My initial exchange experience: a brief spiel
(29 July – 1 November 2014)
When I departed Adelaide on the 29th
of July 2014 and set off for Birmingham, where I would be spending the next
year of my life, I was tremendously excited. I had a month to travel Europe and
then a year at a new university; it could not get better. I suppose for me this
was an opportunity to ‘grow up’ and hopefully to erase any left-over teenage
ignorance. So I set off, leaving behind my sobbing mother. I felt cruel leaving
her, but I knew that this was something I had to do for me. I had to leave the
bitter, angsty teen behind in Adelaide, where I had grown sick and tired of my
monotonous daily life. I needed a change, and I needed to change.
I arrived in London on July 29.
Fortunately, I have family in Essex who very kindly offered to pick me up and
have me to stay for a couple of weeks to settle into English life (which mostly
involves drinking lots of beer), before uprooting again and heading to Europe
to begin my month of backpacking. I had a remarkable time travelling in
Hungary, Austria, Germany, France and the Netherlands before heading to Birmingham.
I saw many weird and wonderful things in Europe, and I truly think travelling
before beginning exchange is essential; at least, it was for me. It opened my
eyes to new cultures, languages and gave me a new thirst for knowledge that I
had not felt in a long time. I believe that if I had not travelled before
beginning the semester, I would have grown restless quite quickly at
university, knowing that there is so much to do and see so close to me. It was
a great way to kick off my adventure.
Sadly the party in Amsterdam had to end On
the 6th of September, and I ventured back to England to frantically
search for somewhere to live for the next nine months of my life. I spent a
week at my family’s house (sleeping) and set off to Birmingham. When I arrived
at the massive campus on the 13th of September, I was in awe. I was
also very lost and wondered how on earth I would navigate myself around there
for the next year. Luckily, however, the giant clock tower located in the
centre of the university served as a good vantage point. I arrived early to
take part in the house hunting event; essentially this involves meeting other
(mostly exchange and Erasmus) students and viewing properties for the
commencement of the academic year. This was a great experience, where I met
some of my closest friends here in Birmingham and I would highly recommend it
to all incoming students. It really helped me get by in those first few weeks
because I was no longer friendless.
Before I could move into my flat, I was
essentially homeless for two weeks, so I spent this time couch surfing with
various friends. Although moving a lot was annoying because I had a significant
amount of luggage and had already been living out of a suitcase for six weeks,
it was a great two weeks. I met so many people from all around the world and
got to live in my friend’s apartment in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter in the
city centre and in two different houses in Selly Oak, the well-known ‘student
suburb’, with its notoriously high crime and STD rates. It doesn’t exactly have
the best reputation, but it is the hub of student life (aka parties).
Now it is week 5, I am no longer homeless and
I am well and truly settled into the daily grind of student life. When I say
daily grind, my typical day involves sleeping in until some ridiculous hour,
getting up and stumbling to uni (this takes twenty minutes on a non-hung over
day) and then going to a lecture for two hours, followed by the pub or library
(if I’m good). I can’t complain. Sometimes being so far away from home is hard,
but life in Birmingham is pretty great and I can’t wait to see what the next
year has in store for me.
