Immersing Deeper into South Australia

As you can see, this is my second post on the tranquil city of Adelaide. But it wasn’t all that calm as there was a mild earthquake here with a magnitude of 3.2 on last Thursday night. Oh, and at this very moment is the first time I see such heavy rain here.

Well, I shall begin with my second analysis on the lifestyle here which would be slightly different from the first one, after getting to understand more in the past 2 months. Time really flies! Before I head on crapping about philosophy, just have a look at some of the things I have been through the past few weeks.

The girls (Su Ling, Sylvia Wong, Christabel Tan, Goh Zi Ling, Winnie Wu) in one of my new friend aka senior, Zi Ling’s 21st birthday party

Home-made lamb chop by my housemate, Chin Keat (eaten by him, me, Gan Soon Keat, Sylvia and Danny Tan)

Photo of me at the park along Torrence River, taken by Danny who is one of the professional photographer who came along

Crazy things I did with my friends during my 2-week mid-semester break:

One of my cycling partners, Victor Lam (we cycled for a distance of 30km to Henley Beach just for Fish N Chips)

The other cycling partner, Lim Shu Yi, who is the organiser of this insanely tiring and fun trip

One of the many horses along the cycling track by Torrence River

First thing people do when they reach the beach (now you may guess the location of the first photo of this post)

It’s me and them along the almost deserted beach

Cakes and apple strudel (the overrated must-eats) at Hahndorf, a German village in South Australia

Me with red-leaves maple trees of Hahndorf

German platter at Hahndorf Inn, the most famous dish in the most popular restaurant in village (everything was fine except for the pork leg which was so damn fattening until I felt like puking on every bite of it)

Shu Yi, Lam Yee Teng and Victor who went along the once-in-a-lifetime trip (as I will never go there again)

The whole gang of us who include Shu Yi, Khoo Sin Kuan, Cheong Wei-In, Victor, Yee Teng and me going for the trip

The 3D movie that I watched in Norwood cinema costing me AUD22, equivalent to 11 student-priced movies in Malaysia

Speaking of this movie, I really like Sam Worthington’s acting. He has the heroic attribute and his acting potential really brought him up to his success now. I found that it is fate I get to watch all his movies in cinema not knowing that he was the main actor before entering the screens. First one was Terminator Salvation where I watched with Boon Kuang. Second one was Avatar where I viewed it with Cassandra, Wen Han, Lai Yenn, Jon, Sam, Aunt Jeannette and Aunt Kay. Third one is this with my new close buddy, Vernon Foo, Chan Wai Meng, Bob Ooi and his friends. All his movies were really worth watching and had impacts which blast into my memories. Moreover, he is an Australian, and I hope I can meet him in person one day!

The best concert in town which I have missed, I guess you all should know who is she (tips: she’s an Alejandro who dances in the dark, then she telephones you to give you a bad romance, lastly she uses her teeth to eat your heart like a monster; I hope after you found out the answer, you don’t get too happy until you could die because it would just leave me speechless)

Okay, now the part for those who have the intention to come over to study:

Studying over here, specifically in Adelaide or even University of South Australia, gives you the greatest opportunity to be exposed to the widest variety of cultures. It is not only the Aussies you would be expecting to mix with, but with all other nationals. You will have to learn not only the Australian accent, but also learn how to understand every single person’s unique accent. For me, I have a Pakistani lecturer and a Nigerian tutor for Management Accountant, a Spanish lecturer for Communications and Information Systems in Business (known as BIS back in Taylor’s), and a Korean tutor for Financial Accountant 2. These were only the lecturers. How about my course mates? They do come from all places. Depending on how outgoing you are, you will be interacting with all kinds of people. It really feels like this is an international city. In my case so far, I have friends from Venezuela and Vietnam known through Aikido classes, from Turkey through random conversation in the library, from China in tutorial classes, etc. It is really a blessing to have this kind of exposure as you would not get it easily if you stay back in Malaysia. This exposure would give you an edge in your future like employment, for instance.

I think what I said in the first post would scare some of you off when I mentioned the vast difference between study life here and Malaysia. Actually, if one sticks to that mindset, that person is described as having ethnocentrism. This means that we tend to believe that our culture is always right and others are always wrong when they differ from ours. I’m sure you have learnt that from Communications, just like me. We should always be open to new cultures and adapt to their teaching style. So what if they expect us to be more of an independent undergraduate? No spoon-feeding is something we should not hesitate to learn, because it really becomes helpful when we come out to work in the near future.

Another major difference is that local students here tend to speak up often in tutorials. They don’t just sit down and let the tutor talk throughout the class, and this is what the tutors expect from their students. International students who are new here would normally freak out when they listen to how properly put the grammar and elaboration of the locals here when they voice their opinions. This is another chance for us to improve ourselves. If you can learn and follow their attitude of being daring to speak up, it will definitely boost your communication and interpersonal skills which sets you above your other competitors in workplace next time.

I’m sure most of you who are reading this are studying in an institution very near to your home, and you hadn’t get the chance to live outside your home. So coming here would seriously provide you with much learning experience about life and independence. Living independently also tests your Emotional Intelligence, being street-wise, discipline and determination in whatever you are doing. You will learn a lot about life like handling relationship problems and study problems more independently, making new friends, spending and financial controlling, time management, taking care of yourself such as cooking and buying groceries, etc. This is because living without your parents means you are out of their control and you have the freedom to do whatever you like. And then, self-control and mind consciousness play a very important role so that you don’t do anything ignorant or harmful to yourself. This would really then test whether you are easily being influenced by the friends or people or environment around you or not. It will also make you aware of the importance of time management like how much time you need to spend in studying, controlling your entertainment time, using time efficiently in doing housework, etc.

All in all, I guess studying here is a two-edged sword. You will need to be wise in what to follow and what not to follow. You need to be aware to always step out of your comfort zone if it means improving your self-development. If you can do it, life over here would obviously change you into a better person. But the opposite does happen if you fail to realise what is good and bad; fail to resist the temptation of harmful doings; or fail to step out of your comfort zone like constantly hanging out with your Malaysian friends only or just sitting down quietly in tutorials without voicing out your opinions unlike the Aussies.

I apologise for having too formal English when typing the post, now that I realised it’s no different than a Communications textbook. I hope it did not bore you or drowse you to sleep. That’s all for now. Oh, if you still do not know who is that performer in the concert, it is Lady GaGa. For those who love her, please feel free to visit http://www.safm.com.au/radio-gaga which is an online radio channel that plays only her songs 24-7.