This morning the IT, Architectural, and Engineering students and I all went to a cafe near our hotel called Avenue on George. Today was bittersweet as it was our last day in Australia. We tried the Breakfast Tacos, a fancy Eggs Benedict, and the Avenue Omelette. All of our food and drinks ended up being delicious! The Nursing/Healthcare students had a business visit and interview at the Museum of Human Disease. The museum has a collection of over 1500 diseased…
After experiencing a night around Vivid Sydney, all students reported early in the Wynyard Mercure lobby to catch a tour bus and escape the morning rain downpour. Our bus headed promptly to Featherdale Wildlife Park, where we were happily greeted by Wallabees and Pelicans. For a small price students had a unique photo opportunity with a 5 year old Koala, and the chance to feed little kangaroos. After exploring the maze of animals, we loaded up the bus and head…
Today was the last time I would see my host family while I was in Australia. It was a bittersweet moment, I was very sad to leave but I knew there would be more to see in Sydney. I presented my host family with a coffee mug that I had bought for them in Wisconsin as a parting gift; the mug was decorated by a local artist to depict some characteristics of the state (beer, cheese, farmland, sports, etc.) After…
Get lost…find yourself…and repeat… I was always scared to take public transportation, yet here I am across the world taking the city bus and train for my first time. I love it now. You see so many faces on the bus and wonder where they are all going. It’s always quiet when I commute, I wonder if I am the loudest one. Australia is surrounded by a peace I can’t even describe. Maybe that’s why I felt so comfortable trying…
We started the day with meeting at TAFE at 7:45 AM! With Attila as our guide, we all boarded the bus and headed off to Jervis Bay. We got to the bay around 9:15 and some of us ate at Flour Water Salt Bakery, while others looked around in the nearby shops. After eating we boarded the dolphin tour boat and applied our sun screen. We watched the dolphins play and swim all around the boat, doing tricks as they…
We started the day at TAFE. The nursing/healthcare students, Erika, Sara, Adriana, Berenice and Mireya sat in lecture on post Mortem care and followed the TAFE students into the skills lab to watch the process. The instructor discussed how to respectfully care for the deceased patient as well as how to care for the family members throughout the whole process. Communicating with the patient and family by keeping them informed of what’s going on, what you will be doing, and…
The day started with our morning commutes to TAFE either by bus or being dropped off by host families. The nursing students traveled to the Shellharbour Campus where we sat in on lectures about clinicals for first block nursing students in Australia and BLS CPR training. We also met a fellow American from California who moved to Australia in 2020 who is in the nursing program at TAFE. We enjoyed ‘tea time’, where students take a break for tea and/or…
Today the healthcare students started our day going to the TAFE Shellharbour campus. We were gladly welcomed by the nursing department into their anatomy and physiology class in which we learned about the respiratory system. Since this was an introductory course, the professor used a very interactive way of teaching her students. While she was teaching about the respiratory system, she made sure to include all of her students by asking them what is one thing they know the respiratory…
Today was our first day at school here in Australia. We all woke up bright-eyed and arrived at TAFE ready to experience education on the other side of the world. This week not only will we learn about our fields of study, but it is also a full week dedicated to recognizing and reconciliation with the natives and the land. We received a full tour of the campus, learned a bit about Australian history and culture, and had a few…
After a 15 hour flight from San Francisco, we finally arrived in Sydney, Australia on Sunday May 28th around 7am. Essentially we lost a day in the air as we left Friday night at 10:55pm. On Sunday, we all were dropped off at our individual host families and got settled in.