And who wouldn't want to go? Studying abroad in a foreign country is probably the one chance you get before you're retired and can't walk to travel for an extended period of time in a completely different cultural setting. If no other reason, that should be the one why studying abroad in a place like Australia is unforgettable. Before talking about Australia though, I should introduce myself.
My name is Brian Nimmo, and I'm a rising junior Chemical Engineering major at the University of Michigan. For the six weeks from June 11th through July 24th, I'll be all over Australia- in Darwin, Alice Springs, Uluru, Sydney, and Cairns. This program I'll be a part of is called Energy Tomorrow: An Engineering and Management Perspective, which is organized by the University of New South Wales in Sydney. As you could guess, the program is about energy, sustainability, and energy technologies in practice today. We'll be learning about energy in all different ways from lectures to lab work to visits to places such as a uranium mine in Darwin and a solar energy site in Sydney. The program is based around six main topics: Energy and Sustainable Development, with a focus on international outlooks on energy sources and their comparative economic benefits, international climate change negotiation issues, environmental implications, and energy services; Energy and the Built Environment, about energy use in buildings using computer simulations; Energy and Process Industries, discussing energy use in industry and sustainability development; Energy Storage, including thermal, chemical, and electrochemical batteries and fuel cells; Renewable Energy, including biomass, photovoltaic, and wind energy; and Emerging Energy Technologies, discussing energy technologies with potential such as carbon capture storage, hydrogen, geothermal, solar, and nuclear energy technology. It definitely is a pretty thorough analysis of the energy industry.
Now the program itself is exciting and all and one of the main reasons I am going- I have an interest in a career in the energy sector. But the program itself is only part of the experience- Australia itself is an extraordinary place, home to animals and many things that can be seen no where else in the world.
And right now we're both in the same situation, you and I. Neither of us have a clue about the real culture and goings-on of Australia, an intriguing country on the other side of the world. So what is it that makes Australia and the United States so different culturally, given that they had the same British ancestry? My hope is that through this blog this question will be answered, and maybe I'll give some insight into what's important to know about Australia as a world citizen and important things to know before visiting. I'm reading a book right now by well known author Bill Bryson called "In a Sunburned Country", a sort of humor travel diary about Australia, and from that alone I've gotten a glimpse of what Australia has to offer. I'll reference the book a few times throughout to pull some comparisons- just a heads-up. But you can't travel the world by reading books, a book can only do so much- the real experience is to go to Australia, and you have to try it!
Uluru, the famous Aboriginal site
Harbor Bridge in Sydney
