Zhuang Yongqing

Concord University College, Mainland China
Exchange to University of Sunshine Coast, Australia

After over 2 months of long and tedious preparation and waiting for the granting of my student visa, in the middle of July 2008, which was the hottest period in China, I finally received the visa approval letter from the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship. I still remember how excited and happy I was at that moment. That was only a week before the beginning of the new semester which meant if I got my visa approved immediately I was still going to miss orientation week, as to get my visa stamped by the Australian Embassy Office in China would take me another 2 weeks. I was worried my visa might be rejected either for lateness or the mistakes that I made in processing my visa application documents and, many times, I thought I may lose this chance to experience a very different life.

I was surrounded by excitement and joy until 27 July, 2008, the day I arrived in the Sunshine Coast. It was really the best place for living as every piece of land was covered by flourishing trees or grass and kangaroos were also very common in the area around the campus but there were not as many people as we have in China. I could almost count the number of people that I saw the first day I arrived at the Sunshine Coast, except those people who were in cars. Life was also not very convenient as it would take over half an hour to get to the shopping centre and bring food and other living requirements back. The only good thing was that I had a reason to cut down the time that I spent in the gym exercising my arms and legs.

I really benefited a lot during the 5 months of exchange study in Australia. Unlike the education system in China, the University of Sunshine Coast applied the knowledge in analyzing the issue and strived to develop a plan to solve or improve a situation. During the classes we had discussions with our classmates, using the information that we collected before the class. Everyone expressed his or her opinion in order to exchange ideas. This is the best way to improve understanding on a certain topic and, especially for students from non-English speaking countries, improve their oral English. As there are only 12 hours contact each week, there was also more time for hanging out with friends. Going to the beach or having parties are the common activities that occurred apart from study. I really got to know many people from different countries during the 5 months, who I will remember forever. I also cherished the opportunity to travel around Australia. Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne presented a very different view for me. It is certainly going to be a life-long memory.

All of this would have been impossible without the support of the generous Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong grant. I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks and gratitude to the Cheung Kong Group and Australian Government for their assistance.

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