The application process for the semester abroad in Australia is made really easy by communicating via MicroEDU and everything worked wonderfully for me. The forms that are required are provided by MicroEDU, and these forms are also forwarded to the foreign university, which means that the application can be confirmed very quickly and answered positively. MicroEDU also gives you a lot of important information in advance, which can really help you plan your semester abroad in the best possible way. This information mainly includes tips on how to organize yourself, looking for an apartment or a pick-up service from the airport in Brisbane.
Personally, I traveled to Australia with two friends from my home university and was picked up from the airport by a Griffith University employee. Then we went straight to our hostel in Surfers Paradise. I have to say that we had planned to stay in the hostel for the first 2 nights and look after an apartment during the day. The plan also worked exactly. Our hostel was called “Backpackers in Paradise” and was a suitable place to stay for our purposes. Within 2 days we found a 2 room apartment in the real estate agency “First National” in the center of Surfers Paradise. Since there were three of us, we bought an additional mattress on which everyone had to sleep at weekly intervals. Since the apartment was just renovated and in very good condition, but one could cope with this very easily. In summary, one can say when looking for an apartment: keep calm, take a look at Gumtree in advance, and otherwise then personally go to the various reception areas of the individual apartment blocks or real estate companies and ask for a place to stay. I don’t actually know any of my fellow students who had particular difficulties in finding a room / apartment for the time they were abroad.
You can say about the university that it really offers a lot, but you also pay a lot of tuition fees and I personally asked myself where all the money actually goes. The way to the university (be it by bus or now with the newly built tram) is at least not covered by the tuition fees. As far as I can remember, a bus ticket (there and back) costs the equivalent of around € 2.50. Two friends and I got a Holden Commodore at the beginning of our studies for little money. We were always able to travel to the university at a reasonable price and we were pretty independent. We practically traveled the entire east coast from Airlie Beach to Adelaide by car and it never let us down. This of course saved us a lot of money, because we didn’t have to rent a rental car for our trips and we also got the Holden Commodore sold again at the end of our stay abroad. So if you have friends with you or find some with whom you get on well quickly (or of course on your own), I would recommend buying a car, as this is the cheapest way to travel through Australia. (You just have to make a higher initial investment)
- Visit watchtutorials to learn more about country of Australia and continent of Oceania.
However, I was actually just on the subject of “Uni”. The fact that I digress so quickly shows what you should focus on in Australia. Since my courses were all relatively easy business courses (and I’m taking a technical and business degree at my home university), I got by quite well there. The system is very different compared to Germany. Instead of “bulimia learning” at the end of the semester, you have to hand in a lot of small papers in between at Griffith Uni (quiz, essay, etc.). In retrospect, I even made friends with this system, as it really means you have a lot less stress at the end of the semester. So it’s all a question of adaptability. In case you are interested, my courses were: Introduction to Marketing, Introduction to International Business, Business communication and business processes. I would particularly recommend Introduction to Marketing, because I liked this best from the structure and the learning content.
Now we come to life in Surfers Paradise or in “Gold Coast”. There are several ways in which to live on the Gold Coast. You should decide between a slightly further path to the university and simultaneous proximity to the beach and party or a slightly further path to the beach / party mile and simultaneous proximity to the university. At the time, we decided on the former because we actually didn’t want to focus solely on studying. Personally, that’s exactly what I would recommend to you. We were able to divide our weeks perfectly with learning / sport / travel. So after the lectures / tutorials we stayed longer to study in the library of the university with occasional sports in the university fitness (the university’s fitness studio is really relatively inexpensive. However, other sports such as futsal or the local volleyball facilities are really very inviting). On days when there was no university, the central location in Surfers Paradise gave you the perfect opportunity to go out with friends, etc. Regarding the party life, I have to say that you have to adapt to Australian conditions in order to get away with it really cheap. This means that you have to go early to be able to take advantage of the offers that are only valid until 10 p.m. to get off really cheap. This means that you have to go early to be able to take advantage of the offers that are only valid until 10 p.m. to get off really cheap. This means that you have to go early to be able to take advantage of the offers that are only valid until 10 p.m.
In summary, I can say that the semester abroad was a lot of fun and I don’t regret any second that I spent in Australia. Take the chance and make it easy.
As travel tips I can name the following places on the east coast: Airlie Beach, Noosa, Rainbow Beach, Byron Bay, Coffs Harbor. And try to go surfing as often as you can! It’s a lot of fun!
