Yamile Mauad

Undergraduate Exchange Program

Universidad Nacional de Cuyo

Argentina

Two months in Australia now and even my name has been changed! In Argentina, where I am from, I used to be called: "Yamile", but here everybody call me: "Yummy!", what you say when you find the food delicious! It was a little hard to get used to my new nickname, but then I understood that being delicious is not something bad at all!

If you asked me why I came to Sydney, I wouldn't know. Maybe, because something inside of me told me that I should, which may happen to most of you. Regardless the reason, the relevant thing is that here I came! To be sincere, I did not really know what to expect, it was the first time that I was travelling alone, and to my parents' surprise it was to a country that was just 12.800 kilometres away from my hometown! Nevertheless, what I did know and what has been of great help while living here, was that I was going to be:

1) Prepared to try any dish.

And it was... Padt Thai!

Sydney has lots of places with exotic and tasty dishes from different countries, especially China, Japon and Thailand, do not hesitate and try them as I did!

2) Willing to have fun.

Ice skating is the perfect activity to have fun with! Especially, if you have never done it and you are not very skilled at it. In my case, I fell so many times that, believe it or not, I got a bruise on my hand! But the experience was definitely worth doing! Although it's not possible to iceskate in Sydney, Erina is not very far away and and it's a good opportunity to visit a new place.

3) Eager to learn.

UTS is one of the best 200 universities of the world, I have felt privileged studying here, I hope you too! What I have liked the most about it is sharing a class with people from lots of countries. You don't realise how much listening to them and exchanging ideas opens your mind up.

3) Excited about taking some risks.

And that's how I ended up holding a Python at the Australian Reptile Park!

If you can, don't miss the opportuntiy to go there, it's a bit northern, near the Central Coast, and they have all sorts of Australian animals from Tasmania Devils to kangaroos.

4) Ready to socialize with Aussies and know about their culture.

I think this has been the most important part of everything. We have all made a big effort to come here, then let's take advantage of it! Ask all the questions you want to ask, listen to what people have to say, and try to show a little bit of your country to them too, enjoying is guaranteed.

What do you think of Yamile's experience? Share your thoughts!