Let’s start with some background: I’m spreading out my master’s over 4 years. As I am doing the Track AUDE-A, there are quite some mandatory courses, which I all fulfilled in the first two years of my master's. I am now in my third year that I am using as an ‘international experience year’ as I call it myself.

Since I will be going to the USA for an internship as well after this semester-long exchange, it means that I will be a full year abroad. Being this long abroad without coming back to the Netherlands, has caused several problems - with ensurance, for example - but I will not bother you with those right now.

Instead I will share my experiences here in Sydney until now. This semester I only have to follow two courses, so I am very lucky with that. One of them is a project course, comparable to a master’s project 1 or 2 at the TU/e.

Click the photos to enlarge them, and read on below the photos

The other course is about the use of daylight in buildings, something I am really interested in and I was missing at the TU/e. Both courses are great and I enjoy working on them, which is a good thing because it involves a lot of self-study since I don’t have to be on campus that often.

Despite the freedom I have during the week, I still try to spend most of the weekdays on uni-work. In this way, I can keep most of my evenings and weekends free from uni-work, allowing me to explore the city and the rest of Australia.

To name a few of the activities my friends here and I have done in our leisure time are: visiting the inner city with the Sydney Opera House of course, going on a surf camp but also renting boards ourselves to surf on Bondi, Maroubra or Coogee beach, going to several parties, visiting a winter festival, museums (which are mostly for free here), the Blue Mountains, etc., and last week I have been on a holiday to Tasmania as well.

I have already seen a lot and had some great experiences, but there is so much more to see and do over here that it will be hard to finish my wish list before my semester here ends.

Click the photos to enlarge them, and read on below the photos

In conclusion

If you have any questions about going to Australia as an exchange student, feel free to contact me. Or, if you want to follow my experiences in more detail, you can search for my name on Polarsteps, where I am continuously posting about my experiences during this ‘international experience year’.