UTS Think Global

Sport and exercise students making an impact in the Maldives

December 22, 2014

A group of ten UTS Sport and Exercise students accompanied by lecturer, Nathan Renwick, have just completed a three week trip to the Maldives where they taught soccer and netball clinics and ran swimming classes and sports injury workshops. A wonderful time was had by all and below is an earlier update from the trip from student Melanie Boudib. More to follow once the team is back.

“Our travels began with 3 plane rides and a bus ride to our guesthouse, and after flying in at night, we are not at all prepared for what treasures lay before us on this island.

The 4.30am call to prayer wakes us from our air-conditioned slumbers, and marks the beginning of another day on an island full of colourful buildings and even more colourful locals, surrounded by impossibly blue waters . After months of anticipation, a week of frenzied packing, and a long 24 hours of travel, we are finally here.

Our first few days are full of exploring, and before we have even started teaching we’ve already toured the island with our gorgeous and hilarious in-country partner Suna and her husband Misbah, who is a never-ending fount of local knowledge and adventures. Then, of course, there is Bonda…Maldivian soccer star and the one who has consistently cracked us up with his quiet jokes and constant “Aahaaa”s. We’ve also played a soccer match in the local stadium, spent hours snorkelling the amazing reefs, visited the school we’ll be running sports camps and health workshops in for the next 3 weeks, launched ourselves into the stretch of ocean we’ll be teaching swimming in, and had numerous bike malfunctions which have just added to the adventure.

On our 3rd day it feels like we’ve known each other forever, and it’s finally time to start running the sports sessions. The kids are shy to start, but by the end of the 3 hours they’re running around happily. Despite the heat that sees us Aussies sweating rivers before noon, the soccer and netball stars on the court don’t want to stop, which is surely the sign of a morning well spent.

Our health workshops don’t start until after the weekend, so we have a nice long break in the middle of the day until swimming coaching starts. These hours are generally wiled away riding bikes, climbing coconut trees, fishing with the ‘Captain’, or playing ball in our front yard. Then it’s back to what I hesitate to call work, wading back in to the water to teach a younger group how to swim. It’s surprising to see the varied skill levels of the kids, but by the end of the second day we’ve found our groove and everyone’s having a lot of fun kicking, splashing, and laughing their way through the 2 hour lessons.

The first week here has been a constant adventure. We’ve played countless sports (a Human Movement student’s dream), ridden our bikes til the pedals fell off (literally), and we still have twice as long to go. Every night we exclaim how amazing this place is, and how long it feels like we’ve already known each other. We can’t wait to see what other treasures this island holds, and we’ve definitely befriended the right people to help us find out.
The WU Experience

September 12, 2014

Hello! My name is Maria and I’d like to tell you a bit of my BUiLD experience in Vienna. As part of BUiLD international, I participated in the 25th anniversary International Summer University program at the Vienna University of Economics and Business; simply known as ISUWU. I attended the undergraduate July program for 3 weeks. It was my first time traveling to Europe, let alone by myself. Having said that, I can honestly say that it was the best experience of my life. Traveling overseas to represent UTS was the wisest decision I could have ever made before graduating.

The WU ISU program is an academic and intensive summer course where students undertake 2 subjects. My courses were about HR systems and Online branding, which were 2 very diverse and interesting topics.

Furthermore, the program extended beyond the academic opportunities. It was also about gaining international experience, opening myself up to global friends and networks, immersing in the Viennese culture, discovering my potential and limits, and more importantly, having fun!

The coordinators made incredible effort to ensure our experience was first class by getting us out of our comfort zone. These included doing a high ropes course, a 1-5 hour hike to the high mountains of Vienna, beer and winery lessons, dirt-covered laser tag, and experiencing the Viennese nightlife.

Watch a video highlighting Maria’s WU experience.

Maria De Paz, Global Short Programs Student

ISUWU July 2014
D is for DENMARK! (and also decisions)

September 9, 2014

It’s been exactly one month since I was on Sydney soil, and what a month it has been. I couldn’t think of how to condense thirty days into one blog post so instead I’ve decided to invite you into a normal day as an exchange student in Aarhus. 🙂

08:00. Wake up hungry as usual. Food is very expensive here and the Danes love to eat healthy so I am having trouble adjusting to the loss of my usual Sydney diet, which consists of Messina at least once a week. I make toast for brekky but not Aussie Wonder White!! Ha no this toast is Danish rye bread and it is the densest, darkest stuff you can imagine. Packed full of seeds this is a Denmark staple and the supermarkets sell a million different brands of it. Every single one I’ve tried so far has been DELISH. I take it to school in my LEGO lunchbox, bought on one of our fun international student field trips to Legoland!

09:00. Hop onto my bike and cycle to school. Bikes are an absolute must for anyone living in Aarhus I can’t stress this enough. Every month there is a special auction where the police sell all the lost & stolen bikes for (semi) cheap. You’ll soon realise nothing is ever truly CHEAP in this country! My bike is a bit rusty but she’s pink and gets the job done. It can be a bit overwhelming when you go to the police auction, as there are about 300 bikes for sale! I recommend going around and checking the brakes/back wheel before making your bid. I was lucky enough to get my second choice of bike, but don’t forget that they add 25% tax on top!!! That can come as a shock at the cash register.

10:00. Arrive at the Danish School of Media & Journalism (DMJX). When they call it a school they mean it! Class runs from 10-3, five days a week. I feel like I’m back in high school, but not in a bad way necessarily. Its very different to my two nights a week UTS schedule but think I’m learning more, faster since we often have a lecture then do the practical in the same day. My class is standard journo ratio – 18 girls, 2 boys. One of the two – Morten – is Danish. He was our introduction to the special brand of irony beloved by the Danes. They have a very black sense of humour which takes some getting used to. But don’t be scared by the sarcasm!!

12:00. Lunchtime in the American-style cafeteria!! DMJX is relatively small. There are approximately 800 students at the Aarhus campus, of which around 50 are international students. As a result we all hang out with each all the time, and now I can say that I have friends from EVERYWHERE! Today I eat with students from Lebanon, Ukraine, South Korea and Norway. It is so fun to swap stories about our home countries. We talk about going out, about the food we eat, the music we listen too. Through these 50 individuals I am understanding more and more about the world.

15:00. (side note – Danish people use 24 hour time, so switch your phone time now in preparation!) Ride to downtown Aarhus to check out whats going on. Bars and restaurants line the canal with Danes enjoying their preferred drop. Tuborg vs. Carlsberg is a very real conundrum here!!! I personally prefer Tuborg (no aftertaste!) but Carlsberg is more widely known internationally. I grab a kanelsnegl (AMAZING danish pastry, a cross between a chocolate croissant and a cinnamon scroll) and sit in the park, in the shadow of the famous Aros museum. I’d buy a season pass to the museum as it works out cheaper if you want to go multiple times. You can share with a friend, so its worth the 300 kroner (60 AUD) investment!

22:00. I titled this blog post Decisions because I’m only 3 weeks in and I’ve already decided that coming to Denmark on exchange is one of the best decisions I’ve made in my entire decision-making life!!! I feel fairly confident that you will feel the same. But don’t listen to me – come and try for yourself 🙂

– Kate Thorburn
Funsterdam

September 7, 2014

An Australian, an Englishman and a Dutchie walk into a bar. There’s no punchline to follow though – that’s just an everyday occurrence here on my Exchange experience in beautiful Amsterdam.

Typical tourist canal shot – it’s gotta be done

I arrived in Amsterdam dazed as all hell after a total of 32 hours in transit. Running so I wouldn’t miss the last airport pick-up service by the International Student Network (ISN), I eventually found my fellow students. As we were about to board the bus, however, I noticed I suffered from the acute condition of Left My Bag Back At The Airport and was forced to brave both rain and stern police officers to get it back. A great first impression.

I finally made my way to my new home, the infamous flats of Weesperstraat. I was immediately blown away by the grunginess of it all; most of my new flatmates were local Dutch students that had been living there for a while, so they’ve managed to really make it seem like home. This also means that I’ve already gotten so many useful local tips from them.

Weesperflats

The following week was a blur. The Introduction Week organised by the ISN was really top notch; enough wholesome activities to keep us busy during the day and enough partying in the evenings to last a liver’s lifetime. We were organised into groups of ‘about twenty’ (we weren’t too good at doing headcounts to check if we had lost anybody) led by two local Dutch students, and with butterflies burping out of our mouths and entire constellations in our eyes, we soon made friendships that have already been admitted to having the potential of lasting forever.

ISN Group 17, what whaaaat?!

HIGHLIGHTS!

Tuesday

The Scavenger Hunt through the city allowed us a rudimentary understanding of how the city was laid out and we all treated the experience as a sort of Speed Dating experiment, with everyone in the group continually bouncing off each other in an attempt to meet everyone else and to and establish mutual interests and connections. Later we found ourselves at Amsterdam Roest, an incredible warehouse/industrial area turned hipster haven, for the ISN Summer Festival. The night ended with my ISN group running into the dance group – who had all just performed not hours earlier – in the car park and engaging in what I can only call The Best Dance Battle Ever. Our record currently stands at 1 – 0.

Wednesday

Waking up groggy for the first time here (we had better get used to it), we were treated to a canal cruise throughout the city. Later in the evening was the Eurodinner wherein students brought in food and snacks iconic to their country. I’d like to say that everyone enjoyed my selection of Tim Tams and Fairy Bread, but I was too busy having a boogie to notice what happened to it. Leaving a club with a plate of pasta was truly a unique experience, however.

Jodi from South Africa, at Roest

Thursday

This was a day of mental stimulation as we tackled a Dutch Language Crash Course head on. We learnt basic introductory phrases and lamented our inability to produce that harsh, gutteral ‘g’ and ‘ch’ sound that Dutch people seem so fond of. We later had a pub crawl through Rembrandtplein, one of Amsterdam’s famous squares, which included the favourite international student haunt Coco’s Outback Pub. Is this really what everyone else thinks of Australia?

Friday

After such a packed week, waking up early to play sports seemed like a terrible idea. Eventually we made it, however, and as usual it turned out fantastic. Also as per normal, our ISN group dominated much of the competitive games. The final day of the Introduction Week meant that a big final party at Melkweg was organised and people were jittery with excitement. The final day of such a week also meant that this evening had me and my English flatmate drinking tea at 11pm, trying to perk us up. Naturally, we stayed til close at 5am.

Melkweg, or The Milky Way

The weekend was spent mostly in solitary recovery and Monday was met with the excitement that there was still a week til classes started. We were left to organise our own adventures now, and it was brilliant. We sampled Amsterdam’s coffee culture and made trips throughout Vondelpark. We bought our bikes and belled angrily at tourists. We had nights out and we had days in. I still have moments, walking by a canal, where I look up at the beautiful architecture of the city and think to myself, “Holy crap, I’m in Amsterdam!”

And there’s still five whole months left of it.

Botanical Gardens
NDSM Werf
Beautiful patch of green a few minutes from Weesperflats – so gezellig!

Joseph Bautista

Photo credits: Maria Morris and Ross Warwick
Exchange in Sweden 2014 – The Start

September 5, 2014

After travelling around Europe (so exhausted) I have finally arrived in Sweden and have officially begun my 6 months of exchange at the KTH School of Architecture. It has been a rough week getting acquainted, setting up my room and organizing all the student based stuff, but its naturally slowing down and I am starting to ease into university life.

So far I have found the Swedes and the many other worldly exchange students to be incredibly kind and accommodating and I have to say the Swedish language is quite beautiful, it is spoken like a song, in a way. The nature of university work in Sweden is not that much different from back home at UTS and the people are just as motivated and willing to produce good work and the students have created a learning environment that helps that, so getting to know new people and making friends has not been hard, even at these early stages.

Its pretty amazing how similar we all are, regardless of our differences. I really hope that I can, in my break times, travel around this beautiful country, meet tons of new people and really delve into their culture.

I can’t wait to tackle the next 6 months and create a lasting and worthwhile set of memories and experiences.

Anthony Dakhoul
Masters of Architecture, UTS
Greece & Turkey, before España!

September 4, 2014

I’ve only been in Madrid for a few days and I am loving it already! The food, the culture, everything is just so great! These first few days have been quite crazy, what with all the enrolments and looking for a flat. There is still so much of Madrid that I am yet to see, and classes don’t start until next week, so I will write briefly about the past five weeks of traveling through Europe.

I started off in Greece, visiting Athens, Mykonos and Santorini for a week and absolutely loved it! Here is a short video that I made to capture the trip:

After Greece, I went to Turkey for a week, stopping at Istanbul, Cappadocia and Pamukkale! Here are a few of my favourite photos from the beautiful country that crosses over two continents!

I absolutely love traveling, and here is my take on it:

As a Communications student, I’ve studied topics like intercultural communication, covering verbal/non-verbal communication, low/high context cultures, cultural dimensions, etc. However, no amount of studying can truly prepare you for the real thing, not that intercultural communication is particularly difficult, but books are not everything.

It’s when you’re placed in situations with cultural differences, language barriers in particular, that it becomes hard. You learn to never assume, but as contradicting as it sounds, you also learn to read people. Just by watching expressions and gestures, you slowly start to pick up some words. Then, it just gets easier and easier with each new word or phrase that you learn.

You can either wait until you’re thrown into these situations, which may be during work meetings, job interviews, etc. OR you can go out and put yourself in them, to build your own confidence and communicative skills.

This is what I love about traveling, the learning process. You learn so much about yourself, finding new interests and hobbies. You also learn so much about everyone and everything. Not only do you learn about the countries where your new travel buddies are from, but you also learn a crazy amount about the country that you’re traveling. All those times in history lessons, when you can’t remember the names of the emperors and the dates which different monuments were built, everything seems to come together when you are seeing the actual site, rather than just a photograph of it. Everything just makes more sense when it’s right there in front of you.

But most of all, you learn to never take anything for granted. Simple things like fresh water, hot water, toilet paper, warm clothes, etc. They all become a gift when you’ve had to live without them, and you learn to treasure everything that you have.

I also travelled through Italy and Switzerland before coming to Madrid! More photos and posts about my travels pre-exchange can be found on my personal blog:
http://www.wineglassesboardingpasses.com

– Gabriella Kwok
Mannheim University – Rebecca Tarbert

September 4, 2014

I have now survived my first week of university. The lectures weren’t all too different from those back home although none of my classes have any assignments, just one final exam with a weighting of 100%. ATM I think thats great because It takes the stress away and means I can enjoy the semester abroad, but I think ill be very panicked when it comes down to exam time. I also went to my first organised party this week, the Welcome Party put on by the student group VISUM, the theme was raise your flag so everyone wore their nations flag as a cape which I though was cool, I spotted only two other aussies. Below are two photos, one is of me and some friends at the welcome party, the other is a photo of me at the main entrance to my university.

REBECCA TARBERT, UNIVERSITÄT MANNHEIM, FROM UTS SYDNEY
Not quite on exchange… yet !

September 4, 2014

My year abroad does not begin until October 1st so I only left Sydney 5 days ago!

The last 5 days have been unexpectedly interesting with many more highs and lows then I ever could have imagined! First I travelled to Helsinki for 2 days (a little tip, always know the way from airport to hotel so you do not get lost!) and now in Berlin for one month before moving onto Innsbruck, Austria.

Here are a very few snaps of what I have seen so far!

Tara Jovovic
Fashionably Late in Milan

September 4, 2014
After an incredible two months of travelling, I was pretty excited to settle down in one place. Milan is known as the industrial, economic and fashion capital of Italy and isn’t renowned for it’s beauty like Florence or Rome is. Despite no Colosseo, Milano has it’s own beauty: the incredible Duomo which is so breathtaking in real life, Parco Sempione where it’s buzzing during the day with the locals soaking up the sun and dancing to live music, which, not to mention surrounds the historical Sforzesco Castle and the picturesque Navigli, where the canals are surrounded by bars and restaurants.

The stereotypes are true: the lines are long, bureaucracy is slow and public transport is always late. However, despite these inefficiencies I am loving Milan:
- aperitivo: pay 8-10 euro for a cocktail and get access to an incredible buffet spread
- gelato: no where can beat Italy for gelato, especially when they drizzle warm chocolate on your ice-cream that melts and tastes incredible
- luini: Milan’s most famous panzerotto (made of raised doughnut and a traditional Neapolitan pizza on the inside!) where you line with the locals for a cheap bite
- aperol spritz: a very typical Italian drink
- coffee: somewhere in Europe that finally does decent coffee!
Less than a week living in Milan, it is incredible to think how easy it was to adjust to my new home. Whether it’s admiring the incredibly dressed (and good looking) Italians at my host university (Bocconi University) or drinking an espresso standing up, it was easy to adjust. I decided to stay in the student housing provided by the university (Residenza Acrobaleno) and it is so nice to have my own space and bed after hostel-living. It has also made it so easy to make many new and amazing friends from around the world! Classes haven’t started, but there isn’t a second to spare – this week I’ve either been exploring the city, attending an Italian crash course offered by the university (very useful considering not that many people speak English that well and it’s so much fun speaking another language) or at an organised orientation event. Another aspect that makes Milan a perfect choice is it’s location being so central to everywhere in Europe. I’m looking forward to more travel – starting off with the international exchange group organising a trip to Lake Como this weekend to Oktoberfest in a couple of weeks! It’s pretty cool to look at the ryanair website to see offers for flights from 19€ to Barcelona! Not to mention, plans to go to Sardinia! I couldn’t be happier with my choice of university, city and country; and having spent two weeks of my two months in Southern Italy I shall leave you with some pictures of what this amazing country has to offer:

a più presto!

Vivien Tse, 11204310
Living and Studying in Stockholm plus a little bit of travel

September 4, 2014

I have just moved into my new place which will be my home for the next 5 months while I study at KTH, Stockholm.

Despite the major housing difficulties that Stockholm faces, the university has been excellent in matching exchange students to rooms. I live in student accommodation just 20 minutes from KTH I have my own bathroom and the kitchen is shared amongst 12 other students living in the corridor. I am fortunate to be living in a very friendly environment where our living area is a perfect place to relax and share a few coldies.

KTH is a really impressive university in many ways. They have been excellent from an administrative point of view and I have hardly had to lift a finger and the paperwork has been a breeze. In other areas, KTH is a rather sociable university each ‘Chapter’ (a section within the student union) runs their own facilities, common rooms and bars. They are often great places to study, relax and also attend parties. Academically, KTH is one of the highest ranked engineering and technical universities in Europe and based on the content of the subjects I am studying the expectations and attitudes of the professors certainly matches the high ranking.

Prior to moving to Stockholm I was able to do some travel in Europe. My guess is that if you are considering going on exchange this would be one of the major drawcards of applying. In Europe I visited Portugal, Spain, Hungary, Poland and Latvia. The benefits going to these somewhat less known places is that there are fewer tourists and everything is much cheaper! All these places were great with a diverse history and culture and I would especially recommend Eastern Europe.

If you are at UTS now about to apply for exchange, please do it. I attended three different information sessions in consecutive semesters and found the application process too much of a hassle before I finally applied to go on exchange. So don’t be one of those people who misses out on the opportunity of a lifetime and make sure you apply!

Robert Gibson

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