I thought it would be a cool idea. But of course I knew it was an opportunity I had to pursue. A purpose to gain new experience in the lab and knowledge. A reason to expand my vocabulary and practice my English. To gain more perspective of life and be consumed by cultures of different kinds of nationalities. 

Well why not Australia! Choosing a university requires research. It may be simple at first thinking well there are so many countries that collaborate with Karolinska and there are plentiful of spots, newsflash you aren't the only one who wants to gain experiences as an exchange student. Some universities require a certain average of grade and some have other types of requirements. Nevertheless do not let that stop you from applying, just be smart! You have 6 choices (well I had 6, in that semester I applied) and ranking the universities may be clocking ticking but do take time to reconsider. But do your research and think smart! 
I choose Australia because it was the furthest from Sweden with loads of beaches and sunlight that burned your skin. With a small town like Newcastle located in the east coast of Australia, it sounded like a definite decision. But in all seriousness it was because I did my research and found a potential lab group with ongoing projects that caught my attention. 

The visa that i applied for was student-visa which I highly recommend just for precaution and to avoid hassles. The student visa was about 1000-1500kr, which was pricy but in all seriousness worth it. I've been told that turist visa which is cheaper is aslo a suggestion but I did not want to take any risks, therefore i choose the student visa. WIth my student visa I travelled to New Zealand and with more time and money I could presumably travel to other nearby asian countries. 

The visa application to Australia was done online and it went smooth! It took about 20-30 minutes despite the never ending questions. Basically if you have no criminal records or any further cause of suspicion and you are going to Australia as a student (assuming your applying for student visa) answering the questions was not rocket science. I received my visa grant quicker than expected of about one day, BUT do apply for visa in time and not before your flight! 

No particular vaccinations were required but keep in mind of the important ones when traveling (Hep A & B). 

There weren't any particular expenses that were paid except for the visa and since there was no particular vaccination there were no payments there as well. KI provided a stipendium of 6500kr and just a little side note: KI provides insurance however only at site of exchange. If you decide to travel outside from the location of exchange and stupidly managed to get yourself injured all expenses are at your cost! 

There were payments necessary to do activities and join activity-groups at UoN. But by all means if the activities are of interest then the payment is not an issue. Plus they weren't massive payments, they were pretty fair for a student. 

At UoN all students have the privilege of a concession sticker, and with that you can travel for half price and attend events for a cheaper cost!  

My classmate and I were lucky and received help in regards to searching for accommodation because we wanted to live off-campus (highly recommended) and not on-campus. Living off-campus meant traveling to and from school everyday (totally worth it though if the location is by the beach). 

Due to the fact that the campus is located in the bush with mosquitoes and other types of animals (red belly black snake and brown snake and not to mention spiders) it was decided to live off-campus! But of course these animals especially the snakes and spiders were harmless unless they're being attacked living on-campus too has its benefits. I just don't do well with mosquitoes due to allergies (I literally bathed myself in repellent yet I was still bitten everyday at campus). With the decision to live off-campus we ourselves had to enbark on the journey of searching for accommodation on the perfect location (close to the beach). 

TIP for those with preference with living off-campus : Go online and look for renting agencies and available accommodation! If you're lucky and not too picky you might end up with an apartment that is fully furnished as in sheets, towels, cutlery and amazingly a TV were included on the perfect location like us. 

Be prepared for the expenses and the bill of the rent. It is pretty standard (Australian standard to pay about 180-250 AUD) weekly per person with a decently furnished room, expenses will increase if internet is wanted obviously and other requirements. It is also standard to pay a bond (usually about 4x the weekly payment) and the entire amount of the bond will be given back if the room/unit/apartment is in the same condition as it was before. 

Links of renting agencies:

CLICK ME: Domain (good place to start) 

CLICK ME: Good Property Company!  (where we rented from) 

CLICK ME: Gumtree  (similar to Blocket.se) 

We lived in a fully furnished two bedroom apartment (which were our requirements) in the suburb called The Hill. And yes as it sounds we literally lived on a hill. 

FOOD: It was the perfect location as it was a 5 minute walk from Darby St, a street famous for its restaurants from different countries (A MUST: go to Darby Raj for priceable and coma inducing Indian food & Cocomondé for mouth watering chocolate desserts). Another street only about 10 minutes would be Hunter Street, a popular café on Hunter St is Ground Floor café. 

GROCERY SHOPPING: Marketown which is about 20-25 minute walk to the Hill has great grocery shopping. There is Woolworths and Coles which are great for grocery. 

SCHOOL: A train ride to school was about 15 minutes but remember the campus is big so take the shuttle bus on campus! 

HOSPITAL: The nearest hospital is the John Hunter Hospital which was about 30 min with bus, otherwise the campus provides free health service! 

SHOPPING: Go to Charlestown Square (about 25 minutes by bus) or Westfield Kotara (15minutes by bus), their shopping malls are huge, huge! 

BEACHES: Bar Beach- 5 minute walk; Newcastle Beach: 15 minute walk; Nobby's Beach; 20-25 minute walk; Merewhether beach- 15 minute walk. Newcastle Beach: best beach! 

Other great locations: Newcastle East, Merewhether, The Junction, Cooks Hill these locations are very central with a walking distance of about 10 minutes to the beach. Otherwise Hamilton and Waratah are areas in between campus and Newcastle. 

The lab group was understanding that I was an exchange student in Australia and that there were some day activities arranged by UoN that I wanted to attend. Since I did my Bachelor's thesis which was a project of about 20 weeks of work and writing, there was no daily/weekly schedule given as if you attended lectures or seminars. A typical week would include a 9-5 monday-friday of lab work or thesis writing. The schedule is compromised by yourself and your supervisor depending on amount of lab work that needs to be done daily/weekly etc. 

Writing your thesis involves a lot of self-studies, of course the lab will there for guidance and help if needed but the project handed was intended for you and you only so independency is a given. The respect in the lab was mutual despite the degree of education amongst the people in my lab group. The lab was consisted of 8 people with a mixture of PhD students, a medical student, an Honour student (another degree available in Australia), and a bachelor student as well as the supervisor/professor. Lab meetings occurred every fridays, another opportunity for discussion and to gain more knowledge on the other projects within the group. 

For my project I had to work with the programs; LabChart and GraphPad. And courses were available, provided by the university for free. Snacks were always included. 

There were no problems and no language barrier during my exchange in Australia! I experienced no difficulty in understanding and communicating in English. My English vocabulary expanded and I aslo gained a lot of Aussie slang. In the beginning it was a bit weird and a bit difficult in understanding the Australian accent (could be due to the jet lag) but you simply get used to it. By the end of the exchange you'll be speaking like a true Australian. 

It was a bit surprising how relaxed Australians in Newcastle are! Trains and buses went twice an hour everyday, not close enough to Stockholm's subways! We would always end up running to the train or bus in a hurry whilst Australians just took it easy and waited for the next ride if they'd miss the train/bus and it wouldn't be the end of the world. Coming from a hectic city like Stockholm (or Sydney) to a quiet town like Newcastle was overwhelming at first. But at the end of the semester missing a the train or bus meant a 30 minutes of wait under the sun (which can be very pleasing since we barely see sun during winter in Sweden). 

Before classes started at University of Newcastle (UoN), there was a week orientation hence its name O-week. O-week was arranged by UoN for new students and international students as well as current students to meet! It was a week of activities which included a tour of the campus (very much needed due to the enormous campus), a BBQ on campus (very Australian apparently), surf and sand day (what NOT to do at the beach and beach tanning included), dolphin cruise (really cool, however due to the circumstances of the weather the boat trip wasn't a pleasure). But there were plentiful of other activities! During o-week you could sign-up for outside school activities as well such as mountain climbing, Bible study, tennis etc. 

And of course at the end of o-week there is always a Uni-party in celebration to commence the start of a wonderful semester to look forward to! 

The international meet & greet was an event to meet other international students and students that were heading off for exchange to other countries. It was a great experience because we met an Australian student heading off to Sweden so talks led to other talks that led to friendship. The day was a great way to meet other international students and gain more friendships! 

There were loads of events arranged by the university as there was a bar on campus, its very common to go for a 5 o'clock beer and with a bar on campus it was possible. 
There were many themed social events/parties such as the O-party and its theme this year (2014) was "Welcome to the Jungle", every year there is a Toga party- just because, and many more! 

Student night was every wednesday which included cheap drinks by the bar on campus (about 4 Australian dollars and a free ride into the town where it was also free entrance to the clubs. 

Almost every city in Australia has their own rugby or football or AFL team (google AFL). And I do recommend to go to game, its very thrilling especially rugby! Newcastle have their rugby team; Newcastle Knights and football team; Newcastle Jets do go to a game and cheer! 

Running in Newcastle by the beach or on the beach is amazing! You exercise whilst simultaneously looking straight into the Pacific Ocean (pretty amazing if I may add). 

Can't leave Australia without surfing: that's all there is to say! 

Just click the link above!