Sunshine Coast, Australia!: "With a Little Help From My Friends"

Being shy is something I've always been good at. Thirty percent of the students at the Uni are internationals. For us coming to Australia is a new beginning. Somewhere new where you can just be you.

The first two weeks in Australia was full of confusion, parties, and meeting tons of new people! These two weeks you learned things the hard way. Things like..."What bus do I take? Where is this or that? and Why do the grocery carts have swivels on both the front and back tires?" (It makes you crash or spin out of control. Someone should tell the Aussie people that if you make the back tire stationary it doesn't do that).

But the best of things come from these two weeks...FRIENDS!

I met 4 of my closest friends at the bus stop. All in search of the beach for the first time. We started talking and needless to say we found the beach and some great friends! The thing about everyone being new is it easy to turn to a complete stranger. Most of the time you found out they are just as lost as you! The best part about the high percentage of international students is it turns out to be a very open minded group of people that are all a minority. It makes for good fun and heaps of interesting converstions about different cultures.
The international students live in apartments right off campus. (UniCentral and Varsity) The apartments are a great way of meeting people as well. Its a very open minded and multicultural setting that makes you feel like your on every continent at once. Everyone hosts BBQ cookouts, welcomes guests for dinner and invites you over for a drink. It's great fun! I'll be sad the day I'll have to say goodbye to all the wonderful people I've met!