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Australia: A place and experience I will never forget!
AIFS: Sydney- Macquarie University
Program Information
Learning does not begin or end in the classroom. To help you get a true taste of local culture, a wealth of cultural activities and excursions are included in your program fee.
Famous for its palm-fringed white sandy beaches and clear azure seas, Fiji is paradise come true. Cultural roots and traditions are... More
| Provider: | AIFS |
| Hosted at: | Macquarie University |
| Location(s): | Sydney, Australia |
| Year Founded: | 0 |
| Website | Take me there! |
Review By:
Laura B. (Biology and History, Wartburg College) on December 21, 2010
Overall Rating
Review Photos
Personal Information
| * Start Date: | 2010-07-14 |
| * End Date: | 2010-12-03 |
| If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here: | Macquarie University and University of the South Pacific |
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I loved how the program already included our trip to Fiji in the beginning and the optional Great Barrier Reef trip as well, which was nice because I paid for them ahead of time, so there wasn't added stress of money with that. I also loved how we had the many different excursions that were already paid for as well such as Hunter Valley, Taronga Zoo, Pirates of Penzance at the Opera House, etc. Weaknesses would be that there was not a whole lot of guidance or we were told times and dates of different events kind-of last minute. But nothing too much. |
| * Housing: |
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| * Food: |
Get the home brand of everything at Woolworth's, it's much cheaper and it doesn't taste too terrible, but definitely eat in more only because I know I ate out more than i should have and that costs a lot too, so I therefore spent more money. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Take advantage of the fact that you live right outside of Sydney, go out, visit as much of the city as you can, and travel around Sydney as well to the Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley. And this sounds weird, but since you are in that part of the world, I would HIGHLY recommend going to New Zealand; I fell in love with the South Island, and I cannot imagine if I would not or could not have afforded to go there. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I found Sydney and the surrounding areas very, very safe. |
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* Home Institution Advising:
How well did Wartburg College prepare and support you for your time abroad? |
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | probably easily 100 dollars a week, because I ate out a little too much and used the transportation systems to go into the city and then you have to pay for what you do in the city. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | I would definitely try not to eat out too much, and that is the only tip I can give you. I don't regret anything else that I paid for, I just wish I would have known how much more expensive basically everything is in Australia compared to the United States, so maybe it would not have come as such as shock? |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * If you could do it all over again, would you choose the same program? | Yes |
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I would say go with AIFS, I really enjoyed the program, and the best part of my experience was meeting the amazing people in my AIFS group, i literally left with life-long friends and more reasons to travel around the US! :) |
| * What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile? | The academic part of my experience was satisfactory and I did learn a lot, but by far the reason my experience was outstanding was because of the people I met, the crazy amount of new experiences I had, how much I learned about myself, how much I grew, and how much I changed. I realized that I can live away from home for months at a time, I can navigate my way to and from a big city, and within it, and that is awesome for me to find out because it gives my future more options! |