Australia day fever in Mexico

What a week this has been, I almost don't know where to start...

The workload has been pretty heavy and some people are really struggling with the ongoing effects of altitude sickness, Monctezumas Revenge, or just too much chilli (but it tastes so good).

We have all had an exam this week and the pressure was definitely felt, plus I think we're all getting a little 'Museum Fatigue'...and if we hear about the Presidents AGAIN, there may be another Mexican revolution! But despite those things, spirits remain very high and we have all fallen even more in love with this crazy, noisy, fascinating city. There really are no words to adequately describe the chaos.

Highlights for me this week have been, going to an orphanage run by local nuns and watching the teeny children whacking the living daylights out of a pinata with a massive stick! They were incredibly cute and I have requested to do a month of volunteer work there after the course finishes.

On Tuesday we went to see Mexican wrestling - what a scream! No photos allowed unfortunately, but it is a must-see. Absolutely ridiculous and over the top, it is hard to get past grown men slapping each other! But so much fun.

We went to the Ballet Folklorico on Wednesday and I LOVED it. The different styles of dance coupled with beautiful costumes and frankly bizarre stories were an absolute crack-up. The show is in the beautiful Palacio de Bellas Artes - Palace of Fine Arts - and it has a stunning glass curtain, made by Tiffany no less.

It was also the beautiful Hannah's birthday this week - she turned 20, and we had cake to celebrate.




Australia Day was on Thursday but we were revising for exams on the Friday, plus we had a full day of uni, so we decided to celebrate on Friday by heading back to Xochimilco and hiring a boat, some loud speakers and taking plenty of cerveza and tequila to share with our Mexican friends. Plus, Mel made a Pavlova! We decorated the boat appropriately and I will never forget the sight, or sound, of my new Mexican family singing Land Downunder and dancing around the boat, cheered on by passing Mexicans on their boats. It was easily the best Australia Day I've ever had.

This weekend we went to Puebla, a gorgeous town a couple of hours out of Mexico City. It was nice to breath cleaner air, plus the vibe of the town was very chilled and a lot of fun. We visited what remains of the largest pyramid in the world, bought teeny tiny coke bottles, gate-crashed a wedding, found an Australian shop, and heard some incredible live music - good times.


Just one week left and we are starting to feel sad about leaving our new friends but are going to make the most of it. Lots of exams, presentations and more fun to follow!

Don't believe everything you hear about Mexico - Chris Regan on studying Spanish in Mexico City

Chris O'Regan did the Intensive Spanish Program in Mexico this January. Chris is currently completing a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, majoring in Spanish, at the University of Canberra. Chris spoke to us about what it was like studying Spanish in Mexico.

Hi Chris! So tell me about why you chose this program?
I chose this program to add to my experience and also to count to wards my 2nd year of Spanish. I’ve been overseas before but I hadn’t been to Mexico and I wanted to go to a Latin-American country so this seemed perfect. Before going to Mexico, I’d heard people say that it was a dangerous place but it didn’t really faze me too much.

What was a typical day like for you during the program?
You woke up and your Mexican parents had breakfast sitting on the table for you. Then you’d have your breakfast, the host family would join you and you’d chat for a bit. Then you’d walk to school. The first class was Intensive Spanish class for 2 hours. And then you had a little break, followed by a culture class in the afternoon or sometimes a museum visit.

On the weekends we did day trips to other cities or we’d go to museums. If we had time to ourselves we would look around Mexico City itself.

What was the highlight of the trip for you?
I guess the highlight would have been the day-trips – it was great to have the opportunity to see Mexico and to travel around a bit. That was pretty good. I especially loved going to the pyramids as they were very historical. The guy who showed us around was actually a teacher at the university so he had a lot of information on Mexican history and culture. We even got to climb the pyramid – the view was pretty good from up there!

Do you think your Spanish improved much?
It did – I think it improved considerably. It's a lot easier when you’re in an environment where you can actually practice your Spanish and you’re hearing it on TV, on the radio, your teachers are talking in Spanish and everyone around you is interacting with each other in Spanish, instead of English.

Do you have any tips for students thinking of doing this program?
I’d suggest that, if you’re going straight to Mexico, to leave a couple of days to settle in; I got there around 10 o’clock at night so I got to bed after midnight and had to start school at 8am the next day… it was a bit painful!

What kind of insights did you gain into Mexican life and culture?
This program has opened me up to a different culture and different cultural practices. For example, my family in Australia wouldn’t necessary put my breakfast out for me every morning! They really look after their kids in Mexico – kids stay at home with their parents until about 25 and then they get married and their partner moves in with their parents. This experience has really opened my eyes to see that we have a lot of freedom here in Australia compared to what they do in Mexico.

The Mexicans do drink a lot as well! They love their tequila! You can buy tequila from the local supermarket for about $2 – and Corona is really cheap. You can buy a litre of Corona for about 10 pesos or something.


What would you say to someone who’s thinking about doing this program?
Don’t believe everything you hear about Mexico – it’s not as dangerous as what people say it is. It’s more the border cities with the US that there are a lot of problems, but Mexico City isn’t a dangerous place. Especially in the area where the university is and where your housing is, it’s a really middle class place, so it’s not scary at all. It’s a good experience – just go for it!

Thanks Chris!

La Vie Francaise: Cynthia Makokha on life in France and embarrassing moments in French bakeries

Cynthia Makokha is an international student from Kenya, currently completing a double degree in Business and Commerce from the University of Newcastle. Cynthia chats to us about accomplishing something on her Bucket List… doing AIM Overseas’ Intensive French Program in France!

Hi Cynthia! Tell me why you chose this course. I chose to do the Intensive French Program in Vichy, France because I’ve always wanted to study French in France. Although French was being offered as a subject in our university, I thought it would be great to do it in France. I was introduced to AIM through a leadership program in my school called iLEAD. AIM Overseas helped me with all aspects of getting there – they were very helpful!

How long had you studied French prior to this program? I had studied it in high school in Africa for five years. I didn’t study French for A levels though because I had to take other subjects to help me get into university. I only managed to get a new fresh start again with my French studies when I went this year in January.

Was this your first time in France? Yes, this was my first time in France. I had always wanted to go there – it was on my Bucket List. Through this course, I got to go and travel and I also got to learn French at the same time – it was like killing two birds with one stone! And I got to meet new people and learn so much about French culture – it was more than just an experience!

What was a typical day like for you on the program? I don’t think I had a typical day because every day there was something new and different! I guess I’d start the day by going to classes from 8 to 12, then there’d be a break for two hours, then classes would continue from 2 to a quarter to 4. After that I’d get a coffee with some friends, we’d chat, then I’d go back home and go on Facebook and catch up with people back home. Then I’d have dinner with friends. During the week there were also all sorts of excursions that the school organised, which was great!

Tell me about something that you discovered about France or French people that you found interesting or surprising.
The fact that they were all so friendly! I mean, you often hear people saying things like, “French people are mean,” or “French people don’t like English-speakers.” But I found this to be a big lie because, from the moment I arrived, I felt very welcomed by the French people.

I had some problems at the beginning of my trip: my flight had been delayed so I didn’t end up leaving home the day that I was supposed to. I couldn’t get in touch with CAVILAM [the French school] because it was the weekend, so I sent an email to Jooliet from AIM Overseas who passed onto CAVILAM that I’d be late. Then when I got to France, it turned out that the workers at the airport were on strike and my bags had not arrived! So I had to contact the lady at CAVILAM to let her know that I’d be late again! And then I didn’t know where to go to take the trains – it was all so crazy! But every single person I asked helped me out. At one point, someone actually helped me carry my bags to the train station. Even on the telephone, when I was trying to fix my SIM card, the lady on the phone was talking to me in a really friendly way, asking me how long I was going to be in France and so on.

That’s when I just realised that a lot of what you hear about countries are just rumours. You have to experience it on your own. I think, so far in my life, French people have been the most polite people I’ve ever met!

Do you have a funny story about your time in France? Well, during my first week in France, I went to a French bakery and I was trying to buy a sandwich. I said to the guy behind the counter, “Okay, I’ll have this sandwich,” and he replied, “Okay, that will be 1 euro and 50 cents.” But I couldn’t understand him because he was speaking French so quickly, so I assumed that he was saying, “Do you want the sandwich toasted?” So I replied, “No.” And he didn’t understand what I was doing, so he kept saying to me, “1 euro and 50 cents,” and I kept on responding, “NO. Thankyou.” This went on for quite awhile; until finally I understood what was going on… and it was so embarrassing!!! *laughs* I turned around and saw all these people looking at me, probably wondering why this girl was refusing to pay one euro and fifty cents for the sandwich. To make things worse, I realised that there were these really good-looking guys to my left who had seen the whole incident as well! After getting my sandwich, I went and hid in the corner for awhile… *laughs*

So did you French level improve a lot by the end of the course? Oui! It really made my French a lot better. If I’d stayed for another six months I’d probably be very fluent by now. The teachers were very good and very specific on what they wanted you to learn. When you’re in class, you’re not allowed to talk in English – you’re not even allowed to ask questions in English, you have to do it all in French. If you don’t understand something, someone else in class can help you – in French. We were all learning together and teaching each other – with the teacher correcting us when we were wrong. C’etait tres tres bon! [It was very very good]. I’d really like to go back to CAVILAM one day and stay for a longer period of time to improve my French.

How has this program changed you? It really made me appreciate different cultures. I had to learn to adapt to a different culture and a completely different environment. Some people [in English-speaking countries] get so frustrated with other people who don’t speak English; but I think going to a foreign country and having to speak a foreign language really teaches you to be patient and makes you understand that it takes time to learn a foreign language.

What would you say to someone else who is thinking of doing this course? I can only say one thing: you should go and experience it yourself. You shouldn’t listen too much to what somebody else says about it as everyone is going to have a different experience of how France is. For me, it was great! It was fantastic! It is a place I would go back to! So I would say – go for it!


Cynthia with her French teacher and her classmates from around the world at CAVILAM


Cynthia congratulating herself after a hard day's work [note: Soldes is French for 'Sales'.]


A photo taken in Clermont, France

Dreaming in German - Interview with returned student Daniel Budreika

Daniel (far right) with friends in Germany, celebrating Australia Day.


This January, Daniel Budreika participated in our Intensive German Language program in Munich while finishing off his Finance degree at the University of South Australia. Daniel became so immersed in his German surroundings that he actually started to dream in German!

Now working full-time, Daniel took some time out to chat with us about his travel and study experiences.

Hi Daniel, thanks for speaking with me today! Tell me why you decided to study AIM Overseas’ Intensive German Language program.

I’d studied German in high school but wanted to improve my language skills. I was also finishing my Finance degree and needed to pick an elective that had nothing to do with the School of Business so this program ended up working really well.

Had you been to Germany before?

I’d been there for a few days about six months prior to this trip. It was during this trip that I ‘rediscovered’ my inspiration to learn German.

Describe to me a typical day for you in Germany during your course.

I was staying with a host family in Munich so I’d start the day having breakfast with them. I’d then catch the tram to school, which would start at around 9.30. Classes were relatively small. Lessons went on until about 1 to 1.30 then we had free time to do what we liked. I would use this time to explore Munich and ended up meeting a lot of different people.

We had some homework too but it was very, very manageable. We had weekends off – and we didn’t have any homework on the weekends – so we’d explore Munich and the surrounds a bit more

What is something interesting about Germany that you discovered during the program?

One thing I noticed is that Germans tend to say that they can’t speak English but you end up having a half-hour conversation with them in English and you realise that they can speak English just fine! Even those that weren’t so well educated could still hold a conversation in English quite well. I found it quite interesting that they were so critical of themselves in this regard.

After spending the month there and dealing with all the challenges of living in a foreign country, how do you think the program affected you?

It made me more aware of other cultures and how they live. This is the benefit of doing a program like this as opposed to learning a language out-of-hours or at uni in your own country. By actually going there and living as they do and participating in all the things that they do, you really get a feel for their culture and you get to practice your language skills a lot more.

Tell me about what it was like living with a German family.

I was really lucky – I had a fantastic family! Particularly the host mum – she was very motherly and spoke clearly and concisely so that I could understand what she was saying. If she saw that I didn’t quite understand something, she’d repeat it again slowly. It was almost as if the whole time, while I was at home, I was in a lesson. She could speak English just fine as well so if so we could always converse that way if we needed to. On the first day, she took me walking around the area, explaining to me what different things were. Also, she was a fantastic cook! Probably the best food I’ve eaten in my life was in that house!

It must have been very challenging to be forced to speak German all the time.

It is, but that’s what I was there for. There were lots of Australians and other English speakers at the school so if I wanted to speak English I definitely had ample opportunity to do that! But I tried to remind myself that I was there to speak German. It was challenging, but eventually I had a few dreams in German!

It’s true, you don’t get a break - you sit around the kitchen table speaking German and you go to school where everything’s in German. You’re constantly thinking about your ‘game plan’ and how you can improve and what you’ve learnt so far. It can be a bit daunting but after awhile you get used to it.

I wouldn’t say that my German became awesome after only four weeks but it was definitely a massive improvement to before.

Do you have any insider tips for other students who want to do this program?

There were quite a few tips during the pre-departure sessions [run by AIM Overseas] that were handy for people who hadn’t really travelled before.

My tip would be to always ask for directions if you’re lost. When I first got to Munich, I discovered that the map that I was given was not particularly helpful. It was incredibly detailed but nothing matched up to what I had found! So I ended up getting lost, lugging my stuff around, walking back and forth and trying to suss it out by myself. In hindsight I probably should’ve just asked! I was initially reluctant to ask for directions because I thought that my German wasn’t good enough. In hindsight though I would have been better off if I’d just asked for directions.

What would you say to somebody who’s thinking about participating in this program?

I’d definitely recommend it. I think this is the best way to not only get away from your surroundings but to learn a new language – it’s much better than studying a language for a semester at uni. It’s a good life experience, particularly for younger people.

I also think that it adds more to your uni degree and is much better than just doing a meaningless elective that you don’t care about. It’s something that potentially can be a lot more enjoyable and meaningful. You may as well get the most of our your education.

Thanks very much for speaking with us!


Daniel's host mother and brother, and the amazing blackforest cake that Daniel's host mother prepared for him for his birthday.


Daniel took this beautiful shot of the Isar River