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International Exchange

Emma Woods - Indiana University, U.S.A

Overall Exchange Experience

The highlight of my exchange experience was definitely having the chance to travel and experience the world through another culture, which I think really allowed me to form my own independent point of view based on these experiences. Before I left, I (naively) thought that Australian and American cultures were very much similar, but after only a few weeks in the U.S.A, I soon came to realize that they were completely distinct from one another.

I have no doubt that participating in the study abroad program has made me a stronger, better, more ‘worldwise’ person, and I’m so glad I was given the opportunity to take part…if I wasn’t graduating this semester, I’d do it all again in a pinch!

Travel Experiences

Highlights of Bloomington

• The Little 500 Bike Race (held in April/May), and the entire “Little 5” week

• The old limestone quarry- it’s well known from the film ‘Breaking Away’

• “Roots”, the vegetarian and vegan café on Walnut St, is the hippest eatery in town

• The Bloomington bars- make sure you go to Kilroys, Jakes, Bears, Sports, and the Bluebird

• In winter go see the lake- it freezes over and you can skate on it, or just hang out with the ice-fishermen.

• Get great food from Mad Mushroom pizza and Jimmy Johns

Other Travelling Highlights

• New York City, New York:

- Christmas time at the Rockefeller Centre, “The Tree” and ice-skating rink

- The markets at Columbus Circle

- New York City Ballet’s production of ‘The Nutcracker’

- Seeing ‘Rent’ on Broadway- amazing!

- Taking a horse and carriage ride through Central Park

- Taking the ferry to Liberty Island and checking in with Ol’ mate Liberty

- Eating a huge slice of New York style pizza

- Finding ‘The Gingerman’, a beer boutique downtown that sold Coopers!

- Asking “table for one, please” at a hip little café in Soho and pretending I was Carrie from ‘Sex and the City’



• Storrs, Connecticut:

- Eating the homemade icecream at the UCONN icecreamery

- Paying a visit to ‘Mohegan Sun’, the second largest casino in the world

• Boston, Massachusetts:

- Celebrating my birthday at The Boynton in Worcester

- Having an (almost) white Christmas on a farm in Leicester

- Visiting UMASS at Amherst and looking at the beautiful view from the 26^th floor of the library

- Walking the Freedom Trail, stopping off at Faneuil Hall, and being completely blown away by the ‘Potato Famine’ statue

• Chicago, Illinois:

- New Years Eve at John Barleycorn’s in Lincoln Park

- Taking warped photos at the Bean in Millenium Park

- Shopping on Magnificent Mile (on Michigan Ave) and blowing my entire traveller’s budget

- Riding the ferriswheel at Navy Pier

- Eating the greatest Thai food ever on Ontario St



• Chapel Hill, North Carolina:

- Celebrating Australia Day with all the exchangers at UNC, playing cricket in a carpark

- Hanging out in all the different bars along Franklin St

- Going to a Frat Party…crazy!

• Sarasota, Florida:

- Visiting the John and Mabel Ringling Estate- their art gallery, circus museum and mansion overlooking Sarasota Bay

- Spending a day at Venice Beach (Florida, not California!)

- Eating real key lime pie

- Seeing alligators and other assorted creatures in the Everglades National Park

• Yosemite National Park, California:

- Cycling round the park for a day

-Taking the most spectacular photos of the waterfalls and massive rock formations

• San Francisco, California:

- Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge

- Hanging out in the hippest place ever- Haight Ashbury

- Walking up Lombard St, the crookedest street in the world

- Taking cable cars everywhere

- Walking along the wharves and up Union St, and seeing all sides of the city in the process

• Playa Del Carmen, Mexico:

- Enjoying the most beautiful beaches in the world, whilst in the company of the loveliest people in the world

- Checking out the Mayan ruins at Tulum- amazing!

- Sipping the most delicious mojitos and margaritas all day, whilst being serenaded by wandering Mariachis

-Taking the ferry across to the island of Cozumel- so beautiful

- Learning how to haggle and bargain with vendors in the street markets

- Snorkelling on the reef of the Mayan Riviera (apparently second only to the Great Barrier Reef in size and beauty)

Academics

• Social Psychology (PSY-P320): I took this subject because it was a prerequisite for my course at U.O.W, but it also ended up being a very interesting course. In terms of subject matter it was very similar to the second year social psychology subject at U.O.W, but it was interesting to get a different perspective on some issues. It was also organized really well, with four equally weighted exams throughout the course, and a few small opinion-piece assessment tasks. Professor: Edward Hirt.

• History and Systems of Psychology (PSY-P459): This was another prerequisite for my course, and I was pretty iffy about it to begin with. This was probably because for the first month or so, everyone in the class seemed incredulous as to just how much content we were expected to take in (and retain!) over the semester. But as the weeks went on, the subject matter became more interesting and relevant, and I surprised myself in the exams with the amount of information I recalled, and even now the amount of it I’ve retained, which is handy. Professor: Geoff Bingham.

• Intro to Pop Culture (CMLT-C151): I chose this class as a bit of fun, but also because it looked interesting and relevant to today’s society. It ended up being the most enjoyable class I took by far, because it gave me an interesting insight into young Americans’ views of the current state of the world. I think it would also have been informative for everyone else in the class the have somebody with an outsider’s perspective contributing to class discussion, although sometimes it really did blow me away just how little they knew about things outside of the US. Instructor: Raina Polivka

• Society and the Individual (SOC-S230): I took this class because I thought it would nicely compliment the Social Psychology class, and would allow me to gain both a sociological and a psychological perspective of the same issues, which it did. The topics were always interesting and dynamic, and the Professor was always entertaining and gave involving lectures. Professor: Tim Hallett