JULENE FRIESEN
Travel Writer

BRISBANE, Australia — I came to Brisbane in hopes of becoming a pro surfer, befriending koalas and kangaroos and spending countless days on the beach. Oh, and doing lots of studying too.

Brisbane is located on the east coast of Australia in the state of Queensland and is approximately nine hours north of Sydney. I am here as part of the Kinesiology exchange, studying at the University of Queensland for the year.

Brisbane has definitely not disappointed me. Within my first week I had held my first koala, fed baby wallabies and found the beach in the middle of the city. It is not quite the same as being at the beautiful beaches of the coast, but it is a nice after-class pastime.

Although I have not been surfing yet, I spend most of my Sundays wakeboarding on the river with the UQ wakeboard club. Not only is it great fun but it’s also an awesome way to meet other exchange students and Aussies. I would highly recommend joining one of our U of S clubs or Campus Rec teams for this same reason, minus the meeting of Aussies.

It has been relatively easy to adapt to the Australian lifestyle because of the cultural similarities. Brisbane has a population of two million and a livelier and busier feel than Saskatoon, yet it still has the laid-back Aussie attitude. It is similar to Saskatoon in the sense that they are both centered on a river, they have diverse cultures and they have really friendly people.

Many of the classes I am taking are identical to my classes at the U of S, except for a marine biology class which was designed for exchange students like myself. As a bonus, there are field trips to the bay and reef. The campus is similar to U of S, but with an outdoor pool, a cute little lake and many outdoor cafes. They even have their own version of the Bowl called the Great Court.

There are many differences, however, that I am still learning to get used to. When I talk about football, they think I mean rugby. Apparently our football is called “gridiron” here.

I was also surprised to find that an 80-minute rugby game only took an hour and a half, where as our 60-minute football games can last over three hours.

I found this out watching my first ever rugby game between the Australian Wallabies and the South African Springboks in the Tri Nations Cup. I do enjoy the game and have even played a couple games on a touch footy team here. But my love will always be for “our” football.

Another major difference is the cost of living here. Although minimum wage is a lot higher, it is not uncommon to be paying double and even triple the Canadian price for items.

I was also amazed to find that students had to pay extra for bus and ferry transport, gym memberships and sporting events. I realized how much I took these things for granted, and hope that all of you are making good use of these services — especially the free sporting events!

In the months to come, I plan on doing a ton of travelling and seeing all there is to see in this beautiful country.

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image: Julene Friesen