Stuart George

Host University: University of Wollongong
Year of Study Abroad: 2010-11

Where did you live? Would you recommend it?

Weerona College. Its expensive but the social life is fantastic.

Which department(s) did you study in?

Physics

How does the workload/classes/teaching styles vary to Sheffield?

Workload is similar, I imagine the third year has more labs here and you don't get involved in research unless you request it as a subject. The research projects are more hands on than the Sheffield equivalents as far as I can tell though. If you feel up to it you can try emailing Dr Cary Freith before you arrive and try and get a job demonstrating in first year physics labs.

What did you do for fun at the weekends and during the holidays?

I've done heaps in and around Wollongong. I've learnt to Scuba dive, Sydney costs 4 on the train and is about an hour away so trips up are routine. The beach is fantastic, especially in the summer and autumn when the surf pumps up. I've taken up body boarding while I've been out here as well. During the summer I went to New Zealand for a month and Queensland for two weeks. I spent the rest of the time working for the physics department at Uni. After semester ended during winter 2011 I stayed around in Wollongong when everyone else went home and again worked in the department.

Did you join any societies or clubs?

I went to a few of the events held by the Physics Society.

Describe the University/City/things to do

Despite being a city of several hundred thousand people Wollongong has a pretty small town feel. The night life is consists of a few 'hotels' (pubs) and a couple of nightclubs, it certainly dosen't compare to Sheffield. The town is bordered by a ridge of hills and there are some good walking tracks up into them. The beach is also a really good way to spend your time during the summer, there's a cinema and stuff like that around, and a bunch of cutesy little towns down further south. Sydney is an hour and a half away by extremely cheap train - and Sydney is a pretty fantastic city.

Could you give any travel or immigration tips?

My Visa was good until September 16th - so I spent my British summer in Australia working. The pay is better here and the weather is about the same.

GO TO NEW ZEALAND! Flights are a couple of hundred AUD.

If you start working sort out a tax file number asap or the Australian Government will retain half of your pay as tax until the next financial year (April).

Could you give any advice or tips to a student preparing to go or tell them anything you wished you knew in advance?

The australian sun (presumably because of ozone depletion) is easily the most ferocious in the world. You will burn here without sunscreen - even if you don't elsewhere.

Would you say it is cheaper or more expensive to live than Sheffield?

More expensive, as is Australia in general. Be prepared to pay about 20 more for everything here and about twice as much for alcohol (except wine - you can get a 4 litre box of that for 10). Rent in Uni accomodation is generally very expensive, although living in shared accommodation isn't too bad.