A Year Down Under

Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Ogechi and I am currently spending my third year studying Economics at Macquarie University in Sydney. I didn’t hit me that I was actually moving away for year; away from all my friends and family until I was sitting on the plane. I remember fear gripping me at the very last minute and thinking ‘Am I actually doing this?’ Obviously at that point I couldn’t back out and maybe that was a good thing because if I had that realisation sooner I might not be sitting in my room in Sydney, almost a month and a half later writing this. I’m surprised at how quickly I settled into my new home for the year; already I feel like a regular local. I remember arriving on the first day and being shocked at how cold it was, granted it was winter but I severely underestimated how cold it gets and I was already regretting leaving my winter coat at home. Also despite the 22-hour journey and the current nine-hour time difference, the jet lag didn’t really hit me at all. My secret? Well let’s just say I pretty much slept the whole journey (except when I had to eat, change planes or got bored of sleeping and watched a movie) and the same day I arrived I went out to explore and didn’t allow myself to sleep until the evening time.

My time here so far has been amazing in some ways and emotional in others. I’ve seen some amazing sights such as the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House, I’ve taken selfies with kangaroos and koala bears, I’ve taken a coastal walk from Bondi to Coogee beach and I’ve met so many cool people from places such as The Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, France, USA (so many people from the USA!!), Spain, Germany, China, South Africa, Mexico and Australia of course. However, sometimes I’ve felt lonely and missed my friends but I know that is to be expected and long Skype sessions and WhatsApp calls have really helped to remedy that.

Selfies with the Koalas and Kangaroos at Featherdale Wildlife Park

The school year in Australia runs from February to November so my classes commenced in Semester 2 which officially started in August (it’s weird, I know). It was a bit hard to get back into study mode so early on in the summer months, especially because I barely had a summer break but here they don’t really let you ease back into your studies and that’s one thing that really shocked me; the semester is work intensive from the beginning. They really like to keep you on your toes and so every week I have to participate in tutorials to get those participation marks, complete a quiz every two weeks and read a long chapter every week which I’m really not used to. Its week 6 now so it’s time for those pesky midterm tests, wish me luck!

I decided to embark on this journey to challenge myself and broaden my horizons.  Though, I feel that when you study abroad, there’s an expectation on you to travel to all these cool places but in a way that scares me and my wallet!  I’m not a natural traveller, more of a natural over planner and I’m not up for roughing it for the sake of a cool picture. So, I’ve made it my plan mission to make friends who are more adventurous and plan trips with them. So far I think the pressure to travel has been getting to me because I keep stressing over the fact that I haven’t made any major plans to travel yet but I need to keep reminding myself that I’ve got a whole year ahead of me, I have time to be the obsessive planner I am haha.

I am really looking forward to all the new experiences that are coming my way and I can’t wait to share with you all that lies ahead.