A Blog about Education Abroad

Author: Sarah

  • Corneli in Thailand

    My Thailand adventure

    The Journey:

    Every good tourist does a fair amount of planning before a trip to be prepared for the broad array of peculiar situations one might find oneself in when travelling abroad. Being a researcher, I just couldn’t stop myself from digging into every bit of travel information I could find. This included everything from the best type of suitcase to travel with, what clothes to wear on a plane, customs and visa regulations, pre-travel health precautions and insurance, right through to transiting in foreign countries, cultural do’s and don’ts and of course sights to see!

    All this research naturally led to the discovery of a lot of interesting facts and opinions. I will share the most important ones with you that ensured a smooth ride all the way to Thailand and back!

    New Friends from all over the world!
    New Friends from all over the world!

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  • Nava in Thailand

    Nava in Thailand
    Nava in Thailand

    Pre-departure:

    I was one of the three fortunate South African students who got to go on a journey across the world to the Kingdom of Thailand for the AC21 International Graduate Summer School. I was exposed to this opportunity by our faculty administrator, who was boasting that our professor, Alan Brent, will be presenting at this prestigious conference, and that students could apply to go too… of course I was keen!

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  • Le Fras in Helsinki

    Le Fras with his new friends

    We had an international dinner, where everyone cooked something traditional from their home country. Good people, good food, good vibes.

    Ready, Set, Go.

    Getting ready for Helsinki was almost as exiting as being there.  I would like to thank the University’s Postgraduate and International Office for all their support.  For me it was very important to have my Visa application fully prepared at least a few days before the due date.  The last thing you would want to be doing is scrambling around the day before to get bank statements or travel insurance.  The University provides a clearly defined checklist of all the documents you need and it takes some time to get hold of all the documents you need.  Simply keep a file in which you gradually added all the documents you need.  Remember that the earlier you buy you plane tickets the cheaper they are, so have those ready as soon as possible.  A had a situation where my parents were provided their bank statements as proof that I have the required amount of money to travel to Finland.  At the embassy that asked me for the bank statement of my credit card which I would be using in Finland.  I did not have it there, because it was not stated anywhere.  Nevertheless I emailed it to them the next day and received my Visa a few weeks later.  At this point you might think: “OK sweet, ek’s in, nou moet ek net op daardie aeroplane klim”.  Not quite yet buddy.

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