The view of the city from my window seat as my plane started to descend at Sydney Airport gave me confidence that my decision to spend a semester in this region of the world was the right one. I was even more impressed by the friendliness of the locals after I arrived, as they were quite helpful in directing me to the right transportation to my accommodation. Even though my trip to Sydney was more than 30 hours overall, the impressions and excitement overcame tiredness and I was ready for the week full of events. Later that day, the GAV team organized the valuable orientation on the UTS campus which was topped off with an extraordinary dinner at the Sydney Harbour area.
From the very next day, we started with classes. Truth be told, I was concerned that I would not be able to withstand the class schedule from the very beginning bearing in mind the jetlag effect and exhaustion from the long trip. However, the professors tried for us to feel comfortable and the lectures were interesting and interactive. In the first block, I take 2 classes, Corporate Finance and Financial Decision Modeling where in both classes we learn about the essentials of finance and implement them in tools such as Excel.
On the other hand, we had plenty of time during the first week to explore the Sydney area, taste some good food, visit city sights, and participate in social events. As for almost every young adult, my topic of interest was beaches, bars and restaurants, which to my great pleasure Sydney has to offer in significant numbers. One more detail I noticed is that Sydney is culturally remarkably diverse and there are restaurants with a wide range of international cuisine. During the first week, I experienced eating some delicious dishes from Japanese, Italian, and Thai cuisine. The impression would be incomplete if we had not experienced the amusement of Sydney’s sights and social scene, so we enjoyed the landscape of Bondi Beach and the vibrant atmosphere of rooftop bars and nightclubs. Visiting those places, my fellows and I have already met a great number of local people, students from other U.S. universities as well as peers from different parts of the world.
Last but not least, during the past weekend there were organized tours to the Rocks of the District and Wildlife Park. On Saturday, my group and I enjoyed walking around the city area where the colonized history of the city began and where the first ships of British explorers arrived. On Sunday, we got the unique opportunity to visit a wildlife park, where we saw kangaroos, koalas, and other fascinating animals. All things considered, I am immensely appreciative of the wonderful opportunity I am now experiencing and excited for more memorable activities.
