Wow. What a trip, and what an experience, that was. I returned just over a week ago after two and a half weeks of experiments and cultural and social experiences in Malaysia and I had such an amazing time over there, I didn’t want it to end.

I worked in the labs for two weeks on growing some TiO2 surfaces for DSSCs, producing plenty of samples to bring back to Flinders and do further work with and spent the weekends and a couple of other days exploring the country and the culture. The scenery, the country and the lab work were all great, but by far the best part of this trip was the people I got to meet. Never have I encountered such a lovely and accepting group of people, and I was blown away with how readily they invited me into their homes and taught me about their culture. I spent three days in the north of the country with the family of my lab mate for the Hari Raya festival which was absolutely amazing; such a sense of absolute community and acceptance among the entire population.

For any students thinking about studying overseas, I would highly encourage you to do it. You’ll have the time of your life.

Brodie Parrot, Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Nanotechnology) student attended the National University of Malaysia (UKM) in Malaysia in June-July 2017 under the New Colombo Plan Mobility Grant 

• Read Brodie’s 1st post here