UTS Think Global

Bonjour de Montréal!

September 18, 2017
Today on 3^rd September, I’ve reached three milestones:
1. Finishing the 1^st week of classes at HEC Montréal.
2. Reached the end of the 2^nd week since arriving in Montréal.
3. It’s been exactly one month since landing in Canada.
Tip #1: Don’t let the weather get in the way of your plans

When I first arrived in Vancouver, the BC forest fires were still ablaze, so the blue skies were nowhere to be seen and while I walked around Stanley Island in Downtown Vancouver, you could just see the outlines of the mountains surrounding the city. However, just because the weather isn’t clear skies, it doesn’t mean you should postpone your trip completely. There are many locations to see besides the skylines, many restaurants and cafes to eat poutine, and so many historical buildings to take photos of that the weather won’t matter. So many Canadians wanted to see the Canadian Rockies this summer but didn’t because they were afraid the haze from the BC fires would ruin the view, and they sorely missed out on the BEST views ever (see all the pics in this blogpost)!

Tip #2: DEFINITELY travel around Canada during Summer

While I’m excited about seeing the snow, ice-skating, skiing and watching the Montréal Canadiens play ice hockey, I really loved travelling in Summer when the weather reached 30 degrees Celsius. It’s a great time to wear your shorts and t-shirts while you can, and the views of the natural landscapes on the walking trails are breathtaking! You’ll also get to see some wildlife while you’re walking around (I’ve seen deer, bighorn sheep, and countless squirrels, chipmunks, pikas, Canadian geese and hairy marmots). I’d recommend going to popular tourist destinations such as Lake Louise and Mont Royal either before 8am or after 6pm, you’ll deal with less tourists getting in the way of your selfies and you’ll get to relax more.

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Tip #3: Arrive at your host university city before the start of semester

After my 3-week trip visiting countless mountain ranges, lakes and glaciers (yes, I said glaciers), spanning Vancouver, Whistler, Jasper, Banff, Lake Louise, Kelowna, Toronto and Niagara Falls, I hopped on the plane to Montréal, arriving there one week before semester started. I’d strongly advise this, as it gives you time to settle into the city. I joined the HEChange Welcome Week, and I LOVED it! The HEChange committee members did a fantastic job creating this hectic but adventurous schedule around Montréal, and I’ve met many new friends from countries such as Belgium, France, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Germany, China, Mexico, Chile and Australia (there are 10+ Aussies here). I’d have never thought I’d do jet boating on the Lachine Rapids! I’d absolutely recommend joining up for this package.

As I reflect on my experience so far, I can honestly say that going on exchange to HEC Montréal is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life, and you should definitely take the opportunity to study here!

Bonne journée !

Claire Lindsay (12745788)

Bachelor of Business

HEC Montréal, Canada
Two Weeks At TU Delft

September 18, 2017

After the two-week introduction program has finished yesterday, now I definitely know what it means to study at one of the top 10 universities in the world. I’ve experienced four introduction programs in my life, including TU Delft’s, in four different parts of the world and as a local and international student, and I would say with no hesitation; TU Delft has taken it to a whole new LEVEL!!

I wanna start by telling you why I chose to go for exchange. Honestly, I saw the exchange semester as an opportunity to take courses that I am personally interested in and are not offered at UTS (I know it’s different than why most of you plan for exchange, especially bachelor students!). For that reason, I decided to visit a couple of European cities before I start my semester especially that it’s hard to find time to travel during the semester as the semester is basically two quarters here at TU Delft which means more pressure!

Since TU Delft is located in a small, but historic, student town, I felt like it’s gonna be somehow boring especially that I’ve lived all my life in the city center of big cities. However, I literally did not have the time to think about that since I came here. To better describe the Introduction program IP, I will start with talking about the IP app! The app is basically the platform where you can find all the activities, parties, events, etc! I first signed up for a shuttle service which is a free ride from the airport to the welcome desk at uni at which i got the keys for my room. Then using the app, I signed up for all the activities, parties, trips, small tournaments, etc for the past two weeks. During the past two weeks, I’ve been sailing, wind surfing, swimming, pub-crawling, partying, playing tennis, football (soccer in Australia!!), and beach volleyball. I also went on trips to other cities in the Nederland; Rotterdam and The Hague. All these activities are completely part of the IP.

Through the IP, I signed up for two local and international associations. Also, through IP I was linked to different travel agencies who offer relatively cheap trips world-wide! As for visiting other European cities; tomorrow I will relive the good memories I previously had in Amsterdam (But now not as a tourist!) with some friends and I’m planning to visit my cousin in Paris, my friends in Barcelona, Geneva, Brussels, Milano, and Florence. One last thing, I have to mention that the food here sucks! If I exclude Stroopwafel (which is basically two baked dough with a caramel-like syrup filling in the middle), there is literally no traditional food here to remember!

Finally, I look forward to experiencing the project-oriented courses here (which I personally prefer!) with the official master kick-off next Monday. I would strongly recommend TU Delft to whoever is willing to put some effort during the semester in exchange to a remarkable REAL INTERNATIONAL environment!

Fahmi Abu Baker

12663694

Master of Engineering Master of Engineering Management – Structural (MEMEM)

Delft University of Technology – TU Delft

The Netherland
G’Day from the Netherlands!

September 14, 2017

Hallo (that’s hello in Dutch in case you were wondering), my name is Chelsea and I am currently on exchange in Tilburg for my final semester of my law degree!

I have just finished week 2 of my exchange at Tilburg University, and even though I’ve only had 5 hours of classes in the past fortnight, I absolutely love my new life here! Tilburg is an amazing student city, it is a town with the most bikes per capita I’ve ever seen in my life, and is in such a great location to travel on your days off. As someone who learned to ride a bike two weeks before she moved to the Netherlands, I am happy to say I have had no accidents (however, a lot of bruises).

Some of you may be concerned about moving to a non-English speaking country however, that was one of the things that attracted me to Tilburg – moving to a country with a different culture. I can’t speak Dutch; my language-learning abilities are so bad I don’t think I’ll learn more than 5 Dutch words by the time I leave, so thankfully everyone here can speak English exceptionally well, and are eager to show it off.

When you arrive at Tilburg University, you are set up from day 1 to ensure you have the best experience possible. Like most European countries, Tilburg University goes hard on their O-week, which they call TOP week. You are put into a group of around 20-25 exchange students and 2-3 mentors, and have one of the best weeks ever. The week is all about making friends, eating meals together, having daily activities including going to a water park, and a festival filled with inflatable slides and games, and being able to party at different venues at the end of each night.

But the best activity by far is the Cantus, where you spend the afternoon drinking beer (or rosé beer if you hate beer like I do), singing songs, and drinking more beer. By the end of the week, you make so many new friends from so many different countries. But as all good things come to an end, you wouldn’t be wrong to be worried your close-knit group will start to drift apart as classes start. I*ESN (the Erasmus association in Tilburg) ensures you don’t lose contact by organising weekly dinners every Tuesday where you take turns cooking with a few other groups, and then go out to a different themed party.

It’s time for me to tap out and do some readings for class, feel free to contact me for more information about Tilly. I hope you weren’t reading this to get information about classes, because I haven’t really gotten to that part yet!

Chelsea Payne

11698836

Bachelor of Business Bachelor of Laws

Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Things I Didn’t Expect…

September 13, 2017

My experiences getting to Denmark, Aarhus and my first day there.

A grey day in Aarhus, it looks like the model railway buildings I used to have as a kid.

It was far easier to apply and be accepted for exchange than anything else to come. This process, at the time felt a little full on with meetings, various hoops and forms, not to mention the worries of where I would be accepted. This was really nothing compared to the difficulties and expense in actually getting myself over here.

The visa was very expensive to apply for. When planning your expenses, the first real thought will be, I need to get my plane ticket, early – so I must have some money from somewhere before my government loan comes through. While it was around $1500 for a return flight to Denmark, the visa application process for me (applying for a new passport too) ran aver $1000 – a rude shock and somewhat unplanned for by myself.

It takes foooooorrrrrreeeeeever to get overseas. We live in a country far away from anywhere it seems, well except Asia, but that can still be a 7 hour flight. I, as you probably do know this, its something else to experience. I had the joy of a flight split into 4 legs, Sydney > Bangkok > Dubai > Copenhagen > Aarhus, equalling roughly 40 hours of travel. Yes thats right 40 hours! I am not an easy sleeper too. On the plus side this actually helps get over jet lag, as when you do sleep your body clock is pretty much shot.

Being organised when traveling is a must. Seriously, it is. This means if you’re not typically organised (like me) you have to be a little over the top. This means printing copies of travel flight docs, maps of terminals and I even wrote a cheat sheet with flights, locations and times. This was not only helpful when navigating around (particularly when languages are not always in English) but the process of making such a cheat sheet allowed me to better recall and memorise flight details. I have missed a flight before in my life. This is incredibly expensive, even if you’re allowed to go on standby (still costs some $$$), but if you have a series of flights to catch it is a huge deal. Don’t under estimate how much this will ruin your trip.

A wifi enabled cafe, plus I found a model railway! See the little buildings? They’re also featured at 1:1 scale outside on the street

Free wifi is everywhere. Use it! One great feature on my phone with google maps the is the fact that it will continue to work after i have lost wifi signal. It won’t be able to search for locations or plan the trip, but the pin that is me on the map works off satellite. This means you can plan a journey while at a hostel, or Starbucks and then follow the maps. Be careful it can clear from time to time randomly, so I would advise taking screen shots of starting and finishing locations and an overall.

Take screen grabs of locations when you have wifi so you can find your way back later.

A Visa alone was not good enough. I needed to register for a kind of citizen number upon arrival to get a card. You get used to finding out the is more and more red tape in the way of things. Roll with the punches and learn to love queuing up.

Coffee in Denmark is waaaaay expensive. anything between $7-$10 a cup. They think its quaint if you complain about it, actually complaining generally isn’t a great idea when you arrive in a new country.

You sometimes have to pay to use toilets. They have a coin slot in the stall doors or in some cases a subway style turnstile to get in at the front door. I’ve encountered these at railway stations and in the shopping centres. Carry coins (for busses too)!

English is almost universally known here, older people less so than younger. But everyone seems to understand me when I launch into english at the shop counter. I am pretty sure this is okay to do as I’ve heard that asking if they speak english can be considered a rude assumption. Not 100% on this yet.

Yes its a little basic, and lets call it for what it is, depressing to arrive in an empty, worn room – but you’d be amazed how far some furnishing will go and check out the green outside!

Student dorms are basic but do the trick. Get a thick skin, add some personal touches and you’ll be fine.

Thats it for now!

And more of that model railway for you fellow buffs out there!

My new favourite cafe!

Jeffrey Tighe

10343453

Master of Architecture

Aarhus School of Architecture

Denmark
Uppsala Universitet

September 13, 2017

Hej!

I’m currently settling in to life at Uppsala University in Sweden following 6 weeks of travel around Europe. This has been my first trip to Europe and I’ve had an awesome time. Some highlights of the trip so far have been Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, riding motorbikes along the south coast of France, and Tomorrowland in Belgium.

I’ve been in Sweden for just over a week now and it’s really nice to settle down in one place after a hectic few weeks. I’m living in a student accommodation area called Flögsta which is made up of 16 buildings chock full of international students and Swedes. It’s also home to the ‘Flögsta Scream’, where all students yell out of their windows at 10pm every night, which I’m told is for the explicit purpose of stress relief. The accommodation here is based on traditional Swedish corridor living, with 12 individual rooms in each corridor sharing a kitchen and living area. My corridor is made up of a heap of fun people from all over the world and a few Swedes from different regions and I’ve really enjoyed sharing meals and learning about their different customs and worldviews. People seem to have very idyllic preconceptions about Australia and all they want to talk about is how many sharks and kangaroos I’ve fought.

The town of Uppsala itself is really cool, there’s a lot of history around and the Swedish government puts a lot of money into upkeep of the historical areas. Everything centres on the river and the Cathedral, which is the oldest in Scandinavia, and all the streets are tight and colourful. Because Uppsala is a university town, this means that all the university buildings are spread throughout this city centre and I’m looking forward being able to ride my bike to class through all these areas.

Anyway, I’ve had an awesome first week in Uppsala and I’m really looking forward to the next 4 months, bring on winter!

Hamish Gates
98076502
Bachelor of Accounting
Uppsala Universitet
Sweden
Tokyo: Day 1

September 12, 2017

Hello!! It’s my first day in Japan and I think I went from ‘I really like it here’ to ‘I kind of want to go home’ in the span of like, 10 hours. Apart from that, and the apparent need to snapchat what I’m doing every five minutes, I think I’m okay.

Maybe I should back track a little.

The university I’ll be attending is Meiji University in Tokyo. The visa process went really smoothly and I was honestly very surprised how quickly it was processed. I ended up buying a SIM card in Sydney before I left. It’s rechargeable on a monthly basis so it’s quite suitable. What I neglected was packing, which I left very last minute. I suppose it was because it took a while hit me that I was actually leaving and home wasn’t a train ride away? Fortunately, I don’t think I’ve forgotten anything (I haven’t finished unpacking) and the dorm that I’m staying is is really convenient. I also bought a polaroid camera especially for this exchange because I felt it was kind of fitting. Hopefully I use it lots!! I’m pretty bad at remembering to take photos…

I arrived in Tokyo around noon today. While going through the check-ins I had to get a residency card done and I was once again horrified at my ID photo. Otherwise leaving the airport was quite smooth and I made my way to my dorm.

My dorm is very nice!! It’s a sharehouse system with individual rooms. Also there’s wifi, which I’m extremely grateful for because I thought I was going to be stuck using an ethernet cable. The only downside would be that the toilets and washrooms are shared. The showers are also coin operated and timed at around 10 minutes of hot water per coin, which means no more half an hour showers for me. The dorm provides you with a map to the stores nearby but personally I feel like it’s really hard to read. Google maps is actually amazing. The neighbourhood is so nice as well!! I really like it here.

Despite everything, I miss home. I think it’s because I’ve realised that I’m on my own in an unfamiliar place? Also, I’m not sure how to go about meeting new people. Earlier today I heard someone outside my door so I just stayed in my room until I heard the voices pass, which I suppose isn’t the point of going on exchange and getting out my comfort zone. I left my room eventually and ended up bumping into one of my sharemates. She’s really nice!! I’m really glad that we talked and that it wasn’t as daunting as I thought. I think meeting new people should get easier from here. Hopefully by the next post I’ll be nicely settled in.

Orientation hasn’t started yet but I’ll be looking forward to that!

Leanne
12599078
Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication
University of Technology Sydney
Japan
BYE FOR NOW,SYDNEY & HELLO, SINGAPORE

September 12, 2017

About a year ago, after I finished my first semester at UTS, I started to question myself what do I want to do before I graduate. I realise I want more than just passing all my subjects and getting a certificate after three years. So, the word ‘exchange’ pops into my mind, as I believe I can explore different cultures and have unique experiences during the exchange programme. To be honest, planning to go on an exchange is so much harder than I thought. There are lots of research and paper work to do, such as finding direct equivalent subjects, budgeting and getting all the required documents ready. The process of preparing to go on an exchange is long but time files and the day of leaving Sydney had arrive. I was so scared and excited the night before departure; scared about leaving my comfort zone and excited about starting a “new life”.

My “new life” begins with catching the same morning flight with my three exchange buddies who also studies at UTS and have put Singapore as their first preference for the exchange programme.

Me & My lovely exchange buddies

After we have got our luggage and bought our sim card, we caught an uber to the NTU campus as we all live on campus but just at different halls. My new home is a double- bed (shared) room with air-condition at Hall 12 (located at the north of campus). After settling at my new home and bought all the essentials, it is time to explore Singapore and Nanyang Technology University.

Nanyang Technology University is so big and it has everything you need (e.g. supermarket, convenient stores, gym, Maccas etc). Luckily, I haven’t got lost but it does take a little bit of time to figure out where the lecture and tutorial rooms are. There are many food courts (aka canteens) at the campus with variety choice of food (e.g. Korean, Indian, Japanese etc.), not to mention, most of them are very cheap compare to Australia. Enrolling to the subjects is more difficult than I thought but with the help of the officers at NTU, I manage to enrol to all the subjects I need.

Even though I have only started my new life for three weeks, I have already visited many places in Singapore and eaten a lot of delicious food. And here we go:

Fireworks on the National Day of Singapore (9/8/2017)

Visiting Sentosa a day after we arrive (Sentosa Merlion & Me)

Visiting Singapore Botanic Garden with Friends

Visiting Singapore Botanic Garden

Brunch @ PS Cafe Orchard Road With My Girls

Lunch at NTU

Durian: Fruit that you either love it or hate it

Classic Breakfast @NTU Canteen

Dessert @ Lady M (Delicious crepe cake)

First chicken rice in Singapore

That’s all for now~I am looking forward to explore more in the following semester!!! STUDY HARD,PLAY HARD & TRAVEL HARD!!

(I must say thank you to my father. With his passionate about travelling, I have got a chance to travel at many courtiers when I was a child and with no doubt, Singapore is one of the them. I wish I can be the tour guide and take him around Singapore this time.)

Siu Victoria Wing Ki 12584619

Bachelor of Communication

Nanyang Technological University, Singaore
Made it to Berlin

September 11, 2017

After almost 2 months of following the Mediterranean Sea, I have finally made it to Berlin where I will begin my exchange semester. I am definately very happy to be here, although I can’t say that I wont miss the warmth of Southern Europe.

Travels in Croatia and Morocco

Although I visited Berlin a few years ago in winter, this is my first time in summer, and my first time as trying to experience Berlin as a local. I have been here for 2 days now and here are my experiences so far:

Firstly, I noticed how cold it was compared to all the places I had just been during my travels (Croatia, Spain, Morocco). It’s only the start of September and already I need to wear a jacket and long pants! I thought it would get to experience a warm Berlin for once! I am both excited and scared for how this weather will progress..

The second thing I noticed is that everyone here actually spoke the language of the country I was in – again, a difference from south France and Croatia where all I saw were tourists. It definately feels more authentic to be surrounded by locals rather than tourists.

I hadn’t moved in to my apartment yet so I stayed in a hostel which was only €10 a night, but was quite amazing. It had its very own artist in residence who made sculptures and artworks which were on display in the court yard. I also joined a “food market” tour from the hostel which took us to a very international food market, with stalls from Nigeria and Uraguay. The Berlin meatballs however, were the tastiest. (I find that I always learn the word for delicious during my travels. In Morocco it’s “ladid,” in Germany its “Lecker.”)

A church and markets in Berlin

The next day I moved into my apartment on Sewanstraße, which is part of the student housing. My room is absolutely enourmous and I’m in a great area that’s walking distance from 2 Aldi’s and 2 train stations.

I live in a very suburban area, and so the old saying “oh don’t worry, everyone in Berlin speaks English” doesn’t really apply. Which is actually a good thing because it gets very frustrating when you are trying to learn German and everyone keeps answering your questions in English! But anyway, my favourite experience so far has been helping an old German man on a park bench book his flights with Ryanair, and then proceed to have a 15 minute broken-german conversation with him. He is a 67 year old opera singer, who called me crazy for leaving Australia, but admitted that there is no better city in the world for young people than Berlin.

Just a tip for those wanting to come to Berlin/Germany on exchange: be prepared for the intense German Beurocracy. I had to go to a post office and get an ID check just to get a prepaid SIM card. Make a copy of your passport and carry it around whenever you need to apply for anything.

Daniel Condon

12617181

Bachelor of Science in Analytics

Technische Universität Berlin

Germany
What it’s like to live in Montevideo

September 11, 2017

Welcome to Montevideo, Uruguay!

In Spring 2017 I became the second ever Australian to study on exchange at La Universidad de Montevideo, a beautiful university situated more or less in the city centre of Montevideo.

As I reflect on the first month here, I want to be careful in how I sell it. This is a unique experience, unlike any other; both the challenges and rewards are greater than a more common choice of Europe or America, perhaps.

Uruguay is by the majority considered the safest and most progressive country in Latin America, with warm and friendly people to welcome you. The university itself is growing its presence on the international scene, doubling its intake of exchange students from Autumn 2017 from 40 to 80.

In the first month I have had the opportunity to travel within the country of Uruguay (which holds incredible beauty in itself without obtaining the reputation it deserves) while crossing the Rio de la Plata by ferry to Argentina to spend a weekend in Buenos Aires.

Bachata and Salsa dance class

Recreation Park

Trip to Solis with Professors

In terms of challenges, the main one would have to be the language barrier. Given Uruguay isn’t as involved in international affairs as it’s neighbours (due to it’s small population and low tourism presence), very few members of the population need to speak Spanish (and therefore don’t). Therefore, a basic knowledge of Spanish going into the placement is highly recommended. Fortunately, the university offers reasonably good quality English-speaking classes for you to study, so don’t consider a deficiency in Spanish as a reason to pass up this incredible opportunity.

In terms of reward, you can expect to be the only Australian at the university, which brings with it a sense of intrigue for the locals to inquire about our great nation. As mentioned by my predecessor, you can expect to have the opportunity to drink “mate” (pronounced “martay”), a mildly bitter tea that you can find everywhere. Further, there are ample opportunities to play football with the university and with international students, and I’m sure you will have the opportunity to watch Uruguay play at Estadio Centenario, the scene of a couple of famous matches involving the Socceroos.

A typically Uruguayan and Argentinean BBQ (known as an asado) is a specialty, and you will have the chance to practice your dancing at some of Uruguay’s dancing academies – believe it or not, many Uruguayans believe the Tango is a dying art, being replaced with Bachata. Salsa is prevalent and loved by many. Depending on what type of experience you want, you can certainly find it.

I share the view that when all is said and done, Uruguay is one of the best exchange decisions you can make just because it is so different. It will take you to new heights as a person and challenge you out of your comfort zone. This is all while being on the doorstep of one of the most beautiful continents on the planet!

I highly recommend this to anyone searching for something completely different.

James Hepworth

Student #: 11971316

Bachelor of Accounting

La Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay
Living the Canadian Dream

September 7, 2017

The start of semester is almost here, a fact I’ve been happy to avoid thinking about during my month of travelling en route to Toronto. Going on exchange has already brought me to some amazing places and introduced me to some awesome people.

My trip started with a week in Los Angeles, where I visited Santa Monica, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers and spent more money shopping than I care to admit. I then flew to Vancouver for a Contiki tour of the Canadian Rockies. All I can say is WOW! The scenery is unbelievably beautiful and the villages are like streets of fairy tale cottages surrounded by mountains.

In Whistler, I rode the gondola, went zip-lining, paddled a canoe in a Canadian lake and explored the village. Next stop Jasper, filled with lakes and more mountain scenery. I went white water rafting on the Fraser River, visited the reflective Pyramid Lake and went on a boat cruise of Maligne Lake (cue more blue water). On the way to Banff I visited the Athabasca Glacier and completed the day with visits to Peyto Lake, Moraine Lake and Lake Louise. I could never get sick of those views.

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After a week in the incredible city of Vancouver, I finally caught my flight to Toronto, my new home. To arrive in a bustling big city atmosphere like Toronto after a few weeks surrounded by mountains was a shock but a good one nonetheless. Toronto is like Sydney in many ways, with a waterfront space, universities, business buildings and Chinatown all located in the downtown area.

Within a day of arriving in Toronto, I had met ten new exchange students for drinks through a Ryerson organised Facebook group. Each day we have explored the city together, with new people coming along each time. On the second day, we cycled around Toronto Islands and chilled on the beach with people from France, Germany, Netherlands, Canada and Australia. We have also explored the Kensington Market area, exploding with vintage shops. Our group went to the baseball and enjoyed the atmosphere of thousands of dedicated locals who love their team.

One of the best experiences so far was the start of O’Week. DJ’s, photo booths, pep rallies, cheerleaders and dance offs at basketball games are just some of the events which have taken place already. One great reason to choose a North American university for exchange is the university atmosphere and the school spirit here. Everyone at the basketball wore their Ryerson t-shirts and cheered for their team. I guess I better get myself a hoodie and join in the fun.

I can’t wait to move into my dorm this week and meet more exchange students. Oh! And go to class…I suppose that’s what I’m here for! Until then, more adventures await.

Michaela Curry

B Business B Creative Intelligence and Innovation

Ryerson University

Canada