It is better not to wait too long to apply for a visa, as it has already happened that for some stupid reasons it was delayed. Better to be on the safe side. In addition, I did not apply for the student visa for the visaI decided, but took the Work & Travel Visa, as it is cheaper and it is very unlikely that I will have another 1 year to go to Australia. The visa cost me 280 euros. However, since one assumes when registering for the Griffith semester that one comes with a student visa and is therefore also covered by the “Health Care” package at Griffith, I also had to apply for the insurance money back on site. Some paperwork again, but it all worked. For the flight, I recommend a travel agency that works with “STA Travel”, or STA itself. There are slightly cheaper flights with very flexible offers. For example, you can rebook your flight for a small fee. It is not uncommon that students want to extend their stay at the end of the semester or want to fly back via another country. In Koblenz I can recommend the travel agency “Auf und Davon”. They are super nice and take their time to find the best and cheapest flight. I paid 1370 euros for my flight with Emirates, which was due to the fact that our return flight was via Dubai and was in the high season.
Since I didn’t have a credit card yet, I decided to take out one at the DKB. It is very well known for Australia, as there are no high fees to be paid there. Other students have set up an account with a bank in Australia and so always have the money transferred online or have their parents transferred.
Last but not least, I took out international insurance with top conditions from “Hanse Merkur” and paid another 320 euros for the entire time. Included were an insurance and emergency insurance with travel liability and accident insurance. You really shouldn’t save, because if something happens, your parents are in a really bad position. Even simple things like small accidents with tooth damage run into the thousands abroad. Even a visit to the doctor costs $ 65 just for admission. You pay the amount anew each time you visit the doctor, plus the cost of the medication. In addition to taking out insurance, you also have to make sure that all vaccinations are still up to date. Since there are no major risks of disease in Australia against which one can vaccinate, one should simply refresh the normal package. The family doctor knows what to do. I had to have two vaccinations and paid another 60 euros for them.
- Visit cachedhealth to learn more about country of Australia and continent of Oceania.
It’s almost time now. I decided not to live in a dormitory because they are really out of the way. That’s why I rented a bed in a hostel in Surfers Paradise from Germany. A week should be enough. To get proper accommodation, it is best to take care of it on site. Surfers Paradise is the most popular place with students as there is always something going on. Now it’s time to pack. I had booked 30 kg of luggage. Since it is quite warm in Australia on the Gold Coast even in winter, I only packed summer clothes with the exception of long trousers and 2 shirts with long arms. If you like to go shopping and have some money left, Surfers Paradise is the place to be. I kept buying new clothes for little money that were of quite good quality. When packing, you should definitely not skimp on medicines and cosmetics. So you can already save a lot of money. Also take copies of all relevant documents for the university with you, even if you have actually already sent them to Griffith or have them with you on your notebook / stick.
Arrived in Australia
After a long flight, I landed with a fellow student in Brisbane, Queensland, 1.5 weeks before the start of the semester. The flight took a total of around 21 hours. There are also a few hours in Dubai / Bangkok or Singapore. For the transfer from the airport to Surfers Paradise you could book a free transfer through the Griffith. Once you arrive at the hostel, it takes a week to get used to being so far away now. Unfortunately, we still had the bad luck to be greeted on the coast with a 4 day long rain and hurricane. But since we had to look for accommodation during the week, the whole thing turned out to be a bit difficult. In order to find suitable accommodation, websites such as “gumtree.com” or “flatmates.com.au” are recommended. In addition, you should get a “Visitor Card” in a “Seven Eleven” shop and later a “Consession Card” for the train at the university. Without this card, you pay more than 5 dollars per trip to the university. With the card it’s $ 2.95.
Education
The course begins with an “Orientation Week” and offers the students a first glimpse into the university, introductory games and and and. The whole program is not compulsory, with the exception of the first day. On the first day you will be informed about important things and should not be missed. Then the lectures begin. Each course has one lecture and one seminar / workshop per week. In the seminars you are divided into small groups in which the projects take place later. In principle, the content of the lecture is called up again there and worked through or applied again in more detail. It took me 2 weeks to get along on the site without any problems. The area is very tidy, well-kept and offers great seating and dining options.For the lectures / seminars themselves, I have to praise the Griffith very much. The professors are very helpful, friendly and sociable. Almost like friends. We have always been offered help and practically directed to use every possible help. In general, students and professors have a very close relationship compared to Germany. I liked that very much. If you use these contact options, you definitely have a good chance of getting a good degree.
