Monika Simeonova's Blog

Let the last round of touring begin…

So, I finished almost all my assignments (or at least the ones that need to be done in the next two weeks) and I am ready for action! :)
I am also very excited since Shani and I just booked our trip to the Sunshine Coast and the Great Barrier Reef!! :) Wohooo!
And while my friend Nadine is here, we will make a little tour to Tasmania as well.
I feel like I will have visited the key places I wanted to after all. I have packed more in those four months being here than in the past couple of years. Impressive! :) This is what Australia does to me.
So I will definitely keep you updated on my traveling experiences when I have a minute and I will also post more about the previous trips I went to (which are also worth telling you about).
Ughhh, uni work did get to me after all. It kept me sleepless last night and it has turned around my biological clock as well.
Ahhhh, anyway, it is time to feel as if I am on a vacation again :)
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! :) There might be only one more month left here but I will make sure to make the most of it! Yey!

American Exchange Student in Australia

Hey, guys! I know it has been a LONG time since I last wrote in here and I missed it! I admit.

But lately I have been performing my duty of a student. Yes. I have been catching up with studying.

Great news is that I’ve been doing that so I can have my last week of death (as my roommate Shani calls it) available :) And the reason why I want my free time is because my very close friend is coming from New York City to visit me!!! And I am SOOO EXCITED!!! :))) A little piece of the New York’s craziness is coming to dip in the Aussie waters of laid back, chilled atmosphere. I still can’t believe it but I am so happy!

Until then I will have to finish all my assignments due the end of the trimester.

Something that I realized is that university education is so different here and in the US. I have been taught to think critically and this is the most important virtue to learn in university. Here though no one wants to hear my own personal opinion and critical thinking. It’s all about citing what other people think. And this is when my appreciation for my home uni comes (never thought I’d say this but…) – I just love it! So I have called the system here copy, paste, paraphrase. And I don’t agree with it even a bit but this is how I got a good grade (80). When I was thinking and giving my opinion and critical understandings, I was getting 60’s. So, no thanks!

But it’s funny how different cultures perceive education. For ones, education teaches you personally to think critically and for others, to think through many other people’s perspective, except yours. I prefer the first one.

Nevertheless, I am very happy to be studying here because I have the coolest gang and living on campus is one of the most amazing experiences ever! I think everyone must try it because you haven’t really been to uni if you haven’t immersed yourself completely to the experience :) Late night chats and discussing life before bed – priceless! :)

Sleep for me now sounds priceless as well so hasta la vista, baby! Will keep you updated, I promise! :P

What is New York to me…

Hey, guys! So I have been away from New York City for over two months now… and I do not miss it at all! The only things I miss are my family and my friends. People always think that New York is so awesome and they wonder … what the hell are you doing in Melbourne, when you can be…in the capital of the world?!

Well, let me tell you. I’ve been taking this poetry class here, which brings me back to my one and only, first poem that I wrote. It is called “Letter to New York”. In the beginning, I thought that it will turn out to be this very negative poem, full of all the reasons why I don’t like NY and I love Bulgaria. But after I wrote it I learned something new about myself…

It’s not that I hate the city. I actually have a great appreciation for it. I think it is great in many ways… just not for me.

Getting my bachelors degree there was probably one of the best decisions I have made in my life but in the same time… It was not easy, or fun. The most fun I ever had was home with my family and at work with my coworkers.

I recently reread the poem and I also found this picture, taken at Time Square, at night, that is the best depiction of the feeling of the poem… So I decided to put them together :) This is a little part of me, here… To you, New York!