My decision to study overseas was not easy. It took a long time,because not only did I have to convince myself, I had to get permission from my family and my parents. I’m from China and I was working in a multinational company in a very good position. In my country, deciding to live overseas is a big decision and it requires family consensus. I started researching about places where I could continue my study and I decided to go to Australia.

 

The reason behind choosing Australia as a place to study is because the country provides good quality education. Compared to UK and the US, Australia is also geographically closer to China. Another consideration is safety and Australia is a safe country.

 

To choose where to study in Australia, I went to an Australian education fair in my city. I knew I wanted to do a master of business and I didn’t really care where the university was in Australia. I ended up enrolling at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Victoria.

 

Planning my move to Melbourne took me three months. I came with my wife but had to leave my son behind with my family, which was extremely tough and emotional. I booked for a temporary on-campus accommodation and I had to create a plan for my wife and son to come live with me after I settled down in Melbourne. It was hard leaving my family behind, but I was determined to have them have a better life, here in Australia.

 

When I arrived in Melbourne, I was quite shocked of how small the airport was and how few people there are around in the city. Through my campus, I arranged an airport pick-up service that took me to my new place. My first week was a bit hard. Besides missing my family, I had to settle down and take in the cultural differences. It is not a drastic change, culture wise, and the people are really nice and helped me a lot in adjusting to life in Australia. The country also hosts many immigrants (many of them are from China) so I wasn’t feeling lonely and they were also very nice to me. I liked the relaxed lifestyle here in Melbourne and the nice weather (although it can be extremely hot during summer or cool and windy during winter).

 

The biggest problem I bumped into when I started my study was understanding the Australian accent. I was not used to hearing the accent and locals talk so fast, it took a lot of concentration just to follow a conversation. It was quite difficult to follow lectures and class discussion because of the language barrier. However, Australian really gave us international students a chance to adapt. They were very helpful.

 

Besides language, difference in culture and working style was also a barrier at first. In group works, Australians are efficient workers and they make straight to the point comments. I sometimes think that they don’t try to protect other people’s feelings.

 

A helpful hint is to be active. Participate in class discussions, group work and conversations outside class. I felt that I’ve made enough mental preparations to mingle with locals and be active in class, but in practice it turned out quite hard because overseas students and local students have few common topics. I started watching Australian news, reading newspapers, join university clubs and get familiar with common Australian topics.! One other tip, if you want the ultimate Australian experience:.socialise with the local people. My English improved in no time and now I’m on my way to being an Aussie myself!