Experience report
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Name:
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Exchange semester:
Academic year:
Host University:
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322958
Laurens Peters
laurenspeters1993@gmail.com
Semester 5
2014-2015
University of New South Wales
Australië
TOPIC: Admission, arrival, housing
My arrival was organized decently. The university supplies you with numerous on-campus
accommodation details which, if they are within your budget, are easy to book and make life
very easy for you on arrival. They pick you up from the airport however the introduction
week is very poor. Mainly because I arrived during their winterbreak and therefore the
orientation week (O-week) is not very big. The accommodation provided ranges from rooms
with shared bathrooms/kitchens, to American dorm-style buildings with personal rooms
equipped with kitchen and bathroom. They do not provide a lot of information if you’re
planning on living off campus. In that case you just have to book a hostel in Sydney and see
from there.
TOPIC: Location of university/city
UNSW is located to the south of the city centre and to the west of a nice beach named
coogee. The beach is a 15 min walk and the city is a 20 min bus ride. You can do almost all
sports on campus so that’s great and there is a lot to do down in Coogee. Otherwise just take
the bus downtown and really there’s too many places to name to eat/drink/dance. The best
thing about Sydney is the lifestyle, not the things to see. Nothing better than going surfing
after lectures and then going to a bar in Bondi watching the sun go down over a couple of
brewski’s. Tilburg in comparison is small with barely anything to do, once you’ve been here
half a year you’ve seen it all. Sydney never ceases to amaze.
TOPIC: Academics
I took courses that seemed interesting though UvT did hamper me in that because of their rule
about “practical” courses. I chose Innovation and Entrepreneurship because they have you set
up your own business. Something UvT doesn’t offer. Management Accounting 2 because it is
a more advanced course for accounting which I am interested in. The New Europe because it
involves a bit of history, something I think we should learn more about. Lastly I chose emarketing because marketing is fun and the digital world is fastly becoming a marketeer’s
most important channel. UNSW offers way more courses and the academic level is slightly
higher than at Tilburg. Plus they challenge you more; no resits, a lot of assignments, more
case studies with critical thinking. Overall I’d say I learned more there than in Tilburg.
However for such a huge university their resources can be very poor (nr of computers,
opening times library, UNSW website). The campus is huge though with a lot of buildings
for accommodation, a big gym and swimming pool, a student bar and a vast number of
lecture buildings. These days they have invested a lot to make it look more modern so the
campus is quite nice even though there are traces of the old buildings which are down right
horrendous.
TOPIC: Social life
The social activites for students organized by the university were basically big parties
organized at the student bar. They were fun but they’re intended as just parties, not really as
activities to help you meet people. The different societies had their own activities so if you
join one you’ll meet more people. Depending one where you stay you could end up spending
time with just exchanglings or locals. If you’re in an apartment with just locals naturally
you’ll end up meeting more Australians. However obviously you can influence this yourself
by going out and making an effort to meet locals or internationals. In the end though
everyone is really welcoming, aussie’s are because it’s in their culture and the exchanglings
are because they, just like you, want to make friends. I also travelled to other places while I
was there, just like everyone else. No point spending your time off in a city you already live
in. So you’ll find most people travel during mid-sem and after finals.
TOPIC: Living costs
I maximized by government loans way before I left so I already had money saved up and my
parents paid my rent which made a huge difference. The living costs in Australia are exorbant
that’s all I can say. I couldn’t even give you an approximate monthly budget because I spent
so much. Think along the lines of 15000 euros in total at least if you live on campus and are
going to go travelling.
TOPIC: Culture
Australian culture is just more laid-back and more welcoming than Dutch culture. You won’t
experience any culture shock because in most ways they are just like us however it’s the
small things that just makes life better there. Nothing really surprised me about the culture, I
already knew Australians were laid-back and enjoyed life more and I still believe the same. I
feel I got in touch pretty well with their culture as I had an Australian girlfriend and hung
around a lot with Aussies. There are slight differences between the cities, Melbourne is more
European than Sydney but overall the differences are negligable.
TOPIC: Personal development
As cliché as this sounds I have grown so much from my exchange. Mainly because you’re
dropped in this other country and just have to make it work, it’s sink or swim. Because you’re
forced into making friends, talking to new people meeting other cultures you just do it and
get over your fears. The only thing I’d do differently is I’d want to make even more friends
than I already have. The best experience was just walking into a house party where you only
knew 3 or 4 people and leaving home knowing 20. For me there was no worst experience,
maybe crashing my girlfriend’s car wasn’t the best thing though. The most important lesson
learned is be yourself and accept others for who they are and you just might find yourself
liking a lot more people than you thought you would.
TOPIC: Tips for future students
I’d recommend both an exchange and my host university. As I will almost definitely live in
Sydney at some point in my life if I can, that should show how awesome my time there was.
Prospective students should bring with them a positive attitude and a determiniation to
overcome any obstacle on exchange be that social or academical. Leave behind any
stereotypes or pre-determined notions of your host country and just see what happens.