Competition winner hits London

AIM Overseas' 'Win a Flight to London on AirAsiaX' competition winner, Suzanne Chang, has reached London and has sent us this update:

"So I'm finally in London with WiFi and it is flipping freezing. I missed the snow though, so that's a little bit lame. I have a deep appreciation for the London Underground, it is so well organised, if only Sydney trains were like that. The flight itself wasn't too bad, there weren't many people so there was lots of space to chill out and spread out. The temperature shock from Malaysia to the UK is ridiculous though, almost a 40C dip. Crazy huh?

Speaking of, being in Malaysia was pretty good, spent a lot of time in the malls with my family, whom being truly Malaysian, claim there isn't much else to do but to go to malls. This is true, because of the high humidity, it is best to stay in cool, well air conditioned places, aka malls, which are pretty freaking big in Malaysia, and the shopping is also relatively great with the exchange rate and all. And Christmas in Malaysia is pretty much a non-event, all the malls stay open until late and with the exception of all the plastic decorations and fake snow, Christmas holds pretty much no meaning. But they do go all out with the decorations."

 

Competition Winner takes off

AIM Overseas' 'Win a Flight to London on AirAsiaX' competition winner, Suzanne Chang, has just taken off for Europe. Over the coming weeks during her trip, Suzanne will be sending us back updates on all the fun she's having. 

Here's Suzanne's first update:

"With the exception of a delayed flight because the plane had to divert to Alice Springs, I am here in Malaysia unharmed as of yet. Still have this odd feeling that I have forgotten something in my luggage, but I figure I can buy everything I actually need. Both flights were relatively okay, just the waiting and transit gets awfully boring!"

Merry Christmas from everyone here at AIM Overseas and see you in 2011!

Mobillity article in the Financial Review: 8th November 2010

The Financial Review published a positive article about the outbound mobility of Australian students on Monday 8th November, 2010.

AIM Overseas 2011-2012 Program List

AIM Overseas has announced its provisional 2011-2012 program list. Please note that this list is subject to change and will not be updated on this blog. For more information and the up-to-date list see www.aimoverseas.com.au

AIM Overseas 2011-2012 Program List

Winter Holidays 2011 (July 2011)
Program Name	Country	Duration
Global Leadership Program (Prague)	Czech Republic	4.5 weeks
Global Leadership Program (Panama)	Panama	4.5 weeks
Oxford Creative Writing Summer School	UK	3 weeks
Oxford English Literature Summer School	UK	3 weeks
Oxford International Politics Program	UK	2 weeks
Oxford International Human Rights Law Prog.	UK	4 weeks
Oxford History, Politics and Society Program	UK	3 weeks
Cambridge Summer Schools: Interdisciplinary, History, Medieval Studies, Sciences, Literature	UK	Up to 4 weeks
International Security in the Modern World	Czech Republic	3 weeks
Indigenous Studies	New Zealand	3 weeks
International Business and Advertising	France	3 weeks
Italian Business Excellence and Culture	Italy	4 weeks
International Trade and Finance	Hong Kong	3 weeks
International Environmental Law	The Netherlands	3 weeks
Intensive French	France	3 weeks +
Intensive Spanish in Spain	Spain	4 weeks
Intensive German	Germany	3 weeks +
Intensive Arabic in Jordan or Morocco	Various	4 weeks

Summer Holidays 2012 (January/February)
Program Name	Country	Duration
Teacher Education and Practice	USA	3 weeks
International Law and Human Rights	Czech Republic	3 weeks
International Relations and Politics in the EU: Peace, Conflicts and Human Rights	The Netherlands	3 weeks
Israel and Palestine: Understanding the conflict	Israel	3 weeks
Environmental Sciences: Desert, mountains and sea	Ecuador	3 weeks
Mining, Energy and Nature	Chile	3 weeks
Engineering and Sustainable Development	Germany	3 weeks
International Business and Advertising	France	3 weeks
Health Care in Mexico	Mexico	4 weeks
Real-world IT simulation	France	4 weeks
Intensive French	France	3 weeks +
Intensive Spanish in Mexico	Mexico	4 weeks
Intensive German	Germany	3 weeks +

Lessons from Oxford...

Well I am back into the swing of things at home after what now feels like a very surreal two weeks studying at Oxford University. I can’t actually believe how quick the time came and went and how much I have missed going to the morning seminars and lectures, seeing the other students at meal times, hearing the church bell tower chiming out the hours and even spending time studying in the College library…sigh... I guess it all had to end sometime. The College put on a farewell dinner for us all on the final night and we celebrated surviving the two weeks with everybody's cameras getting a good work out during the night.

Apart from the jetlag and the 200+ photos, I have come back from this trip with so much more than what I had expected. With some twenty nationalities represented at the Oxford International Politics Summer Program, the different perspectives and personal experiences that each participant contributed were invaluable and, for me, the embodiment of the whole program. To have been able to listen to and learn from some of the most respected and renowned academics in their fields was also a memorable and inspiring part of the program, which I feel very privileged to have experienced. This trip has also reinforced my enthusiasm for promoting overseas study opportunities to our university students, not least because of the academic challenge that they involve and the personal growth that results. This was certainly the case for me on this trip, despite only being away for two weeks.

Although I learnt so much about my chosen area of study, African politics, one of the most important lessons I took away from Oxford is summed up perfectly by a quote appearing on a magnet I bought as a souvenir:

“Readers are plentiful, thinkers are rare”.

My experience at Oxford has certainly made me appreciate the difference and inspired me to become a thinker!

Thank you to AIM Overseas, Oxford University and AirAsiaX for giving me this unique opportunity.



Natalie Ilott is the Study Abroad/Exchange Officer from Edith Cowan University. She travels to the University of Oxford summer school courtesy of the University of Oxford, AirAsiaX and AIM Overseas.



Read Natalie's other posts on her Oxford experience:
And off to Oxford I go
Welcome to Oxford
I survived the first week
The last day in Oxford