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Thread: studying abroad

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    Senior Member kay &!*'s Avatar
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    anyone ever studied abroad? where did you go? how was your experience?

    i'm considering it for the spring '10 semester and i have no ideaaa where i want to go. initially, i wanted to go to Korea just because i'm soo in love with Big Bang. but then, i figured Japan would be much better since EVERYONE wants to go to TOKYO(and being in love with BB isn't a good enough reason), so how cool would it be to actually live there for 3 months?? i'll be the envy of my friends! mwahahah.
    but i had a talk with my friend that did the program (he's japanese btw), and he said you should know a bit of japanese in order to communicate/make friends with the classmates. if not, your only friends will most likely be other exchange students. omg, really =S now i'm reconsidering because i know NO japanese and idk if it's worth it anymore. i know future employers will like the fact that i survived in a foreign country but.. it's such a hassle =S and knowing myself, i don't think i'd have the patience to deal with the language barrier T_T
    so i'm thinking of going to Australia instead. initial plan was Japan for spring semester and Australia for summer. but if i cross out Japan, might as well go with Australia and stick around here for the summer to work for much needed cash. i don't even know if i can afford BOTH places if i want to! Tokyo's cost of living is sky-rocket and the airfare alone for Australia will cost an arm and an leg.
    any thoughts? where should i go..what should i do!?!!!? should i just stop being a pussy and go to both places as much as i want to? haha
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    Senior Member Han Solo's Avatar
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    go and stay with yittz or candide and save money.

    Seriously though, doing an exchange is always worth it in terms of your experience.

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    Senior Member yittz's Avatar
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    Yeah I recommend it too.

    Funny you don't mention yourself Han Solo, you are hardly at your home, and you are rich enough to offer free rent.
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    Senior Member kay &!*'s Avatar
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    hahaha. wait, why yittz or candide? you guys live in Australia?
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    You three Aussie gentlemen can take turns offering your homes. Best solution. Whenever you ain't home, you open it up.
    What are you fighting for? Just mix them into pissing beef balls, stupid.
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    Senior Member Trinie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kay &!* View Post
    anyone ever studied abroad? where did you go? how was your experience?

    i'm considering it for the spring '10 semester and i have no ideaaa where i want to go. initially, i wanted to go to Korea just because i'm soo in love with Big Bang. but then, i figured Japan would be much better since EVERYONE wants to go to TOKYO(and being in love with BB isn't a good enough reason), so how cool would it be to actually live there for 3 months?? i'll be the envy of my friends! mwahahah.
    but i had a talk with my friend that did the program (he's japanese btw), and he said you should know a bit of japanese in order to communicate/make friends with the classmates. if not, your only friends will most likely be other exchange students. omg, really =S now i'm reconsidering because i know NO japanese and idk if it's worth it anymore. i know future employers will like the fact that i survived in a foreign country but.. it's such a hassle =S and knowing myself, i don't think i'd have the patience to deal with the language barrier T_T
    so i'm thinking of going to Australia instead. initial plan was Japan for spring semester and Australia for summer. but if i cross out Japan, might as well go with Australia and stick around here for the summer to work for much needed cash. i don't even know if i can afford BOTH places if i want to! Tokyo's cost of living is sky-rocket and the airfare alone for Australia will cost an arm and an leg.
    any thoughts? where should i go..what should i do!?!!!? should i just stop being a pussy and go to both places as much as i want to? haha

    I did not go even though I wanted to. However, my 4th brother did GO for a whole year to Australia and enjoyed it a lot. He said that it is good and better for you to go to a country where you know the language or else you will have a VERY hard time on top of everything else that you have to deal with. Yea, Japan is EXTREMELY expensive and plus I heard the economy there is really bad right now. My friend just visited Japan last year and said that even the tiniest little things cost a lot. I advise you to go to Australia since I think it will be easier for you and you don't have to spend as much as you would if you went to Japan. My 4th brother said that studying in Australia was one of the best decisions he made in his life. It is something that he will remember for the rest of his life. He also met someone that he loved, but sadly... he did not go for it so now he has to live the rest of his life wondering what "could have been". Therefore, I advise you to go for it if that does happen to you. If need more advice, just let me know.. I am going through sort of the same thing now since I hope to go and work abroad eventually as well.. Good luck!!!
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    candide and kay..... epic
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    Senior Member kay &!*'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trinie View Post



    I did not go even though I wanted to. However, my 4th brother did GO for a whole year to Australia and enjoyed it a lot. He said that it is good and better for you to go to a country where you know the language or else you will have a VERY hard time on top of everything else that you have to deal with. Yea, Japan is EXTREMELY expensive and plus I heard the economy there is really bad right now. My friend just visited Japan last year and said that even the tiniest little things cost a lot. I advise you to go to Australia since I think it will be easier for you and you don't have to spend as much as you would if you went to Japan. My 4th brother said that studying in Australia was one of the best decisions he made in his life. It is something that he will remember for the rest of his life. He also met someone that he loved, but sadly... he did not go for it so now he has to live the rest of his life wondering what "could have been". Therefore, I advise you to go for it if that does happen to you. If need more advice, just let me know.. I am going through sort of the same thing now since I hope to go and work abroad eventually as well.. Good luck!!!
    thanks for your input. i was weighing everything out and i've made my decision to go with Australia. what you said was so right, the language barrier would be a lot harder for me in Japan even though i'm sure i'd have a BLAST just being there. i can always visit in the future, right? also, my friend told me the school in Japan has very limited classes taught in english.. so i wouldn't want to risk spending thousands on this opportunity when i can't even transfer back a full-term of credits. now, i am going to have to research on the different cities in Australia so i can make my FINAL decision haha.
    will it be sydney, melbourne, or perth? hmm.

    Quote Originally Posted by LuNaR View Post
    candide and kay..... epic
    lol, what is that supposed to mean?
    Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

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    Quote Originally Posted by kay &!* View Post
    anyone ever studied abroad? where did you go? how was your experience?

    i'm considering it for the spring '10 semester and i have no ideaaa where i want to go. initially, i wanted to go to Korea just because i'm soo in love with Big Bang. but then, i figured Japan would be much better since EVERYONE wants to go to TOKYO(and being in love with BB isn't a good enough reason), so how cool would it be to actually live there for 3 months?? i'll be the envy of my friends! mwahahah.
    but i had a talk with my friend that did the program (he's japanese btw), and he said you should know a bit of japanese in order to communicate/make friends with the classmates. if not, your only friends will most likely be other exchange students. omg, really =S now i'm reconsidering because i know NO japanese and idk if it's worth it anymore. i know future employers will like the fact that i survived in a foreign country but.. it's such a hassle =S and knowing myself, i don't think i'd have the patience to deal with the language barrier T_T
    so i'm thinking of going to Australia instead. initial plan was Japan for spring semester and Australia for summer. but if i cross out Japan, might as well go with Australia and stick around here for the summer to work for much needed cash. i don't even know if i can afford BOTH places if i want to! Tokyo's cost of living is sky-rocket and the airfare alone for Australia will cost an arm and an leg.
    any thoughts? where should i go..what should i do!?!!!? should i just stop being a pussy and go to both places as much as i want to? haha
    let me tell ya, it's not THAT cool. Alot of places in the world are great to visit, there's very few that's great to live for a period of time. But if you have to go, then go, it's not a big deal as people made it out to be, you'll still be going to school, doing hw and all that crap. it's not a vacation by a long shot.

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    Senior Member Trinie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kay &!* View Post
    thanks for your input. i was weighing everything out and i've made my decision to go with Australia. what you said was so right, the language barrier would be a lot harder for me in Japan even though i'm sure i'd have a BLAST just being there. i can always visit in the future, right? also, my friend told me the school in Japan has very limited classes taught in english.. so i wouldn't want to risk spending thousands on this opportunity when i can't even transfer back a full-term of credits. now, i am going to have to research on the different cities in Australia so i can make my FINAL decision haha.
    will it be sydney, melbourne, or perth? hmm.


    lol, what is that supposed to mean?
    You are welcome and I am glad that you decided to go to Australia. I think you will enjoy it a lot. My brother went to Melborne and attended Monash University. He got a lot of his credits transferred back but my parents thought that he didn't because it took him 6 years to graduate. It was mainly because his major is a big major(computer science which alone is 180 units!!). I must say that you may not get all of your credits transfered back when you return. However, it was mainly the experience of studying abroad that my brother was going for, not the number of units that he can earn. He can easily get that here in the US. Therefore, I hope that you are going more the experience as well. Don't be shocked if all of your units don't transfer back, but at least some of them will. You have to make sure to talk to your academic advisor to work out a plan about what you are going to take and which classes will be transferrable and which ones may not be.
    Last edited by Trinie; 03-17-09 at 02:30 PM.
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    Senior Member Trinie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by warlock110 View Post
    let me tell ya, it's not THAT cool. Alot of places in the world are great to visit, there's very few that's great to live for a period of time. But if you have to go, then go, it's not a big deal as people made it out to be, you'll still be going to school, doing hw and all that crap. it's not a vacation by a long shot.
    That is true, but I think if you have time, you can still enjoy yourself. I don't think we all study 24/7 right??(I seemed to, but it didn't seem that everyone does). It is true that a lot of places are great for a vacation since you are not staying there long. However, living there is a different story. One of my friends has been to China just for vacation a couple of times and wants to live there. My other friend and I are saying that she is too ideal(she has always been like that). If life in China was so great then why is everyone that lives in China want to come to the US to live?? Living in a place and visiting are 2 completely different worlds.
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    Senior Member cheek's Avatar
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    I stayed in Tokyo for a year. It was a great experience and I was so fortunate to meet so many lovely people. I studied Japanese before I went to Japan but when I was there, I still couldn't communicate properly with the Japanese. It took me 6 months before I was comfortable and more fluent in the language. It helped that I lived and breathed the Japanese language everyday.

    I was there 7 years ago and it was really expensive. Now, i think it is more affordable. Sure, accomodation is still among the highest in the world but Tokyo is more affordable than you think. The Japanese are affected by the lousy economy too so the cost of living is also accordingly lowered. McNuggets are selling at only 100yen these days (USD$1.10?) Language might be the greatest barrier for you but I think a stay in Japan is precious. Whichever major city you decide to go, you will come to find it so dynamic and SOOOOO freaking interesting.

    Well, I dunno. I am biased since I've lived there before and I love the place. Sure, the people piss me off time to time (due to their overwhelming politeness) but generally, I think it is easy for a newbie to stay there. Good food, clean streets, great air, friendly, good-looking people and low crime rates. Whats not to like?

    A Convenience store every 200meters! Lovely.
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    Senior Member kay &!*'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by warlock110 View Post
    let me tell ya, it's not THAT cool. Alot of places in the world are great to visit, there's very few that's great to live for a period of time. But if you have to go, then go, it's not a big deal as people made it out to be, you'll still be going to school, doing hw and all that crap. it's not a vacation by a long shot.
    no shit?
    i'm aware that studying abroad doesn't = 3 month long of vacation.
    the reasons i'm going are:
    - i've narrowed it down to places i've ALWAYS wanted to visit; weighing out the pros and cons. i have always wanted to visit London, England but the currency exchange is half of the U.S dollar (wtf) so on a more realistic level, i am not financially capable of going there for the experience just yet.
    - given the chance to choose from a number of different countries in the world, why not? i've always loved travelling and plan to when i am older when i'm making my own big bucks. never would i thought it'd be so soon (NEXT YEAR!) so why not take this opportunity and study+explore at the same time? killing 2 birds and 1 stone here.
    - like trinie said, i won't be schoolin' 24/7 you know. what about the weekends? 3 months=about 12 "weekends".. that's more than enough time to explore. i might not be able to explore every inch of what the city has to offer, but catching up on homework at the local cafe is also considered exploring you know.
    - i want to explore the different cultures and how it is different compared to what i'm used to. hell, going from the east coast to the west coast of the U.S is already different as is; what would it be like to to live in AUSTRALIA?
    - and lastly, and most importantly, i want to be able to network. it's cool to say "yeah, i have a group of friends from Australia" or Japan or whereever the hell you're going. i'm going there to study but also to have fun. who knows, maybe i'll gain a best friend over there and we'll go wild. that's something you can't really do when you're just "vacation-ing". you'll meet people, but you won't be able to form a relationship on a more personal level.

    i really don't know where you got "it's not as big of a deal as it is made out to be" but you're wrong my friend

    Quote Originally Posted by Trinie View Post
    You are welcome and I am glad that you decided to go to Australia. I think you will enjoy it a lot. My brother went to Melborne and attended Monash University. He got a lot of his credits transferred back but my parents thought that he didn't because it took him 6 years to graduate. It was mainly because his major is a big major(computer science which alone is 180 units!!). I must say that you may not get all of your credits transfered back when you return. However, it was mainly the experience of studying abroad that my brother was going for, not the number of units that he can earn. He can easily get that here in the US. Therefore, I hope that you are going more the experience as well. Don't be shocked if all of your units don't transfer back, but at least some of them will. You have to make sure to talk to your academic advisor to work out a plan about what you are going to take and which classes will be transferrable and which ones may not be.
    oh, i am sure all the credits i'm taking will be transferred back. my school is very strict on these things; i would have to choose the classes beforehand and have my advisor and dean look it over. if they're approved, they'll sign it to guarantee the transfers. what i meant about Japan was the classes taught in english are very limited, so i wouldn't have much to choose from. i'll probably end up taking 5 classes or so; with only 2 classes being able to transfer which imo, is a bit of a waste.
    Last edited by kay &!*; 03-17-09 at 03:16 PM.
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    Senior Member yittz's Avatar
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    Wise choice. I can promise you that you will love Australia. Autumn is pretty nice in Australia, although you miss the real summer heat if you came in jan/feb.

    You can't go wrong whether you pick Perth, Sydney or Melbourne. So it doesn't really matter. I liked Melbourne the best, it seemed by cultured and sophisticated, and their public transport rocks. Sydney will give you a more multi-cultural experience, and more asians are here.

    In terms of Uni, do not pick ANU. Yes it's best in Aus or top 10 in world or whatever. But it's stuck in the hole known as Canberra. Both University of Sydney and Melbourne are really good. Even though I've been going to USyd for 3 years, the scenery of old sandstone buildings, fresh lawn with the backdrop of sydney skyline.

    I will treat you to fish and chips if you come to sydney.
    Last edited by yittz; 03-17-09 at 04:30 PM.
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    Senior Member kay &!*'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by yittz View Post
    Wise choice. I can promise you that you will love Australia. Autumn is pretty nice in Australia, although you miss the real summer heat if you came in jan/feb.

    You can't go wrong whether you pick Perth, Sydney or Melbourne. So it doesn't really matter. I liked Melbourne the best, it seemed by cultured and sophisticated, and their public transport rocks. Sydney will give you a more multi-cultural experience, and more asians are here.

    In terms of Uni, do not pick ANU. Yes it's best in Aus or top 10 in world or whatever. But it's stuck in the hole known as Canberra. Both University of Sydney and Melbourne are really good. Even though I've been going to USyd for 3 years, the scenery of old sandstone buildings, fresh lawn with the backdrop of sydney skyline.

    I will treat you to fish and chips if you come to sydney.
    oh, you're from Australia
    i've cancelled out Perth for the following reasons
    - very isolated :S
    - a 'lights-out and rise early' city? everything is closed on Sundays??
    - unsafe compared to melbourne. nightlife consists of a lot of drunk, obnoxious people all squeezed together in a single street where all the clubs and bars are at? this will be a problem for me..

    anyways, the battle is on between Melbourne and Sydney now. the uni's which i will be studying will either be La Trobe or Macquarie.
    urghh =S

    and oh, i will be studying there from Jan to around April so i WON'T be missing the summer heat
    Last edited by kay &!*; 03-17-09 at 04:51 PM.
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    Senior Member yittz's Avatar
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    lol then you get the full treatment. Best time to come imo.

    Macquarie is a quality uni too, just doesn't have the same atmosphere as a sandstone uni.

    I am not sure about Melb, but renting in Sydney is difficult. It may be costly if you live close to Macquarie Uni, which doesn't have train access yet (maybe it will finish by 2010).

    Nightlife is excellent in both cities
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    Senior Member kay &!*'s Avatar
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    sydney has more asians, but does melbourne have chinatown, japantown, koreatown, etc. as well? i want to go to a place where i can mingle with the asians haha.

    and doesnt macquarie have dormitories/campus housing..???
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    Senior Member Han Solo's Avatar
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    Nightlife is better in sydney.

    Melbourne has a chinatown too, and also viet surburbs.

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    Quote Originally Posted by bliss
    I think they're probably at the same level as or one level below Ah Qing, which is about the level of a 2nd or 3rd generation Quan Zhen disciple.
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    Quote Originally Posted by kay &!* View Post
    no shit?
    i'm aware that studying abroad doesn't = 3 month long of vacation.
    the reasons i'm going are:
    - i've narrowed it down to places i've ALWAYS wanted to visit; weighing out the pros and cons. i have always wanted to visit London, England but the currency exchange is half of the U.S dollar (wtf) so on a more realistic level, i am not financially capable of going there for the experience just yet.
    - given the chance to choose from a number of different countries in the world, why not? i've always loved travelling and plan to when i am older when i'm making my own big bucks. never would i thought it'd be so soon (NEXT YEAR!) so why not take this opportunity and study+explore at the same time? killing 2 birds and 1 stone here.
    - like trinie said, i won't be schoolin' 24/7 you know. what about the weekends? 3 months=about 12 "weekends".. that's more than enough time to explore. i might not be able to explore every inch of what the city has to offer, but catching up on homework at the local cafe is also considered exploring you know.
    - i want to explore the different cultures and how it is different compared to what i'm used to. hell, going from the east coast to the west coast of the U.S is already different as is; what would it be like to to live in AUSTRALIA?
    - and lastly, and most importantly, i want to be able to network. it's cool to say "yeah, i have a group of friends from Australia" or Japan or whereever the hell you're going. i'm going there to study but also to have fun. who knows, maybe i'll gain a best friend over there and we'll go wild. that's something you can't really do when you're just "vacation-ing". you'll meet people, but you won't be able to form a relationship on a more personal level.

    i really don't know where you got "it's not as big of a deal as it is made out to be" but you're wrong my friend


    oh, i am sure all the credits i'm taking will be transferred back. my school is very strict on these things; i would have to choose the classes beforehand and have my advisor and dean look it over. if they're approved, they'll sign it to guarantee the transfers. what i meant about Japan was the classes taught in english are very limited, so i wouldn't have much to choose from. i'll probably end up taking 5 classes or so; with only 2 classes being able to transfer which imo, is a bit of a waste.
    nothing in this world is free. there's no "free trip to where I want to go". For every action there's a reaction. I'm not saying that you can't do it, but I'm just saying to watch out for the extra work that you have to put into studying abroad. Lots of kids do it, and almost all of them says it's "good". However, after they returned the answer is always "well, it's not a grand as I thought it'd be".

    And that's the truth, I don't want to say that I had my share of traveling, I've traveled alot (due to family jobs/circumstances), but I never had the hardship of traveling and worrying because I was well taken care of by my family. And I said it before, a lot of places are fun/cool to visit, not a whole lot of places are good to live in.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Trinie View Post
    That is true, but I think if you have time, you can still enjoy yourself. I don't think we all study 24/7 right??(I seemed to, but it didn't seem that everyone does). It is true that a lot of places are great for a vacation since you are not staying there long. However, living there is a different story. One of my friends has been to China just for vacation a couple of times and wants to live there. My other friend and I are saying that she is too ideal(she has always been like that). If life in China was so great then why is everyone that lives in China want to come to the US to live?? Living in a place and visiting are 2 completely different worlds.

    I agree, alot of these kids are so bubbly and their imagination runs wild (which in itself is a good/bad thing depending how you look at it). I just know for a fact that before you travel, you always feel like you're on top of the world planning bunches of crap, but it never live up to expectations, so just relax, take it easy, get to where you need to go and enjoy your time (if you can), if not, it's okay... not a big deal.

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