Melbourne: Start the journey
I´ve been living here in Melbourne for more than four weeks now. I was really surprised when I realised how fast I got into my daily routine here. The atmosphere in this wonderful city is quite different than in Germany. The people tend to smile the whole time or most of the time – especially the ones who live at the beach.
However, when I first arrived here, I was literally shocked of all the Asian people. Why are there so many Asians in Melbourne? I felt like in Taipeh or Hong Kong and everything was quite busy and I really felt uncomfortable. (My hostel was in CBD.)
That was one reason why I moved to St Kilda beach. Compared to Germany, it was quite easy to find a new flat (This facebook group is quite helpful.). Actually, I got this "room" (it is shared) because of Steffi who studies at Swinburne University as well. And I really love all of my flatmates! It´s like a family in a big soap: We have a wonderful cool daddy (Ash); a clumsy guy (Richie) who tries to increase his cooking skills here; Renan who eats tuna, rice and eggs every day during lunch and dinner and he hasn´t got tired of it now; Steffi who is like a sister for me and with whom I can talk about everything here and of course me :).
What am I doing in Melbourne?
I guess most of you already know, I am currently a Swinburne student in Entrepreneurship and Management for one semester. I only chosed postgraduated units (except for one) because I wanted to do more practical things. However, I didn´t expect Australian universities or units to be that time-consuming. I have to read and write lots of assignments for the units. The unit mates are great and the classes are quite mixed – but there are still more Australians than Internationals. (Love the Australian accent!)
Activities in Melbourne
Time flies and we did a lot of activities. I went on my first road trip with my flatmates and friends last weekend (next post). So Melbourne bars I recommend:
Bar: Sister bella (CBD)
22 Drewery Pl,
Melbourne VIC 3000
The drinks here are quite cheap and the atmosphere is quite comfy. We got free pizza on top ;)
Bar: The Stone Hotel (Fitzroy) and the Live music bar next to this bar
Sports: Indoor climbing
I love the chocci biccies here, especially the ones from "Tim Tams". But I got addicted to the Oreo Cadburry choccy – too bad! Bought 10 bars in one week...and only 2 are left ;(.
How about the alcohol here? Tinnies (cans of beer) or in general alcohol is quite expensive. In Fitzroy (similar to Prenzelberg, Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg in Berlin) you pay at least $10 (~7€) for one glass of white wine and the same price for 0,33 litre beer. We had several uni events with cheap beer ($2) and free food (so amazing!!).
Must do list for the (near) future:
- Surfing in Torquay
- Stand-up paddling in St Kilda/ Brighton Beach
- visiting Shay Shay in Brisbane! So excited!!
- learn skateboarding with a penny board (thanks to Steffi!)
Melbourne CBD (Flinders Street) by night
Video about Aussie accent:
