In the
beginning of 2012, my friends and I flied to Adelaide after finishing
pre-departure training for 6 months in Jakarta. We got a fortune to study at
the University of Adelaide with a scholarship from AusAID for a 2 year
Postgraduate Program. The flight from Jakarta to Adelaide took approximately 7
hours with one stopover in Sydney. When the plane landed at Adelaide Airport, I
felt excited and somewhat emotional because it was my first experience of going
abroad. Previously, I had only ever gone as far as Nusantara while on work
duties.
Adelaide is a
small city, located in South Australia. It has four seasons: summer, autumn,
winter and spring. There can be very large differences between these seasons. For
example, the temperature may approach 46'C in the summer while it may go down
to -3'C in the winter. The population in Adelaide city is not as large as most
other capital cities in Australia. Because of that, the federal government has
been encouraging immigrants to come to Adelaide city first in order to get
permission for gaining permanent residency. This seems to be a good policy
since South Australia needs more labour for agricultural crops such as grapes,
strawberries and cherries.
During the
summer that I first arrived in Adelaide, the temperatures were hotter than in Indonesia.
However, the air was so clean and dry, I did not face any difficulty in adapting
to the new climate. When my friends and I came out from the arrival gate at the
airport, there were members of staff from the University of Adelaide and also
colleagues from Persatuan Pelajar Indonesia Australia (PPIA) who came to pick
us up.
Temporarily I
lived with Joko, my friend, in a unit for a period of about 3 months at the most.
Units in Australia are the same as apartments in Indonesia with 2 bedrooms, a 1
living room, a 1 kitchen and a 1 bathroom. My unit was already fully furnished
by my landlord, so I did not need to buy anything. The regulations between
landlord and tenant are strict and covered by a Letter of Agreement. The tenant
must pay a bond of approximately AUD $1,000 and pay rent fortnightly. The
landlord of my unit was Indonesian, we called her Bu Ratna and she’s married to
an Australian Navy called Bruce.
Before the
lectures began, I attended an Introductory Academic Program for approximately a
month and a half. This course provided subjects which were aimed at preparing
students to face lectures and assignments in the Australian academic
environment. After finishing that program, I had a break for two weeks during
which I returned to Jakarta in order to bring my wife and son back to Adelaide.
My wife and son
felt amazed when the plane landed at Adelaide Airport. The sun was just rising
to a clear and shining new day, and after some moments of wonder about being so
far from home, we got our luggage and caught a taxi to our new unit.
Along the way,
my wife and son looked so excited. They were seeing something that they had
never seen before, the clear blue sky, the very clean road, the good
infrastructure and modern facilities. Everything was so tidy, it stunned them
both.
I had already
booked another unit and terminated the contract of the previous one. The new unit
was not too far from the first one and was also another one of Bu Ratnas' units
– she has a number of them, by the way. It was in a street called Bagot Avenue
which was closer to my son's school and other important services such as a
Woolworth's Supermarket, Hamra Library, Post, Bank, Bus Stop, Foodland
Supermarket, Chemist, Halal Butcher, Halal Pizza and Asian Grocery which all could
be reached by foot.
Regarding my
son's school, I enrolled him into Cowandilla Primary School. This is a
government school which has a particular focus on climate change. It has a large
playground, modern classrooms, excellent computing facilities, swimming pool,
basketball yard, football yard, gym, veggie garden, library, and dental clinic.
I got a subsidy from the Federal Government after I had submitted a Letter of
Permission for my son to the Department of Education. I would have had to pay
more than AUD $1,000 per year but after the subsidy I only had to pay AUD $150
per year. We did not have to buy books or any equipment, even activities fee,
they've already been covered. Furthermore, I paid AUD $40 per year for Dental
Clinic, whatever my son's need. It could have been pulling out a tooth, a
filling, fluoride coating, monthly treatment, or even if he had gone everyday, there
would have been no added fee. Very reasonably priced.
During the
first semester, I struggled with assignments and exams. Moreover, I had to
answer tutorial questions every week. It seemed like there was no time for
anything except study. However, at one point, I did Junk Mail Delivery as a
side job. It was quite refreshing and good exercise to make these deliveries on
my bike. Junk Mail is an advertising
catalogue used for promoting shops, companies or business enterprises.
My wife and son
soon fitted into their new home. My son adapted easily to his new school and
his English flowed quickly. He made a lot of friends and found that the
subjects were easier than in Indonesia. Maybe because in Australia, they tend
to learn more by playing rather than getting too stressed out. They also have
more time for play and physical exercise outside the classroom, which is better
for their health. On the other hand, my wife was so glad to go to Hamra
Library. It's a local government library which is open to the public. We could
borrow a lot of books, magazines, CD's, DVD's and could access computer or
internet services. All of this is free for members. We have to show our
passport and the Letter of Agreement (where our address listed) to become a
member. It is easy, isn't it? After that, you can find anything up to date
here. My wife also went to the English Class for immigrants or new comers in
this library. She was so happy to make a lot of friends from multi-culture. She
could improve her hobby to learn English then. She was so glad to have had real
native teachers. One of them has become one of her best friends.
Adelaide is known
as the Festival City. It holds many festivals, such as the Australia Day
Festival, Indofest (Indonesian Festival), Kodomo No Hi (Japanese Festival), Eid
Mubarak Festival, Theatre Festival, Moon Lantern Festival (organized by the
Asian), Indopendence Festival (to celebrate Indonesian Independence Day), and
so on. It became an intriguing entertainment for me and my family.
As a new place
in which to settle, Adelaide did not seem strange for us. We did not even feel
alienated. People in Adelaide are very friendly. They often greet each other as
they pass on the footpath, for example. Most of people are helpful, disciplined,
and treat each other with mutual respect. Moreover, we can find the Moslem
Community easily. Some of them are Indonesian, Malaysian, African, the Middle
East, and the Bangladesh. And there are a number of Mosques in Adelaide, one of
which provides Islamic Class. My son participated in these classes every
Saturday and found both friends and knowledge. Of course, the most important
thing was that he would not forget what he has been taught and what his
obligations are because there are no religious lessons in his school. For me, the
Indonesian or Malaysian Muslim Community was the most familiar place for
sharing. They hold discussions every week. Later, with so many Moslem
communities to share with, our fasting and Eid Mubarak was full of joy. We got
our first chance at the end of the first semester.
I stopped my
catalogue delivery work in the second semester, as I found my subjects harder
and more complicated. I did try my best, but 24 hours I felt was not enough for
a day, it was horrible. Still, I needed to refresh my brain. So, I spent my
weekends with my family, even it was just going shopping for daily needs or
looking around Adelaide by going to the beach or to the park, doing exercises,
feeding birds, or having a barbecue. Some recreational areas provided free
barbecue facilities. We could just bring our own food, which could be steak,
sausage, corn, potato, bread, or anything you'd like to bake. Don't forget to
bring aluminum foil as the base. That was my best way. And you can also bring
juice, plastic plate and glass, fruits, snacks, and then it will be a nice
picnic time.
Some places
that we liked to visit were Glenelg Beach (with beautiful white sand, the waves
are good for surfing, and there is The BeachHouse sort of Time Zone for kids),
Brighton Beach (our favourite area for BBQ, has a very blue beach, and we enjoyed
the most beautiful sunsets from the jetty), Semaphore Beach (it's a smooth
beach and there are games and rides on the seaside), Rundle Mall (we could find
clothes, shoes, bags, watches with good quality), Haigh’s Chocolates (they have
the most delicious chocolate), Central Market (fruits and vegetables are cheap there),
Marion & Harbour Town Shopping Centre (quite sizeable and good for all
kinds of shopping), K-Mart (for cheap daily necessities), South Australian
Museum, West Torrens Park (for relaxing and reading books), Adelaide Zoo,
Botanical Garden, Elder Park, and Tea Tree Plaza. There was something new for
us when we went to Tea Tree Plaza. We got on a bus which then turned into a
tram. How sophisticated. They called it the O-Bahn Busway. It runs on a specially
built track, combining elements of both bus and rail systems to avoid traffic
jams. It was great. Another favourite place was Victor Harbour, a bit far from
Adelaide but still in South Australia. It has an enchanting view. Besides this,
we crossed over between two nearby islands by riding a horse tram. We would say
it's fantastic, pleasing.
Summer holiday
was coming. I tried to find a job because I passed all my subjects and could
take a break from my studies. I got a chance to be a fruit picker and worked in
strawberry fields and cherry orchards. It is not as easy as we imagined,
especially the first time. I had to be careful and quick. But then it became
quite easy. It was fun.
The holidays
were nearly gone. I did not want it to pass without doing some travelling. I do
really like travelling, my wife and son also. I decided to take them to
Melbourne. I drove an old car myself, Ford Laser 1990, to get there. It was quite
challenging for me. The car that I bought after I had got paid from working,
may have been old but the machine was still good, I could say it was still very
good. We were enjoying the trip, exploring every place that we passed through.
It's about 1,000 km from Adelaide to Melbourne. We took the north track, and
pulled in to Hahndorf, Murray Bridge, Bordertown, and Ballarat (a gold mining
city). The views around these places were very beautiful.....fascinating. We would
have spent 12 hours if we did not stop by and always take pictures. Smooth roads all the way and clean roadside facilities despite
being out of the city. It was not hard to find a rest area (toilet, fuel
station, mini market, or park). So pleasant and comfy.
We stayed in
Melbourne for 7 days, which was very satisfying. Melbourne is a kind of
metropolitan city. It was very crowded and glamorous. Some interesting places were
Flinders Station, SBS Building, Eureka Skydeck, Yarra River, Victoria Market,
Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, Luna Park, and Phillip Island.
Coming back to
Adelaide, we took another way. The south track, The Great Ocean Road, something
we've never seen before, it is really Great, as in the name. We drove along the
coast, beautiful scenery along the way indulged our eyes. There was Angle Sea,
Fairhaven, Lorne Beach Geelong, Apollo Bay, Gibson, the Twelve Apostles, Loch
Ard Gorge, Warrnambool, Portland, and Mount Gambier. Portland was the most
favourite place that I liked on this trip. We stayed overnight in this town,
it's a fairy and small town. There were so many yachts and cruisers. A very
nice situation here. There are also a beautiful cape, Bridgewater, and
Petrified Forest with so many huge windmills around. It was so amazing. This
very memorable trip we will never forget throughout our life.
Entering the
third semester, there was nothing easier than the couple before. I still
struggled and tried my best. Later, after I passed the exams, I worked in a caravan
park as a cleaner since my marks were good enough, so I did not take any
subject during that break. While I worked, I could enjoy the scenic landscape.
This area was overgrown with various plants with so many types of free flying
birds. And needs to be known, here in Adelaide, as the season changes the color
of the plants change. We will see a lot of green leaves turns to red in summer,
then turns to brown in autumn, all the leaves fall by rain so the bare tree
without leaves in winter, thereafter grow white flowers in spring and turns
purple before summer comes. My wife was really happy when she found
everything's purple. She also likes Maple trees in autumn, they are so fabulous
with yellow and red color, almost gold. Indeed, there are many other flowers
with various bright colors can be soothing eye.
Continuing to
the last semester, I felt my spirit growing more but mixed with anxiety. It was
the time of determination but I didn’t think it was the hardest time. Every
semester was hard, actually. However, somehow I convinced myself that I must
finish. Sometimes I co-operated as a teamwork with friends to figure some
problem out, discussing, sharing, and reinforcing each other. Then finally,
after everything with effort and pray I did pass the very last exam. Huft...
While waiting
for the final result, I didn’t want to waste any of the time that we had left
in Australia. So, I took my family on a flight to Sydney. Three days and two
nights was enough to visit the Opera House and tour around the city. We got on a
Sydney Explorer Sightseeing Bus and Hop On Hop Off Cruise, so all could be visited. Sydney is
not as crowded as Melbourne. But Adelaide is the quietest city, and more suitable
for studying.
Packing and
cleaning up the unit was the last activity after I got the final result. Thanks
to Allah that I can be a Master of Accounting and Finance. All our efforts,
hopes, and prayers had been realized. It has all been most definitely
worthwhile for me and my family, and hopefully for my institution and my
country as well. Thanks all for every support and prayer.
Does anybody
want to study abroad?
Adelaide is the
right place to go.
It is a really
nice city.
Abu Firdhaus
