Perth: Summer is coming

This saying describes my time in Perth pretty well. I arrived in Perth about three months ago, which is surreal. Whilst the Macromedia in Germany is just getting started, I only have two more weeks of classes at Curtin.
After next week the exam period will start and there will be no more classes to attend to. At Curtin I am being assessed on three assignment per unit, that I am taking.
This does give you a chance to make up for eventual bad grades, but is a big workload compared to the Macromedia in Hamburg.
The assignments are spread out over the semester, so you won’t have to finish everything in the same week, which helps you to improve your time management skills significantly.
Curtin is very well organised and has unit outlines provided at the beginning of the semester, that explains thoroughly which assignments have to be uploaded and what to expect. The professors are very willing to explain the tasks further and help with upcoming questions.

Curtin is full of surprises and impresses me every day. Last week I got the opportunity to visit the customer behaviour research center at Curtin.
In that area of campus the customer behaviour and tendencies are researched. Not only is face screening used, to define the emotions that people have while watching an advertisement, but it also scans the consumers‘ brain waves. My marketing professor is very openminded and supports his students to improve and educate themselves further. Another interesting fact is, that they actually worked with red bull before and helped them analyse their campaign in detail before launching.
These opportunities improves ones knowledge and helps to get a better understanding of plans regarding the future.

Another aspect worth mentioning is the Australian attitude. The Australia I experienced is very laidback. Everybody seems to be in a good mood and is very openminded and nice. This helps you a lot when you are in another country, since connecting to natives teachs you about the culture and, will also help you have an authentic experience.

This is also one of the reasons, why I decided to work here in Perth.
I believe that its not only financial freedom, but also helps you practice English in different situations and helps connect to Australians easier.
The job search was a lot more difficult than expected, since I arrived in winter, nearly nobody was hiring.
A tip, for those planning on working in Perth. Print out your CV and go from store to store and hand over the document in person.
Applying online may be easier, but is not that effective.
Australia is very high priced, something that should be considered ahead of time. Nothing is impossible, whether it is living from your savings or working in Australia, everything’s manageable.
Personally, I believe that is something worth mentioning to future exchange students. if you however do find a job, you will definitely have a bigger financial freedom. The minimum wage is positively high, and you get paid an even higher loan on the weekends. Legally you are allowed to work about 40 hours a fortnight, which will be plenty, aside from the university.

Since the semester is about to end, there has not been as much time to travel, as I had hoped for, but I will make it up in December.
I will be travelling around the east-coast for about a month before returning to Germany.

This semester abroad is an amazing experience and I can definitely recommend participating and interacting to everybody. Not only will you be getting to visit another continent, but also be able to learn about the Australian lifestyle and have once in a lifetime memories.

Further details on my travel in November will be shared in my next Blogpost in December. Until then – Cheers!