Need your opinions please! (2 Viewers)

clairegirl

the name's Anne!
Joined
Mar 3, 2003
Messages
2,204
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2003
A lil story
So I'm thinking i'm not the type of person to go on exchange but after speaking to a girl who went on exchange, she has me convinced, we literally spoke for about an hour just about her experiences as an exchange student and WHOAAA cut the long story short... ive made the conscious (spelling?) decision to go. Next year mid sem realistically, however i want to go next year first semester.

Can't decide on the country though! I've narrowed it down to

Ireland- because irish guys are so hot but it might be abit out of my budget.

Canada- no language barrier, perfect country, however i wont exactly be going out of my comfort zone, since its still an english speaking country and all.

Mexico- cheap, however ide have to learn spanish (i know it'll be easy though coz tagalog (philippino language) is so close to it.

South Africa- too dangerous I went onto the uni website and the homepage is riddled with "CAMPUS SAFETY" women getting raped stories that it turned me off completely.


My question to you guys is... which friggen country to goto?

I've also thought about Norway, Finland and those type of countries also but the language barrier will be hard to overcome.

Financially I can probably get about 5-6 grand saved up and uni will give me 3 grand, so that should be enough for Canada and Mexico. But the Euro is way out of my budget.. I'de need about 12 grand to enjoy it and realistically I'll only have about 8-10 grand.

I plan on going sky diving and doing those sort of things (biggest loser style). I'm on exchange there so thats why i need a relatively cheap country. Also plan on backpacking across the country after the semester finishes.

Which country! help guys!
 

clairegirl

the name's Anne!
Joined
Mar 3, 2003
Messages
2,204
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2003
Actually also please tell me if you could go to any country you wanted for student exchange, which one would you go to and why?
 
Joined
Apr 3, 2004
Messages
7,986
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
If you're out for an "experience", I'm voting Mexico. Screw good-looking irish guys... sexy mexicans, baby! whoooooo!

But if you to stay in some sort of comfort zone, go for Canada. Nice place :)

EDIT: As things currently are, I'd go to Canada. I'd WANT to go to Mexico because I love the whole mexican/spanish/moroccan kinda location, but I suck at other languages. Don't get me wrong, Canada is still lovely, but major awwwwwwww for the exotic locations...

Ireland from past experience is nice, save the fact the pedestrian lights are NEVER green (jaywalking is a national pastime...) and in autumn/winter it's frickin' freezing. Oh, and there is guiness everywhere ;) I kid you not... there are glasses (some 3/4 full!) EVERYWHERE in the streets, like in between fence poles and stuff... it's so funny...
 
Last edited:

clairegirl

the name's Anne!
Joined
Mar 3, 2003
Messages
2,204
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2003
glitterfairy said:
If you're out for an "experience", I'm voting Mexico. Screw good-looking irish guys... sexy mexicans, baby! whoooooo!

But if you to stay in some sort of comfort zone, go for Canada. Nice place :)
LOL sexy mexicans! hehe yeah they are pretty hot... where can i get a hot red headed freckled guy?? Like Ron Weasley off Harry Potter lol...which countries do they come from? anyone know?
 

clairegirl

the name's Anne!
Joined
Mar 3, 2003
Messages
2,204
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2003
glitterfairy said:
EDIT: As things currently are, I'd go to Canada. I'd WANT to go to Mexico because I love the whole mexican/spanish/morrocan kinda location, but I suck at other languages. Don't get me wrong, Canada is still lovely, but major awwwwwwww for the exotic locations...

Ireland from past experience is nice, save the fact the pedestrian lights are NEVER green (jaywalking is a national pastime...) and in autumn/winter it's frickin' freezing. Oh, and there is guiness everywhere ;) I kid you not... there are glasses (some 3/4 full!) EVERYWHERE in the streets, like in between fence poles and stuff... it's so funny...
Wow really? oooh im soo jealous you went to Ireland! lucky girl! Guiness in between fence poles lol urrm that cud be interesting :p

Oh crap i hate the cold! Thats why i was like shit yeah south africa! Thats why i want to go in first sem (which is summer in the northern hemisphere i think)
 
Last edited:

AsyLum

Premium Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Messages
15,899
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
I'd say Mexico, it'd be cheaper, the place is beautiful, and who can resist the beaches, the babes, and the amigos?
 
Joined
Apr 3, 2004
Messages
7,986
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
I'm scared of South Africa. I am NEVER going there because it's not safe... I'd rather be cold (or, going from cold to snuggly warm in the arms of a nice boy.... whichever comes first! ;) ) than go to somewhere where there's a possibility of me getting shot. Weather's nice, but life is better.... you know?!?!?!
 
Joined
Apr 3, 2004
Messages
7,986
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
AsyLum said:
I'd say Mexico, it'd be cheaper, the place is beautiful, and who can resist the beaches, the babes, and the amigos?
You forgot TACOS!!!

... or are they spanish? Am I getting tacos and nachos mixed up? :(
 

clairegirl

the name's Anne!
Joined
Mar 3, 2003
Messages
2,204
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2003
AsyLum said:
I'd say Mexico, it'd be cheaper, the place is beautiful, and who can resist the beaches, the babes, and the amigos?
lol @"babes"...... ohh yeah coz they're on my to do list......... lol :p

and hrrm mexico.... amigos lol believe it or not i don't find mexicans,portrugese, mediteranian and the like etc all that exotic or appealing for some reason. (Yes I know im a freak)

And soo true mexico won't be cold either!! hrrm
 

AsyLum

Premium Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Messages
15,899
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
So are you a mexiCAN or a mexiCANT ?
 

clairegirl

the name's Anne!
Joined
Mar 3, 2003
Messages
2,204
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2003
glitterfairy said:
You forgot TACOS!!!

... or are they spanish? Am I getting tacos and nachos mixed up? :(
hehe TACOS that is true, when i make tacos at home i have it with chicken instead of minced beef lol

coz everyone time i think of taco i think of that lil chiwawa dog doign the taco bell ad n it makes me sad coz i feel like im eating the poor thing :(
 

clairegirl

the name's Anne!
Joined
Mar 3, 2003
Messages
2,204
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2003
AsyLum said:
So are you a mexiCAN or a mexiCANT ?
lol still deciding ... im in between... im more towards mexicant atm but you guys are changing my minds hehe.

gtg the computers will be turned off soon!
 
X

xeuyrawp

Guest
clairegirl said:
A lil story
So I'm thinking i'm not the type of person to go on exchange but after speaking to a girl who went on exchange, she has me convinced, we literally spoke for about an hour just about her experiences as an exchange student and WHOAAA cut the long story short... ive made the conscious (spelling?) decision to go. Next year mid sem realistically, however i want to go next year first semester.

Can't decide on the country though! I've narrowed it down to

Ireland- because irish guys are so hot but it might be abit out of my budget.

Canada- no language barrier, perfect country, however i wont exactly be going out of my comfort zone, since its still an english speaking country and all.

Mexico- cheap, however ide have to learn spanish (i know it'll be easy though coz tagalog (philippino language) is so close to it.

South Africa- too dangerous I went onto the uni website and the homepage is riddled with "CAMPUS SAFETY" women getting raped stories that it turned me off completely.


My question to you guys is... which friggen country to goto?

I've also thought about Norway, Finland and those type of countries also but the language barrier will be hard to overcome.

Financially I can probably get about 5-6 grand saved up and uni will give me 3 grand, so that should be enough for Canada and Mexico. But the Euro is way out of my budget.. I'de need about 12 grand to enjoy it and realistically I'll only have about 8-10 grand.

I plan on going sky diving and doing those sort of things (biggest loser style). I'm on exchange there so thats why i need a relatively cheap country. Also plan on backpacking across the country after the semester finishes.

Which country! help guys!
If you're taking the language issue to heart, Finland would be the worst place to go.

Have you considered Germany, France, or the other usual suspects? I'm planning on going to Germany for a semester, either Tübingen or Heidelberg for their Egyptology, and that I've never spent serious time there since I was first there.

I wouldn't mind Liverpool or Cambridge, either, but their lifestyles are so close to our own that I'd feel like I'm travelling to the other side of our beautiful planet just to experience Australia with different accents.

Personally, I would chose western Europe or eastern Asia, but that's my bias.

Wouldn't be awesome to go somewhere more foreign than less foreign? I think you'd do a lot more maturing if you had to learn another language, culture, and way of thinking.

That being said, of your list, go for Mexico.

Going to Canada or Ireland would be cool, but I think you should aim to get the most out of exchange.
 

iambored

dum-di-dum
Joined
Apr 27, 2003
Messages
10,862
Location
here
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2003
ok, so on your list you have Ireland, Canada, Mexico, South Africa
I think it's safe to cross South Africa off the list. You don't want to spend your exchange worried.

I personally would go somewhere European, non-English speaking. There is no point in going to another English speaking Australian-esque country for exchange, when you have the whole world to choose from, unless other languages aren't your thing.

So from your list I would choose Mexico, if you are prepared to have fun with the language barrier and the culture. Talk to someone who has already been there because you might find that most people speak English anyway, so it wouldn't be a big deal. Plus, it's fun to learn another language and it's fun to get to know another culture.
 

clairegirl

the name's Anne!
Joined
Mar 3, 2003
Messages
2,204
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2003
PwarYuex said:
If you're taking the language issue to heart, Finland would be the worst place to go.

Have you considered Germany, France, or the other usual suspects? I'm planning on going to Germany for a semester, either Tübingen or Heidelberg for their Egyptology, and that I've never spent serious time there since I was first there.

I wouldn't mind Liverpool or Cambridge, either, but their lifestyles are so close to our own that I'd feel like I'm travelling to the other side of our beautiful planet just to experience Australia with different accents.

Personally, I would chose western Europe or eastern Asia, but that's my bias.

Wouldn't be awesome to go somewhere more foreign than less foreign? I think you'd do a lot more maturing if you had to learn another language, culture, and way of thinking.

That being said, of your list, go for Mexico.

Going to Canada or Ireland would be cool, but I think you should aim to get the most out of exchange.
Ireland ppl speak irish or gaelic don't they? lol so that would be different. Plus Seamus Finigen from Harry Potter comes from there lol Ohhh man if only i could be an exchange student at Hogwarts! lol

n e way... i think your absolutely right but the countries i want to go to like finland, norway etc most subjects arn't taught in english! thats going to be a major hurdle for me...and i don't have long to learn it before hand if i want to go next year.

The language thing is killing me because I dont mind learning the language but if i were to go and do some subjects in a diff language (to even get in u'de have to have done/or be doing that language at ur home uni or at the country uni as a pre requisite to even get into some of the subjects... hence my degree will take longer to do!

it'll frustrate me to no end not being able to speak the native language and mexico is an awsome option i totally agree with everyone but spanish to me isn't really a language i find exotic or foreign coz tagalog sounds a lot like it, Germany is awsome!!they have such beautiful universities! I was drooling over their buildings! but everytime i think of germany i think of concentration camps and the like and that movie Hostel :s

France (I would LOVEEEE to go to france!!) Je'mappelle Anne! (sp?) lol but its soooo out of my budget! Bloody Europe is friggen expensive!

If i could go anywhere I wanted without having to worry about financial issues it would be France, Norway and those type of countries. Definately Western Europe! Oh well some day!


Awww im soo confused... to develop and get the most out of a student exchange even though my degree takes longer to do or goto canada (namely York University) and experience "Australia in a different accent" lol i love that phwar.

Guys i think i've made up my mind on Canada Toronto- i have family there and its only an hours flight away from New York, hrrmm...

But i still want to know what u guys think, where do u guys want to go for exchange?
 

iambored

dum-di-dum
Joined
Apr 27, 2003
Messages
10,862
Location
here
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2003
I really don't think you should go somewhere where you would have to do the subjects in another language. It would be beyond hard if you don't know the language to begin with. You'll be hanging around mostly with English speaking people after class so it would be really hard to get a good enough grasp of the language to do whole subjects in it imo.
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2004
Messages
110
Gender
Female
HSC
2005
finland :D

/bias.


good luck deciding, all those countries sound awesome.
 
X

xeuyrawp

Guest
iambored said:
I really don't think you should go somewhere where you would have to do the subjects in another language. It would be beyond hard if you don't know the language to begin with. You'll be hanging around mostly with English speaking people after class so it would be really hard to get a good enough grasp of the language to do whole subjects in it imo.
Well thankfully we speak English, and most international unis have full, creditable subjects taken in it.

clairegirl said:
Ireland ppl speak irish or gaelic don't they? lol so that would be different. Plus Seamus Finigen from Harry Potter comes from there lol Ohhh man if only i could be an exchange student at Hogwarts! lol

n e way... i think your absolutely right but the countries i want to go to like finland, norway etc most subjects arn't taught in english! thats going to be a major hurdle for me...and i don't have long to learn it before hand if i want to go next year.

The language thing is killing me because I dont mind learning the language but if i were to go and do some subjects in a diff language (to even get in u'de have to have done/or be doing that language at ur home uni or at the country uni as a pre requisite to even get into some of the subjects... hence my degree will take longer to do!

it'll frustrate me to no end not being able to speak the native language and mexico is an awsome option i totally agree with everyone but spanish to me isn't really a language i find exotic or foreign coz tagalog sounds a lot like it, Germany is awsome!!they have such beautiful universities! I was drooling over their buildings! but everytime i think of germany i think of concentration camps and the like and that movie Hostel :s

France (I would LOVEEEE to go to france!!) Je'mappelle Anne! (sp?) lol but its soooo out of my budget! Bloody Europe is friggen expensive!

If i could go anywhere I wanted without having to worry about financial issues it would be France, Norway and those type of countries. Definately Western Europe! Oh well some day!


Awww im soo confused... to develop and get the most out of a student exchange even though my degree takes longer to do or goto canada (namely York University) and experience "Australia in a different accent" lol i love that phwar.

Guys i think i've made up my mind on Canada Toronto- i have family there and its only an hours flight away from New York, hrrmm...

But i still want to know what u guys think, where do u guys want to go for exchange?
They speak Irish, which is a Gaelic language, as well as English. Irish is actually becoming increasingly popular as Ireland's forcing more and more students to learn it, and it has become an official language of the EU.

Spanish would be pretty good because Macquarie recently released some units in the subject. In terms of simplicity, I'd rate it quite straight-forward to learn on a similar level to German, so that shouldn't be too bad. Like you said, it's related to Tagalong, and if you've got a good understanding of that Filipino language along with English, you should find the language a sinch.
 

AsyLum

Premium Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Messages
15,899
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
*tagalog :p

Ooh, Toronto, Canada, my post-grad exchange location :p
 

CieL

...
Joined
Oct 12, 2004
Messages
3,120
Gender
Female
HSC
2005
clairegirl said:
Oh crap i hate the cold! Thats why i was like shit yeah south africa! Thats why i want to go in first sem (which is summer in the northern hemisphere i think)
Northern Hemisphere is exact opposite to us.. So we have summer/autumn.. they'll have winter/spring during 1st semester..

I think that's right.. =S yerr.. *double thinks* Yeah I think so..
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 2)

Top