A Semester-Long Vacation

The Gold Coast is a resort town... well, make that resort city. It's lots - sorry, heaps of fun, but it is definitely geared towards tourists. On that note though, there are plenty of great places to shop and dine, and the beaches are amazing. It's mid winter as I write this and I'm laying on the beach and swimming in the ocean regularly. Also, the nightlife in the downtown areas of the Gold Coast is a lot of fun, every night of the week. There are plenty of bars, clubs, and late night munchy eateries.

Griffith University Gold Coast is an awesome campus, I couldn't be more happy with it. The campus itself seems brand new. It's very clean and well-landscaped. It's compact enough to get around quick without feeling claustrophobic. The teachers are also very good. I took mostly film and music production/business classes while here. Since the teachers actually come from backgrounds in the areas they're teaching, they're very passionate and knowledgeable in a practical, real-world sense. Many of them will teach a class, then go to a gig.

I live in Griffith University Village, which is an unaffiliated apartment complex near campus. It's only about a ten minute walk to campus, which is really convenient. It's a lot of fun, but can be loud at times. Basically you can always party when you want to party, but if you want quiet study time you might have to do it on campus. I have no problem with it, everyone is really friendly and down for anything.
This is a great location for travel if you do want to get out of the Gold Coast and see some 'real' Australia. Brisbane is a $5 bus/train ride from campus and from there you can get anywhere else. I just booked a trip to New Zealand pretty cheaply for spring break, flying out of there.

The only downside to Australia in general that I've found is that it is extremely expensive. The minimum wage here is almost double what it is in the US, so everything is pricier, relative to that. It also doesn't help that our dollar isn't very strong at the moment, but that fluctuates. It's still worth coming, just plan ahead for that kind of budget. I would say about $5,000-6,000 of additional spending money would get you through the semester very comfortably, going on a few trips and going out regularly. Since I only planned for around $3,000, this was a bit of a wake up call. If you plan ahead, this will be one of the best times of your life.