My first exchange semester in Australia

I was excited but at the same time I was worried whether I made a good decision. It seemed to be so far away. I was afraid about how I would deal with the huge time difference, new culture and habits. Nevertheless, in last four months Australia managed to persuade me that I had decided well. In this blog I will show you pictures of some of the most important places and moments from last semester that made me love my new home.

 
The above two photos show a view from a window of my flat. They were one of the first views of Adelaide I had seen. I was impressed by how beautiful the city centre is the first time and I have the same feeling now after I was looking from my window thousand times.  I am sure I will miss sitting at the kitchen table and eating while looking out at busy Adelaide’s streets when I move out of my current flat.

 
Next pictures are from Adelaide’s river. It is a lovely place and definitely one of my favourites. Everything around the river seems to be so peaceful and relaxed like if time was stopping there. People are resting, enjoying the sun or doing sports. I really like running by the river with many fellow runners. At last but not least, this place is amazingly full of life. It even made me become a fascinated bird watcher. You can see colourful parrots in trees around and plenty of water birds in the water or in the vicinity of the river. I particularly like black swans and huge pelicans like the one in the second picture.

 
Not surprisingly, I am including pictures of The University of Adelaide, my exchange university. Our university campus is really beautiful and there is always something happening. People are studying, relaxing or playing games on lawns. I have probably experience more barbeques in the Adelaide university campus than in my whole life before. Moreover, I cannot forget to mention free breakfasts two times a week and amazing “Stress Less Day” with free petting zoo, ice cream, massages, manicure and bouncing castle before exam period.

The first picture shows university buildings in the evening light with stunning Jacaranda trees in full blossom. I really regret I cannot save and put on my blog the beautiful smell of these trees that fills the whole campus last month. In the second picture, there are modern biology buildings. In particular, I like the red one called Molecular Life Sciences Building. I have spent there a lot of time working as a research assistant. My research project was focused on the genetic basis of pesticide resistance in Diamondback moth which is a common crop pest. I have learnt a lot through this experience and I met amazing colleges which I am very grateful for.

 
Something I love about Australia is its wildlife. It is present everywhere and it keeps fascinating me. The typical Aussie animal are not only on postcards of souvenir shop but also truly visible in nature. Furthermore, it seems like that Australian wildlife is less scared of humans than what I am used to from Europe. You can approach animals quite closely before they feel uncomfortable and run away.

The first two pictures were taken in Cleland wild life park where animal are used to people and visitors can move freely between animals living in the park. The third picture is of an emu with its babies. It walked with no fear into a camping site where I was staying and kept feeding on plants between tents and caravans even after I came to it to take this photo. The last picture was taken on the Kangaroo Island near Adelaide. It shows wild sea lions resting on a beach after days of exhausting fishing. The sea lions were not disturbed when I came 10 meters faraway from them. I was, however, advised not to come any closer than that to leave them some space.

Important to mention, I have not seen in wild any deadly snakes, spiders, crocodiles or sharks so far! (Except for one shark egg that I found on the beach.) Lets hope it will stay this way!

All these pictures mean a lot to me and made me happy in faraway Australia even though I really miss my home as well. Now, when I have finished my first semester exams, I have Australian summer in front of me. It is still a bit confusing and unbelievable that I will spend upcoming Christmas in summer. Nevertheless, I cannot wait for another places and moments like those that I have described to come.