Hello! Clever Apple ! !
Today, I would like to introduce Campus East , the student accommodation where I spent half a year while studying abroad ! !
Campus East is one of the student dormitories of University of Wollongong in Australia. A free shuttle bus runs every 10 minutes (every 20 minutes on weekends) to the university, and it takes about 15 minutes to get to school.
Actually, I originally applied for Bangalay, a student dormitory for graduate students next to the university, because it was clean and quiet to study.
However! ! Even though I applied for it about half a year ago, the university staff didn't check the email I sent and said, "Bangalay is no longer available." (I heard it sometimes happens in Australia... For sure!???)
So, I have no choice but to live in Campus East.
At first, I thought I wanted to live in "Bangalay", but now, I think choosing Campus East was the best decision I made in Australia! !
There are three main reasons for this!
① You don't have to do shopping or cooking because it's catered.
② There are many fun events
③It is an environment to make friends (environment where you can speak a lot of English) !
The first reason is : 1. You don't have to shop or cook because it's catered!
At Campus East , breakfast is served from 7:30 to 10:15 on weekdays and Saturdays, and from 9:00 to 11:00 on Sundays
Dinner is served from 5:30 to 7:30 at night! !
The students don't have to go shopping, cook, and wash dishes!!
By the way, breakfast includes bread, cereal, fruit, yogurt etc...
In addition to these , hot meals such as sausages, bacon, fried eggs, fried rice, and muffins are served on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays ! !
Dinner looks like these! !
Basically, you choose two side dishes such as pork, lamb, beef, chicken, fish or vegetarian food.
Other than that, there are all-you-can-eat salad, rice, steamed potatoes and pumpkin! !
In addition, although it is not every day, you can also eat vanilla, salted caramel, blueberry, strawberry, watermelon, and other soft serve ice cream and desserts such as cakes!
In addition, tea, coffee, cocoa, etc. are all-you-can-drink! !
There is no lunch, but if you bring a container to the cafeteria after 7:20 p.m., you can get a second serving for lunch.
As for the taste of the meals....
It was delicious for the first two months, but they didn't have much repertoire, so I got a little tired of it...lol But basically foods were fine!!
The rent is 315 Australian dollars per week, which is quite expensive, but considering the cost of food, utilities, and the use of the facilities explained in the second part, I don't think it's that expensive for Australia! !
Next, ② there are lots of fun events !
At Campus East , there are many fun student-sponsored events!
For example, you have a speed meeting , which is a meeting to get along with other students,
and Cold Rock Night where you can eat free ice cream with your friends.
Meditations , sporting events, game events, campus tours, which are not only fun but also helpful! !
I also made friends at the speed meeting and ate ice cream with my friends!
I also personally enjoyed making cards with pressed flowers.
In this way, Campus East hosts many events every day!
On the other hand, Bangalay, where I originally planned to live, has a quiet study environment, but there are few events and I may not have had the opportunity to make many friends!
I will introduce a little more about the events that I liked in the next article!
Last but not least, the good thing about Campus East was that you can make friends (you have a lot of opportunities to speak English)!!
You will live in a dormitory with other students, so communication in English is essential .
Even in homestays, there are opportunities to communicate in English .
However, in Campus East, where I lived, has not only Australian students, but also students from various regions such as Europe and Asia, who have diverse cultural backgrounds and speak various kinds of English.
Now that native English speakers are minority and there are more opportunities to speak with non-native English speakers will be a great advantage!!
For example, in the building where I lived, each of us had our own bedroom, but we shared the kitchen, toilet, and shower with our four share mates, and we sometimes chatted and drank in this shared space.
In addition, breakfast and dinner were served at specific time, so you would meet other students and friends during meal times!
I think there are many students who go abroad to improve their English skills, but I think one of the big advantages of a student dormitory is that you can interact with a lot of students ! ! !
Homestay or renting a house by yourself is also possible, but I had a friend who said, "Even though I came to study abroad, I don't have many opportunities to speak English."
You can increase opportunities to speak English depending on your efforts and ingenuity, but it might be a good point to have that environment from the beginning!
As a result, I do not regret choosing Campus East!
I've never experienced homestay, so I can't compare, but I think my life in Campus East was great!!
This time, I introduced the reasons why I chose Campus East, where I spent half a year , focusing on the good points! !
However, I wasn't satisfied with everything in the dormitory...lol
In the next article, I would like to introduce the facilities, including the points that I personally wanted to improve! !
Please check the Part 2 as well!!
So, that's it for today!
May your study abroad be a wonderful one! ! !
