Hunting Apartments

A few weeks ago I joined a network group on Facebook through stumbling across a few forums on a rather unattended student group website, which only had a few notes and posts about apartments, food, events and the like. And it would have been the best stroke of luck I've had thus far.

After stumbling across the Facebook group I got to see some names and faces of those who would be tagging along on the voyage to Slovenia. Mostly Europeans, as it were dubbed the Erasmus network, but the few exceptions to that rule (such as myself and a handful of others). It aroused my curiosity and re-sparked an almost worn out interest in the exchange again after spending much energy on the permit troubles.

Now, having done the dormitory lifestyle before in Sydney, I thought perhaps it would be interesting to try living outside the campus and, particularly, with other students as roommates (since having a taste of social interactivity back in the dorms, I couldn't ever picture myself living completely on my own). And low and behold, I find myself searching for roomies as my first priority.

And It's On..

Our latest post and much has happened. So, let's start from where we last left.

Well, we couldn't leave it until the last minute to book my tickets because they would get too expensive and possibly have no availabilities before class starts, so we had to strike some agreement with the Slovenian embassy. And we did..

It's expected that my permit will arrive anytime next week, to which I can simply pick it up and head straight off to Ljubljana the following weekend.

Yes, I have booked my tickets. At long last. And it feels like a relief in a way. Now I have a date to work with.

Well I had a helpful hand from Marty at the STA travel agency who helped me look for the cheapest flights to Ljubljana. It wasn't cheap, but no flight to Europe was. Just edging $AU 1,200 including the connecting flight from Frankfurt to Ljubljana. From personal experience, this wasn't bad and was as cheap as it was going to get.

Our date is Sunday the 18th of September. That's it. Locked in. The countdown begins.

And now its time to start striking off all the rest on my pre-departure 'to do' list. And it seems as though the more days pass, the longer this list gets. Mobile phone, register travel itinerary with my uni, accommodation, packing and financial arrangements to name a few off the top of my head.

The travel itinerary is done. A few simple steps to follow from the booklet handed out at the pre-departure session our uni held for us. Lucky I had kept the booklet too.

Mobile phone still needs to be sorted before I go but that can wait for now.

Packing is no problem. I have my suitcase, with special thanks from my brother who was generous enough to lend it for the trip. Only a matter of washing the clothes before taking them (another chore). More or less I do have an idea of what I will take.

As for access to my money from overseas, I've been taken great care of by some lovely staff at my local branch. Still thinking about whether to open my own account in Ljubljana or not but nonetheless is sorted and only needs to be finalised prior to flying. Easy done.

And as for accommodation, well.. probably worthy of a separate post there.

So. What now? Well. I'm 9 days away. It's very close but, life just seems to continue as normal. I was expecting a bit more excitement or anxiety by now but it's almost business as usual. I am blaming it on my focus of attention being on what needs to be done first, rather than at the thought of travelling so soon. Does this work to my favour? Most likely. Maybe it will all hit me after I have stopped stressing and finished all that needs to be done. One thing is for sure, the departure date has definetly snuck up on me..

The Long, Dreary Wait

Wow. So. Here I am. Still in good old Sydney. What a shame.

So I mailed my application to the Slovenian embassy in Canberra the same day that I had posted my last blog. Sure enough, they received it the next day (Good old express post). From here, matters were out of my own hands.

First, my documents needed to be translated. Not a problem. One week rolls by and I ask how the process is going. Well, they assured me that they had finished translating the documents and slipped me the bill. Wonderful, we have progress! Now, how much longer until I get my permit?

Soon. Another week rolls by and no answer. So I call again and ask what's the story. No need to worry, it will take a little longer but the documents have been sent. Alrighty then.

Three weeks after mailing my application I ring again asking. Oops, the woman in charge of my process is not in today! She's on holidays. Well, what can you do? Wait another week of course..

And round rolls by another week before I get a call back. Splendid. Let's hear the good news..

"Sorry it has taken so long Aleks. I've been keeping in touch with my correspondents over there. I'm going to need you to come to Canberra for me so we can get fingerprints taken and that I can sight your passport."

Of course. Whatever is needed. After this, how much sooner until my permit arrives?

"Very soon. Can we schedule you in for next week?"

Oh my. We're biding time now. And sure enough, next week I was on my way to Canberra. Thank you dad for giving me a lift down there. Until I had yet another phone call from the embassy. And what a disappointing phone call it was..

"I'm sorry Aleks but our computers are not working at the moment, so we cannot take your fingerprints at this time. We will have to call you back."

What could I do? Nothing. Might as well continue on to Canberra where we were already half-way there.

And could you believe we have now passed the six weeks mark and I've still not gotten my permit?

Yes. I'm letting off some steam right now and I'm very frustrated and impatient right now. Partly due to not having my permit at the moment but mostly because of the uncertainty about it. It's incredible how long it's taken and I'm very disappointed right now since I've wasted at least half my holiday time here in Sydney. With nothing to do.

All I can say at the moment is I'm only waiting for yet another phone call (I visited this Tuesday to have my fingerprints taken and yes, I asked when I would be getting my permit with no direct answer). This process is one of the slowest I've ever experienced. My hat goes off to those with the patience and dedication to travel. It really is a stressful process.


It's not hit me yet. I'm not excited. The thought hasn't come to me yet. I'm going to be in Europe. "Soon". It just hasn't settled in yet. Being completely on my own, separated from my support network, family and friends. And it's not that I have mixed feelings about it. I just have none for now.

I'd say its the uncertainty though. There's no countdown. There's nothing to throw it into perspective. Maybe I'm putting too much thought into the matter of getting my permit. Too much stressing. But I'm pretty sure I'll have a different take on things once the paperwork is sorted. In fact, I know I will.

All in good time..

Update

Now I do apologise for keeping such large gaps between my blog entries but now that the semester has passed, let us hope they are not as frequent.

What is new? Well my last post was the phone call in April. Since then, two months has passed and much has happened. So I suppose I will begin where we last left.

I was accepted to Ljubljana Uni. Since then, I've completed the application form, received my acceptance letter (6 weeks later) and applied for my resident permit for Slovenia as of today. It's been a long process. I've never felt like I've had to hold such patience for anything before in my life.

This time I now worry that everything will be processed in time before too much of the winter holidays have passed. I'm yearning to see Europe before I start my semester - I've so much free time now that uni has finished for the moment for me. In the meantime, I've been trying to learn Slovene and checking off my list to make sure I've got everything ready for the trip. So much to cover but I'm sure I'll manage.

An Unexpected Call

Today was a quirky day for me. I woke up and got ready for class earlier than usual to get work done on my lab report. I skipped my 'Pie Face' coffee for it's lovely worth to make sure I had plenty of time to work on my report. Standing at the bus stop, I was waiting as the other commuters for the next bus to arrive. Surely enough it came, surprisingly punctual, oddly empty. I sat and watched as the bus crossed the bridge and passed the skyscrapers in the city centre until I got a surprising call on my phone; Blocked call.

I've never questioned the anonymity of blocked calls so I answered as per. Pleasantly enough it was Mandy, the exchange coordinator who helped me earlier put my application through. She'd called to thank me for my help in the exchange fair last week to which I'd thought surely mustn't warrant a phone call. It didn't. Mandy was calling me to let me know I had been accepted by Ljubljana despite the limited numbers available. Even further to let me know that the extent I went to in contacting the head of program in Slovenia and other staff helped along my application (The Australian secretariat was rather doubtful initially about my chances at Slovenia).

Well this definitely did make me smile but interestingly it did not appear to have kicked in for me yet. I still feel as though I am waiting for an acceptance even now that I have it.

I can't write much else on this as I am feeling tired and right now there is not much else to say on how I feel or what else has happened. I need to get the application forms filled in and submitted by the end of the week to get the 'rubber stamp' approval and begin sorting my visa, accommodation and plane tickets. I really can't think of much else to say, so I'll cut it short here.

Tschüss!

Obsessions, Obsessions..

This blog is actually from the 7th April which I did on my phone on the bus but I was too lazy to upload it when I got home. :P

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Yesterday I participated in the UWS Exchange Fair.

Unfortunately the weather was very wet and windy but that didn't stop it from being a great day as I got to meet others who were just as enthusiastic about traveling abroad as I was (and I got to speak to those who came back from last semester's exchange too). We stood just out the front of "the Hub" on our Parramatta campus and spoke to other students who were interested in the exchange process.

I had many asking me what uni offered what course but of course, I couldn't help them much except to share my experience of the application process with them. Sadly, nobody asked me about Slovenia nor could I ask anyone if they'd traveled to Slovenia either. In a way it is also a good thing because I will have an even more unique experience with my exchange.

I can't believe it's so close but it still feels so far away. I have a little over 12 weeks left but it feels like yesterday I applied for it. I'm nervous about hearing back from Ljubljana and constantly have my mind set on spending Christmas in Europe. I've never obsessed about anything so much before in my life it's unbelievable.

It's a Long Wait..

We are now in April and I think it's about time to check-in.

So the interview did go well and there was "no hesitation" in nominating me to Slovenia, so that is great news. I am to hear late this month or next if I have gotten in or not and the wait feels like it is taking forever.

To add to the good news, I've hit my target (and more) of saving enough for the trip. I'm now going further and saving up for any further trips I want to make around Europe (which I am hoping I will be able to do).

I've bought some language books that I may learn Slovene before I head over there. I think it wouldn't hurt at least to get some background in the language. I don't know how much I can learn before I fly but I'm hoping it will be enough to at least get me around town.

In the meantime I have been face down in my text books for uni since the semester started and this would explain why I haven't touched base in a while with my blog. :P

I'll be back with more updates!

A Bit Nerve-Wracking

So I've finished my summer school and uni is almost back on. All I have been doing over the summer is working to save up and I've been really trying hard to make sure I get in. Here's the latest in what's happened.

Yesterday I went for an interview with a panel to assess whether I'm suitable to go. Now I think I went okay in the interview (it was a little quick and I was thinking of so many other things I could have said as soon as I left, that always happens to me!) but I am now having a little scare about my chances and here's why.

Slovenia and Australia don't send many students to one another. Naturally when you exchange students you aim for the same intake as the amount that you send out. So consequently, Slovenia is only accepting two Australian students for the semester that I am applying for.

That's not so concerning right? I'm the only one from my university that I know that wants to go to Slovenia - the availability should be there.

Well.. I'm not just competing with people from my own university. Turns out that the University of Ljubljana and my university are partners through a bigger extended network that includes numerous universities from Europe and Australia called the Australian European Network. It's a looser collaboration and not so one-on-one. This means though that I'm competing not just with other students in my university but from all across Australia to get into Slovenia. And there's a few!

It's a bit of a disappointment because now I cannot be so sure. I am starting to consider other options available but this means going all the way back to square one and hunt for another university. It would be a very big nuisance.

Here's hoping I'm in!

Results are out!

Good news. Today came out the results of the passing semester's exams. I am proud to say that I have passed all my subjects and can be confident that I will be nominated to Ljubljana to study there next year. Just as my intention was.

No doubt there were a few hiccups during the semester but they were not big enough to have held me back. This semester was really tough but I pulled through. It was not my greatest performance but I am happy that I do not have to repeat anything.

The latest that has been going on is I have been working more and more to save up for my trip. Now that I can stop worrying about my results I can concentrate on saving up my money and prepare myself for the interview. I'm quite relieved because my results will not work against me in the interview and I can prove to the panel that I am suitable and mature enough to go on exchange.

Just a quick update. As soon as I get details about the interview I will be posting it up here. Until then!

The Butcher's Bridge

It's been a good month since my last post but without doubt I have been thinking every day about going. Right now I am in the middle of exams but I am not letting the thought of traveling interfere with my studies.

I've been doing more research in my spare time and have found out something I find interesting.
Recently, Ljubljana has added a new bridge to it's cityscape. It is a footbridge that crosses the river at the central market between the Triple Bridge and the Dragon Bridge.


It's called the Butcher's Bridge which in Slovenian is "Mesarski Most". It was proposed to be built back in the 1930s but had the plug pulled on it because of the invading Nazis. The bridge finally underwent construction quite recently after they discussed whether to modernize the plans or to stick to the original by architect Joze Plecnik. It was opened in July 2010 with a few sculptures from Greek and Biblical mythology.

What's more interesting about the bridge, I found, was the occurrence of love padlocks appearing on the steel wiring of the bridge after it opened.

The bottom padlock reads "Lili, ti si moje sonce! Metod" which translated goes along the lines of:

"Lili, you are my sunshine! Metod"

The padlocks are to symbolise eternal love between the two and have started to decorate the bridge. I think it's the perfect touch to the bridge and I want to make sure I have pictures taken of these whilst I'm there.

Paying for it

Today I start to think about my situation. I try to project realistically how far I can get in 9 months and I think about my financial position for my exchange.

I decided that I'm going to put aside money every month for my trip. Working two jobs I can comfortably save half a grand each month until departure. Also thinking about summer work, I can spend more time once I have finished semester studies to dedicate as much of myself as I can to earning money so I don't have to think about it when I'm over there.

It's not easy. I've set my target to be 12,000 for Slovenia in my own pocket. Dad's decided he would help and offered to provide a few hundred a month so I don't hit the deficit when I'm there. I think I may need more but I have to do more research. It's so hard to work out how much money I need to put aside when I have never lived there before. I think this is a good challenge though and I know there are good answers I just haven't yet found. Patience is needed.

This week I spoke to a lecturer of mine in a management unit. As I went to visit her in her office, I noticed a project model done by the student of a colleague of hers that she shares her office with. When he came into the room I asked him about the model and found out he does a construction unit that is similar to the elective that I am hoping to take up at Ljubljana. I asked him if he could have a look at the unit guide for the same subject I want to do at Ljubljana and he said he would. Now I may be able to get more academic credit than I thought.

I've not heard anymore from Mandy or the university. I'm still going around and asking some of my friends about exchange programs. One particular thing I ask them is home sickness and how they deal with it. Some of them have interesting responses but I don't want to elaborate right now. I may put them in a separate blog as I learn a little more.

I've lastly thought about brushing up on my Slovenian. I'm hoping to get text books soon and study a little during the summer period again. It's a lot harder trying to find a Slovenian text book than I thought. In the end I think it will all be worth it.

About Ljubljana

So a common question I get is "Where is Slovenia?"

Well, Slovenia is a small country in Europe lodged in between Austria and Croatia. It is barely touching the Adriatic sea.
It never plays a big role in politics these days. But it is a member of the European Union.

The capital is Ljubljana. You can see it right in the centre there of the larger chunk of the country. Right next to Domzale. It's a country of only 2 million people (actually about the same as Macedonia). The city itself is absolutely breathtaking.


This is near the Triple Bridge at the town centre. The red building in the background is a church and the statue on the right hand side is of France Preseren. He was a poet that the Slovenians hold in great respect.

This next one is one of my favourites.


It's the Dragon Bridge! It's one thing to see lions or horses guarding entrances but dragons is a whole other story. Some might not find it exciting or interesting but I love it.

If there is one thing you definitely cannot find in Australia that you can find in Slovenia, it's castles.


It sits at the top of the hill overlooking the city. It can be dated back to Roman times but was a prison and a military hospital for the past few hundred years. Now they hold festivals here.

And the place where I hope to study.


This is the University of Ljubljana (or one of it's many buildings around Ljubljana). Founded in 1919 there are over 60,000 students in the city who attend UL. Keep in mind, Ljubljana's population is over 510,000 including the metropolitan.

The distance between Ljubljana and Sydney is 16,130 kms. Sydney to Melbourne hits only 890 kms and Sydney to Beijing is around 8,950 kms. The time in Ljubljana is about 9 hours behind Sydney.

They use the Euro in Slovenia but it's still pretty cheap there. Renting an apartment in the city centre there is around $170 a week. Milk is over a dollar and a meal for two at a moderate restaurant sits at around $40.

Slovenian food is a real mixture. They have dishes from Austria and Hungary to some Balkan influences as well as their own. Soup is pretty popular though and they love their mushrooms.

There is a well known spot in Tivoli Park that sells horse burgers. They're actually made of horse meat. A lot of people have commented on how great it tastes though. I've added this to the "to do" list while I'm there.

The Current Situation

Okay, so here's where I started.

I'm living on student campus with a lot of other students who study at my univeristy. It's something like a dormitory but we don't share bedrooms. Instead we are given apartments where we share the lounge, kitchen and bathrooms. Our bedrooms are our private space.

As one would have guessed, there are many exchange students who stay on campus. Some for a semester, others for a few years. The thought never crossed my mind to go on exchange but as you begin to talk to some of them you start to hear their stories and their experiences of studying abroad. Suddenly the idea becomes very appealing and before you know it, you're wanting to pack your bags to the next flight to Rio.

Well. I don't know where the interest sparked from. But I think it came from one German girl I knew back in Autumn 2010. Her name was Anne. She told me she lived very close to the Dutch border in Germany but she studied at Hanze University. She was on exchange with my university for a semester but she had already been abroad to America before.

I started to become interested in spending time overseas to see what it's like to live in Europe. I've always been fond of Europe. Culture, music, film, art, architecture, food, everything. Anne helped my curiosity along by encouraging me to apply at Hanze University for exchange.

And so I did. But to my dismay, Hanze University was not a partner university with mine. This meant that I had to pay separate tuition to Hanze for their course, and I wasn't guaranteed that the subjects I study there would account for anything when I get back. To make it worse, my university began offering subjects only once a year and many of them are prerequisites of another. That would mean I would have to wait an entire year to complete a unit if it wasn't recognised by my university and I skip it. This was too much of a risk for me, so I chose to steer away from Hanze University.

During this time I was speaking to the international student office on my campus here. The woman I spoke to was named Debra. She was a very nice lady and always put on a huge smile. I asked her if she could help me find out if Hanze was a partner with my university. It took some time hearing back from her (I had to chase her up about it, in person), but I was disappointed when I found out it wasn't.

That didn't stop me however. I knew I had to go on exchange for the thrill and excitement. But the question now was "Where can I study?".

I had a list of criteria.

- The university had to be a partner of mine
(This meant my tuition fees were already covered under HECS)
- The university had to teach me in English
(Unfortunately, my German is not proficient and there were no available universities in Macedonia)
- The course had to be civil engineering related
(I worked out a lot of exchange students are business students this way)
- The university had to be in Europe
(My heart was set on it)

It was very long and very tedious. Sometimes I spent nights staying up late to 2 am looking for the right institute. It was all headaches and confusions. So many interesting places and so many drawbacks.

At first, I personally went to each university website myself to examine the courses offered. It was a challenge. Units became modules. Degrees became diplomas. Academic years started at different seasons. Semesters ranged in size and length. Credit points became ECTS. It was very tricky but you needed to think the same way a European student would. You had to learn their vocabulary. And that's just the beginning. It took time to filter through all the courses that were not related to mine.

It took so much time.

I don't know how I came about it, but I stumbled across a helpful manual that listed all the unversities that was partnered to mine that did courses in English. That was a great start! But to top it off, I could further narrow it down to courses as well.

This had taken me well into the Winter 2010, leading up to and right after Autumn semester exams.

My choices were the following; England, Sweden, Malta or Slovenia.

Now my family migrated to Australia in 1987 from Macedonia. Back in that time, Macedonia and Slovenia, together with a few other countries today, were part of a federation called Yugoslavia. So the idea of studying in Ljubljana started to sizzle in my head.

Well I asked my father what he thought about Ljubljana and he came back with a positive response.

"Great city. Great country. Great university."

That was all I needed to hear.

Macedonian culture and Slovenian culture are not too different. Slovenia was the richest of the republics and one of the first to break away from Yugoslavia. It has seen it's fair share in both world wars and was under the influence of the Austrian-Hungarian empire (which shows in some of their architecture). It is a relatively quiet country that keeps to itself in world politics. The language is similar to Macedonian and some of the cuisine and music is too. This was familiar territory and I started to toy with the thought more and more in my mind.

Everyone knows Wikipedia is the answer for everything.


At first sight I fell in love. I don't know how I missed this jewel. But this little city had me more and more curious everytime I looked a this picture. I had to find out more.

I went back to Debra to ask how I can find out if I can do my course in English in Slovenia. As helpful as she was, she couldn't assist me anymore but told me of a woman in Campbelltown who would be able to help me out. And so, with Debra's help, I chased up the new woman by the name of Mandy.

Mandy has helped me so much. I told her exactly what I wanted out of my experience and my criteria. I had even gone further to find out what the engineering course program was at Ljubljana and picked out the units I wanted to study. Again, this took time and effort, as I had to sit with my lecturers several times to discuss unit equivalence to make sure I would get recognition of completing the subjects overseas when I got back.

So Mandy helped me find out about the exchange relation with Slovenia. It turns out that only two Australian students from Melbourne had studied there before. This was exciting, as I would get to study in a city not many had been before. My experience would be completely different and interesting.

Well, I dropped off my application to Mandy in August. A good two months before the deadline. In the meantime, she helped me confirm with the head of program in Ljubljana that they could arrange English tutorials for me (these tutorials would be with the lecturers directly, face to face individual consultations).

Things are looking good for me. But there is still a long way to go with my application and exchange.

Currently, my exchange application has to be viewed and accepted before my university will formally nominate me to Ljubljana for exchange. This means I have to attend an interview with a panel that will decide if I am able to cope with the challenges that an exchange will bring.

I am not the brightest student but I know I can do this. So much time has passed and so much more time and pressure is yet to come before I find out the verdict. It is very much a roller coaster ride but for a semester abroad I believe it's worth it.

Intro

Hi. I'm Aleks and this is my blog.

I'm a full-time student with two jobs. Lately, I've been feeling very ambitious and adventurous.

I want to go overseas on exchange.

So I have set up this blog to follow my journey through the exchange process. From dropping off the application to the flight to and back.

I want to do this not just to keep a journal of my time spent over there but so that I can share my experience with others. Highs and lows. Hopefully, I will encourage others to go on exchange too by reading this blog.

My aim is to keep this blog updated with every event that happens in relation to my application. Then if I'm successful, I hope to update this blog daily with news and events of my study overseas.

Until then.