Studying abroad is something that has always enticed me as an individual who loves travelling and exploring new cultures. My first extended period overseas in one location was Shanghai, China at the start of 2014, and ever since then, I knew this semester exchange would be the best thing I could ever do.
While I’ve yet to actually arrive in Milano, Italia yet (my host town), it’s amazing how well you can acquaint yourself with the city and the program before you get there. I have been talking on a daily basis to other UTS students who studied at my same exchange University – Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC), as well as getting to know others who are coming abroad from different countries to share my classes. Through the wonders of social media, I’ve met Americans, South Americans, Brits and other people from all over Europe, who will all be studying with me! It’s crazy to think that each of my classes this coming semester will be so multicultural.
In addition to this, my preparations have seen me do a lot of research about local shops, public transport, housing and accommodation etc. Without having even stepped into Milano, I already feel familiar with the city. Not to mention, I have even found myself some local friends that I met at a festival in Budapest, who are meeting me at the airport and are going to show me round. What a way to start my Italian trip!
Just to let you in on a little secret, I’m a Comms kid back at home, meaning I don’t have exams, which also means while you were all slaving away in the Great Hall (I think that’s where they hold exams?), I was already on a plane to Europe! Despite not being in Milano yet, I am very much in Europe and have been for the past two and a half months. In that time, I have covered fourteen countries! And what a blast it has been!
Anyways, as this is not the first impressions blog you were probably promised, I intend to write another and include very many pictures next time, but until then!
I will arrive in Italy in early September, in order to travel for a while before I need to begin semester at the Universita degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia. As I’m writing this post in anticipation of leaving, I’ll talk a bit about what I’ve planned! First of all, I’ll arrive late in the evening in Milan, where I will meet my cousin the next day. She has been travelling around Europe for a while now, so we intend to visit somewhere in Italy that neither of us has already seen – Genova. We’ll spend four days in Genova, exploring the old town, which is apparently palace-abundant. I believe that there are also some absolutely beautiful stretches of coastline, where I look very much forward to swimming and lounging on the beach.
Saying goodbye to my friends.
From Genova it’s straight up to Modena, where I’ll hopefully be able to find accommodation without too much fuss, but who knows? It could turn into a French (or should that be Italian) farce which won’t be at all amusing at the time but in hindsight will be absolutely hilarious. In Modena, I’m fully expecting to swan about eating gelato in the main piazza before starting classes at the end of September. I’m a little worried about these classes, as I’ve made the brave (some might say incorrectly, foolhardy) decision to study entirely in Italian. However, I am really looking forward to uni, making new friends and all of those other good things (broadening my mind etc.) My last two experiences at educational institutions in Italy were nothing short of amazing, so optimistic expectations are maintained.
My (mostly) packed bag!
Whilst in Italy, I plan on eating obscene amounts of pizza, not to mention sampling all of the local specialties (balsamic vinegar is one of Modena’s, I believe). Then there’s the shopping. Oh god, all the shopping. Genuine leather sandals and handbags, scarves, dresses, all hopefully on sale (being the end of summer and all that). My bag is now (mostly) packed, flights are booked, farewells are happening. I can’t wait to get over there, really. More than anything else, I’m looking forward to speaking Italian on a daily basis – what more could you ask for? At this point I am mightily pleased with my decision to study Italian all through school, as I’m now fairly capable of communicating in Italian, which will be helpful, I think.
The main reason I chose the global studies course at UTS was because it encouraged a semester of exchange, which I planned to take full advantage of, and despite several issues with the possibility of studying Italian with them, I am now about to embark on a terrifying/exciting adventure. So au revoir to Australia, see you on the flip side!
The city is cooling down already but the party spirit is just beginning. Introduction week at uni is just about to begin, where we have tours around Copenhagen organized, dinner reservations placed and salza dancing set. Then in the housing here we’ve got an ‘etagevandring’ party in two weeks time, where everyone on the same floor (~60 people) gets their drink on and the games begin. And then two weeks after that is the ‘gangvandring’ party, which is the same except with three times as many people and craziness.
As for today, a bicycle trip to enjoy the sun while its still around seemed appropriate. Destination: northern Copenhagen. First we found our bicycles:
And then we found Sweden (you might need to squint):
And then a marina. There were three marinas up the coast that I saw – northern Copenhagen is the real posh part.
And what posh location would be complete without a castle. This here is the Hermitage Palace. The castle grounds went on and on, with wild deers and other wild animals living in the area. At the other side of the palace I could count at least 50 deer grazing on the grass. I guess they need to eat an awful lot now to prepare themselves for the winter.
They also have horse carriages to transport people around the area. You can actually take a horse carriage (or walk) through the grounds to the theme park Bakken. The middle-aged people in this carriage were having quite a party.
And then the last stop was the Skodsborg park. It had a curious entrance through a tunnel underneath the train line. There were deers in here too, along with a large cute wooden forest.
Og nu, jeg glæder mig for at se hvor jeg finder mig selv næste.
Now before I tell you about how absolutely amazing Tilburg is as an exchange city (and this is only after 1 week!) I will tell you about my pre-exchange travels across Croatia and Greece.
After travelling for over 36 hours straight I finally arrived in Croatia with my girlfriend totally exhausted, hungry and confused over whether the currency was Euros or Kunas – turns out it’s a mixture of both! So for the next week we sailed the seas of Croatia, hopping from island to island, from party destination to party destination, all the while soaking up the sun. Croatia honestly has some of the most naturally beautiful scenery I have ever seen. From diving off a 51 foot yacht into crystal water, to swimming in waterfalls, to getting free shots in an ice bar, I have nothing bad to say about Croatia. Without a doubt I will be heading back there sometime in the future and I can definitely recommend it to those of you wanting to travel around Europe. Seriously do it!
So with my skin nowhere near as tanned as I hoped it would be after 10 days in Croatia we headed off to Greece to relax and party on the islands of Mykonos, Santorini and Milos. Mykonos was my first stop and personally I wasn’t the biggest fan of it as I was a bit underwhelmed by the party scene on the island. I was expecting Mykonos to be like Surfers Paradise on steroids, but it really wasn’t that special. However my disappointment with Mykonos was more than made up for by Santorini and Milos. You can’t really go past Santorini as one of the most beautiful places in the world and if you really don’t believe it’s beauty have a look at the picture below!
But as much as I loved Santorini, my favourite Greek island has to be Milos. Not one of the typical must-see places in Greece, Milos has a quiet charm about it that the other two islands didn’t quite offer. About the size of Mykonos and Santorini combined, you never have to worry about overcrowded beaches because more often than not you can have your own private beach.
The end of our Greek island travels basically meant the end of my pre-exchange journey as the next part involved me travelling through Greece, England, Belgium and the Netherlands all within 24 hours – the things you do to save a few hundred dollars!
I’m going to have to keep you waiting about my time in Tilburg, but if you’re still undecided about what uni to go to then youtube ‘Biercantus Tilburg’ – lets just say it involved 3000 people sitting in a hall singing Elton John and The Lion King drinking beer!!
On the evening of Tuesday I finally landed at Knoxville airport. After approximately 24 hours of travel I had made it. After being driven to campus via a student service ran by the university, I headed up to my room to go to sleep.
Over the coming days I met students from all over the world. Through orientation programs I have met students from countries such as Germany, Brazil, England, Sweden, Austria as well as a few fellow Australians. Notably (and probably unsurprisingly) us Australians have “clicked” very well with the English students, due to having a number of similarities.
After seeing the campus it was astounding to comprehend the enormity of it all. As well as there being first class teaching facilities, the extra curricular facilities are incredible. From the football stadium (capacity 102,000), the basketball stadium, huge library, gyms and swimming pools, it was safe to say it has been vastly different to UTS where there is no space for such buildings due to its location in the CBD of Sydney.
I have been happily surprised by the amount of support for college football that exists within Knoxville. The support for the team is enormous, with multiple merchandise shops. Everyone seems to be right behind the college/university and very proud to say that the college represents them. I would love to have something like this back home, however I’m not sure how well it would work due to our much smaller country. Neyland Stadium, home of the Tennessee Vols is where the games take place here, and I am really looking forward to having the opportunity to attend their games with a packed stadium. The atmosphere would be absolutely amazing. A few of my mates and I are also wanting to attend one of the away games at another college one weekend.
The whole Greek (fraternities and sororities) scene is rather interesting too. I am looking forward to seeing how they fit into the university as I’ve heard a lot of conflicting statements about their attitude and friendliness. I guess this is something I will find out over the coming weeks.
The transition to life here has been made quite easy due to a number of factors. These include the fact I am a native English speaker, and the Southern American people seem very nice, particularly to Australians and the English.
Classes started on Wednesday week. So far I have had my first class for each subject and so far it seems safe to say that the work will be easier than back home. Whether or not that is because I study a hard degree back home (engineering), or whether classes are generally easier here, I don’t know. I will probably gain a better understanding further into the semester.
In summing up this first week I would have to say that the university seems amazing and I have had no challenges so far in meeting people or feeling accepted by the city of Knoxville. It seems like a very friendly place and I can’t wait to spend some more time here!
Not the first time moving to another country and not my first trip alone either, but it is always a nervous thing to do. I am currently sitting in my new apartment in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Having been on a whirlwind for the past three weeks getting things organised and then flying out the country there was so much to do before I left. Passport applications for my UK one, packing my entire life away, selling tech gear to earn that little bit more money, printing and copying important documents, seeing people before I left, getting my study plan organised, running around Sydney feeling like a chicken without a head probably didn’t help all that much. Then an 11 hour flight at 7am to Korea, one night in Seoul City and then another 11 hour flight to Amsterdam.
But I made it.
And what a beautiful city it is! From the second I dropped my bags off at the hostel, and started walking round, I knew that I had fallen in love. Within the next three nights that I was there and walking round, it almost felt like home. Dutch people are polite, friendly, welcoming and all-round nice. The one thing you have to watch out for is every other human being in Amsterdam. To cross the road you have to watch out for the bike lanes that have scooters in them, the tram lines, the cars, motorbikes, trucks and buses. The Museum district has some beautiful architecture, with the modern art museum a huge building of glass and metal juxtaposed out of an old building. The north of the city contains no tourists from what I could see and was kept in pristine condition with houses, canals, bridges, windmills and parks that looked like they had stood the test of time and kept going.
Eindhoven by comparison is completely different to the bustle of Amsterdam. It is quiet, pristine and beautiful with everyone just going about their own business like there is no one else that matters. There is so many cool thing to discover here in Eindhoven that I am very lucky to have the next six months to discover them. The dutch language is very hard with their pronunciation of words that I know that it will be a challenge to learn.
I am miles away from home and loving every minute.
Over the last six weeks I have been travelling around the United States of America, exploring different cities and the American culture. It was not until my bus drove through the streets of Oxford, Mississippi that I truly thought to myself “I could stay here for the next 5 months”. The University of Mississippi, otherwise known as Ole Miss, is home to one of the most beautiful campuses in America, with a lovely mix of wide ranging grasslands and historic buildings. Upon arrival, I instantly felt the nature of the university and what it means to the people of the town. The school spirit is very much alive in Oxford, as I was greeted with an extremely enthusiastic “Hotty Toddy” by the welcoming crew awaiting me at my new home for the semester. It was a real pleasure to encounter such happiness in a group of people, and it did not stop at the welcoming committee. Although I was slightly worried at going to a place without anyone that I know and in an environment I was not familiar with, my mind was put at ease immediately as every person I would encounter over the next few days were glad to help me with anything I needed. I was invited to a variety of events and to peoples houses and through my exchange program I was able to meet numerous friends, and it has only been a couple days! There is a whole bunch of activities to do and places to see in the town of Oxford, whether it be walking down the ‘Walk of Champions’ on campus in the infamous Grove, heading to the square at night to find an electrifying scene of bars, restaurants and shops, or simply sitting down in the summer heat that can get to almost 40 degrees!
Although it hasn’t started yet, I can’t wait until the football season begins as from what I hear the whole town comes alive with school spirit and a sea of red flows across the streets to cheer on the mighty Rebels. Included throughout this post are numerous photos I have taken that incorporate what has been said above. Through the last couple days I have loved experiencing a new city, meeting new people and having a whole bunch of fun on the way. I would definitely recommend to everyone wishing to go on exchange to come to Ole Miss, as the school spirit and beautiful landscape are just too good to miss out on!
Wow, just wow. I seriously don’t know where to begin, I left Sydney at the end of June to come over and study Automotive Design at TU Delft in The Netherlands, and thought I would meander around Europe for a couple of months, often walking or doing things on a whim. At the end of last week my travels came to an end when I arrived at Delft with a twinge of sadness that my holiday had come to an end, completely forgetting that my real trip had just begun.
My holiday had already been so full of ridiculous and amazing situations, from visiting an modern art gallery with one of the cast of Lord of the Rings, meeting a couple of people that have shifted my perspective on life and work and the meaning of it all, hopefully for the better. To hiking through a forest in Norway with some friends and waterskiing on a freshwater lake shortly before midnight while the sun was still up and discussing the meaning and impact of pink floyd on the 20th century with some Turkish mobsters. Needless to say the entree before the main meal was something else.
This aside all paled in comparison the moment I arrived on the TU Delft campus. I had been planning on coming to TU Delft from the moment I got my acceptance letter to UTS almost three years ago, and to finally be here was one of the most satisfying moments that I will cherish for a long time, to remember that through hard work and determination I was able to make it here. To say this place is amazing, is to do it little justice, as a technology university it is incredibly, where the only degrees offered are bachelors or masters of science. When I finally purchased a bike and rode around the campus, to see a bunch of rocket scientists (aerospace engineering students) assembling a rocket on the grass purely because the sun was out, was one of the coolest thing ever and I truly felt like home.
This place is not for the faint hearted however. I can still remember the several orientation talks I went to whilst applying for exchange where students that had just returned from overseas were telling starry eyed students of their exploits and endeavours all over the world and several of them frequently mentioned the partying and relaxing culture. TU Delft is not the place for that. This is a serious place where people freaking love learning. Sure every faculty has a bar in their building, but I have the distinct impression it is merely to let off a bit of steam than to drink and party.
Delft itself is a small town in the south west of the Netherlands, about 1 hour and 20 minutes from Amsterdam and situated between Den Haag (The Hague) and Rotterdam, and is very much a university town jam packed full of canals, bicycles, blue and white pottery and people from all over the world to study some absolutely impressive things from biomedical engineering, to applied physics and aerospace engineering. People are seriously smart here.
One of the many canals I get to pass every day on my ride to and from uni. TU Delft Rowing teams frequently rowing up and down the canal.
I have just returned to my apartment on the south side of town about a five minute ride from uni after getting a tour of the industrial design engineering faculty. That is right, Industrial Design has its own faculty and building. At UTS the DAB houses Design and Architecture amongst many other lectures and classes from all over the university, delft however has a dedicated building to any of the three IDE strands of study that someone would wish to pursue here and to say that it is amazing does not do it any justice. Whilst on the tour I felt like a kid in a candy store, a candy store the size of an aircraft hanger.
Crossing the bridge to the IDE Building. Felt like a kid on Christmas morning.Outside the drawing rooms, they have all sorts of products inside to practice drawingInside the Industrial Design Engineering building
Being taken around the facilities with other students that had enrolled for the orientation program by current masters students of the faculty, it seemed that there was any and everything available to the students. From workshops that cater to machine made models, hand modelling work shops, all sorts of CNC mills, laser cutters and 3d printers and everything else under the sun it was nothing short of incredible.
This place is definitely a home away from home for those kind of students that love to learn and to be seriously challenged and thrown way out of their comfort zone. In short looking at the calibre of work around the walls and all throughout the building I am absolutely terrified, but at the same time I have never been more excited.
My brain generally makes about as much sense as a bag full of cats, slightly less so today as I am that bloody thrilled to be here.
PS: I completely forgot to mention that today during the facility tour we built towers out of marshmallow and spaghetti. Our group managed to build a tower that defied gravity and engineering and managed to come second with a hight of 1230mm from the ground to the top. The marshmallows were also delicious.
The team I was on, building our tower out of marshmallows and spaghettiSpaghetti and marshmallow tower
PPS: I am sure there are more than 143 different things that I have missed, omitted and or forgotten to include in this post.
My pre-exchange travels consisted of jumping from two very distinctly different regions of the world for no real reason but some strange path that appeared in my head. This included traveling from the south of Thailand up to Bangkok. From there to Slovenia and down through Croatia to Dubrovnik to eventually fly to Madrid where I will be undertaking my exchange. For this blog I wish to focus on my brief but amazing visit to Slovenia that I think was the highlight of my trip.
My first afternoon in Ljubljana (Capital of Slovenia) was after 26hours travel that included 3 flights in a row from what can only be described as the polar opposites of culture and landscape as my previous destination was Bangkok, Thailand. Arriving around 6:30 in the afternoon I was informed on check-in about a free language and culture night happening in the common area of the hostel. With just enough time to drop my bag in the room, I was straight off to explore a language that seemed very foreign to me. While sampling some local bread and wine a very charismatic and determined young Slovenian lady overwhelmed the diverse group with Slovenian words, structure and sayings.
Going around the room asking people where they are from she eventually asked me how do I think they spell Australia in Slovenia. My replay of ‘AJ UJ SJ…. ‘ did not seem to have the reception I imagined. Being the only native English speaker in the room my joke fell on deaf ears (I am using lack of understand as my defense against what was more likely just a very lame joke (possibly could be labeled a Dad joke)). I was not half wrong though with one ‘J’ appearing in the Slovenian work for Australia being ‘Avstralija’. After much more phrase learning we finally got the important part of the night. How to order a beer in Slovenian. With much practice I finally nailed it. Armed with the essentials I went to test out my newfound information on the locals. Unfortunately it did not work exactly as I planned, with the waiter at the first bar I ordered in, replying in Slovenian (much to my confusion) and then bringing out different beers to what I ordered. Easily please I was just happy to be close enough and considered it a successful first 3 hours in a new country.
For my first day I decided to make a trip up to Lake Bled located 2 hours north of Ljubljana. This allowed me a first taste of the Slovenia landscape. Nestled between Austria and Italy to the north and northwest, and Croatia to the south. This geographical location sees vast mountains, valleys and rolling green hills similar to that of a ‘Sound of Music’ backdrop. Upon arrival in Lake Bled you are immediately overwhelmed by the beauty and hit by a sense of contrast from the cozy cobbled city of Ljubljana against the pristine nature of Lake Bled. A day filled of swimming, amazing pizza and ice cream, and visiting a 17th century church that inhabited the island in the middle of the lake was enough to please this lonesome traveler. As the sun began to disappear it was time to head back to the capital to check out some nightlife.
Assembling a crew on the bus ride home we traded stories of past travels and quizzed each other on what was to come of the night ahead as none of us knew where to go or what to do. It was decided we were to meet at one hostel and check out some bars in an alternative area of Ljubljana. With some good food in our belly and a few beers in we decided to wander around for a funky nightspot. We searched aimlessly before stubbing on some music coming out of what can only be described as an abandoned building. With much discussion with a host out the front to find out what was going on we managed to enter the show for a reasonable 5euro with the only information extracted was that it was a hip-hop band from Belgrade. All I can say is when did the Beasty Boys turn Serbian. With locals rapping their hearts out you couldn’t help but be infected by the positive vibe of the room. With no understanding of what was really being said we all seemed to assume out own meanings and were able to blend and dance along with the enthusiastic crowd.
My last day saw me venture 2 hours southeast of the capital Ljubljana to a place called Postojna caves. This touristy destination is very touristy for one good reason. It is amazing. Traveling 5km into the cave by Indiana Jones style train cart, then walking 1km though the caves you experience vast cabins full of stalactites, stalagmite and columns that take thousands of years to form. It being a good 30 degrees outside I was defiantly not prepared for the 9 degrees inside the cave. My awe and amazement for the beauty of the cave provided no warmth for body which started to move into the early stages of hypothermia by the end of the tour. Shivering uncontrollably my only savior was a gift store that I had to awkwardly stand in and not buy anything while waiting for the next train to take us back out of the cave.
Having to move southwards towards Croatia I can say I had an amazing 3 days of miss interpretations (bad jokes), beautiful scenery and a Serbian hip-hop show. Slovenia a must do on any travel bucket list.
Have had quite an full-on start to my exchange trip here in Tilburg, and by that I mean full-on in the socialising department! Since I arrived 6 days ago there has been a party every night and the orientation week here (TOP week) is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. Kind of similar to uni games for those who have been, except longer and it’s all about beer!
The accommodation here is called “Verbs” (Professor Verbeneelan) and all of the exchange students live here. It’s right on campus and is great fun with 17 people on a floor (there’s 6 floors and 5 buildings) and always someone interesting and new to chat to at any time of the day. The rooms are also really spacious and new – much better than expected for student accommodation! My bedroom was even decorated with clogs!
Over the first few days of TOP week they gave us a tour of the city centre which is about a 10 minute bike from uni/home. I’d heard Tilburg was a small town, but the city centre is bigger than expected with heaps of shops and bars and cafes to explore. And everything is about bikes here, it’s basically impossible to exist without one and we ride to and from the bars/parties every night which is interesting for some of us less than experienced Aussies (particularly the way home)!
But i’d have to say the highlight so far would have to have been the beercantus! Which is basically like Oktoberfest, where 3000 students gather in a big beer hall, sing a song (english and dutch ones), drink beer, sing a song, drink beer… etc. Bit of a party theme going at the moment – apparently next week when classes start there is less drinking and more uni-ing once TOP week is over (but we’ll have to wait and see)!
