Final -Report - Newcastle
I applied for the exchange program to Newcastle, Australia in January 2005, and I new from
that moment that I would be getting the scholarship, and that it would be me who would be going
to explore the country that had been my dream for so many years. Australia is such an impressive
and beautiful place, and it was these aspects that made me really want to go. Australia and
Austria are two completely different places, culturally, climatically, and functionally. Australia is
a country that belongs not to the new world, or old world, but has created its own identity, as a
country of rich multi culture, ethnicity and religion, and has made a name for itself as a country
of peace and freedom.
A semester in Australia is what I was going to need to experience all these aspects, and to travel
and see country side and parts of the world that are nothing like what I have seen before, nestled
away in the Austrian alps. A two week tourist stint in Australia could not experience 10 percent
of what I would learn and discover in one whole semester. To study Down under for a semester
was just the best chance I could have ever got; it was a dream becoming true!
What to do before going to Australia
There was quite a lot of paper work to do before I went to Australia. I had to make sure, that
everything with the Visa works out, which was not really a problem. You can apply for the Visa
online (http://www.immi.gov.au) and as I remember, you receive the electronic visa on the same
day as you applied for it. What is more complicated and also takes longer is managing everything
with the University of Newcastle. I decided to live in "International House" on campus and there
is also a lot of paper work to do. I booked the flight from Vienna to Sydney pretty early (in
March) at STA Travel in Graz (www.statravel.at), which offers really good student prices for
flights all over the world. All the administration paperwork was not too bad and of course it was
worth it, because at the end of all this organising, I was allowed to fly to Australia!!
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Flight and Arrival in Australia
For about six months I had been anxiously waiting for July 7th; the day I would fly to Australia.
My parents took me and Diane (who was also selected to go to Australia) to Vienna and our
flight to Sydney was departing at 10:55am. I was surprised, that the flight was not as bad as I
thought that it would be. I was extremely excited about what was awaiting me in Australia,
hopefully some amazing moments and something a little different to home. We arrived at Sydney
Airport on July 8th at about 15:05pm. A man from the University of Newcastle picked us up with
a bus and dropped me to my Accommodation – The International House. Besides Diane and me,
there were also two girls from Norway and two girls from Sweden on the bus. It was quite easy to
talk with these girls, but the driver had such a strong Aussie accent, that it was hard to understand
him. On the way to Newcastle, we were driving through Sydney and as a first impression of
Australia we saw the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. These two – I would say – most
famous constructions are really beautiful and it felt quite unreal to see it. I found it quite hard to
believe that I was in Australia, and I had to pinch myself to make sure that it wasn’t a dream.
Accommodation – International House
I arrived at the International House at about 9pm in the evening. Tim, a security guard showed
me to my room and after that, he drove me and an American girl from my unit around the
campus. I was living in a 10 person unit. There were four Australians, four Americans and one
oriental student. I really liked the mixture of our unit and all the people were actually very
friendly and helpful. I am glad that I lived at International House because it’s such a big variety
of people from all over the world who are coming together. It seemed to me, that everyone liked
the diversity of IH and everyone was excited to meet people from other countries. I have never
lived on campus in Austria, but I really loved it. It was always clear to me, that I want to live on
campus in my exchange-semester and it was a good choice. I met so many nice, friendly and
open people and made a lot of good friends from all over the world. Another good reason to live
at IH is, that you get dinner 5 times a week, which means, that you don’t really have to worry
about food. In my opinion, the food was really good because you have a big variety of different
things every day. Living at IH was the best decision I could have made.
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Orientation Week
The Orientation Week was very well organised. There were a lot of activities which the
University offered for Exchange-Students. There was an orientation program, where we got to
know a lot of useful things about the uni staff. We had a campus tour, a city & suburb tour
through Newcastle and a few barbecues – very popular in Australia. International House also
presented a lot of activities which were great to get to know all the people I’d be living with.
With the International House we had a pizza night, went bowling, went on a winery tour in the
Hunter Valley and went to the Blackbutt Reserve, where I saw my first kangaroos and koalas!!
The University of Newcastle
The campus of the University of Newcastle is really big. It was hard to find my way in the
beginning, because compared to Klagenfurt I am not used to such a huge campus. It is located
about 10km out of Newcastle city and it looks like a jungle. I really liked the atmosphere. There
are about 20000 students, who are studying at the University of Newcastle. First it was really
difficult, to do the enrolment for all the classes because the Homepage of the University
(www.newcastle.edu.au) is very confusing at the start. Thanks to a few Australians and
Americans, who helped me at the beginning I soon got to know the homepage better and then it
was not a problem any more.
I decided to take three classes, and the classes, which I decided to take, were:
1 AART 1410 Photo media: Introductory Photo media
2 ABOR1110
Introduction to Aboriginal Studies
3 CULT 1100
Communication & Culture
In Australia the system at the University is pretty different to the one in Austria. All students are
taking 3 or 4 classes, because they are of a harder standard. There is a lot of reading and
homework to do every week and you have to hand in assignments during the term and last but not
least you have an exam at the end of the term.
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The city of Newcastle
The city of Newcastle with its 800 thousand inhabitants is a lot larger than what I have been used
to in Klagenfurt. With its population it is the 2nd largest city in New South Wales. Newcastle
offers a lot of different activities, there is always something to do. There are a lot of bars and
restaurants, so the nightlife is pretty good, which is not unimportant for a student of course.
Newcastle also offers a lot of cultural things to do like visiting galleries, and so on. The inner city
is quite small but very lovely and offers more shopping than a girl could ever need. It kind of
reminds you of a small town, when you are walking up Hunter Street Mall. My favourite parts in
Newcastle are the harbour and the beaches and I really love the ocean of course. The harbour is
beautiful – especially at night, with all the lights. And don’t forget about the four awesome
beaches, which are wonderful. You can go for a swim, for a walk, for a run or just relax with a
ice cream on one of these beautiful beaches. Also the people in Newcastle or in Australia are
really sociable in general. I have never met so many lovely, friendly and opened people like
Aussies before. It’s just the whole lifestyle which is fascinating to me in Australia. It seems that
because of the beach culture, most of the people are relaxed and happy and really enjoy life.
Travelling in Australia
I had the possibility to study in Australia for one semester, so I wanted to see as much as possible
of the country as well of course. That’s why I did quite a bit of travelling next to my studies and
so I have seen quite a lot of this beautiful continent. In my semester break I flew up to Darwin,
which is on the North Coast and did a tour through Litchfield National Park, Kakadu National
Park, Katherine Gorge, down to Alice Springs, which is located in the centre of Australia, did the
red centre with Uluru (Ayers Rock), The Olgas and Kings Canyon, I went down to the Flinders
Ranges, Adelaide and over the Grampians and the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne and then flew
back to Newcastle again. After uni, I went to Fiji for one week in November and in December I
flew up to Cairns and did the East Coast which was gorgeous!! I booked all my tours at STA
Travel, which I can recommend because they are offering a lot of different high-quality tours
through the different parts of Australia and they have really good student prices.
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The best time of my life!!
I have spent the last seven months of my life studying, travelling and living in Australia and I just
can say that this was the best experience which I have ever made in my entire life. I am glad that
I had this unique chance to study in Australia for one semester. I enjoyed every single day, every
single second and I don’t even know how to thank Mr. Adi Wimmer and the BIB, because they
made it possible, that I could experience such an amazing place on the other side of the world.
I had the best time of my life – without doubt. For me, this was a dream come true and saying
good bye to Australia and the people who I love was the hardest thing I have ever done in my
life. But luckily, I already know that I will go back to Newcastle in summer for about two
months, to know this makes me unbelievably happy again. It has become my second home and I
can’t wait to be back Down Under again in a few months!!
Australia is the most beautiful and amazing place on earth and I recommend that if you ever get
this chance, take it and go and discover it for yourself. It’s impossible to describe how great it is,
you need to see for yourself.
With best regards!!
Sylvia Baumgartner
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