Technology @UniMelbourne!

Posted on by
1

Dear readers,

Going on exchange studies will provide you a wide range of diverse experiences, positive as a bit more negative. Being in Melbourne since the beginning of February, I´ve learned how the University has been approaching technology in a very different way than Malmö University.

On the welcome reception to all overseas students, we were taught, right from the beginning, that we should immediately download some useful apps that graduates at the Computing Department has been modelling. Here come some examples of them:

1) Lost? No worries! 

Campuses in Australia are generally wider and more outspread in the city. It´s really easy to get lost, and I´ve experienced it myself quite often. However, an “app” has been developed in order to help students navigate through the many alleys and roads at the Campus. “Lost on Campus” has the answer for everything!lost-on-campus-pandamap will indicate your directions and the approximate time you´ll be needed to reach your destination. Thanks to the GPS, it will walk with you too! But it´s not all!

Through it you can even trade our old books, look for internships and events happening at the University and leave a “comment” that the University services will directly receive and answer. So if you´re planning on an exchange in Australia (the application works for the major campuses in Australia), “Lost on Campus” is the solution to most of your worries.

2) Towards a safer university? Unisafe!

747-1-unisafeThe University’s Safer Community Program in Melbourne launched its Unisafe app in an effort to educate staff, students and visitors to the University on ways they can enhance their personal safety and contribute to building a safe and secure environment.
Students, staff and visitors can use the app to request a security escort to or from campus, and can also access information about campus security services, health services such as counselling, disability liaison and international student support.

The app also includes tips on enhancing personal safety on campus, public transport, in cars, at home and ‘out and about’… Wonderful!

 

 

3) Wanting to know what´s happening at UniMelb? Download the app!

iphone-wordStudying at UniMelb? The UniMelb app provides access to the latest information about the University of Melbourne wherever you are!

The UniMelb app includes:

– Photo gallery: Explore the campus in pictures

– Contact Directory: Search for University of Melbourne staff and connect quickly by phone or email(some staff don’t make their details public)

– News: View the latest news from the University of Melbourne newsroom

– Search: Quickly access the University Web Search

An inspiration for Malmö University?

First weeks in Melbourne!

Posted on by
Reply

Here some weeks of rest in Malmö, here I am, on the road again! I will spend the next term as an exchange student at the University of Melbourne, Australia!

I arrived in Australia around the 19th of February, and the first weeks in Australia have been a bit hectic since then.

First priority of all: accommodation. For all future students at Melbourne University, no panic!. Melbourne is a quite relaxed city regarding accommodation and there are plenty of rooms available. The most common form of accommodation is “shared apartment” or “shared houses”: apartments for only one student are very rare and out of price.

A useful website for all of those who are planning to spend a term in Melbourne: http://www.gumtree.com.au/. There you´d be able to find both rooms and jobs. I´ll talk about the job part a little bit after. An acceptable price for a room in Melbourne is about 250-300 dollars/week (around 1600-1900 SEK), which is quite of a budget for a student. You should calculate your costs of living before coming to Australia and maybe consider getting a job.

Second priority: Attending the Welcome Day at the University. At the welcome day, we were given lots of administrative information about students´ responsibilities and rights (quite different from Sweden), how to enroll to classes, how to log in the Student Portal…. Melbourne University is very advanced regarding to the use of IT in education. For instance, all of my lectures are recorded (both audio and video) and I can re-watch all of them as much as I want to. I´ll speak about IT and Education in a following post.

Third priority: Attending the classes! As a exchange student, you´re expected to enroll in 4 classes in order to be considered as a full-time student (a requirement for fulfilling the conditions of your visa).

Classes are generally divided in lectures (generally 2 hours/week) and tutorials (generally 1 hours/week), which would keep you busy around 15 hours a week. A slight difference from Sweden: attending tutorials in compulsory. At the University of Melbourne, undergraduate students are expected to attend 75% of their tutorials in order to pass the course. Failing to attend to tutorials leads to failing the whole course. Tutorials are generally given by passionate Phd-students or professionals (for example, my tutorial on Australian politics is given by an parliamentary assistant of a current Member of the Australian Parliament – fascinating!).

From your first moments at the University of Melbourne, you´ll notice the high standards of academics. Melbourne University has been ranked 1st in Australia and 39th in the world according to Times´ Higher Education World University Reputation (http://www.australianuniversities.com.au/rankings/). Literally all of my classes are motivating, fascinating and “brain-teasing”. The reading list is generally longer than Malmö or Lund University but it´s totally worth it!

As a conclusion, I can only recommend an exchange program at the University of Melbourne. I already feel that I´ve learned so much in so few week and I am really looking forward to continuing the learning “adventure” here in Melbourne!

/Michel

PS: I´ve posted pictures of the campus!

End of UNPAR International Student Conference 2013: A Memory for life!

Posted on by
Reply

Unfortunately, this wonderful conference had to come to an up. After a hectic day in Jakarta and some last workshops. the last day was made of all of our presentations. All the participants in the Global Terrorism Program were divided into 8 groups and we were assigned to present, in front of the whole assembly, what were the conclusions we could draw from the conference.

My group, composed of Chinese, Americans, Indonesians and I (French-Italian-Swedish) focused on explaining why different forms of terrorism required different solutions. After spending so many hours discussing issues like right-wind radicalism, Islamist extremism, lone-wolf terrorism, terrorism in Scandinavia and the consequences of death penalty, it seemed like an obvious end to our learning: speaking of one solution that would eradicate terrorism sounds inadequate and inappropriate.

But this conference, that gathered so many nationalities and different opinions, proved one point: citizens, at the grass roots level, have an enormous responsibility in their shoulders in the fight against terrorism: striving to oppose all the prejudices and false preconceptions that still are wrongly associated to some ethnic groups or religions. As Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a French-German MP of the European Parliament would put it: “Multi-culturalism, tolerance and acceptance for every individual, regardless of religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation are the real barriers against terrorism”.

The second conclusion that I would stress on at the end of this conference is all the love, friendship and care that I´ve received in so few days. In approximately seven days, I´ve met so many wonderful human beings and new friends. They have taken care of me like almost no one has ever done it before. And I wonder now how to give back what was freely given to me.

I want to especially thank Sindy, Azizah, Tiara and Haqqi, students at Parahyangan University in Bandung that took me out every single day, made me discover every of their preferred corners of Bandung, made me try delicious dishes and immersed me into the Indonesian culture, teaching me traditions, words, ways of living. Your attention to me is a priceless gift that I´ll always remember. Our discussions, our laughs, our differences have made me a richer human being.

I want to thank all the members of the Organizing Committee of the UNPAR International Student Conference 2013 for the awesome work they´ve put in into fixing every single detail of the event. All students, they woke up far before us and went to bed far after us just to make sure that we´ll enjoy our time. You all rock 🙂

 

I also want to particularly thank Anas, Merve, Mickael, Martin, Tejas, all my new International friends from every corner of this planet for being here for me. You all made me a better man! In one word: Just go to UNPAR International Student Conference 2014! 🙂

 

Being international…

Posted on by
Reply

Hey,

Here is the deal guys, being internatioal has its obvious benefits you get a broad network, learn about a new culture, explore new foods and spices, travel around and see nature or urban environments, and so on. You get a lot of positive impressions all around from being on exchange. But what does this really mean?

Here is an example of what being international can do for you…so during my last exchange in England I met lots of American students that I hung out with and we had a blast. So now when I am in the US I can actually visit these friends. This weekend I decided to go and visit my friend that I met in England, she lives about 2 hours by plane from here. I book the ticket and was off to see her. When I arrived she took me around the area showed me places that I probably would not have find by myself. Also I got the chance to hang with her cool family and eat some nice American dishes. Then we went to her friends place to watch the Super Bowl which was really cool to be able to experience the Super Bowl in an American home with Americans was priceless.

I wanna thank my friend, her family and her friends for showing me a good time. This is what being international is all about, this opportunity was because of the fact that we became friends in England.

So if you are unsure about applying to studies abroad, I am telling you don’t be unsure just do it as Nike would say because you will have the best time of your life hands down. So go out, explore, talk to a stranger, meet people, eat, drink, visit and most of all have fun with the experience. You can always come back home and it is better to have been out on exchange then regret it later in life!

Konferens i Bandung!

Posted on by
1

Hemkommen från fantastiska dagar i Indonesien, en konferensvecka med fullspäckat schema från morgon till kväll med de fyrtiotal studenter som deltar i vatten och miljö programmet!
På ankomstdagen fick vi direkt uppleva regnet, översvämningarna och därmed trafikkaos. Vi har dock haft tur med uppehåll får vi varit ute på studiebesök!

Första dagen var fylld av föreläsningar om bla. vattenförsörjnings problem i indonesien, översvämningar i citarium river som rinner genom Bandung samt ett besök på ett vattenforsknings center.
Dagen därpå reser vi tidigt till kota baru parahyangan green residece. En ny stadsdel som håller på att byggas upp en bit utanför Bandung. Man satsar här på miljövänliga och hållbara alternativ så som cykelvägar (att cykla i Bandung centrum är livsfarligt!), husen är anpassade för att solljus skall utnyttjas effektivt och naturlig ventilation istället för Ac. Man lägger stor vikt vid grönska och att plantera träd, något som även en representat från varje deltagande nation fick göra. Totalt satte vi ett tiotal träd under dokumentation av indonesisk tv! Efter lunch reste vi vidare för att se en helt annan sida av Bandung, ett stort kvarter där stadens fattigaste bor. Trånga gator, små hus och väldigt smutsigt, men vi möts av leende ansikten, framförallt från dem som aldrig sett en västerlänning. Vi fick här i uppgift att vandra runt och prata med de boende om problemen med den förorenade floden som rinner genom och som idag fungerar som soptipp för många. Man satsar mycket på att göra människor medvetna om miljöproblemen och som en liten påminnelse gav vi muggar där det står ‘I love Parahyangan river’ för att uppmuntra till fortsatt arbete med att få floden ren!

Senare på kvällen åker jag och min rumskompis Tomo från Japan med ett gäng för att käka. Bästa maten hittills och den serverades på bananblad! Ja fick dock titta bort då killen bredvid mig glupskar i sig kotarmar.. Inälvor är tydligen en delikatess här i indonesien.

På söndagen turistande vi och besökte två museum samt ett kulturcentrum där det bjöds på traditionella danser och anklung konsert, ett instrument av bambu. En av Javas bästa anklung orkester spelade, fantastiskt vad man kan åstadkomma med bambu! På måndagen hade vi föreläsningar och filmvisningar. Diskussion och förberedelser inför onsdagens presentation: vatten föroreningar och övergödning. På tisdagen åkte vi till Jakarta, tog cirka fem timmar pga trafiken. Sista dagen hade vi rundvandring på ingenjörs campuset och sedan gick vi på en föreläsning. På kvällen var det avskedsfest med mat och uppvisningar, alla var ombedda att visa något från sitt land så jag och Michel körde små grodorna!
Jag förlängde min vistelse i Indonesien några dagar och tog tåget mot Yogyakarta tillsammans med jefri, en unpar student som ville göra mig sällskap! Resan tog cirka sju timmar, hade gått betydligt fortare om tåget inte gått i snigelfart.. Men sköna säten och fin utsikt så det är okej! Väl framme besökte vi bland annat det berömda templet Boru budur.

Det har varit intressant att se vad som händer i ett land där populationen växer med den strukturella utvecklingen hänger inte med. Brist på vattenreningssystem, infrastruktur och dåliga byggnader i kombination med dåligt medvetenhet om konsekvenser av handlingar och de lokala miljöproblemen. Många använder floden som soptipp och regeringen är väldigt korrupt varav naturresurser skövlas lagligt illegalt. KOnferensen har verkligt levt över mina förväntningar och jag hoppas verkligen att nästa års konferens blir lika lyckat!
/Maria

Life @ the Lofts

Posted on by
Reply

RISE UP

So as you may or may not know I choose to live on campus at the lofts. As a student here you can either live on campus or find your own place. I choose to live on campus for several reasons and in this entry I will write about those things.

The lofts are located on campus which is in Downtown Atlanta, I will write about the area in a different entry, which sometimes can be shady but don’t worry you will be fine if you have lived in a big city.

There are different housing possibilities for international students, although I believe that the lofts is where 85% of the international students house. There are about 300+ residents here all that attend GSU. You have 14 floors with different sized rooms and downstairs you have a reception that makes sure people that do not live here will stay out and they will help you with any issues you may need. On every floor you have and ”RA” a resident that organizes activities and his almost like the floor ”mom/dad” because you can always ask them for any kind of help and they will assist. As part of that position it is their duty to be reachable at certain hours by phone. This creates a good, safe and helpful environment for the people living here, I have already been out with my floor a couple of times and there is a kind of a family feeling (of course if you don’t want to take part of this you do not have to, really up to you).

The lofts have a good learning center where you can go do homework or borrow a computer and get things done for school because believe you me you’ll need it. There is a laundry room that is free and there are a lot of machines available to use and I have never needed to wait for a machine, just go down there and get your wash on.

I live on the 12th floor and I have a suitemate, an American student, some rooms you actually share rooms but my understanding is that they put internationals in the rooms so that they have a private space. The apartment is nice and big, we have a dishwasher and micro also you have your own sink in the bathroom area which is pretty nice. I’m going to post a couple of pictures of how the lofts look from the inside and out so you can get a feel for it.

So why did I choose to live on campus? Several reasons, one big point for me was being close to school and not having to take the Marta (Atl’s subway system) to school my classes are about 5-10 minute walk from my door. Living at campus gets you connected as well; you meet a lot of new people and get info on what’s happening on campus so you’ll always have the possibility to do something on your spare time. I barely have time for my blog…..bye!

Greetings from America

Posted on by
Reply

Greetings from America

I have been in Atlanta for almost a week now so I will try to sum up a weeks impressions in one entry. 

The flight over here was quite tough, it was almost 19 hours from door to door, but hey I made it. My first impression of the US and Atlanta are positive a lot of friendly people and you can go a long way by just asking people for help and directions. 

I chose to live at the GSU campus in the University Lofts to be more precise. First impression here was quite mixed. I share an appartment with an American student, which is ok, you have everything you need but buy beding before you come here. My first night I slept without a pillow nor a blanket, that’s nothing you want to do…trust me. The rooms are good enough to stay for one semester but you can also stay outside of campus. The people that work at the Lofts are mainly students that attend GSU and let me say they are great, helpful, friendly and they always try to solve your problem in the best way.

The first day of orientation you go through a process with filling in forms and making sure that you are a legal visitor in the US, there is a lot to do but the ISSS (International Student and Scholar Services) makes this a lot easier, and you get free lunch which as students you know is great. 

The staff at GSU is very friendly and helpful just ask and they will assist. Me and 2 other students did not have any bedding (as I mentioned before) but we asked Grace at the ISSS what we could do and she drove us all the way to Target (store like Coop but cheaper) after work just to help us out. Students here are very nice too you can always stop anyone and have a chatt. My classes start tomorrow so I will write about that a bit further down the road. 

I have met a lot of new people from student to staff members to random folks at bars and streets. I have done a lot already during my short stay and I will leave you with this picture from the Georgia Dome where I got to see the Atlanta Falcons beat Seattle Seahawks 30 – 28. 

Bye bye

(reservation for typ-os so please have that in mind) Continue reading →

UNPAR Indonesia 2013 – Day 5 – Workshops!

Posted on by
Reply

Dear readers,

Let me continue the amazing story of the International Student Conference on Global Citizenship in Bandung, Indonesia.

The 4th Day was dedicated to a intense but fascinating discovery of all what Bandung had to offer. Bandung has approximately 2,4 millions inhabitants and is surrounded by volcanic mountains, which give it a cooler climate that the capital city, Jakarta. The city is quite broad and extended, which is a true challenge for any foreigner (I´ve been myself looking for neighborhoods with little success…). Bandung is the sate of the province of West Java, and is home of the Sundanese people., the second largest ethnic group in Indonesia with a different dialect and peculiar traditions.

The 5th day was entirely made of workshops discussions, that allowed us to reflect on all the different learning moments we had all been through.

– The theme of the first workshop was on the role of medias in tackling terrorism

– The second was about the necessity or not of severe punishments in order to prevent further terrorism attacks (Indonesia has still death penalty as a sentence for terrorist acts).

– The third workshop gathered participants that wanted to discuss the experience of their home countries regarding terrorist attacks and counter-terrorism programs.

All of the three workshop were really giving and educative. I could really testify how different the opinions of the different participants were, especially on the effectiveness of severe punishments to counter eventual terrorism attacks. Again, in one word, a perfect day in Bandung!

UNPAR Indonesia 2013 – Day 4 – Discovering Bandung…

Posted on by
Reply

Dear readers,

It´s high time for a new update on the blog! After those amazing conferences and discussions, the organizing committee of the conference (entirely students at Parahyangan University) had prepared another exciting day for us! A free day discovering the amazing city of Bandung!

Bandung was the location of the first Asian–African Conference, held in April 1955. The conference gathered new independent states from both regions who commonly expressed their rejection of colonialism or “new-colonialism” and founded the Non-Aligned Movement. We all visited the venue of the conference which is still used for diplomatic or educational purposes.

Secondly, Bandung is the host of a famous Museum of Geology, which exposed many fossils, rocks, and minerals… Such a delight!

And to finish such a wonderful day, all the participants of the conference headed to Saung Angklung Mang Udjo, a place dedicated to the traditional Indonesian instrument, the “Angklung”  (instrument made of two or several bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame, each of the tube playing a different tune). We discovered dances, traditional songs and we also got the chance to give it a try and play all together!

In one word, I would only say: Bandung rocks!!!

UNPAR Indonesia 2013 – Day 3 – Lecture and Movie Discussion

Posted on by
Reply

Here come the latest news from the International Conference on Global Citizenship in Bandung, Indonesia.

Day number 3 was full of surprises and wonderful events.

1) First of all, I had the pleasure to attend a very educative lecture given by Major Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, on the Indonesian efforts and the role of the Indonesian army to tackle terrorism.

Before entering the lecture, I could testify the huge excitement of the local participants who rushed in the front row of the lecture hall and listened carefully to everything he was saying. At the end of the lecture, I approached one of the student of Parahyangan University and asked the reason behind this enthusiasm. She explained me with joy in her eyes that Major Yudhoyono that the Indonesian President´s son!

2. Secondly, all the participants of the Global Terrorism Program watched a controversial movie: “Promised Paradise” by Leonard Retel Helmrich, which was banned for a while by the Indonesian government. The discussion afterwards was as fascinating as the rest of the day.

More info: http://cinemaguild.com/mm5/merchant.mvc Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TCGS&Product_Code=2273

As said, a day full with surprises.