Wow, having been selected for the summer school was very exciting! My destination: Austria. Even though I have been to Austria before this was in a completely different area. The University of Graz hosted the summer school and we were going to be staying outside the town Leibnitz in a castle.
In the first few weeks after selection there was still tremendous amount of admin. We had to fill out more forms and re-apply for more specific seminar groups at the summer school.
Sorting out the tuition fee was also quite challenging, my advice would definitely be to not leave that too late, as international bank transfers take some time. Also not all summer schools require a tuition payment but mine did, however the bursary we received could be used to cover the expense.
Due to the weakening of the rand, looking for affordable flights was also challenging, but in the end all the admin and stress did pay off. We found some affordable flights by Air Berlin via München.
Wat ‘n lekker tyd lê vir jou voor! Die Europese Besigheidskool se somerskool is ‘n belewenis en iets wat nie werklik vasgevang kan word in ‘n blog nie. Jy gaan vriendskappe smee met wonderlike mense en plekke sien wat so ryk aan geskiedenis is dat jy klein voel.
Voor jy egter daar kan kom en die lekker ervaar moet jy die administratiewe gedeelte afhandel. Daar is sekere dinge wat net gedoen moet word, en hoe vinniger jy dit doen, hoe beter. Die grootste strik waarin jy kan trap is om dinge uit te stel want dit gaan jou meer geld kos, maar ook inmeng met jou Junie eksamen en dis ongerieflik. Eerste ding wat jy doen is bespreek jou vliegtuigkaartjie as jy jou datums het. Jy kan altyd travelstart.co.za dophou vir goeie aanbiedinge. Ek het na Student Flights gegaan om ‘n kwotasie te kry en hulle het toevallig die goedkoopste vlugte gehad en dan nog afslag op daardie vlug ook gegee. So dis die veiligste. Jou goedkoopste lugredery sal Qatar, Emirates of Etihad Airways wees. Ons het met Etihad gevlieg het en ‘n baie aangename vlug gehad.
Die volgende stap is om jou VISA te kry. Vir die Schengen Visa maak jy ‘n elektroniese afspraak by die ambassade en gaan dan daarheen met al jou dokumentasie. Maak dubbel seker dat jy al jou dokumente het aangesien die mense nie baie tyd het vir mense wat met die helfte van hul dokumente daar opdaag nie. Ek het my VISA verniet gekry omdat die vrou gesê het dis vir akademiese redes. Onthou ook dat indien jy voor of na die tyd wil toer jy reeds bewys van daardie verblyf moet hê as jy vir jou VISA gaan. EBS sal vir jou ‘n brief stuur wat jou akkomodasie bevestig vir die drie weke wat jy daar is.
Geld gewys het ek ‘n Cash Passport by ABSA gekry. Dit is ‘n Mastercard en werk die beste. Mastercard word orals aanvaar en met die Cash Passport betaal jy nie om die kaart te “swipe” nie. Jy betaal egter baie geld om te trek. Neem dus genoeg geld in kontant en genoeg op die kaart saam.
Klere gewys kan jy somersklere pak met ‘n paar warm truie. Dis gemiddeld twintig grade maar in ons tyd was daar ook ‘n hittegolf wat die kwik tot diep dertigs laat styg het. ‘n Reënbaadjie is ook ‘n goeie roep aangesien daar gereeld ‘n bietjie reën uitsak. Pak ook gemaklike skoene aangesien jy bitter baie loop. Los egter genoeg plek in jou tas sodat jy sjokolade, bier, tee, klere ens. kan saam terugbring.
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.
