My European adventure started one month ago. On the 7th of July, I left Adelaide to embark on the journey of a lifetime. My final destination is Stockholm in Sweden, but I had a few stops to make on the way.
I am currently travelling with my mum throughout Europe, but she is only ‘dropping me off’ as she is flying back to Australia in one week time. My semester in Stockholm starts on the 20th of August.
Our first destination was Berlin. We have family and friends who live there so it was great to see them all again. My mum and I then jetted off to Stockholm. We decided to visit Stockholm before I start my exchange so we could experience how to get around and see where I would be living. Luckily, we did because we discovered that not many places take cash, they only take card! I had exchanged some money beforehand, but now I know to only pay with card. Stockholm is a beautiful city and I am so excited to study there. We then went to Amsterdam and caught the train to Maastricht in the south. The special occasion was to see Andre Rieu live in concert! It was a fantastic event and David Hasslehoff was there! Next, we went to Serbia to visit family who live there. It was such hot weather in the south of Europe, 40 degrees almost every day! Our last destination before I wrote this blog post was Hamburg. Hamburg is a special place to me because I lived there a couple of years ago for an exchange programme. I visited my old exchange family and good friends who live there. Hamburg is one of my favourite cities in Europe and I would recommend it to everyone! One more place I will be visiting before I study is Venice in Italy, I am pretty excited.
I chose to study overseas because I had such a fun time on my first exchange to Hamburg that I wanted to do it again! I want to experience what it is like to live in another culture and see new things. I know it will be a really valuable experience that I will cherish forever.
I am expecting things to be difficult, as living in an entirely different country is never easy! But I am expecting that I will adjust to these changes and enjoy my time in Sweden. I think everyone is really friendly there and it is such a beautiful place from what I have seen so far. I think the study load will be a shock at first because it is different to what I’m used to. I am nervous to be living with a stranger as I have never lived with anyone besides my parents. I am really excited to meet new people and experience Swedish culture. I am excited to see my new university and become orientated there. Overall I am just really REALLY excited to study in Sweden!
I will miss my family and friends back in Australia. I will also miss Flinders Uni because it’s a nice place to be. However, I am ready to take on this challenge and make some wonderful memories!
Georgia Ristivojevic , Bachelor of International Tourism student, Semester 2 2017 exchange at Stockholm University, Sweden