Meet the UTS community....

Introducing...

2006-09-17T13:51:29Z

Hi Everyone! Well it has been another week and we are in the thick of it - the middle of the semester and I'm sure everyone is very busy writing those essays and studying for those mid-semester exams. Oh the agony of being a university student! But that said I'm glad you (the reader) have taken a quick 3-minute break to read this. So for the next 3 minutes, relax and enjoy the company of the very beautiful Verena.

Verena Jaeniche

Name: Verena Jaeniche

Age: 25

What course are you studying? Masters in Marketing, on exchange from the University of St. Gallen (HSG) in Switzerland

Where do you currently live? Bondi

How long have you lived in Sydney? Since Orientation day - a few months now. Time flies here in Sydney!

What do you like best about Sydney? The beach, the people, the food. The international food and the fact that you can get everything here. The bars are nice and I like the parties.

What do you like least about Sydney? Waiting at the traffic lights and running after the 380 bus all the time.

Where is your favourite place to hang out?

On Saturday night? Recovering at home from partying Thursday and Friday. Thursday nights we are at the Youth Hotel (The Aussie Youth Hotel in Ultimo) just relaxing and having drinks.

On Sunday afternoon? The beach and having a coffee in Bondi

Of all the places you have lived, where is your favourite? England, Whiltshire. But Spain, Sevilla was really nice.

If you could live anywhere other than Sydney where would it be and why? On a boat, you can go where you like anytime you want to and have everyting with you and travel.

When you get visitors from out of town, where do you take them? The rocks, darling harbour. I would take my visitors, probably my parents, to a very nice fish resturant. (Try Jordans in darling harbour, or go down to the fish markets)

If ever a statue or monument was to be built in your honour where would you like it to be placed? On the harbour bridge over looking the water or in my village back home.

Any last thoughts or comments? Hi to my buddy Marcus – looking forward to seeing you next time!!

Introducing...

2006-09-03T05:30:12Z

Hi Everyone! Well it's been a week and Spring has hit Sydney. How fantastic! The sun is shining and the weather is beach friendly - how much more Aussie can it get. Speaking of a fantastic Aussie, this week we meet Dan Horan a tall handsome gentleman currently studying here at UTS, learning Mandarin as part of his degree. Dan will be going overseas next year to Kunming in China to study language and culture for a year. He is a pretty fun guy and is very well travelled and has been all over the world. So if you see Dan around next time at UTS, definitely say 'Hi' and if you can, say 'Hi' in Mandarin. Here is what Dan had to say about Sydney...

Dan Horan

Age: 22

What are you currently studying? Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Arts in International Studies

Where in Sydney do you live? Killara

How long have you lived in Sydney? 18 years

What do you like best about Sydney? Ooh...hmmm... it would definitely have to be the weather, its the best.

What do you like least about Sydney? Hmmm... nothing, I like everything. Maybe the traffic, I don't really like the traffic.

Where is your favourite place to hang out?

After work? On the couch infront of the tele(vision) with a beer
On Saturday night? I just follow the crowd, see where my mates end up and yea that usually a pretty good time.
On Sunday afternoon? In my backyard lying in the sun just soaking it up.

Of all the places you have lived, where is your favourite? Sydney, I grew up here and have lived here - I love it.

If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be and why? Buenos Ares, I loved it there when I was travelling through. Its got the best steak, the best girls and really good wine.

When you get visitors from out of town, where do you take them? I would take them to Taronga Zoo (http://www.zoo.nsw.gov.au/) or the Opera Bar (http://www.operabar.com.au) and Whale Beach (http://www.discoversydney.com.au/sydney/beach.html) if the wheather is nice.

If ever a statue or a monument was to be built in your honour, where would you like it to be placed? In my front garden so I get to see it everyday.

Any last thoughts or comments? Nope, thats about it really. I must head off to Chinese class now.

Dan has mentioned some really awesome places to go check out, especially Whale Beach. Ofcourse there are the big beaches in Sydney like Bondi, Bronte, Cronulla, Manly and Coogee, but there are lots of other gems that are worth checking out. Like Whale Beach that Dan mentioned, but there's also Avalon (where they filmed a special Baywatch episode one time), Shark Bay (nice and quiet with crystal blue sea and sky) and Frenchmans Bay (great spot for a picnic on a sunny day) - just to name a few.

Introducing...

2006-08-24T05:13:41Z

Hi Everyone, this is a new section aimed at providing a weekly interview with various people living in Sydney. I hope that this will help incoming International Students, current students and anyone else reading this, to provide a honest account of people's perceptions about Sydney, exchange and just other general information. Peruse at your leisure! If you have any comments, suggestions, general feedback or wouldn't mind being interview then please email me: sarah.shen@student.uts.edu.au

So without further ado here is the very first interview...Enjoy!

Jessica Lam

Jessica Lam is an International Student currently on exchange for one semester at UTS. She is studying Human Resources Management and hails from The City University of Hong Kong, in Hong Kong. She is part of the UTS Tandem Program¹ and I thought what better way to kick this section off than to interview someone from UTS's international student community. Here are some of the things Jessica had to say about Sydney and her time here so far...

Name: Jessica Lam

Age: 21

What are you currently studying? Currently studying Human Resources Management here at UTS.

Where in Sydney do you live? Willoughby

How long have you been in Sydney? About a month

What do you like best about Sydney? The Natural Environment, nature, sight seeing, the beach, the trees and the landscape. As back home in Hong Kong, it is just a city, it just has urban buildings. Here in Sydney it is a very nice city, it is very green with lots of trees to break up the city and nice to incorporate the nature in everyday life. Also the people are very friendly and nice, they are very easily approachable and I think they have better manners and courtesy than most city people in Hong Kong.

What do you like least about Sydney? Shopping here is much more expensive than back home in Hong Kong and also the shops here close too early so sometimes it is a bit boring at night. Also the trains and buses are never on time - it is very sometimes, especially the buses, they never seem to come according to the time table.

Where is your favourite place to hang out?

On Saturday night? I haven't really gone anywhere on a Saturday night

On Sunday afternoon? I like sight seeing, especially Circular Quay, I like Circular Quay the best.

If you could live anywhere, where would it be? On an Island resort somewhere with a nice beach - I like the beach, it is a very nice change from the city.

If someone came to visit you in Sydney, where would you take time? Circular Quay, Taronga Zoo, Darling Harbour and surrounds, Star City (but I don't gamble). All the touristy places, but definitely Circular Quay as that is my favourite place, I have been there several times.

If ever a statue or monument was built in your honour, where would you like it to be placed? Darling Harbour, near the wharfs, maybe along King St wharf somewhere.

Any last thoughts or comments? Sydney is good, but some things here are too expensive compared to Hong Kong. But that is probably because of the currency exchange. But the natural environment is definitely much much better than Hong Kong, there is lots of sun in Sydney.