements, and looking forward to embarking upon an overseas adventure. Reflecting on my exchange year in Melbourne, I have put together this short guide on building a life abroad. The first few weeks of exchange will be a whirlwind of meeting new people, getting to grips with classes in another academic system and all the (sometimes boring) life admin you have to do to live somewhere new. The vast number of things I needed to do once I had arrived in Melbourne was overwhelming, so the aim…
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Coffee Crawl: Uncovering Melbourne’s Hidden Gems
by Emily Fujii Kyriakidou, The University of Melbourne, Australia. Hey fellow caffeine lovers! If you’re on a quest for the perfect pastry to go with your latte or just a cozy corner to chill between classes, you’re in for a treat. Here’s my roundup of Melbourne’s comfy cafes that won’t break your bank.
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A Covid Farewell
By Lauren Howie, the University of Manchester Like many people on exchange this year, I didn’t get the send off I had anticipated. In our pre-covid fantasies we imagined a month of BBQs on the beach, sunset hikes and cocktails at those bars we just hadn’t got round to visiting yet. The reality couldn’t have been more different. PHASE 1: MOVING OUT To begin with Australia wasn’t too badly affected by the virus. While the UK infection rates were rocketing, Melbourne was yet to record a fatality. But we couldn’t predict what was round the corner and staying in Aus during a pandemic seemed risky, not to forget expensive. With…
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The Highs and Lows of 2nd Semester
By Lauren Howie, the University of Manchester After an incredible 4 months off uni, the stress of essay deadlines, 9ams and rushed breakfasts has become a strange and distant memory. Before coming out to Australia I was anxious about my second semester. Would I have friends staying the whole year? Would I need to find a new house? Would I be ready to go home?
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Back to Manchester
By Anna Powell (University of Melbourne, Australia) I thought that returning to uni after a whole year away would be tough. This year counts for 67% of my final degree (a little different to last year’s pass or fail requirement!) and over the summer I watched loads of my friends graduate from Manchester. I’ve been a little concerned about adjusting from a pass or fail year to my crucial final year as well as wondering what would remain of my social life back in Manchester. Despite my concerns, returning to Manchester has been fine, great even! There are far more people around than I had expected; it turns out that…
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Reflections on my year in Melbourne
By Anna Powell (University of Melbourne, Australia). I know that everybody says it, but I can’t believe how fast this year has gone. It’s been over a year now since I was saying goodbye to friends and family and boarding a flight to Australia, feeling somewhat unprepared and apprehensive about what to expect when I would land over 10,000 miles away from home. I remember my arrival as a whirlwind of activity. Melbourne Welcome Week was intense; I stayed at Trinity College with other exchange students from across the world and we were shown the city by local students. It was such a great few days, but after it had…
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Western Australia and Ningaloo Reef
By Anna Powell (University of Melbourne, Australia) During the Easter break I was lucky to have my parents visiting Australia. After a very stressful few weeks of deadlines, my mum, dad, sister, boyfriend and I flew out to Western Australia to enjoy two weeks of snorkelling on one of the most spectacular coral reefs on the planet, Ningaloo. After a 6 hour flight (Australia is so big!) we arrived at the smallest airport I’ve ever been to, Learmonth, near Exmouth. Apart from boasting the new addition of a cafe, it was literally a room with arrivals at one end and departures at the other. We hired a car and made…
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Academic Differences at Melbourne
By Anna Powell (University of Melbourne, Australia). For me, studying in Melbourne has been very different to studying in Manchester. Considering that Australia is such a young country, Melbourne University is one of the earliest established and prestigious universities in Australia, and Australian students have to perform insanely well in order to make it into the university. Those who make the cut take Melbourne Uni life extremely seriously, they really do STUDY and the atmosphere is highly competitive. As an exchange student (who only needs to pass the year!) I’ve found myself working harder than I ever did in Manchester just in order to keep up with my classmates. I…
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And so the Melbourne Adventure Begins!
By Anna Powell (University of Melbourne, Australia). So my arrival in Melbourne was, how do I put it? Surreal. Armed with the address of Glen, the brother of a family friend (tenuous connection, I know) who had kindly said I could stay with him and his family for my first couple of nights in the city, I announced to the taxi driver at the airport that I was going to ‘Caulfield South’. My jaw dropped when we finally arrived at the address. Glen’s house was a massive, modern home, charcoal grey and with huge, two-story windows. Inside was no disappointment either. After being warmly greeted I was whisked into their…
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Off to Aus!
By Anna Powell (University of Melbourne, Australia). Preparations: 07/07/2013 Leading up to my departure the time has flown by and the only thing on my mind has been moving to Melbourne. About 10 times a day I stop what I’m doing, look at/text Mum and say something like: “Toothbrush! I need to put toothbrush on the Australia list!” As you can imagine, ‘The Australia List’ is getting rather long and I only have a few days left now to tick everything off. This, along with trying to see friends and family as much as possible, is making me feel a bit hassled. I wish I’d sorted my packing out much…
A study abroad journal by students, for students.
