Goodbye, 2013

Finally, the last day of the year 2013 has come. The final chapter, or the final page, if you prefer.

I woke up late, and since the night before, I caught myself thinking about the time in advance that people are experiencing in Australia(not only there, I know), and because of that, the early celebration of the new year of 2014, compared to us here in Brasil. Of course it has already happened by now, and I keep picturing myself in situations like that. In advance. Ahead. From afar.

I'm not much of a facebook writer kind of guy, so since I have my blog, I can take the liberty to write and publish it somewhere my own. My own surroundings, my own zone. New Year's gets you thinking, doesn't it?!

Well, I've been at the beach relaxing these past couple of days. I never get too excited before it comes, but after actually being there, it always feels refreshing and you never wanna go back to "normal life". 

Here's a pic of when I started to write the post:

Taking it on the optimistic view, this past year was "fair". But it doesn't get much better than that, since the realistic view steps in and highlights the ups and downs I had. I'm happy to have accomplished new goals, but life always finds a way of balancing it with some sad shit. Truth is, in order to keep it together, focusing on the good side of the shit, no matter how awful it is, is the way to go. So let's keep going!

So many expectations for this new year... even though I know it is gonna be awesome (much more than 2013 was), I'm not gonna keep my hopes up too high. I'm already seeing some buddies go and it makes me even more anxious.

That's is! Let 2013 go and 2014 come. And bring it on! Life, here I come. Australia, here I COOOME!!

And still from Brasil...

PS: This post took me the longest to write so far. Started after lunch and just finished it. House full of people, hard to get some time out alone, right?

Holidays mean... recess!

And I'm back! For some of those who follow my posts, sorry for these days away from here. I had to leave the blog aside for a while because every single student on this planet knows how crazy things get this time of the year, when finals come!

Let's see if I can get this straight: I'm travelling on the 10th of February and it is due around 2 or 3 weeks past half of the semester. Yes, the calendar here is crazy. So, what does it mean for me? It means I have to run against time to successfully finish the units I'm currently coursing at my home university before the semester ends and before everyone else(except for those in the same situation). The first part is gone, and when I come back to school next year, I will only have those 2 weeks to turn in projects and take final exams. Just easy, right?

Since this time of the year we have holidays and celebration of Christmas and New Year's, I'm on recess! What I was used to call "vacation", now I have to make do with "recess". I'm glad anyways haha

I will try to enjoy the most of these upcoming 2 weeks celebrating and relaxing! And posting! I also have to remember that this will be the last free time I will get to straighten some last things out before travelling... but we'll be in touch haha ;)

Sobre tempo perdido

Hoje mesmo eu estava passando por meu news feed no Facebook e me deparei com um compartilhamento de uma postagem em um blog. O assunto me chamou atenção: o famoso papo do tempo "perdido". Esse termo é bem interessante de ser usado!

Esse é um ponto que, pelo menos pra mim, gera uma boa discussão e debate em relação aos prós e contras de passar um ano fora do seu país, pra quem está aparentemente encaminhado nos estudos e com foco real em um objetivo que pode vir em não muito tempo. O fato de ter que, muito provavelmente, adiar esse achievement é o fim do mundo para alguns.

Já vi muita gente se agarrando no fato de ter que adiar sua formatura na faculdade e, por isso, não aplicar pro programa Ciência sem Fronteiras. Eu vejo muito mais prós nisso tudo do que contras, mas isso vai de cada um. Poderia citar milhares de motivos gerais, como é pra todo mundo que está indo ou querendo ir pra fora agora, quanto motivos pessoais, mas vamos deixar pra depois...

O post que comentei no início é esse daqui, no blog de uma menina que está na Croácia. Vale a pena ler!

Date of the trip

February 10th, 2014. Why about this date? 

So now it's official: the day of the trip has been chosen. Actually, not only chosen, but also confirmed since I paid an amount of U$50 to book my flight tickets, only to go. I know I haven't paid its full price yet, but it is now only a matter of time, to be more accurate, by January 10th I will have paid it all.

This isn't a picture of my real tickets! I will only have my hands on them next year, but this picture best represents the idea for now ;)

Well, our calendar at my home university is a mess due to periods of strike, so I hope I will be done with all the units I'm currently coursing, by the day of the trip. I believe it's gonna be all right!

PS: I was going to post this on the same day I posted about the visa, but I wasn't really inspired. I am still not inspired as I wish I would be now, but it is better go out this way because my final weeks are almost in and every student knows what this means!

Visa: Approved!

Things are working out even faster than I expected. I found out today that my student visa has been approved! The whole process of getting it was simpler than I thought.

Unlike the process to get an american visa, for example, you don't have to be interviewed by a consul or ambassador. Instead, you have some medical examinations. I had those last friday Nov. 22nd and the results came out and my visa was approved today, Nov. 26th! Really fast, wasn't it?! The status of your visa can be checked online on the Department of Immigration website and they are really up to date with everything.

The only inconvinience was I had to travel to Rio and spent one entire day to have the medical examinations required by the australian government. I said it was inconvinient because the time gap between the exams took a little longer than I expected, but they turned out to be just fine.

The medical examinations included: an initial check-up with a nurse which the main purpose, as I noticed, was to check the blood pressure, besides measuring height and weight. Then, there was the urine test, X-Ray, and a final check-up with a doctor. Although I'm not one the healthiest people you'll meet, everything was great! :D

PS.: Speaking of health issues, ironically I started to get sick today. I hope it doesn't last long and I get back to my perfect health again asap! 

Evento Preparatório CNPq

Na última quinta feira, dia 21/11, o CNPq realizou em Brasília um evento(palestra) para os bolsistas do Ciência sem Fronteiras recém-aprovados nas chamadas com o início das atividades no exterior a partir de Janeiro de 2014.

A palestra não foi assim tão esclarecedora para mim, pois eu procuro sempre me manter informado em relação a tudo da bolsa. 1 ano fora, né?

O evento estava marcado para 2:30pm, mas acho que teve um pouco de atraso pra começar. Digo que acho pois até então o link estava inacessível para eu assistir! Não sei qual foi o motivo exato desse problema com a transmissão, talvez congestionamento, mas eu tinha separado minha tarde inteira pra assistir ao evento e só consegui ver uma pequena parte dele graças ao compartilhamento de uma pessoa que estava conseguindo acessar e ver o link ao vivo...

Enfim, devido a esse problema, o CNPq informou que irá disponibilizar em breve o vídeo da transmissão em algum outro lugar para termos acesso. Enquanto isso, um vídeo nao-oficial está disponível no youtube aqui. (Colocarei o link disponibilizado pelo CNPq futuramente)

Como eu havia dito, o evento não foi muito esclarecedor assim pra mim, mas não deixou de ser interessante, abrangendo algumas questões importantes. Achei o auditório um pouco pequeno e não estava lotado. Eles bem que poderiam ter feito isso aqui no estado do Rio de Janeiro... ;p

EDITADO: As principais informações do evento, assim como o vídeo da transmissão podem ser encontradas neste link do facebook.

Student's Card

Yeaaah, my student's card has arrived! Got it delivered by the mailman last monday. I was already expecting it, but unless you're too anxious about it, those things always surprises you when it finally arrives at your door.

Here's a picture of me holding it:

This is how I'm going to receive my scholarship money every month, from the 4th share on. The first 3 shares are going to be deposited in an account I was asked to provide here in Brasil about 1 month before the day I take off. (There are gonna be 12 shares, since it's a one-year scholarship, besides some extra money to help us cover other expenses)

I still have some things to straighten out regarding money, like getting a VTM card from some agency which gives the best discounts on rates to exchange currencies, or also checking if using a card from my account here would suit me well... so maybe this won't be the only post about money.

PS.: I know I broke the chain of posting everyday since I created the blog, but continuing to do that would just be insane. "Ain't nobody got time fo' dat!" hahaha

"Australia? But why that far away?"

I remember those were the words of someone I had just told I was going to Australia to study for a year. I tried hard, but I just can't seem to remember who it was...

Anyway, it wasn't a matter of distance for me. It's not like I want to run away from anything. Of course I could just go out and say I chose Australia because it's an awesome country, but I mean to point out the main reasons for that.

I wanted an english speaking country all along. The Science without Borders program has lots of other countries as options, but I narrowed 'em down to 3: US, UK and Australia.

Here's why the third one won me over:

• Top Universities: the Group of 8 is a group of, not only the best universities in Australia, but also the best ones in the world! So I knew I would surely be placed in a great university to begin with. If you want to check it out here, Monash University is in the 61st position and "worst rated" one, University of Adeleide, is in 102nd.

• The results for Australia would be out in a short time, compared to US's and UK's. This meant a lot to me, especially because waiting sucks and anxiety takes over you sometimes. Besides, the bureaucracy for filling out form and turning in documents was much simpler!

• It would never be a common destination for me. I was more likely to travel to US or UK before considering Australia, but this opportunity presented itself for me, and that is why I think this is it.

• 6 cities available, and 5 of them have a high cost of living. It means that I'm going to receive more money than usual. Of course, it is proportional to the cost of living, but if I spend it wisely, I believe I'll be able to get by just fine!

• The agency, Latino Australia Eduation, seemed to have a very helpful and thoughtful crew, which I ended up confirming up to now.

So, those are only some of the reasons why I chose Australia as a destination to study for a year abroad. I could easily name some more, but I believe I've already made my point... Of course my other options were really good and I'm sure it would be just as awesome, but I had to pick one, and I'm still pretty happy with it.

O Mundo segundo os Brasileiros - Melbourne

Voilà! O primeiro post em português.

No primeiro post do blog, eu falei um pouco sobre esse assunto da língua em que eu iria postar aqui... Até o momento, eu tenho a intenção de deixar o blog bilíngue, com coisas em português e inglês, mas não em cada post. Como eu já havia dito, o motivo pra isso vem da minha ideia inicial na hora de escrever, e então tudo parte daí.

Bom, essa semana foi ao ar mais um episódio de uma série bem interessante que passa na Band aqui no Brasil, chamada "O Mundo segundo os Brasileiros". Pra quem é doido pra conhecer vários lugares do mundo e poder viajar bastante, estar em contato com diferentes culturas e saber mais como é lá fora, essa série é uma ótima pedida! Cada episódio fala de uma cidade, com brasileiros contando um pouco de suas vidas e dia-a-dia, e visitando vários lugares e pontos turísticos:

O programa vai ao ar de madrugada, então nem sempre é fácil ficar acordado pra ver tudo, mas ainda bem que sempre existe uma boa alma que, rapidamente, disponibiliza pra gente no youtube!

Eu, particularmente, gostei de assistir. Principalmente pelo fato de uma das pessoas no vídeo estudar na universidade que eu também irei estudar daqui a alguns meses!

Também espero poder, em breve, conhecer bastante coisa e desbravar essa cidade, vendo tudo do meu ponto de vista... see you soon, Melbourne! 

The steps to the final approval (Part II)

Moving on with the steps of the process to the final approval, this was when I started to see it all getting a noticeable shape...

6 - The placement in the University:

I just couldn't believe it at first when I got the e-mail: "Congratulations! You were placed in Monash University!". It was the one I wanted all along. No better than the 61st best university in the world, according to topuniversities.com in their ranking of Top Universities in the world.

Besides, Monash is located in Melbourne, which was rated the most liveable city in the world! It's still hard to believe I'm going to this amazing place...


7 - Offer Letter (Full)

I've got an interesting fact about this one!

So, the letter the universities send the students can be full or conditional:
If it's full, it means that you got a score on the proficiency test which was higher than they require. If it's conditional, it means that they jugded you don't have the skills to go straight to studying your degree program, but you will be able to do so if you take english classes for up to 1 semester before shit gets serious! In that case, they offer you the english course and sometimes you have to do the proficiency test again. Well, I got the full letter!

The interesting fact about it is that I received the e-mail while enjoying the Rock in Rio festival! Can you believe that? No need to say I found the festival much more awesome than it already was hahaha


8 - My YES to Monash:

This acceptance form came along with the full offer letter. After doing so much thinking and almost turning it down, I changed my mind and accepted it... Naaah, of course it wasn't like that! I was sure it would be a dream come true for me so I gave it a big yes!


9 - Choosing the Units

First task as a student in Australia! Wow, I had never thought about that before... anyway, the agency advises us to choose units that we can have as DONE when we come back to Brasil. Of course, I tried to look up for those ones that would best suit me.

They have it all online on their website. It's called the handbook. All information about the units are there, so all I had to do was go through it, staying alert for the prerequisites each one had so I could be sure I was able to take.


10 - Final Results

Finally, it was official, and I could tell everyone the good news, if I wanted to! I just wanted to wait until the end to make sure everything was ok because even though I had received the offer and everything, something could still happen. Being down-to-earth is always good!


So, that was it. The road to the approval step-by-step. Of course, I could go hours and hours on that and write much more, but for now I think it's enough.


PS.: I came across some especific terms of the process in portuguese, so I translated many of them my way.

The steps to the final approval (Part I)

Until the day you see your name in the final list of the approved candidates, lots of steps are taken. A big part of it the anxiety makes it a little hard to deal: waiting!

I'm going to sum it up in two posts(what would be a single one at first) the steps I took so far that got me here to the approval and the many last details to take care of, until the day of the departure. Let's rewind this tape!


1 - The Signing up:

This is the very first step I took! There is a time when they release an announcement to provide places for candidates who want to apply to study abroad, twice a year. Then, there's the offical document regarding the dates and rules for the process.

I applied first for the US. But then I was also torn between UK and Australia, so I sat down with a friend to talk about the idea to go for the latter. After a lot of thinking, Australia it was! (maybe I can have a post about the reasons...)


2 - The Approval of my Home University:

This step is still one of the easiest ones, no need to worry much about it, since it's only beginning.

A couple of weeks after the period of signing up ends, the coordinators of our home universities (the ones responsable for the international issues) have access to our applications. All you have to do to keep it going is to be a good student. And what may that be? Doing your job, like having good grades, a good attendance for all the classes, and not having failed many subjects. (By many, I mean up to 3 or 4. By the way, I would consider even 3 that a lot!) I myself gave up 1 unit on the 2nd semester and wound up failing it, but that wasn't a big deal.



3 - The Proficiency Test:

I think this is the part where people fear the most during the entire process. I chose to take TOEFL, about a month a half after signing up. Yes, I retarded it a little bit, having in mind that the right thing to do is to take it before even signing up, but the due date to turn in the score was far away at that point, so it was no stress.

I knew it was crucial to get to know the structure of the test. So, I spared about a week to study for it with a friend and did very well! I've always been into english my whole life, so it was no problem for me. I got a 103 out of 120.


4 - CNPq's Pre-Approval

This is when shit starts to get serious! I remember I started to worry a little more about the application process at this point, because I had always considered this step the most important.

Getting an e-mail and finding out that I was pre-approved on the program was a big relief! On this part, they cross people off the list. 3 main reasons for that, I believe:

4.1 - They hadn't taken or hadn't gotten a minimum of 600 out of 1000 as an average score on our "National High School Exam" (originally called ENEM - Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio). This exam is becoming very important in the country to grant spots for students at most of our universities.

4.2 - They hadn't done any English Proficiency Test. As I said before, unfortunately people try to apply for the program without being truly prepared first, so they don't go through on it.

4.3 - They hadn't been approved by their home university, for whatever reasons they judged previously.



5 - The first contact of the Agency

Now it was time to gather the documents!

The agency that took (and still is taking) care of me and my colleagues was called LAE(Latino Australian Education).

This agency is responsable for dealing with the students who chose to apply for the Group of 8. They've been helpful with tips and ideas since from having my documents translated(how it should be done) to my placement at Monash University, which was the one I chose as my 1st option!




To be continued...

Can you hear me?

Hello, planet Earth!

Well, here it goes: the first post. So many things to talk about and so much to explain! Let me start off by introducing myself.

My name is Luís Filipe. You can call me Luís, or Filipe, maybe Louis, or even Phillip, or whatever suits you best! I'm a 20 year old student from Brasil (yes, with a S) and this blog was made for me to talk about what is gonna happen (or what's happening) in my life during my stay in Australia as an exchange student for the brazilian federal program "Ciência sem Fronteiras" ("Science without Borders").

I'm from Campos dos Goytacazes, an almost large city about 240km away from the capital city, Rio de Janeiro, which many of you may know. I study Control and Automation Engineering at IFF (Instituto Federal Fluminense) and in 2014 I'll be an exchange student at Monash University, member of the Group of 8, one of the best universities in Australia! How cool is that? :D

"What is your point with this blog?", you may ask.

I've never been much of a super organized person, but this time I want to do it different. I want to have a record of the things I am going to do during this year of 2014, which I strongly believe, is gonna be amazing for me! So I'm gonna try to update it now and then with pictures and maybe videos, telling my stories.


"Is it gonna be always in english? Why that?"

I don't know. I'm starting to write it in english because this moment of inspiration came with for it! But I can't say it's always gonna be this way. Maybe I'll miss my native language or have other moments of inspiration in portuguese and write a post in my language! Let's see how it goes ;p

I would also like to point out that I don't mean to write many post about all those parts of the process with tips and ideas, mainly because I've already seen many people do that! If I do post something, it will be done so to explain how it was for me. I believe that helps, in a way...


Until the next posts, good bye!