Study Abroad: Relaxed Australians and Expensive Beers

Even though it is now spring in Sydney and summer is approaching, the weather was still not very good, says Heleen Schaap. She is studying Business Economics (CE) in Breda, but is currently doing an internship in Australia. “I didn’t expect that, I mostly brought summer clothes with me.”

Heleen organized an internship herself. It was clear to her that she wanted to do an internship abroad. Also that it had to be a western country, where English is spoken. She heard about the company Sunnylife, which sells summer products such as floats for swimming pool, beach chairs and play products. “On LinkedIn, I looked up who in Australia head of sales sent an email and two days later I had an internship.

“When can we go so long to the other side of the world? », the EC student explains her choice for Australia. On July 27, she boarded the plane, so she still had time to look for accommodation after her arrival. “It is not recommended to do this from a distance, it is better to view a room in real life. When I arrived there were no other students. It was for my benefit.”

She found a room in the Surry Hills area of ​​central Sydney, in a house with 11 mostly international students. “They think differently about hygiene, let me put it this way,” says Heleen. To pay for her stay in Australia, she cleans the common areas – bathrooms, hallways and kitchen – every week for a fee.

Unpaid
She has to because her full-time internship is unpaid. “I always said I wouldn’t do this, but finding another internship in the Netherlands would have been difficult.” And although she supports his choice, it causes stress. “In addition to cleaning, I work two evenings a week in a pizzeria, serving. My parents said they would help me if I couldn’t make ends meet. But I don’t want to ask anything, I’m trying to arrange it myself.”

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Australia is not the best country for an unpaid internship. “A beer costs 11 dollars, which converts into 7 euros. Fruits and vegetables are also expensive. For my room, I pay twice as much as in the Netherlands. Due to inflation in the Netherlands, the difference is narrowing.

camping car
Fortunately, his internship company is flexible. She can leave earlier if she has to work at the pizzeria and can take a few days off when her sister comes to Sydney soon. “She is currently traveling to New Zealand and will be there for a week and a half.” When Heleen finishes her internship, her parents will also come to Australia. “We hire a motorhome together and drive back from Adelaide to Sydney.”

Heleen has a positive view of Australians. “They are very open. My internship mistress feels like a second mother. She is very relaxed. I am often very focused when I work. My colleagues often say: “Take your time” or “Calm down”. But it slows me down sometimes. The internship may be unpaid, but Heleen only works in the sales department. She also conducts her own research. “When I’m working on my laptop and have my headphones on, my colleagues know I’m working on them.”

Time difference
During the first weeks on the other side of the world, the CE student met two Dutch women with whom she went to Melbourne for a few days. “I am also in a group application with Dutch people. It started with fifteen people, now there are already 108. But I don’t do anything, I don’t need it. I like to speak Dutch from time to time.

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Contact with the home front is quite difficult due to jet lag, Heleen noted. It is 9 hours later in Sydney than in the Netherlands. “My relationship ended because of that. How I feel varies from day to day. But I still think it’s worth doing an internship here. It’s scary, but financially it I can look back on this for the rest of my life.