A Preview of My Semester in Byron Bay, Australia

Caitlinepstein415/ February 6, 2020/ Oceania, Study Abroad/ 1 comments

If things went as planned, this would be a preview of my semester in Hangzhou, China. But, crazy things happen and plans have to change. In this case, the crazy thing that is happening is the coronavirus, the pandemic causing a lot of global panic and causing China to essentially be put on lockdown. About a week into my semester, while studying in Taiwan, we realized the extent of the situation, and LIU notified us that we would be heading off to Australia instead.

When the decision was made, the infected count was still under 1,000 and the death count was low. Now, the infected count is over 24,000 and the death toll is over 500. Furthermore, the university campus we study at in Hangzhou is on lockdown, and all students must apply to be able to leave. With each passing day, it becomes clearer and clearer that China is not the place to be, so we must make the most out of unexpectedly being in Australia. Fortunately, making the most out of being here is not too difficult to do. Read on for a preview of my new reality here in Byron Bay:

Where We Are

Byron Bay, Australia is a relatively small beach town located in New South Wales right near the border of Queensland and New South Wales. It is located roughly three hours south of the city of Brisbane and about an hour south of Gold Coast. Byron is located in Sydney’s time zone, which is 15 hours ahead of East Coast time (so if you need to contact me please be conscious of the time).

The city is a hub for backpackers and vacationers – when the immigration officer at the Gold Coast airport asked me where I would be living in Bryon Bay and I answered that I’d be living in a beach house, he responded with “every house in Byron is a beach house.” This seems to be true, as most of the homes in Byron are minutes from a beach and the trendy main street of the town. I have never imagined myself living in a beach town – that’s my mom’s dream – but it’ll be a fun experience out of my comfort zone for the next few months.

Housing

As I said above, I am currently living in a beach house. It is a spacious vacation home that I share with two of my lovely classmates. We each have our own room, and I had the dumb luck of drawing the master bedroom that has an en-suite bathroom. The house is about a 30-minute walk or a 10-minute bike ride to town, and is less than 15-minutes on foot from the closest beach.

The house has a gorgeous kitchen with everything we could want or need for cooking our own food, a garage with several bikes, a large television with cable and Netflix, and an outdoor patio. It is truly beautiful, and is a world away from my tiny dorm room in Hangzhou.

Food

Like in Hangzhou, we receive a regular stipend to buy food. Unlike in Hangzhou, this stipend is nearly double what we received in China, and rather than eating out three meals a day every day we are cooking nearly all of our meals because wow, Australia is expensive. My classmates who were here last semester have done a solid job at finding good deals for eating out – I’ll just have to be choosy about eating out in order to stay within budget.

Classes

Every semester I say I’m going to take the minimum amount of credits because I already have way over the number of credits needed to graduate and because in theory it would be fun to have more time to relax. However, like always, there are too many classes I want to take, so I am taking 15 credits and auditing another three credit course. The Australia program doesn’t have a true center, so we meet for classes in a rented room at the Byron Community Center. Here’s a look at the courses I’ll be taking this semester:

Junior Research Seminar

This course is set up to prepare us for our internship and research semester during the fall of our senior year. We will all be scattering across the globe to participate in internships and conduct a case study, so this class gives us the guidance to plan the logistics of our internship and develop our research.

Chinese Society and Change

This course is not one that Australia students typically take, but since we got started on this course in Taiwan, the school gave us the opportunity to continue this course through Skype with our professor, Dale. The course delves into the evolution of Chinese society across mainland China as well as other countries or areas that have a great deal of Chinese influence. Our professor is based in Taiwan, but he gets to make a trip down under in a few weeks to that we can have a few classes in person.

Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation for Sustainable Development

This mouthful of a class introduces us to how entrepreneurs and leaders are developing integrated and scalable eco-positive enterprises in key sectors such as food, energy, housing and transportation. So far, the class seems to be really hands on and collaborative, and that spirit is set to continue in Bali, where we will work with Indonesian students to develop social enterprises with the aim of tackling a local issue that the students identify.

Culture, Politics, and Identity in Australasia

The culture, politics, and identity course examines relationships and power dynamics within the region. Most semesters with Global include a course that examines major issues and current events within a country or region, and I am excited to learn more about a region I know very little about.

Multimedia Storytelling for an Interconnected World

In this course, I’ll be able to produce a portfolio of works from videos to blogs to podcasts that all aim to tell stories of the world around me. Our professor has worked extensively as a journalist, and I’m super excited to learn from her and hopefully create some cool storytelling pieces. This course will also allow me to complete my third minor, a minor in arts and communications. I was not going to be able to finish this minor this semester in China, so this is definitely a positive to the move.

Race, Power, and Indigeneity

This is the course I am auditing, but possibly also the one I am the most excited for. This brand new course was built by and is taught by an aboriginal woman. It is amazing to be able to have discussions about race, power, and indigeneity in the region and around the world with my classmates and a professor that can speak on the issues very personally.

Trips

Another major upside of studying in Australia is all of the trips we get to take throughout the semester. We’re traveling so much that it feels like we’ll hardly be in Byron Bay. Here’s a look at everywhere we’ll go in the next few months:

Day Trips

LIU Global emphasizes experiential learning, so many of our courses involve day trips to nearby cities. In February and March we will take day trips to Nimbin, Lismore, Casino (the town not a gambling hall), Gold Coast, and Brisbane.

Melbourne

In less than two weeks after landing in Australia, we’re heading back to the airport to board a plane for Melbourne, a city located in the south of the country. I am not entirely sure what we will be doing in Melbourne quite yet, but we will get to spend roughly four days there.

Lady Elliot Island

While this island may not ring a bell for you, I’m sure the words Great Barrier Reef do. In late March, we’ll pack up our houses and move out to travel for a full month. Our first stop during our month of travel is this island, where we will two days snorkeling and exploring the Great Barrier Reef. I am so beyond excited to board an itty-bitty plane and see one of the world’s greatest natural wonders.

The Outback

After our time on Lady Elliot Island, we’ll drive over ten hours inland to spend six nights in the Outback, where we’ll camp and hopefully see some kangaroos. For someone who has never been camping before, this trip is a bit daunting, but I plan to go into it with optimism and an open mind.

Bali, Indonesia

Our last stop on our month-long travel adventure is Bali, Indonesia, where we will spend two and a half weeks. I cannot express the level of excitement that I have to travel to such a beautiful place and really interact and exchange with local people. As a bonus, I’ll be able to celebrate my 21^st birthday there!

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And there you have it, a simple overview of what I have to look forward to this semester. I am still very disappointed about not being able to return to China – I am worried about the friends and our staff that are still there that I was unable to say goodbye to, I am bummed not be able to continue studying Mandarin, and I’ll miss the little things like fresh bao buns every morning and biking around the West Lake. Fortunately, all of the amazing things I have in store here in Australia make the transition easier. Here is to adaptability and embracing life on a new continent!