Gabriel Sanchez Bautista

October 2008 Update

I can´t believe that more than three months have already gone by, sometimes it seems to me that I´ve just arrived here with all those dreams and goals to come true, well, concerning to my activities through the last month, I may say it has been full of activities, especially academic and related to my university program, but always getting a moment to relax and enjoy with friends and to get away too.

This month one friend of mine came to Adelaide to celebrate his birthday, he is from France but studies in India, participating in an exchange program as well, but he wanted to take a break to visit his friends here in Australia, so we prepared a barbecue, some beef hamburgers, drinks, and of course a chocolate cake, we spent a really good time to be honest.

Similarly, this month I moved to another house, this one is closer to my university main campus and now it takes me only three minutes to get there on foot, on the downside, it’s more expensive but it is worth it.

This and next month I think the academic load will be increased since this semester is finishing and the amount of assignments and exams to do is bigger but hopefully I can manage it on my own, even when computer technologies sometimes involves many hours per week because we have lectures, tutorials and in addition practical hours in computer labs, but I am not complaining at all because I am learning too much every single day.

On the other hand, I received the confirmation from my university voluntary program about the activities that we as a voluntary member can undertake, so probably in a couple of weeks we will be doing any kind of communitarian work in group here in South Australia.

Also, in this last month I´ve been meeting more people, but this time it has been more about Australian people, to whom I’ve had the opportunity of sharing and letting them know more about Mexican culture, of which I’ve been always been proud of.

Christmas time is approaching and probably many of us are meeting for the eve of New Year in Sydney, or perhaps something else, the truth is that nobody knows what the future holds for us, but in the meantime we can just try to make the best of every challenge, and always being grateful for all those that has been given to us. Thanks.

September 2008 Update

It is almost three months since we arrived in Australia to have the time of our lives and now to be honest days are passing so quickly. In this third month I have been more focused on my studies since I want to do well and gain the best marks as possible but also trying to have time for other activities such as meeting people, visiting some places, volunteering in organizations and going around the city.

I have already taken some tests at university and I should admit that I was quite nervous for the first test, but then for the second I was more serene and so on. Now I am involved in some academic projects and integrated in teams, for example one project is about the development of a website in which we should help a small company to have a presence in the world. Another is about to design and implement computer networks with all the specifications that are required, and other about how to protect information systems from threats and hackers in a daily life context, interesting I think.

At university, the exchange society has been organizing some events for international students such as barbecues and football matches in order to have fun for a while and spend a good time. Also with friends I went to the Adelaide Festival Show, which is a kind of fair with several attractions such as cattle exhibitions and food tasting, and it is an event that only takes place once a year, that´s why we couldn´t have missed it. Similarly  a couple of weeks ago I went to the cinema to watch the movie called The Mummy, the tomb of the dragon emperor, which to some extent left a lot to be desired, but anyway it was entertaining.

On the other hand, at university I have sent my request to join the university volunteer program, which basically dedicates to undertake and organize some community work and environmental projects such as planting trees and promoting a commitment to the nature, so now I am expecting the response and instructions to participate on this projects but now my university is having a break for two weeks, so coming back I am supposed to know all about it.

Also, a couple of days ago I sent my academic report to SEP, in order to let them know my activities, projects and to describe what my experience here is being like, I think they are looking forward to knowing from us, and my comments were successfully signed by the representative of the peace scholarship program at my university (uniSA).

Similarly I am participating in a competition which is about writing a home letter to our respective country with the purpose of promoting Adelaide as a multicultural and educational city, this competition is organized by StudyAdelaide and sponsored by OSHC WorldCare and the ANZ bank, so tomorrow I am knowing what is going on with this and hopefully I am getting a good surprise.

I think all these things have been the most outstanding during this last month and for now I am looking forward to seeing all of you in the Christmas party and spend some days there to receive the new year in Sydney, in the meantime I am focusing on my duties and experiencing this great opportunity that has been given to us, thanks for all.

August 2008 Update

This second month has been very interesting since I have been getting more used to the Australian life, the last week of July my classes started and I could undertake this new adventure and challenge in my life, I continued meeting more and more people from many countries but not too many from Latin America, as usual, but it is good, I mean this has enabled me to experience the contrast between different cultures and learn more about the importance of living and sharing a same world even when we can be different from each other.

To be honest I have to accept that in the first classes’ week I was full of doubts about how the educational system work here in Australia, and to be more specific, about my university style life and the way in which I was expected to attend and study my courses, as well as where I should go in case I need assistance and that sort of things, but on the spot I´ve been dealing with this issues and now I understand better my university system, actually I am really enjoying the courses I am taking since they are about topics I am interested in and covering different aspects of the information technology and computer sciences.

About my daily life the truth is that thanks god, I haven’t had any kind of problem, well, just about the food, since I didn’t use to cook in Mexico at all, so this is the reason why the first days here I was really wondering about what to eat, if buy food or try to cook something but I thought I wasn’t prepared to cook by myself and I didn’t feel confident about it, but eventually I tried and I have to accept that the first meals I cooked were not exactly the best, but I’ve been improving every day, actually I am starting to love it.

Also, in this month I went to another trip with my friends, this time the trip took place in Victor Harbour, where I could enjoy the beach and have lunch, they are  very warm, friendly, and adventurous, actually they help me to improve my English ever faster and at the same time I can discuss with them different cultural topics about how the life is like in their own countries, actually many of them are from Europe, so the accent that I am used to hearing from them is that, also in Victor Harbour I could  see the penguins around, it was so exciting since I could admire how the sunset was going down through the sea and the horizon, it was so beautiful specially at dust, but the weather was pretty bad, actually I can perfectly remember that day was raining almost all the time, but despite that, it was a great trip and we are planning to go another for the next holidays.

Similarly, the Exchange Society of UniSA, organize many events for international students, so I can go, eat pizza, have fun and spend a good time, actually in many of these events I have met Laura, who is another scholarship recipient, we have talked about some ideas and planned some projects, but up to now nothing is definitive, but we will be working on this, and with the collaboration of Gonzalo, our friend from Chile, who is working with us as well.  

Now I am trying to focus more at school issues since I want to get good marks and in general I am getting adapted here, I almost never miss Mexico, just from time to time is when some memories come to my mind and I ask myself what I would be doing there, but absolutely I am sure that the experience here is being amazing and I am learning too much in all the aspects of my life every single day, It has been useful to value some things about my country and about me.

July 2008 Update

These three first weeks in Australia have been very meaningful in my life because I have had the opportunity to experience different things. I spent my first 6 days in Sydney, where I met a lot of new and friendly people; the most important thing is that I could interact with the other students that like me, we are enjoying this Scholarship, and I would like to mention that at least for me, it has been a dream come true because without the support from IDP and SEP it wouldn’t have been a reality.

After the orientation I spent 2 days more in Sydney in order to know and visit more places, so I could go to Cockatoo Island in which I learnt more about how was the life in Australia and other things. Also we visited the museum of contemporary art and next to it we could take a boat to the island, and passing under the Harbor Bridge, it was very exciting to be honest. The next day (11 July) I took my flight to Adelaide, it lasted only about 2 hours, and after arriving in Adelaide Airport, a person from my university (UniSA) picked me up to my temporal accommodation which is a service provided from the university and because I needed to find long term accommodation, so for the meantime I stayed in a back pack hostel for some days, then eventually I could find an apartment in the city centre very good and  to be shared with other students, some from Thailand and other from Melbourne, but the thing that I really like about it, is that I can go on foot to school, because it is very close and takes only 10 minutes by walking.

On the other hand my orientation week started the day 14, and during all those days, I received many tips and suggestions about the life and services in Adelaide, actually there were many sessions related to many topics, such as: visa restrictions, health care, tips to find a good job, how to find accommodation, emergency numbers, how to become a exchange society member, how to manage our money and so on, I think all this was very useful. Also, there was a trip organized by UniSA for all the international students to a wildlife park, in which I had the chance to meet more people and to come into contact with many Australian animals such as kangaroos, wombats, emus, koalas and so on, I really enjoyed it, especially because I could feed many kangaroos, it was very pleasant for me. Another trip in which I was involved took place some days ago in Flinders Ranges National Park and it lasted 4 days, I went with other international students and we practiced rock climbing, it was a little bit exhausting but very good because I could see many landscapes and make more friends, especially from Germany, Spain, Switzerland, France, Denmark, USA, and China, and they all speak English very well, even many of them didn’t have to take an English test to come to Australia as a visa requirement, that sometimes prevents me from feeling self-confident because I think my English is not very well and because in my group of friends from the UniSA Exchange Society I am the only one from Mexico, even from Latin America, well so far, because I think Laura is coming soon.

On the other hand, about the subjects, I am taking four courses such as: Information Security, World Wide Web Development, Modeling and Database Design, and Network Fundamentals, so I am looking forward to starting them because I want to be part of the international education experience and because I want to prove myself that I can face any challenge coming as a result of this new experience of my life here in Australia.