SAE Magazine 12-2

Flinders Station in Melbourne, Australia One of the biggest barriers to overcome is often cost.Therefore careful planning is helpful although it is nearly impossible to foresee all the costs of your stay. You should calculate your costs as ac- curately as possible and always plan in a buffer for unexpected costs that arise. Don’t forget you want to have fun as well and not always have to say “no”, when there is an organised trip to some great sights or you are planning to travel. Working in addition to being a student might not always be allowed or limited to a certain amount of hours. Studying in a foreign language also re- quires some extra effort, so you need to think about the option of working while being a student and whether you can meet the expectations. There are several platforms online that provide in- formation about scholarships, educational funds and subsidised studies, which can vary depending on the area of study, the study phase, the origin of the student and the destination you are going to. Germans can check out http://www.e-fellows. net/STUDIUM/Finanzen/Kredite/Bildungs- fonds for information about scholarships and edu- cational funds, the KfW (German student loans) (http://kfw.de), Career Concept (student finance information) (http://www.career-concept.de) and Stipendienlotse (scholarship database) (http://sti- pendienlotse.de). Further information about Ger- man student loans can also be found on the web at http://www.che.de/downloads/CHE_AP135_ Studienkredit_Test_2010.pdf. For security rea- sons health insurance is necessary and often man- datory for overseas students. You need to get in- formation about this and also include these costs in your cost calculations. All in all, you will need to add costs for travelling, health insurance, ac- commodation, study fees, visa fees, extra costs for unexpected things, travel costs while being away, phone and Internet costs. Also you might think of buying a (new) digital camera, an MP3 Player or other useful tools, such as a good backpack, some power adaptors or a travel guide. If everything is packed you are ready to go. Check with your air- line how much baggage you are allowed to take. Production While being away from your home country, you usually will go through three phases. First you will be excited because everything is new. The environ- ment, the people, maybe the language, the weath- er, the culture and the food. Since you are curious enoughtomakethestepoutsideofyourcountryyou will be thrilled and filled with adrenalin and can’t wait to see everywhere, meet all kinds of people and probably will be excited about your studies. Unfortunately this excitement will not stay perma- nently at the same high level. ➤ 137 Events & Activities Index

SAE Magazine 12-2

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