Well ive been home aout 8 weeks now and settled straight back in, so much so that i feel ive not been away! Been so nice to be at home with my parents and dog and meeting up with friends! Seeing how excited my friends were to have me back was also really sweet and good fun to have nites out with them again! Since ive been back ive been to canada to visit my sis and only just returned from a weeks holiday with friends in Majorica so havent been back up to glasgow much as yet – but did have fab holi’s! im moving back up to glasgow next week which will be good, getting a bit scared about returning to such a big year from such a fun and different year but just gonna have to stick in! Ill write again once im back to uni xxx

So its all over, and its been a fast and eventful year.

When I think about how I feel its gone so fast, I only have to think about how much ive managed to do in the time I was in Australia.

I can say ive had no regrets, nothing id change, well maybe expect nearly missing my flight back from Tasmania and having to get a lovely man to take us back rather than $300 for a taxi to the airport!!

I cant really explain how im feeling now as im sitting in Kuala Lumpur waiting for my next flights to London, and then onwards to Glasgow. I was so upset saying bye to people in Adelaide, mostly because I know when I come back to Adelaide, I feel it’ll be like an empty shell, the people that I met and grew so fond of are the ones that made it for me. Luckily the girl I made closest friends with, Claire, lives in Leeds so it’ll be easy enough for us to keep in touch.

As for the experience, I wouldn’t even know where to start to sum it up. I visited all the cities in Australia, difficult to deem a favourite as they are all diverse and different, Perth was definitely high up there, I could imagine living there and working once I qualify. And Adelaide, definitely I place I called home, felt safe and happy there, a small but perfectly set up place – definitely going to miss it. 

The only unfortunate thing that came out as a consequence of this experience is not being able to secure an internship to return to. I wouldn’t trade it as I feel my experience this year is irreplaceable, id only say its unfortunate but something I can live with, im sure ill have plenty time to get something like that once I graduate J

 

Anyhow, ill write again a few weeks after I get home, im interested how im gonna settle back into ‘reality’ not sure I want to find out quite yet!

Hi all!

Not wrote on here in a while as not really had access to the internet!

So last time i posted it was middle of Jan, welll… ive been pretty busy since then!

I got send to the sunshine coast for the 2nd part of my job with the photographers, was really nice again and the place i got as free accom had a pool so i wasnt complaining!  After i finished my at the end of January, i flew to Melbourne with a friend and we spent a few days there. Melbourne is a really nice city, i feel i wouldnt want to live there as its soo busy but was good to visit, and we went to the Neighbours Trivia night and got to meet the famous Dr Karl Kennedy so i was happy! After we left Melbourne, we hired a campervan and did the great ocean road and grampians that takes you back to Adelaide. Well worth it! Probably one of my highlights of the year, was so good having a campervan and going where i wanted to, and seeing lots of different places along the way.

When we got back to Adelaide, it was only two days till my parents arrived! I was so excited to show them where i have called home for the past 7 months and then we went to Sydney for 2 weeks. Was a great trip with them and we climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which was really good fun and i was impressed at my dad doing it too, as hes scared of heights!

I got back to adelaide at the end of feb, and uni started back on the 2nd of March, although i thought i was organised with enrolling for classes etc, apartently i wasnt! after the first week i realised i had done two of the three subjects in glasgow the year before! so i found another course to do and finally settled on that, but it was really annoying as there is limited classes for accounting and it is expected you just make up the study load with electives, however this is obviously not what uni at home wants. But anyways all is sorted now, and the classes do seem to be harder that the classes i did last year so wont have much of a social life i think! or maybe ill still try to!

This term, i also changed room so i can share with a english girl,Claire i have made friends with, so now i am in the apartments in the village rather than the townhouses. I would say i prefer the apartments only because they seem more sociable, but i guess that depends on who you are sharing with. i just felt in the townhouses, you were living in a room rather than a house as its split over 4 floors and you hardly see your housemates.

Also,  me and Claire got cheap flights to Alice Springs in March ($95 instead of $400) so we dedided to go for a long weekend and see uluru(ayers rock), the olgas, and kings canyon. Alice Springs is small but really nice and we had a pool at our hostel and we went to the flying doctor service there so was good for a few days. We did a backpackers tour for all the sights though, and as it was really informative we felt it was worth it.We slept in ’swags’ (individual dome tents) and cooked in campsites so was really good. We got to see ayers rock sunset and sunrise which were amazing. All in all trip was amazing, and definately worth taking a few days off uni!:)

So back into the role of things now at uni, one thing that i felt was annoying was that uni at home never really gave u much time in advance to let you know about dissertation proposals for next yr. My year had started a research course in January and obv as uni here never went back to march, i didnt have access to the internet to see that! soo i came back with like a week to sort it out, its all done now but was a bit stressful! its definately worth looking over what you wanna do your dissertation on before you come out here on a year abroad as once its done you wont have the stress of doing it whilst everyone is just going back to uni here.

Anyhoo think ive harped on enough now!

Will write soon! xx

So i said i was going to try and write in a few weeks but that was a while ago now! ive been so busy! ill be here all day telling you what ive done, so instead ill tell you my highlights

Firstly, went to perth and loved it, its larger than Adelaide, but still has similar traits, first place ive been that ive felt that i could live once i qualify. Makes me think back to when we met with students that had came out, one girl was adament that she will move here after uni, and i was like wow i def wont feel like that, 1 year is long enough.. but now im starting to see why she said that.. this place has so many nice places and character traits that are very appealing!

Next, i went to Sydney for 2 weeks over xmas and new year. I was a bit apprehensive with it being my first xmas away from home but i suprised myself – i didnt mind it at all!And i got to be onGMTV to say merryxmas to my parents! and it made my mum cry- bless! And one of my friends from home managed to make it out here with her parents and we went to the sydney tower(revolving restaurant over sydney realllyyy high up)for xmas dinner which was really special. Then New Years eve.. wow.. it really was one of my highlights of this year, it was incredible, we never went to the main botanic gardens as we wanted to have room so we went to a place called bradleys head and we could take our own food/alcohal so was a really good atmosphere.

Then after that i headed up to Bris. I secured a job up herefor the month of jan but wasnt quite sure it would work out, and turns out it has worked out better than i thought! Im working as a photographers assistant and we travel around and get free acocm so its been pretty nice. We had an apartment in Surfers Paradise for 2 weeks and next week we are going to be north of brisbane. Ive been making the most of my days off by going to the gold coast, sunshine coast, noosa – absolutely incredible place, and im in byron bay now! going snorkling tomorrow so looking forward to that! Ill add some photos up – this definately seems to be the best summer break ive had- but best of it is, im quite looking forward to going back to uni in march- its festival time in Adelaide so will be a lot of fun! xxx

hi all, so ive done half my uni year already! so crazy, it went so fast!

Had exams for my 3 subjects, 2 went ok but one wasnt so great, ill soon find out! Exams were an experience in itself, most exams are held in the adelaide showgrounds. 1800 (from 2 uni’s) sit exams together in a HUGE warehouse, it was so scary and didnt help being added to my already nervous self!

I finished on the 18th Nov and dont go back to uni till 3rd March, I love aus! My plan is to see as much as here as poss so i decided that doesnt include time to come home! im going to be in Sydney for christmas and new year, brisbane for january working as a photographers assistant and then my parents are here in feb, so its all go!! and im really looking forward to it! except i did get sunburn this week!eek!

Its very sureal that its only like 4 weeks till xmas and there are decorations/xmas trees going up but its getting hotter, this year will definately be different thats for sure! hear its cold and snowy at home, something i do not miss about glasgow! 

you’d think after nearly 5months id be missing home but im really having such a good time here, everyone is really nice and its such a better and laid back way of life.  I do miss seeing my family, but it keeps me going to know they are coming out in february so get to see what/where ive been.

Two downsides of this time of year are: Firstly, everyone at home seems to be organising internships for next summer with accounting firms, but as im here its really worked against me as i cant be home for interviews. Seems sad really as i am here for university but most firms want face to face interviews, guess ill try sort something out with a smaller firm though. Secondly, there are many people here on exchange from the US and they are only here for one semester unlike the students from the UK and Europe. Im definately not ready to leave here yet, but is sad to think they are going and next semester will be different. Different is not neccesarily bad, and i am looking forward to it as ill have a new housemate aswell here but it is odd to think many people that you’ve grown close to are leaving. Keeping positive as i have an exicting few months ahead of me, just been difficult as time has flown

Ill try write in the next few weeks,

Suzanne xx

hi all!

so im into the last week of october, and also the last week of uni classes here.. very very odd. i have 3 exams in november and then the summer fun can start.. all 3 months of it!

been really busy recently thats why ive not been on here in a while,went to tasmania for a week in my spring break which was really good. we got to go white water rafting and travel 2 hrs up a mountain leaving the sun to then go into snow.. in flip flops when we got back we were up to our eyes in uni work though. lots of assignments and not really time for much else.

recently i’ve just been working and had a few nights out, and the weekly beach visits too ill post some photos up, and that will give much more of an idea of the time ive been having..

3.5months in and i definately think time is going too fast, loving it here. next chapter will be on my summer plans! sydney for xmas and new year is likely and brisbane in jan, also my parents are coming out in feb  which im MEGA excited about!

speak soon xx

so the uk is going into autumn and im in spring.. and off uni for 2 weeks! yay! i decided to stay in adelaide for one week and work a few days and for the 2nd week im off to tasmania! going with two international students that ive grown close to. claire who is from stamford and lauren who is from colorado. im meeting them in melbourne and then we’re flying to launceston, which is north tasmania. i cant wait!! only thing about tasmania is its not that warm at the moment, unlike adelaide which is now in the 20s. it should be good anyway to get away and to see a bit more of aus!

 

as for uni, had a few assignments due before spring break started which was a pain as all we wanted to do was go to the beach as it was getting warm got them in ok though, so having these two weeks off will be nice to not have to think about uni work.

my job at pj obriens is going well too, starting to get used to the late hours but apart from that is a good job and nice people that i work with. they seemed alright with me wanting time off too for tas so all is good.

been hearing from home that everyone is away back to uni, feels really odd that im not joining them. not really homesick at all, and when i arrived everyone else werent really doing anything anyway so was alright, but have to admit has been quite strange to think of everyone going back to uni without me being there! at least now they will be easier to keep in touch with as they wont mind sending me a facebook comment or email in replace of uni work

not had many nights out this month as we’ve had a lot of assignments but ill put some of the beach up and ill add my tasi fotos up when i get back xxx

hi guys… so havent been on here in a while, reason for that is ive been busy busy, had a few nights outs and plenty of uni work! 3rd year of uni i guess is the same anywhere, lots of lovely reading and assignments. been at uni 6 wks now, and everything is going alright, the course load is hard but trying to find the time to read to keep up to date has been difficult. its seems that there is more focus on coursework here than at home, seems like 30-40% of most subjects are essays, research project or mid semester tests. at home id say if coursework is due its closer to the end of term but ive got 3 due in the next few weeks and then 3 due after the 2 week spring break which is the end of sep. then got about 4 wks till exams. seems to be going really fast here, finding it hard to keep up!!

good news is that the coldness seems to be finally going! my coat has been in my wardrobe for the past week and ive been getting a little tanned! finally starting to realise that im in oz!

on the job front, i can finally say ive got one! when i first arrived i was looking for a job so i could save for travelling and also as a way of meeting people! it was much more difficult to get a job that i expected, i guess when i arrived it was the winter so places werent as busy… but i just called a bar on monday and started on friday! its called pj o’briens and is quite a popular place, friday night was good fun and worked until 4am. also its made me realise why food and drink is expensive here, their wages are much better than at home.

 

as for days/nights out, we went on a wine tour of the barossa valley and saw 4 wineries which included jacobs creek, was a fun day and then we went out after, lets just say im gonna stay off the wine for a while! also last night we went on ‘big night out,’ its an organised trip that we did with about 35 people from the village. we paid $50 and got lots of drinks on a double decker red bus and got taken to 4 clubs/pubs, was a good night too!

ill add some photos of here and what ive been up to – hope everyone at home is enjoying the scottish summer/rain!!

cant believe ive been here 3 weeks now, and the time has flown. since i last wrote, i have started uni here, had my birthday, had many nights out and organised a hostel for sydney (got to do that quick as it sells out!).. soo all in all been a good few weeks.. except the rain! for it being the driest state in the driest country in the world, it can definately rain and hail

went to visit largs pier and for namesake is the same as my hometown!

just to let you know from time to time ill add photos on here, added some photos from this week so if you click the link on the right you can see them! xx