Yesterday saw five girls attend the third workshop for our 2011 sojourners. Ane, Joanne, Amy and Emilly … and Elise in the photo below.
Below is Elise getting ready for her semester in Italy. The group reflected on their predeparture kaleidoscope of emotions — euphoria, anxiety, curiosity and delight. Have fun!!! And we hope it is a life changing event.
Murdoch students, Kyran, Danielle, Sylvie, Amy, Simone, Conor, Luke, Zachary, Ross, Riku, Morgan, Oscar, Julia, pictured here with Carole Rakotonirina, from Murdoch International – preparing to depart shortly for Ireland, the UK, the USA, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Japan, Austria and Greece.
Gross croc shop in Kuala Lumpur. Stayed here 2 nights with my mate Daz from Campus East. Broke up the 22 hour Air Asia flight to London.
This is me in London. No shit!
Technically this is Vatican City, but I didn’t have a guide book for there. Visited Genoa, Rome, Arezzo, Florence, Pisa. Ate real pizza (do not get napoli pizza). Gelato is god’s milk.
Beautiful is an understatement.
Communist-era meal in a Polish ‘milk bar’ in Warsaw. That purple stuff is beetroot soup, can’t recommend it.
Dutch cheese shop.
Me: “how do you keep out the mice?”
Dutch cheese shop owner: “we have a high standard of hygiene and cleanliness here.”
Humour didn’t translate.
Our first bike trip to another town! Nijmegen is about 20km away and it took us a few good hours. On the ride home we decided to get a six pack each. It took longer, but seemed quicker. The Dutch have hard buttock muscles. Our second (and only other so far) bike trip was to Utrecht, some 60km away. Took us six hours (minus beer). Decided to get the train home.
In our study week we visited Germany. This is in Munich, where crazy guys surf in a canal on water straight from the Austrian alps. The wave never ends. Did not give it a try.
The ‘beer challenge’ in Munich. Yes, drinking beer is part of the culture Mum. Beer is considered food here, and is legally drank on streets, trains, banks. Think this is my fourth liter. Pretty sure the twizzle sticks weren’t put in by the bar staff.
Eating my first escargot in Brussels, Belgium. Loved Brussels and Bruges. Can see myself coming back! Also visited Antwerp and Ghent.
Helping old man Heineken out in Amsterdam. Did not know a beer museum could be so fascinating! Maybe it was the space cakes…
To be continued. Anyone interested in more photos or stories from any of the travels (this is but a taste) just let me know and I’ll be more than happy to add them.
In Arnhem, the Netherlands, all the exchange students live together in a five storey building called Honigkamp. Feel sorry for the neighbours! Every Sunday night we organise amongst ourselves to host a national dinner – so far we’ve enjoyed Mexican, Spanish, Turkish, Hungarian, Canadian and of course Australian. There are only two Aussies here, myself and Kristie from Brisbane, and we represented very well. Vegemite sandwiches (Aussie chocolate!), self-made lamingtons (did you know one key ingredient is only found in Australia?), fairy bread and Kristie passed out before midnight.
The photos are of: Dutch Stephanie trying Vegemite; Kristie; Mexican night (complete with moustaches and tequila); the family Turkish dinner; Batu cooking his spring roll thingos.
Segment from my short-lived blog ‘WilliamintheNetherlands’ (http://williaminthenetherlands.wordpress.com/wp-admin/). August 11. Traveling in Krakow, Poland, a month before my exchange in the Netherlands starts. Not really a cultural story, but a traveling story nonetheless. Some swearing.
As expected, my drunk room mates entered at about 4am. Loud whispering, back slaps and yahooing – the usual sh*t. There were 2 groups, one French and one English, who it seemed had been drinking together. My other sober room mate was a girl. The sh*t lasted for about half an hour. I woke up early – 6:45 – with plans to visit Auschwitz. If you get there before 10am it’s free entry (ie you don’t need a tour guide to get in) and the bus leaves at 7:50.
HOWEVER: I noticed my shorts were in a different position to where I’d left them last night – closer to my neighbours bunk. I grabbed them and checked my wallet and camera. Camera was there, but my wallet was missing 50 euro. I waited a minute then went apesh*t. OK, so leaving my wallet in my shorts was lax of me, but it was right next to me on top of a cupboard. I shook the guy on the middle bunk awake. They were English. I tell him I’m missing 50 euro. Back and forth a few standoffish comments (f*k you where the f*k is my f*king money). He showed me his wallet, and it didn’t have much in there. By then most people are awake but I had the upper hand – no hang over. I asked the guy on the bottom bunk (f*k you where the f*king is my f*king money). He was a lot quieter, but again, no money in his wallet. By now I’m realising there will be no end to this – how do I identify 50 euro as mine? The guy on the top bunk starts mumbling ‘where’s my wallet?’. I stood up on the ladder and told him to look under his pillow (f*k you, look under your f*king pillow like all your f*king dipsh*t friends did). He pulls out a camera case but no wallet. F*k. I return fire with the middle bunk man, who insists they aren’t thieving tossers. Top bunk guy pulls out a $20 note from his camera bag. A $20 AUSTRALIAN note! “You f*king…” I grab the bag off him and find my 50 euro, along with some coins and a locker key. I gave him the once over, gave his mate in the middle a once over, packed my stuff and went to the bathroom. Now that I’d recovered I still needed to make it to Auschwitz. After my quick shower – heart still beating a 100 times an hour – the thief is waiting in the lobby. I’m glad that I’m taller than him. He says he’s sorry, but he can’t find his wallet or his locker key, he thinks his key was in his camera bag. After much unhelpful comments from me (f*k you I took your key – you’re the f*king thief!). I let him look at my wallet where the dumbarse thought I had his key. Of course, it was in my pocket. I left smiling that he was going to lose his 20zl deposit.
So I woke up this morning to find that it had snowed last night!!!
It has been so cold here in Storrs that it was bound to happen soon. What baffled me is that some people were still walking to class in jeans and a jumper! The wind here is so cold that it cuts through that sort of clothing and freezes your soul. Nah i’m exaggerating a little there. Everyone in my class this morning had a good laugh at me as I walked in with my big snow jacket and beanie, they just said its gonna get colder, and I believe them.
Seeing the snow is making me look forward to some snowboarding trips and Christmas with my mate and his family in Vermont.
I’m really excited about the snow and I can see how the winter would be unbearable without it here, it makes the bitter cold worth it.
From L to R: Lisa, Elisa, Luke C, Luke B, Sahil and Matilda
Another bunch of enthusiastic and energetic students getting ready for their sojourn to Canada, Spain, Switzerland, UK and USA. Enjoy your study abroad experience!
Hi
For those of you already on exchange, the next group of students is about to join you – already we have had a post ( thank you Wollongong!) from some one in pre-departure mode, and there will be more to follow as Murdoch and Macquarie students join in. For those just getting involved – you will receive an invitation from Greg Downey at Macquarie to join the WordPress blog (that’s us), and after you accept it, you will be able to register and log in to OzStudentsAbroad. Before that point, you can add comments to any one else’s posts, but you can’t actually start a new post…
Now we have people both in country and about to depart from Australia – do you new guys have any questions you would like answered ? You have the perfect opportunity to quiz people in the very countries – maybe at the very schools – you are about to visit.
And for those of you who have been away for a while – is there anything you really wish someone had told you before you came? something you absolutely have to share with new comers? Advice on accommodation/ clothing/ friends/ habits and customs/food/ public transport/relationships … can’t think where to stop really! Maybe you have accumulated junk you don’t want to take back but which you might like to pass on? books and texts? we could get an online international swap mart happening! It would all be useful and all in the name of making the experience better all round.
So – now is the time to get into the blog in a more interactive way – maybe get some conversations happening and make some connections.
Jan
Apologies for the lack of post. I have been in the US (specifically UMass Amherst) for about 2months now and I have noticed a lot about America, laughed a lot at American things and ranted A LOT over American short-comings. I do try to stop my self if I notice that I’ve been ranting/complaining for the last five minutes straight, I tend to do this to my American friends and I wonder if they even understand why I’m annoyed. I think, just for therapeutic reasons, I will list the irritating things that I so much love to rant about:
Okay I’m done. forgive. I’m sure there are a lot of things that my American friends would love to rant about me…I think number one on the list would be that every time I see a squirrel I can’t suppress the urge to yell SQUIRREL! and point. I think that probably stopped being cute about 20 squirrels ago. I think this is what is great about exchange, being immersed in a culture that sometimes irritates you so much you just wish so bad for someone to offer you a cheeseybite scroll instead of PB&J but loving it so much all the same…
Hat’s off you to American, damn do you make my eye twitch sometimes but I will concede you sure are good for a laugh.
I couldn’t help but add my photo of a squirrel that sat long enough for me 🙂 *points* SQUIRREL!
It finally arrived
My passport arrived yesterday. Now all I’m waiting on is the German acceptance package so I can apply for a VISA. And accommodation. And then I have to do so much else, like booking flights. So one could say that this photo sums it up. A huge mess.
It also shows that I’ve got a lot of crap on my desk. I have a lot of stuff in general which I just won’t be able to pack. Like my 20+ band shirts or my 10+ pairs of shoes. I’ll definitely have to take Dog. Dog is my toy dog that my aunt gave me when I was a baby. He’s named after Dog in Footrot Flats.
I’m not sure what else to write about. Except that I’m doing this post to avoid a little bit of study before I go to work.
Like my friend Renee said, exchange is an awesome procrastination tool.
Oz Students Abroad 