I've never lived in a dorm before. Imagine my horror when I turn up to find the sheets and towels provided are torn and stained, the bed may as well be made of rocks and - more importantly - there is not access to a fridge or a clothes dryer on the premises. The above is our makeshift fridge and Hills Hoist. I have no idea what we're going to do when winter rolls around and it's -15 degrees on a good day, but for now this works.

I recently went to a traditional Japanese festival in Ikebukuro, Tokyo which was naturally outdoors, displaying lots of Japanese cultural and religious history and background. I've been to a Japanese festival before and wasn't surprised to see the big parade, nor the tonnes of delicious Japanese food, nor the traditional Japanese dancing and drumming. However, I really didn't expect to see a full bar with servers dressed up in tuxedos, especially since the event was outdoors

uncheon is small and quiet town, located approx. 5 hours south by train from Seoul. I came down here to spend the National holiday called Korean Thanksgiving (21st Sept-23rd Sept) with a genuine Korean family. My friend has been kind enough to invite him to spend this special time with his family and it was an opportunity that doesn't come very often. 주석 (Chuseok) is the national Korean Thanksgiving holiday celebrating the arrival of autumn. It is a time where Family takes a

One of the things I found quite interesting is this Parking Spot reserved only for women. :D One of my friends said that it was to encourage and promote gender equality on women, since Korea is still a glass-ceiling society I think. Another said that it was courtesy. What do you guys think? Is it necessary? It's certainly a quite interesting idea to say the least.

This photo is my favourite of a few thousand that my mate and I took on a week long trip through Arizona and Utah. This was taken in the Coyote Buttes National park which straddles the Arizona/Utah border. Only ten passes are sold for the South Coyote Buttes each day on a first come first served basis, this is still a hell of a lot easier to get than the pass for the North Coyote Buttes which again only ten passes are sold each day but for these you have to arrive at the rang

For me, the most interesting thing in coming to Europe was the sheer age of the places. On the way to Sweden I travelled through Krakow, Poland, a city with cobblestone streets, marketplaces, a castle and lots of ancient-looking statues. The paths and streets were probably older than any in Australia, possibly built before our country was even colonised. They also looked like they had not been maintained for this same length of time. I have some interesting photos showing the

This Photo is in Mexico on Roserito beach, we tried to sit down eat some food and drink a little, but that was interrupted every five seconds buy someone coming up to us and trying to sell us something. We took it in our stride and just kept saying our "no thanks were fine" but these Mexicans were persistent! To try and get the deal they would send their children up to try and make us feel a little guilty. One bloke finally tricked us by throwing these metal objects into our

I was at the Fullmoon Drumming at Northbeach tonight (still in Wollongong) and I started talking to young Chinese guy who was out here doing his Masters in Computer Science. The conversation was very funny and interesting but very confusing and difficult. It seemed like their wasn't just a language barrier but a world view barrier. I couldn't even describe to him what I study for example, (Bachelor of Arts/Sociology/Politics) because it seemed like he didn't even have a conce

Hi there, I thought I would let the Oz Students Abroad know about my VISA adventure on Friday (02/07/2010). For those of you going to the US you know where I'm coming from. I know these blogs are supposed to have photos attached but since I was going to the American consulate I didn't think a camera would be a good idea (they kept asking if I had a mobile phone, as if modern communication technology would be the end to us all!). After successfully making my way to Martin Plac