Pre-departure:
Australia, or “Straya” as it is locally known, is the destination of my most recent trip. I had the pleasure of living in Adelaide, in the state of South Australia for around 2 months (January and February 2013) as part of a Summer School programme, whilst taking some courses and visiting a few other cities in Australia. Contrary to popular belief, Australia remains one of the most interesting (and surprising) countries I’ve visited.
My name is Vincent Kuo, I had just completed my Master in Civil Engineering when the desire came to travel a bit and spend a bit of time abroad. Upon searching for possibilities for internships, apprenticeships, research positions and other short term posts abroad, I settled upon a Summer School programme offered by the University of Adelaide (http://www.international.adelaide.edu.au/), who is also a partner institution of Stellenbosch University. I contacted them initially and enquired about the Summer School. Fortunately it turned out positively and I shortly received an offer letter, upon which I swiftly contact the Stellenbosch PGIO for assistance and support to finalize the plan. I was lucky enough to have part of my flight ticket reimbursed by PGIOs travel bursary, as well as my tuition waived at the University of Adelaide.
With the trip plan finalized, I set off acquiring my VISA, which was a wee bit of a surprise, because I had previously (and quite ignorantly) assumed that South Africans do not required a VISA to go to Australia. After reading up a bit on numerous websites, I narrowed down my options to two different VISAs – basic Student VISA or Tourist VISA. Detailed information can be found on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship website (http://www.immi.gov.au/). Immigration seems a very prominent agenda for Australia and thus entails much variable information between countries. I eventually applied for a Tourist VISA (Subclass 676 to be precise) for a few reasons:
1. Tourist VISA is Valid for 3 months – thus covers my period of stay for the Summer School
2. It allows limited study within the 3 months – this was my greatest concern, as it seems that the condition that allows studies was not stated explicitly enough on the website. I found out through the Visa application agent that a Tourist VISA actually allows studies.
3. Tourist VISA is much cheaper than Student VISA – at the time of my application a Tourist VISA costs about R900 ZAR, while a Student VISA costs between R4000 ZAR and R5000 ZAR.
4. Tourist VISA requires shorter time to process – ten working days, while Student VISA requires quite a bit longer as I recall.
However, bear in mind that a Tourist VISA does not allow work, which has a dire implication on finances. Finance was for me the primary concern, and one should be very cautious when planning or budgeting for the trip. Due to the exchange rate, Australia is today one of the most expensive countries in the world, on par with expensive cities in Norway, Switzerland or Canada. Even my Swedish friends were complaining about how expensive Australia is! It is extremely common for students and travellers to have part time jobs to offset the financial strain. With a minimum wage of around R180 ZAR and hour (pretty much what a graduate engineer earns in South Africa!), one could get along quite well working in a pub, a fast food joint or even picking fruits. Cost of living in Australia is accurately summarized on this website:
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Australia
I received my VISA about two weeks before my departure, which was very tight, as I left on the 2nd of January 2013 and everyone was on holiday the previous week. From when I started searching to finalizing all the arrangements to Australia, it took around a month, so it was a really fast track process (perhaps too fast-track) and right before Christmas. I would strongly suggest future prospective Summer School students to start much earlier and arrange things in good time.
Life in Australia:
I arrived in Adelaide on 4th January 2013, to attend our first orientation on the 7th January 2013. I was expecting hordes of international students to turn up at our first orientation, as the start of any exchange programme, but was greatly disillusioned (not in a negative way). There were very few people there so early in the year and campus seemed quite eerie, despite the beautiful gothic sandstone architecture that filled campus grounds. Turns out, I was probably the only one that I know of, that only did the Summer School. All my other friends that did the Summer School also went on to doing a semester exchange.
Adelaide is a beautiful place and reminded me greatly of Cape Town and the Boland upon first impression. The city seemed quite built up, but has a very small population of over a million, and even the CBD never seem to be too crowded. The Torrens River runs in the north of the CBD, just a stone throw away. The climate is quite similar to the Cape area, however with higher temperature fluctuations. For instance, the day I arrived was a scorching 43 degrees, but the following day dropped to the late 20s! I spent the first two to three weeks familiarizing myself with the city and vicinity and socializing profusely. Surrounding the CBD on all four sides are the Parklands, beautifully planned with jogging and biking trails. Public transport system is also very good, though one may have to get used to using public transport, coming South Africa.
The Australian society is probably the most surprising for me. The diversity of immigrants was simply astounding. Even most local Aussies seem to have lineage from another country only 2 or 3 generations back. I’d say it’s quite the melting pot of cultures from all over, and it reflects very clearly in the food and culture, but also the social construct and habits of people. Somehow Australia exhibits more of American straits, than say European, or British, as I one would expect – Australia being a British colony, who still “answers” to the Queen, albeit only ceremonially as Canada.
Besides the courses, the new environment offered much enrichment. My first trip was to Melbourne, which I under took with a German and Finnish friend I had met a few days prior. We flew to Melbourne and drove back to Adelaide along the coast (around 1000km), part of which forms the Great Ocean Road. It was very beautiful and being able to drive around gave us the flexibility to explore towns and different suburbs amidst different societies. It was excitingly refreshing to be able to see the country side, the changing landscapes and vegetation, and the occasional kangaroo congregation on the side of the road. Kangaroos pose quite a big road hazard in Australia, especially in the evenings and night, so we refrained from driving after dark. We took it slow on the trip (over 4 days on the road) picnicking mostly on the way to keep costs down. I later had the pleasure of travelling to Brisbane and Sydney; got to explore both the cities in detail and had the chance of meeting up with some old acquaintances whom I had met on my exchange term in Singapore during my Masters degree.
Life in Adelaide felt simple and earnest. My course taken at the university were of an intensive nature and thus had actually only a few separate days of lectures, but for the whole day each time. In between lectures we got quite a load of assignments, which I’ve somehow managed to complete before going on another trip again. Living in Adelaide is a great pleasure; there is very little religious or racial tension, streets are clean, people are friendly and the sun is out all the time. The best thing for me is that there are no crime problems (even in the most “notorious” part of the CBD) as in South Africa. However, one may be advised not to meddle with biker gangs (“Bikies”), often seen around the city. My accommodation is right in the middle of the CBD, across the road from the Central Station, which also houses a large Casino (Aussies love to gamble apparently). It was very convenient to get anywhere on foot, so we could walk everywhere quite effortlessly.
Despite the short time spent in Australia, I must concede it felt quite difficult for me to leave. The hardest thing is to have to say good bye to friends, not knowing when we’d meet again. Australia is somehow tucked away from the rest of the world and one would almost never be in transit in Australia; it’s either an origin or destination. We became quite a large but close community of friends and were so kind to plan a surprise farewell dinner for me before my departure. I’ll admit feeling a bit emotional.
Return to South Africa:
I had some preconceived ideas about Australia; especially with the high number of South African immigrants there – one is inclined to make some presumptions. However, I tried hard to be a blank slate and let my experiences paint the picture from scratch.
In hind sight, the visit to Australia (as any new experience) has changed greatly the way I view the world and my vision of the near future. It has opened up new opportunities, new networks and new possibilities, both in my personal and professional life. I’ve never had regrets of going abroad; each time is a unique and valuable experience, and this applies to Australia as well, albeit the short period of stay. Indeed it was very expensive and I spent most of my savings from the previous year on this trip. However, it has brought me enrichment and perspective that cannot otherwise be obtained…all in all a memorable trip, which I’ll treasure for the rest of my days.
It’s wonderful to be back in South Africa. However, even just after being back for a few days, one becomes bombarded with the myriad problems we have locally, which I’ve somehow managed to forget while abroad. Depends on how one views it, it can be a stark reminder of how much South Africa needs educated people to stay and contribute locally, strive to make a difference and inspire others to do so.
On a general note, Australia may not be an ideal country to visit or study at this point in time, because of its extremely high costs, especially in higher education. One may be inclined to consider west or central Europe for a fraction of the costs. However, in the long term, Australia is probably one of the most stable countries in the world with very developed industries. They have an abundance of natural resources, social wealth and security, and great Southern Hemisphere climate. For the future development of one’s academia or professional career, Australia certainly holds much to ponder about.