I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Australia for Winter Term 2004, which was my second semester of junior year. I studied in the "Cultural Capital" of Australia, at the University of Melbourne in Victoria through the IPE program. Without having travel experience beyond the U.S. and Mexico, I really wanted to make the most out of my opportunity to study abroad. I had wanted to travel to Australia since 2nd grade. I grew up dreaming about having kangaroo friends and traveling through the Outback with a Crocodile Dundee clone as my guide. With age, I began to respect and appreciate what an international experience could provide me. As I dove further into my research of Australia, my desire to study there increased. I knew that I would never have a sufficient amount of time to travel the country on the length of vacation time I would be given once I began working full-time. So in order to maximize my experience, I choose to go to the farthest place from home.

Choosing the University of Melbourne to attend was an easy decision. Melbourne is an amazing city that has so many things to offer from a great education, to gorgeous natural landscaping, to the best in Australian fashion, to distinct cultural clustered areas, to the best museums in the Southern hemisphere. Additionally, it was very important to me to be a location which made traveling very convenient. In Melbourne, there are two major airports which have frequent flights all around Australia, extensive tram rail lines, trains, and buses, and a ferry which travels to Tasmania.

Before I left, all of my friends and family were very excited for me. Because of my mixed emotions (nervous to be in a new place, excited to meet new people, fear of missing my loved ones), I felt guilty about not being as excited as everyone else seemed to be for me. I came to realize that all of my feelings were natural, and my friends and family were right to be confident that I would have an amazing experience.

After traveling around New Zealand for two weeks, I finally arrived at the University of Melbourne for the International Welcome/Orientation. I was amazed at the nonchalant attitude I sensed immediately from the Australians. During the Welcome, there was at least one event each day where alcohol was provided. Because the drinking age in Australia is 18 and drinking on campus is legal, it was a large part of our "assimilation" into Australian culture. The country also appeared to be much more trusting of people than the U.S. has been in my experience. For example, on the tram lines you are expected to purchase a ticket each time you ride; however, there isn't anyone there to force you to purchase one or see if you have, so they just trust that people's conscience will drive them to buy a ticket.

It was very surprising to me the level of interest that Australians have in America. I often met people (both male and female) who asked me if they could buy me a drink and learn more about America. Even teachers after class would ask me to talk about everything in America from which newspapers are liberal or conservative, to my knowledge of Woodstock. One other surprising feature of Australia was the large population of Asians. I didn't realize that due to Australia's proximity there would be so many Asians; it was very similar to the large population of Latinos in the U.S. However unlike the U.S., there are only extremely small populations of Latinos, Africans, and Indians in Australia.

Although English is the official language of Australia, there was still a language barrier I encountered. For example, the word "cheers" has multiple meaning in Australia, none of which coincide with our meaning of cheers. It took me months to finally figure out the meaning of the word, and that was only because I asked an Aussie. He explained "cheers" as being something you say when you don't know the person very well, but you need to say something. "Cheers" is often used as a conversation ender (where we might say bye) or to thank someone for holding the door for you; however, it can also be the response to thank you (where we might say your welcome). If they do want to say thank you, they often just say "ta" which is simply their abbreviated version of thank you.

While attending the University of Melbourne, I took the following courses: Microeconomics, Developmental Psychology, Manufacturing Machine Processes, and Sports and Education in Australia. I really enjoyed all of the classes I took. Psychology is considered a hard science in Australia which is different from the more arts/science approach we take in the U.S. so the emphasis on lab reports is much greater. As a mechanical engineer, I am very accustomed to having classes where you use machines to physically produce things; however, in Australia you have very limited exposure to "hands-on" type work because of liability issues. My Sports and Education in Australia class was very interesting because it really showed me the diversity of sports that the country embraces and the way that they use sports as one of the main venues for children to learn values.

The classes on the whole are structured differently. During the semester, homework, lab reports, or papers are very rare and thus only make up between 20-40% of your overall grade. The remainder of your grade is determined by one final exam or one final paper. The time spent in class is not very interactive. It is a part of Australian culture to not want to stand apart from their peers. So if the teacher asks a question, no one wants to respond even if they know the answer.

One of the most important parts of my trip was having the opportunity to travel. Before arriving in Australia, I traveled around New Zealand with four females from the University of Illinois. We traveled both through the North and South Islands and saw some of the prettiest landscapes imaginable. My favorite part of the trip was sky diving in Queenstown, which is one of the capitals for extreme sports. During the semester, I was able to travel during Easter Break through the eastern coast, stopping at places such as Brisbane, Byron Bay, Fraiser Island, Whitsunday Islands, and Airlie beach. I traveled with the international program at school and we camped and slept at hostels. The best points of this trip was the opportunity to scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef, sail the Whitsunday Islands, surf at locations where world-wide surfing competitions are held, and see some of the top beaches in the world which are not inhabited. Between the end of classes and the start of finals, I traveled to Tasmania, where I had the opportunity to see convict settlings and hike through amazing terrain. I also took a trip to Sydney and saw the Blue Mountains, the markets, and all of the classic tourist spots such as the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge. One weekend trip which was definitely worth while was traveling down the Great Ocean Road to see the 12 Apostles, which is a rock formation in the ocean.

I would tell anyone that if there is any way that they can study abroad, absolutely take the opportunity. I loved my experience and wouldn't trade it for anything. It opened my eyes to more cultures and more of an international view of the United States. As a result of my experience, I have taken a job which promises me the opportunity to work abroad.