G’day mates! My name
is Grace Brustad and I have been given the wonderful opportunity to travel to
Australia for the spring semester of my Junior year, with my teammate Kylie! We
both, independently, decided to go to the University of Wollongong and then
together decided to be roommates at Weerona College, our dorm. Here’s a look at
what our life is like ‘down unda.’
Arrival and
Eventually Settling Down:
February 11th was departure day. I was very nervous, but of course very excited at the same time.Around 4pm I headed to the airport looking more confident than I felt. I made it to my gate and took off, landed in LA, and survived the 14hour flight to finally be in Australia! J
February 13th was arrival day. From the airport, the IFSA-Butler team brought me and a group of other students studying in Australia to a hostel. IFSA-Butler is the program that Kylie and I did everything through, application, payments, classes, etc. Here, I met up with Kylie and Kristi from GWVB. This is where we had 4 days of orientation! Orientation was like a giant vacation! We got a tour of Sydney, saw an indigenous aboriginal show, went to the Blue Mountains for a hike, went to a zoo where we got to pet a Koala, and ended with a sunset cruise and dinner on the Sydney Harbor. On our 4th and final day of orientation, we woke up early and headed down to Wollongong while everyone else went to their respective Universities.
February 16th was move-in Day. A day just as
stressful as move-in day, freshman year except, different. Instead of being
worried about passing our fitness tests, we were worried about getting around,
making friends, and getting our new lives abroad situated. Fiona, who Kylie and
I call, our Aussie mom, is our IFSA program director. She is in charge of
students at this school. She brought us to lunch, showed us the shops, and left
us to it! We explored the town for a bit, did some shopping, but by time we
were ready to head back we were a bit overwhelmed. We were in a new country, we
didn’t know much about the area, and we almost took the wrong bus home, oops! We
eventually found our way, but I am very grateful to have Kylie with me on this
adventure because I don’t know how I would have done it alone!
Classes
February 26th Classes commence. I was very
fortunate to be able to take two classes that count towards my Management
major, and two classes that counted towards general education classes. I enjoy
the classes I have chosen very much and have heard great things from my friends
in other subjects. Classes are different here. Lectures can have 70-300
students depending on the level. Then you also have your tutorials, which are
small groups of 15-20 student per class. You have each of those only once a
week.
February 26th Classes commence. I was very
fortunate to be able to take two classes that count towards my Management
major, and two classes that counted towards general education classes. I enjoy
the classes I have chosen very much and have heard great things from my friends
in other subjects. Classes are different here. Lectures can have 70-300
students depending on the level. Then you also have your tutorials, which are
small groups of 15-20 student per class. You have each of those only once a
week.
Soccer
UOW has a club football team that Kylie and I joined and we
had our first game Sunday April 8th! We played Thirroul, a nearby club,
Kylie scored and even played outside back! We won 5-0, and had a great first
game together as the majority of the players are new to the club and haven’t
played together before! The girls and the coaches are very competitive but are also
good sports which is fun to be a part of.
Travel
Our first trip was to Gerroa for Surf Camp. We spent two
days surfing and got 6 total hours of surf lessons! Both Kylie and I stood up on
the board and we both had a blast. The instructors were enthusiastic and the
food wasn’t half bad. On long weekends, a few of our Australian friends have
been kind enough to bring us to their homes and show us around. Emily brought
us to the Blue Mountains, near Sydney, and showed us Scenic World where she
used to work. We got to ride the skyway, cableway, and railway all for free
which was amazing because they views are gorgeous there. The Blue Mountains are
named as such because of the blue haze the eucalyptus trees produce. Elise from
Sydney brought us to her holiday house in Kiama, which is 45 minutes south of
Wollongong. Kiama was like the cute little town you would have your cabin in
but with the best beaches ever. She also took us to her aunt’s house where we
got to pet and feed her horses! Next we are going to New Zealand for Spring
Break, meeting up with Kristi in Gold Coast, and when my mom comes in June we
are going to Cairns and Brisbane and ending in Sydney!
This trip has been fantastic, and I am excited for the rest
of my time here. I have a lot to more to learn and I hope to be back
again.
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