Amie Morris

Host University: University of Wollongong
Year of Study Abroad: 2010-11

Where did you live? Would you recommend it?

I lived at Weerona College, which is situated approximately 20 minutes walk from the University Campus, 20 minutes from the centre of town and just as importantly 20 minutes walk from North Beach (the nicer beach)! It has bus stops right outside and the free bus runs every 10-20 minutes.

Weerona College is fully catered and you have the choice of a single or shared room. None of the rooms are en-suite, but it really doesn´t matter. There are 200 students in total, which means you get to know everyone really well. It has a great atmosphere and everyone is super friendly! Weerona College was expensive - approximately 6000 for the year - but it is fully catered. You get 3 meals a day, except on Saturday when lunch is not provided. You also get extra food - such as toast time (4pm on week days) and supper on a tuesday evening with free donuts! The quality of the meals is not amazing - but it is definitely a conversation starter at meal times. Weerona College also has an ice-cream machine, if that helps to sell it!

All sorts of activities are provided free of charge from Flood Week (which is the orientation week when you arrive) to the end of session - these include nights out, formal events, sporting events, sports clubs and cultural activities! Weerona college is also only 10 minutes walk from North Gong Station - and you can get a return train to Sydney for about 5 dollars which takes just over an hour and a half.

Which department(s) did you study in?

Earth and Environmental sciences - I am a human geography student, but that falls under Earth and Environmental Sciences.

How does the workload/classes/teaching styles vary to Sheffield?

The lectures have far less students in than my first year at Sheffield, which I think is a good thing. You are also timetabled for lots of hours, as all of the classes I took also had at least 2 hours of practical a week. You will find that you have continuous deadlines, but this means that the end of semester exams are only worth 40 per cent - so it takes the pressure off at the end. The teaching styles and deadlines are a bit more relaxed at the University of Wollongong.

What did you do for fun at the weekends and during the holidays?

During the Australian summer I spent a lot of time at the beach! It is not far from where I lived, so I enjoyed the sunshine with my friends regularly! I also spent time exploring Sydney, as it is not far from Wollongong. Every Sunday my accommodation had a barbeque, so that was a great time to sit outside and meet new people.

During the Christmas holiday I travelled the East Coast of Australia - it is quite expensive, but once I had travelled all the way to Australia I wanted to see everything. I also visited Melbourne, Canberra, Tasmania and New Zealand whilst in Australia and would highly recommend going travelling!

I also went to a music festival whilst in Australia called Groovin the Moo. There were good bands and a great atmosphere. It is in Canberra so just over a 2 hour drive - but lots of fun!

Rip Curl surf camp is a great way to meet new people and it is really good fun! The food is amazing too. I went in Winter - but would recommend doing it in Summer as the water is quite cold in Australian winter (like Cornwall in our Summer).

Did you join any societies or clubs?

I did not join any societies or clubs whilst I was there - but Weerona College were always organising activities which I participated in, such as Inter-College sports competitions, University Events such as Global Highway and charity events such as Relay for Life. The University of Wollongong has lots of societies and clubs available to join. Whilst there I did join a gym called Beaton Park, which is situated directly behind Weerona College.

Describe the University/City/things to do

The University of Wollongong does not have a Student´s Union, in the same sense that Sheffield does. However, it does have a Uni Bar where they regularly have popular Australian bands performing. The University Campus is really beautiful and they often have live music on a stage by the duck pond - which you will become familiar with rather quickly.

The city has a beautiful harbour, with lovely restaurants and cafes to get fish and chips. The beaches are lovely and clean and have life guards present during the summer. In the city there is a relatively large mall with clothes shops - however Sydney does have a better choice of shops, but Wollongong is sufficient.

Nightlife in Wollongong is great fun and if you live on University Campus the Party Bus (and the lovely bus driver Steve) will drive you to the city and back home again after for free! There is a good range of places to go for nights out: North Gong Hotel is a chilled out pub, with seating and tables outside and fairy lights in the trees! I went there on my first night in Australia so am very fond of it! There is also Wednesday night which we spent at The Grand Hotel - which has a good outside seating area, drinks special and recent music. On Thursdays we usually went to a club called 151 and then moved on to Retro nights at Hotel Illawarra (the name explains the music) which is always good fun!

So my advice is if you are fond of a night out - maybe avoid signing up for practical classes on monday, thursday and friday morning!

Could you give any travel or immigration tips?

My visa came through pretty quickly, within minutes, but I wouldn´t advise leaving it until the last minute incase the turn over is not quite so fast. I didn´t have any problems at all with immigration.

Travel wise - STA travel sell Emirates flights which offer 30kg of checked in luggage, plus 10kg of hand luggage - which is the most I have managed to find. They are a little bit more expensive than some other airlines, but if you are worrying about luggage it is a good airline to choose. You can also stop in Bangkok for a couple of days, to break up your flight, this does not cost anymore so may be worth doing if you want to explore Thailand. I didn´t do it as I only found out about it on the way home!

Could you give any advice or tips to a student preparing to go or tell them anything you wished you knew in advance?

Module Enrollment - when I arrived in Australia I had never seen anything quite like module enrollment. Imagine trying to get festival or concert tickets and permanently refreshing the web page, well that is how Australians are about module enrollment. One Australian explained it to me as: "We are all really lazy, so no one wants to have to get up early after a night out, so as soon as the time for module enrollment starts we are online choosing our preferred tutorial". So my advice would be when you arrive to ask a student or student leader to help you enroll or find out what time your practical class enrollment opens. They will love to help you - as it is so important to them not to have a practical class at an inconvenient time.

Just a little thing - when I was packing, a previous student told me to pack an English multi plug - it is so useful as you do not need a separate adapter plug for every electrical item!

Would you say it is cheaper or more expensive to live than Sheffield?

I would say it is more expensive to live in Wollongong than Sheffield, but for the experience you gain it is well worth it! It really is a once in a life time opportunity. Plus you save money as you only pay half price for Sheffield´s tuition fees - so you can put that towards living expenses.

Any other information or comments

I love the Gong! If you are offered the chance to study abroad, make sure you go! It has been the most amazing year of my life, I have made friends that will last forever and memories I will never forget! As my Australian friends would say "You´ll have a heaps good time".