Studying In The Land Down Under With Cory C.

Q: Tell me a little bit about where you went, what semester, what your dorm was like, roommates- were they from QU?, and what kind of classes you took.

Cory: I went to Australia. I stayed in a tourist town called Manly, and it was a 15 minute ferry ride from Sydney. But, I was in the state of New South Wales, so if people asked where I was I said Sydney because we were that close. I went in the Fall 2008 semester. I had a single room abroad because we had the option to choose single, double, or triple. As many of my friends found out, I made the better choice with a single. Our school was called International College of Management, Sydney (ICMS). It was a huge castle, so our rooms weren’t very modernized like dorm rooms here are. My room had a single bed, a desk, a closet, a small set of shelves, and a huge window with a gorgeous view of the beach. I actually went abroad with my boyfriend, who is a Quinnipiac student; besides that there were no other QU students that went to the same school as us. I took 4 classes there because that was the maximum for study abroad students; I took Organizational Behaviour, Business Law, Retail Management, and Tourism and Consumer Behaviour.

Q: How did you prepare for going abroad?

Cory: I didn't do too much preparing for leaving. I attended the 2 hr. long study abroad session here at Quinnipiac that gave us some useful information about leaving the country. I made sure I had all my documents in order, and I made photocopies of everything just in case something got lost. I packed and unpacked and repacked several times to make sure I had room for all my things, and room to bring souvenirs back in my suitcases! I put my money into travelers cheques so that I could open a bank account when I arrived in Australia. The program I went through, AustraLearn, had us attend a phone chat where we could ask any questions about coming to Australia and our school. It was really helpful because we all had some of the same questions, and it was good to learn about what to bring and what not to bring.

Q: What was the best way to adjust living in a different country?

Cory: I really think the best way to adjust to living in a different country was making a good set of friends. As I previously mentioned I went through the AustraLearn program, and they had planned out an orientation for all the Americans once we got over to Australia. This orientation was located in Cairns, (pronounced Cans), where the Great Barrier Reef is located. Here we got to go scuba diving and snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, in addition to holding koalas and playing with kangaroos at this wildlife park we visited. In Cairns, 60 of us Americans lived together in a hostel, in rooms of 8 with one shower, where we all got to meet new people. This orientation only lasted for about 4-5 days, and by the time we arrived in Sydney ready to go to our school most of us had so many friends made already! I met a great group of girls who I still keep in touch with, and we spent our whole 4 months together. It was a great way to adjust to the country because we were all going through the same feelings and having the same questions; it was great to have someone to lean on when we were really home sick.

Q: Was there any useful advice you received before going that really helped? And, what advice would you give someone that was going?

Cory: I don’t really think I got any helpful advice besides what not to bring and what to bring. But what I would say to someone going abroad is to not be nervous because everyone there is feeling the same way. You should make as many friends as possible. In the first few weeks you should start researching and planning your trips. I wish someone had told me to plan my trips early in the semester. We had waited because we were unsure of where to go, and by the end there were so many things that I did not get to do that I wish I had done. I don’t have any regrets, but there are places I plan to go back to see sometime in the future that I didn't get to see the first time around. Also, you should experience as much as you can. Do things you have never done before, and would never do at home. I felt like a new person there. I did things that I would have never imagined myself doing, and I don’t regret a single minute of it.

Q: What were some of major differences between where you went and QU/home?

Cory: The biggest difference that I saw was that people were so much more friendlier than in the U.S. Everywhere we went people loved Americans and even if they didn't realize you were Americans at first they were still so nice to you. Everyone says hello to people on the street whether you know them or not and it just seemed like the whole country was in a positive mood all the time. No one ever let anything get them down and the Australians were always up for fun and trying new things. It was a laid back atmosphere and you just felt great being around these kind of people. Stress almost seemed to not exist in this country, and I know at home and at school us students tend to be stressed 24/7.

Q: Did you get to do some traveling, and if so where?

Cory: I did get to do travelling and I wish I could have done a lot more. I went to Melbourne (the capital of Victoria which is another state in Australia), the South Coast of New South Wales, Cairns, the Blue Mountains, and Auckland, New Zealand.

Q: What is your most favorite memory being abroad?

Cory: I have two favorite memories being abroad. The first was our weekend to the Blue Mountains, and as crazy as it sounds it was my favorite weekend. We went to the Blue Mountains which are mountains in Australia. To explain a little about the scenery, most towns and cities are at the bottom of mountain ranges while the hills are above them. In Katoomba, the towns were on the top of the mountains and the canyons were below. So we didn't climb up the mountains, we went down into the canyons, but we had to climb up to get back to the town. One day we went “canyoning” as they call it – which in simple terms means jumping off waterfalls in the canyons. We wore wet suits, helmets, and carried bags with watersafe bags inside for our food. Without harnesses we got to jump off waterfalls up to 30 ft. high into huge pools of water. We also got to slide down waterfalls where the water was creating a “water slide” on the rocks. It was the best time and I enjoyed it so much. The water was absolutely freezing because it is hidden by the rocks in the canyons so it never sees sunlight. I can say that I do know what Jack felt like in the Titantic, but no joke. It was the best time in the world and I wouldn’t change a minute. And my second favorite experience was going skydiving. I usually cry on rollercoasters, but skydiving was the greatest feeling in the entire world and I wasn’t the least bit scared! You feel like you’re flying and it is just amazing to see the country from that view, it was so beautiful and so worth the trip.

Q: Any other stories, advice, etc. that you'd like to share?

Cory: Other things that I did while abroad included climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, seeing an Australian Ballet at the Sydney Opera House, playing with kangaroos, going on a Ghost Tour of the Quarantine Stations where people were kept back in the old days who were sick with Tuberculosis and other contagious diseases, I went on a wine tasting tour in Hunter Valley, I saw one of the biggest blow holes in the world at the South Coast, I went to the Botanic Gardens, I went whale watching, and while in New Zealand I went on a tour of the Lord of the Rings movie set and I went to see a volcano. I suggest going abroad to any student thinking about it, it is one of the best experiences of your entire life and you might never get the opportunity to do it again!

Note: The 1st picture is a view of Cory's school from the beach, the 2nd is the view of the beach from her room, the 3rd is a picture of the 3 Sisters rock formation in the Blue Mountains, and the 4th is a picture of some of friends standing beneath a waterfall in the Blue Mountains.