Friday, August 27, 2010

Assignment Week!

Thank God this week is finally over! This was the most hectic week of my student life at CQUniversity; the reason being is my assignments!!! Out of four courses that I took this semester, 3 of my assignments were due this week. I know it sounds totally crazy but it's true.
Assignments are important part of your course as they not only assess you on your course progress but also contribute towards (usually 30%-40%) your final exam. Hence it's really important to do your assignment properly and hand it in on the due date. Being aware of this, I had to work really hard to complete them on time as I didn't start working on them as early as I should.

We get to know everything about the course we are studying from the course profile, which we have access to before classes start. Having said this, I knew what my assignments were and their due dates at the very beginning. Despite knowing the fact that I have to struggle to get all three assignments done in one go, I still left it to the last minute. Well, good students or let's say responsible students start working on their assignments couple of weeks before the due date and lazy students like me, do it only couple of days before the due date but let me tell you that there are some, who start the night before or even same day. To be honest, I have fallen into the 3rd category couple of times myself and it's super stressing. Each time I went though that stress, I would make a promise to myself that next semester I will be more responsible and start drafting my assignments on time but this has never happened till date and it's my last semester now. Anyways the point is, you go through lot of stress when you leave your assignments to the last minute as they are not that easy to do, it involves lots of research and detailing which is very hard to accomplish in short time. I strongly recommend all the students to be bit more proactive and responsible towards doing their assignment on time. (please don't be like me)

After going through all that stress of completing three assignments this week I seriously consider bringing some change in my habit of putting things off till last minute. Nevertheless, it's the end that matters and of course the results!!!!


Cheers!
Romu

Friday, August 20, 2010

Are you well informed????

Life is full of small and big challenges; there is no doubt about this. As an international student, these challenges cross your way quite often esp. when you are about to begin your life in a new country on your own . Keeping yourself well informed about everything that you require to begin your life in a strange land, is absolutely important and I can say this from my own experience. As I had already experienced how it is like to live on my own in a totally new surrounding before coming to Australia, it helped me a lot when i moved here. But again, every country is different and lifestyle changes accordingly.
Being up to date with information won’t harm but can help in many ways, and nowadays it's way too easy to access information, everything is just a Google away. Having information about few things mentioned below can come handy for any students coming to Australia; at least for me it would have been if i had known before moving here.

I have linked few websites so that you can find all the relevant information.

1. Tax File Number

- required before starting work
http://www.ato.gov.au/taxprofessionals/content.asp?doc=/content/64067.htm

2. Public Transportation

- know your way around....... check fares,.......avoid cabs........ no discount in fare for international students:(
http://www.131500.com/ (transport info in NSW, don't be lazy to search for links for other states)
http://www.whereis.com/

3. Banking

get an idea about how banking is done....... about different types of accounts........ savings etc
http://www.commbank.com.au/ - Commonwealth Bank
http://stgeorge.com.au/ - St George Bank
http://www.nab.com.au/ - National Australia Bank (These are just few there are heaps)

4. Accommodation

not easy to find......expensive....... look for different option available
http://sydney.gumtree.com.au/f-Unit-House-Real-Estate-house-unit-apartment-rental-W0QQCatIdZ18364 - for SYD
http://www.domain.com.au/

5. Jobs

again not very easy to find but got to keep looking
http://www.seek.com.au/
http://sydney.gumtree.com.au/f-Jobs-W0QQCatIdZ9302 - for SYD
www.careerone.com.au

6.Telecommunications

Phone plans can get tricky.... best option for student is to go for prepaid plans.... bring your own handset(GSM) from home country to save money
http://www.optus.com.au/home/

http://www.three.com.au/


7.Shopping

If you are a shopaholic like me, your are going to get so tempted .......don't spend too much money at the beginning......it is best to bring whatever you can from your home country.....buy only what is absolutely necessary!!!
www........... - sorry guys no links for now!

Well, these are only few among lots of other information that you need to know if you are coming to Australia an international student. Of course there is no need to literally know each and everything as you'll start knowing them as you come and start living here. To be honest i wasn't well informed about most of the things and i still managed to survive pretty well, but the fact can't be denied that these information can make life easier to some extent for most of the international students, who are all set to come to Australia.

Good Luck!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Mr & Miss Teen Nepal Australia (TNA) 2010......... the Event Night

As mentioned in my previous blog, Last Saturday I went to TNA 2010, a Nepalese teen talent hunt show that was held in Marana Auditorium, Hurstville, Sydney. I attended the event because the idea of such a show sounded great to me as I had always admired talent shows and beauty pageants on TV but never watched it live. On top of everything, this show represented Nepal in a way and who doesn't want to be part of a show that represents the place you belong to.
The event was quite successful as it was jam packed with Nepalese crowd living in Sydney and they thoroughly enjoyed the show. Let me tell you that if you are away from your motherland and somehow you happen to be a part of a show or anything that represents your country, it's the best feeling ever for anyone regardless your nationality.
Uh.......I got carried away like everybody else I guess......Getting back to the show, this kind of talent hunt for Nepalese teens was organised for the first time in Australia. I assume a lot of young girls and boys had participated in the other rounds of the contest before 19 finalists were selected for the Grand Finale Show. The participants of the contest were impressive, some being truly talented, I was quite amazed to see them perform and speak in front of the audience with so much confidence as most of them were about 13-15 years old. There were also some guests performances by other artists who I believe were frequent performers in this kind of shows that made the event even more entertaining.
I believe any show or competition that brings the hidden talents inside a community is a champion effort and should be highly recognized & supported. This world is full of genuine talents; we don't even know how many Pele and Michael Jackson are still hidden amongst us. Anyone who even tries to hunt for such talent is doing a great job as you never know who they might come across. The teen talents chosen today can do so much more in their future because of this platform provided to them today and that one surge of confidence coming from within. I greatly appreciate the organizers work and effort in bringing the Nepalese community together and also showcasing the talents of young Nepalese teens among the community and not to forget the charitable cause behind the event...... .....Kudos to Drishti Team!

The hunt should always be on, hope the organizers come up with many more events like this in near future.

Check out the links below:

http://www.nepalmelbourne.com/ – for list of other title winners

http://nepalitimes.com.au/index.php?action=eventDetail&SID=71 – for glimpse of the event

NB- I would especially like to thank Mr. Rabindra Kumar Sharma, Marketing Manager of Unique International College Granville ( who is also one of the sponsors of the show) for giving me an opportunity to witness a great show like this!

BTW i didn't take these pics!

Cheers !

RS

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Mr & Miss Teen Nepal Australia (TNA) 2010

A team of three women from Nepal, who are now based in Sydney has come up with an interesting idea of organising a contest for Nepali teens residing in Sydney for a charitable cause. They have opened up a firm called DRISHTI TEAM with an objective to foster Nepalese culture, ethos & identity and sustain traditions among the young generation. They have organised few events for charity in past and this time with a nobel idea of raising funds for a school for blind children in a remote part of Nepal, they will be organising this TNA competition.

I personally think it's great endeavour from their end to organise such an event to help underprivileged children in Nepal and at the same time provide an opportunity for teenagers in Sydney to showcase their talent.

I'll be covering the event in my next blog which is being held today at Marana Auditorium,Hurstville Entertainment Centre, Hurstville, NSW at 4:30 pm. For those of you who are in Sydney, be there to show your support for this event if you can.
For more information, visit their website on the link below.

http://www.drishtiteam.com.au/events/mr-and-miss-teen-nepal-australia-2010/


Keep an eye on my next post for a sneak peek of the event.

Cheers!
RS


Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Travelling around Australia.......

Australia is not only a great country to pursue your higher education but also a great place to enjoy your vacation. I still have a vague memory of how Australia used to promote tourism about 10-15 years ago when I was a little girl. I used to be fascinated by the advertisements that showed beautiful beaches, landscapes, wildlifes etc in Australia (I specially remember Kangaroos) which sort of created a desire in me to visit Australia but it was not any sort of serious intention, I was too young. Anyways, be it destiny or my innocent childhood desire, I got to come to Australia and I must say I am quite enjoying my time here. I have done fair bit of travelling around Australia but still have lot more to see as it's such a beautiful country.
I want to make this a picture blog so not going to write much but post some pictures that I took as I travelled around.

Here they are, Enjoy!


The iconic Harbour Bridge and Opera House, Sydney


NYE fireworks at the Harbour Bridge,Sydney


Bare Island, La Perouse, Sydney


Great Ocean Drive, Melbourne


Bondi Beach, Sydney


Melbourne City as seen from the tallest building in the city


Sunset at Dockland, Melbourne


7 Apostles, Great Ocean Drive


Strawberry picking at Sorrell Farm, Tasmania


Glimpse of 18th century village at Soveregin Hill, Ballarat


Tasmania Port


7 miles beach, Tasmania


View of Hobart from Mt Wellington,Tasmania