PERTH - A student's point of view.
by Xaviera Wong

It was never easy to leave the country one was born and bred in for the past 18 years, only to find oneself in a foreign land, having to scuffle with heavy murmuring accents, unfamiliar facial features, variety of skin pigments, bizarre hair colours, and worse, a total contradicting western culture to what one was used to, Asian.

However, even before one could experience these emotional and environmental changes, one had to go through the pre-departure-trial-and-error-questioning-and-confusing-period syndrome. Which country offers quality education? Which college or university offers more prestigious courses than the rest? What would the costs like? What would the weather be like….and ten thousand more other factors to consider.

Usually people would seek for more sought after destinations, like UK and the States, sometimes even Canada. Not many people would place Australia top in their shopping lists, not back in the 90s anyway. Forget about assuming how you could convince them how fantastic Perth is, to many, one would only be from down-under where people look, live and smell like crocodile Dundee.

  In reality, Perth is a delightful city by world-class standards, with a temperate climate, modern infrastructures, pristine beaches and cosmopolitan lifestyle. However, it meant more than just a touristy destination for one, when one was a student there. It was a bed of sunshine, blending metropolitan tempo with pastoral laid back greens perfectly into one glass, chased with ceaseless flow of coastal waves and breezes, finely lined out with the passing by of migrating flocks. What a fine mixture of aussie-tail indeed.

 You are able to have both the sun and the fun when you head down to the beaches with nothing more than your bathers and a beach towel, of course, not forgetting your group of buddies. You could feast yourself silly with all the goodies from the sea, like lobsters and mussels, without having to cause a burnout in your account. You will get the ride of your lifetime if you dare just venture into the darkest of hills that were slumbering on Rottnest Island, with ten pairs of green illuminates trailing close behind. 

  Other than all the cheap and occasional thrills you would get under the influence of pressures from studies, which I highly doubt will happen, Perth is by far most the friendliest and most genuine city one could spend in one’s last few years of life as a student.