The organization in advance with the help of MicroEDU worked great. The entire application went smoothly and I soon had my firm acceptance and courses that I had already chosen. It should also be mentioned that the choice of these courses is not 100% binding. You will then have places in these courses, but it is still possible to change courses afterwards. Even if “prerequisites” are suddenly required, the relevant evidence can be submitted later. As soon as the courses are activated, you should try to find the times to make the timetable as suitable as possible. There is a lecture for all courses and several tutorials at different times, one of which you can choose depending on availability.
The start at the university was very successful, a lot is being done for the study abroad students. In my semester there were a total of around 300 students from all nations and there were many events, especially in the orientation week, but also during the semester, to bring everyone together. Parties, barbecues or team competitions took place regularly. Missing the orientation week is no drama, because there is not a lot of important information or the like, but you make the first contacts there, not to mention the great trip to Byron Bay. It is highly recommended, it was there that I got my first great impressions of Australia. The place is incredibly beautiful, there are lots of great activities and you have more to do with other students, especially at the beginning.
I hadn’t looked into accommodation before, except for booking 3 nights at the Trekkers Backpackers hostel in Southport. It’s not necessarily one of the nicest hostels, but looking for apartments for a few nights is more than enough. I then went to gumtree.com.au to look for it and finally, after my second visit, I selected the first apartment and moved into the hostel after 2 nights. The apartments in Surfers Paradise are generally rather expensive. I saw a lot of friends in retrospect and wasn’t too impressed with the value for money. I lived with two other girls in a small bungalow in Labrador. A bit out of the way, but spacious and really nice, the three of us felt very comfortable there. You can get anywhere with bikes, to the university in 10 minutes, to the beach about 20 minutes, to Surfers about 20 minutes. If you want to party every evening, then Surfers is the right place for you. Otherwise, in my opinion, the surrounding places are nicer and not that crowded. The beach can be easily reached from anywhere, which was actually most important to me.
See equzhou for more information about Australia and Oceania.
My everyday life at the university looked relatively relaxed at first, four subjects in total and lectures and tutorials only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. In Australia, however, the final grade consists of several parts. For example, I had to take regular online tests in subjects like finance or submit presentations and reports in international marketing. Then there is an intermediate examination in almost every subject before the mid-semester break. So with four subjects you are always busy with some “homework” in between. The tasks are not necessarily difficult, the lecturers just want you to deal with what you have learned, so it is rather time-consuming. At the time of the exams or when you have a major donation ahead of you, you are relatively busy.
But I’ve always been able to do a lot with my roommates and other fellow students. We went on trips more or less every weekend and spent a lot of the week on the wonderful beach on the Gold Coast. I can only recommend the Gold Coast Campus compared to the ones in Brisbane, you simply have a lot more of the great coastal landscape of Australia and the sea. The most beautiful destinations in my eyes are the Whitsunday Islands, the Great Ocean Road on the south coast of Melbourne, the smaller islands off the Gold Coast and Tasmania. In my experience, the excursions into the countryside were much more valuable than the ones in the big cities, which of course you can also look at, but not necessarily longer than a few days.
All in all, this semester abroad at Griffith was a great decision. The location is perfect, as you can easily reach the well-known places from the east coast. The weather is always nice and there is so much to experience. University life is something completely different and a good experience and helpful for language skills. The contents of the subjects were also completely different than at my university, much more practical and I took some away with me. I made a lot of great contacts and can only recommend everyone, when they are there, to really make the best of it and to travel as much as possible. Unfortunately, for such a long time, you won’t come back so quickly.
