4 Months in

Sorry it’s been so long since my last post. Having arrived in Melbourne on 20th July, I started University on the 22nd and haven’t managed to stop until now with exams all done.

So what’s Melbourne like? In a word, great. There’s more to do and see than you could hope to in a year. However, living close to the centre of what is regarded as the World’s most liveable city definitely offers tempting distractions; sometimes too distracting, which can make the prospect of studying and working seem less interesting than it usually does.

Studying abroad will challenge your time management skills as you balance studying, working, meeting new people, seeing new places, enjoying downtime and keeping in touch with everyone 10,000 miles away!

Without doubt, the best advice I can give anyone coming over is to prepare as much as possible, be sure that your student finance is all sorted before you arrive, Getting in touch with them in the UK is hard enough, let alone on the other side of the world! Learn a bit about Australia before you arrive, so you know where you want to travel to and how much it will cost – make sure you bring plenty of money over. Australian living costs aren’t cheap, if you want to travel make sure you have some definite plans. However, getting a job isn’t particularly hard here and everyone seems to do it.

Is Australia that different from the UK? It’s a question that a lot of people continuously ask me; and the answer is yes. Before arriving in Melbourne I’d spent time in London which I thought was about as multicultural as a city could be. Melbourne however, is by far the most ethnically diverse place I have ever been and could ever imagine a place to be. There is even a bridge that connects the North and South side of the Yarra river that details all the immigration facts from every country into Australia. Any kind of cuisine you could ever want is here, and probably some you don’t know of yet.

Australians happen to be the nicest people I’ve met; striking up a conversation on the street with someone is not uncommon and walking into any shop, pub or restaurant you’ll find the customer service is friendly and hospitable.

Anything that surprised me in a bad way about Melbourne? Just the weather to be honest. As I write this now, the rain is pouring outside and the clouds have been relentless for the past week. Keep in mind that it’s nearly summer over here! However, this is apparently just a Melbourne-thing, everywhere else seems to have great weather.

 

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my first 4 months in Melbourne and look forward to the next 8! I’ll be able to keep this blog updated more regularly now I have some free time on my hands. Time to start preparing for holiday travelling! Apparently New Year in Sydney is meant to be pretty good.