Campus life

I have been at Newcastle for about 8 weeks now and I love it. Since day one, people living in the International House with me have been so friendly. They plan college events often (at least 1 every two weeks, but usually more) which gets me involved on campus and helps me to meet new friends. Sometimes, the people that have been living here for a while are kind of cliquey, but overall people are pretty friendly if you are outgoing enough.

Classes are equally comparable to those in America. I am taking all 3000 level classes and they require about the same amount of time and work as the upper level classes in America. I wish that I took at least 1 class that was lower level just to lessen my work load so I could have more free time to travel and such, but it isn't too dampering.

The weather when I first arrived (mid-July) was cooler than I had expected, so don't forget a jacket if you're coming around the same time.

The downtown/bar scene is very similar to America, but people dress a little nicer here - you can't get in with flipflops, so bring at least 1 pair of nice shoes.

Things are more expensive here so think about that when budgetting. Bus fare is $3.60 one way, a box of cereal is around $7, shampoo is $10, makeup is 4x American prices... just be aware that general living expenses are more.

Overall, though, I am loving this experience and if I was to do it all over again I would do it the same, except I would have done it my Spring semester (begin at Newcastle in Feb). AustraLearn was an amazing help and they have a great system set up for everything that needs to be completed before leaving and the program in Cairns was an amazing experiences that I am beyond happy I was able to be apart of.