Czech Republic – Yuhan
Student: Yuhan
Course: Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science
Program: Trimester Exchange T1 2024
Did you go on any memorable trips to explore your host country or maybe a nearby country?
Honestly, all of the trips I went on were very memorable, but the one that had the biggest impact on me was the last trip with my friends to Bled, Slovenia. We decided to do a last big trip together with everyone who could make it before we all go back home. We stayed at a big Airbnb for 3 nights, and we all cooked together. It was a mess deciding what to eat for 8 people, but it was so fun in the end that even the 40-minute (one-way) walk to the supermarket was worth it. We went hiking around the lake, rowing in the lake to the church in the middle, and swimming in the lake. The energy of the trip was extra special because we were trying to make the most of our last moments together.
How did you make friends and what sort of things did you do together?
I lived in one of the dormitories of the university, and it was the biggest one. They put most of the exchange and Erasmus students in one dorm building (there were 3 in that block), so in the end, we got to know almost everyone. I met most of the people during the orientation week because of all the organised activities for the exchange students. I’m definitely not a party person, but it is worth going to get to know everyone in the first week. In the end, I was closer to my “dorm” friends than my “class” friends (who lived in private accommodations) because it was way more convenient to do things with everyone, such as going out to eat, hanging out in the dorms, going on a picnic, planning trips, etc., and I just saw them more in general.
What were some of the differences you observed to Australia when you arrived?
I knew you had to pay for water in Europe, but some restaurants even charge you for tap water, which is crazy. Most of the toilets also cost money to get into, which I thought was a basic human right, but I guess not. However, the transport between the countries was extremely cheap. From Brno to Vienna, it cost us less than $20 for a return trip. My flight from Zagreb to London was only $25! Also, if you travel between EU countries, no one really checks your passports. I’ve only been formally checked at the German borders.
What's your one piece of advice for a student who is preparing to study abroad? How should they prepare?
Start your Visa application early. ASAP. Honestly, before you even get your formal acceptance letter, depending on how complicated and how many documents are required, it is so much better to start earlier. I was so stressed the entire ~2 months waiting for each document to be processed because you need the former document to be approved for the latter to be approved. I couldn’t just do everything at once. In the end, my passport returned 4 days before I needed to fly for orientation week.
How did you finance your trip? How much did your trip cost?
I started working at 15, so I had some savings by the time I decided to do the exchange. I worked 2 jobs the whole year (and the year before, just because I did); a few weeks I worked ~30 hours, but most I worked ~20 hours. I only did 3 units each trimester that year, so I did have more time to work. I tracked my savings every month, making sure I saved at least 50% of the earnings. I saved ~27K and ended up having ~13K left. But I did go to a central European country and not the capital city, so everything was a lot cheaper. I mostly travelled to nearby countries first, and since they were all in the same region, they were all relatively cheap places to travel to. I ate out quite a bit in Brno, but the average meal at a restaurant only cost me like $13–$15 (sometimes including a drink).
What is the one big thing you will always remember from your experience? Or one big lesson that you learnt?
The friends and people I made on the exchange. I learned so many new things from different cultures. The foods, the drinks, the weirdly extremely different dinner times, the comparisons of our lives in our own countries, and of course all the new swear words. All the times we talked together, ate together, watched Netflix together, and all the different trips we went on together. They were all invaluable experiences that I will never forget.