One-Year Study in Australia

《留德十年》是學術(shù)大師季羨林在耄耋之年，憶及往昔寫下的一部回憶錄。1935年，青年學子季羨林赴德留學，開始了十年羈旅生涯。在赫赫有名的哥廷根大學，季先生幾經(jīng)輾轉(zhuǎn)選定印度學為主修方向，遂對其傾注熱情與辛勞，最終獲得博士學位，也由此奠定了畢生學術(shù)研究的深厚根基。 事隔七十年，出國留學已“飛入尋常百姓家”，褪去了彼時的光環(huán)，但莘莘學子在異國他鄉(xiāng)勤奮求學的故事仍在繼續(xù)。時代不同，年齡不同，理想不同，《留澳一年》記敘的正是當代青年在異邦的奮斗歷程。

After the graduation from the university in Xi’an in 2001, I had been an English tour guide for over two years in Guilin, which is enjoying the reputation of having the most beautiful mountains and rivers in the world. The job was actually quite good because of the high income and lots of opportunities of travelling around the country. Having this job, I could have a very comfortable and relaxed life in that quiet city.

However, probably because the unknown things and environment always seem attractive, I had always been distracted by the curiosity towards the foreign countries. Is the outside world really wonderful? Is it a heaven or a hell? Can I have a better career development out of China? Like many young and ambitious people, I made up my mind to study abroad. After doing of a lot of research on the Internet, I chose Griffith University of Australia, for it enjoys the well-known reputation of the program of Master of International Tourism and Hospitality Management. I successfully got the offer from the university in March 2003 and lodged the application for a student visa in October 2003. In the end of the year, I got the visa and quit my job from the travel agent, flying to Gold Coast of Australia with my dreams and hopes.

Gold Coast is a beautiful tourist city on the east coastline of Australia. The 70km coastline features Australia’s largest expanse of calm water. It is a place of warm and welcoming weather with 300 days of sunshine a year. Griffith University is located in this charming city, which is excellent for travelling or leading a quiet and relaxed life, but probably not quite suitable for study. I still remember that on the first day when I came to the campus of Griffith University, I was a little bit disappointed, for the campus is quite small and it seems that it is located in a bush. The buildings are new and short and lack speciality and cultural atmosphere. Unfortunately I became more disappointed when I found that almost half of my over 100 classmates are Chinese ― sometimes it made me feel that I was attending foreign teachers’ lectures in China! There is no doubt that this is not very good for me to improve my English level in such a language environment.

There is always a gap between ideal and reality. Accepting the fact, I started my studying life in Australia, but I didn’t expect that the study is that stressful. Believe it or not, I had never ever been studying so hard before, even including the period when I was preparing for the exam of entrance to university in China seven years ago. There is such a big difference of the studying system between Australia and China. In China, everything will be fine as long as I can pass the final exams of every course. But in Australia, students have to do oral presentations, individual or group assignments, mid-term exams and final exams. All of the above must be well done because each of them will be counted into the final assessments.

Presentations are not easy for the most of the Chinese students because we are never required to do presentations in China, and English is not our native language. Actually it proves that oral presentation is really a good way of study. It encourages students to speak in front of other people and deliver their opinions bravely. Through a year’s practice, I became more confident to do presentations without holding a single note in the hands.

The most difficult problem for the overseas students to overcome might be loneliness. There is a popular dialogue in our class. “Why are the Asian students so slim?” “Because we are too homesick.” Homesickness is always with me, particularly during the time of some Chinese traditional festivals. Actually most of the time my life of studying abroad is really boring. For one thing, I don’t have many friends or any relatives in a foreign country. For the other, it is quite hard for an overseas student to afford the entertainments and transportation because the living expenses are very expensive.

Working is a good way to overcome loneliness. On the other hand, the income from the part-time jobs makes my abroad life easier in Australia. During the first semester I got an opportunity of being a tour guide for the Chinese tourist groups around Brisbane and Gold Coast area. It maybe a very attractive one in many people’s eyes, but I quit that job at the end of the semester because I was keen to learn something more important than just making money. As an overseas student, I have been looking forward to working in Australian enterprises in order to learn how the Australian working system and management goes. The process of looking for a part-time job in Australian enterprise is very time-consuming and difficult, for most of the Australian companies always favour those people who have good and strong working experiences. After putting a lot of efforts on it, I finally got a part-time job as a food and beverage attendant in a very famous local enterprises ― Warner Village Theme Parks, which includes Movie World, Sea World, Wet and Wild Water World and Paradise Country.

During the part-time employment at Warner Village Theme Parks, I learnt to work with a team and the great teamwork made me get used to work under pressure. This is really an excellent job, and I had a lot of fun in working, for most of the customers are very friendly and nice. A lot of people who were working with me are local university students. I was impressed that lots of Australian students afford their tuition fees by themselves through part-time employment. Compared with the Chinese students, the Australian young people are more independent from the families since they become 18 years old.

Furthermore, I had been doing a lot of other part-time jobs during my study in Australia, such as tutor, kitchen hand, and housekeeper. Each of the jobs is not easy, and sometimes I felt extremely exhausted by doing so many part-time jobs while studying, but the various part-time jobs offered me rich experience and made my abroad life more colourful. The more important thing is that I feel very happy and inspired that I am supporting myself in a foreign country and do not need the financial help from my parents any more.

On 1 November 2004, which is one of my unforgettable days in my life, I graduated from Griffith University. At that moment when I was in academic dress, I was so happy and just smiled during the whole day. After a year’s hard working, I finally harvest the Master degree of International Tourism and Hospitality Management. Yet it is only the beginning of the road to the future. I am now applying for a working visa and looking for a full-time job in the hotel industry in Australia after my graduation from the university.

Looking for a job in a foreign country is not easy, but I will never give up. After going through the past year, I become more confident in overcoming difficulties. The road is chosen by me, I have to keep going and never hesitate in front of cross of life. Having a goal of making an ideal career, I strongly believe that all of my efforts will bring me great success.

然而，可能是因為不為人所知的事物和環(huán)境總是那么誘人，我總是被對外國的好奇心驅(qū)使著。外面的世界真的很精彩嗎?是天堂還是地獄?在國外我能有一個更好的職業(yè)發(fā)展機會嗎?和許多雄心勃勃的年輕人一樣，我決心出國留學。在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上做了許多研究工作后，我選擇了澳大利亞的格里菲斯大學，因為其國際旅游與服務(wù)管理方面的碩士課程在業(yè)內(nèi)享有盛譽。2003年3月我收到這所大學的錄取通知書，10月我申請了學生簽證。2003年底，我拿到簽證，辭掉了旅行社的工作，帶著我的夢想和希望飛往澳大利亞黃金海岸。

黃金海岸是澳洲東部海岸一個美麗的旅游城市，70公里長的海岸代表了澳洲最大的靜水區(qū)域。這里氣候溫暖、天氣舒適，一年有300多天能見到太陽。格里菲斯大學就座落在這個迷人的城市，小城是旅行的好地方，可以過著安靜舒適的生活，但恐怕不太適合學習。我還記得跨進格里菲斯大學校園的第一天，我有一些失望，校園很小，就像是座落在未開墾的叢林中似的。校園建筑嶄新卻低矮，沒有特色，缺乏文化氛圍。不幸的是當我發(fā)現(xiàn)100多名同學中竟有幾乎一半是中國人時，我變得更加失望了，有時甚至覺得我是在中國上一位外教的課。毫無疑問，在這樣的語言環(huán)境中想提高我的英語水平肯定不是很好。

理想和現(xiàn)實總是有差距的。面對既定事實，我開始了在澳洲的學習生活，但沒想到學習會如此艱苦。不管你是否相信，我從來沒有這樣刻苦學習過，甚至七年前準備參加高考也沒有這樣刻苦過。中澳兩國的教學體系差別巨大。在中國，只要我能通過每門課程的期末考試就萬事大吉了。然而在澳大利亞，學生必須做口頭發(fā)言，個人作業(yè)或小組作業(yè)，期中考試和期末考試。所有上面提到的作業(yè)都必須做好，因為他們中的每一部分都會計入期末考核。口頭發(fā)言對大部分中國學生來說都不是很容易，因為在中國我們從來沒有被要求做發(fā)言，并且英語不是我們的母語。實踐證明口頭發(fā)言是一個好的學習方法，它鼓勵學生在眾人面前開口說話，勇敢地表達自己的思想。經(jīng)過一年的訓練，我做口頭發(fā)言時更加自信，并且不帶一字稿紙。

對留學海外的學子來說最困難的問題可能是怎樣克服寂寞和孤獨。在我們班上有一組經(jīng)典的對話：“為什么亞洲的學生如此苗條?”“因為我們太想家了。”思鄉(xiāng)病時刻伴隨著我，特別是過中國的傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日的時候。實際上，留學生活中的大部分時光是很無聊的。一方面，在異國他鄉(xiāng)我沒有太多的親戚朋友;另一方面，對留學生來說，很難有經(jīng)濟能力承擔娛樂和交通費用，因為當?shù)氐纳钯M用很昂貴。

工作是排遣寂寞的一個好辦法。此外，兼職工作的收入使我在澳洲的生活更加從容。第一學期，我得到了一個為中國旅游團隊在布里斯班和黃金海岸做導游講解的工作。這在許多人眼里可能很誘人，但在學期結(jié)束時我辭掉了那份工作，因為我渴望學習更重要的東西，而不僅僅是賺錢。身為留學生，我一直期望能在澳大利亞公司工作，以便了解澳大利亞的工作和管理制度是怎樣運轉(zhuǎn)的。在澳大利亞公司尋找兼職工作費時費力，因為大多數(shù)澳大利亞公司更青睞那些擁有良好和強大工作背景的候選人。經(jīng)過多方努力，最后我在一家非常著名的當?shù)仄髽I(yè)――華納村主題公園找到一份食品和飲料服務(wù)員的兼職工作。這家主題公園包括電影世界、海洋世界、狂野水上樂園和天堂農(nóng)莊。

在華納村主題公園工作期間，我學會了和團隊工作，團隊精神使我逐漸習慣了在壓力下工作。這份工作真的很不錯，在工作中很有樂趣，大部分顧客非常友好和藹。許多和我一起工作的是當?shù)氐拇髮W生。我對許多澳大利亞學生通過打工自己負擔學費印象深刻。和中國學生相比，澳大利亞的年輕人自18歲以后就從家庭中出來，變得更加獨立。

此外，我在澳洲留學期間還做過許多其他兼職工作，例如家庭教師、廚房幫手，甚至管家。每一份工作都不容易，有時我覺得在學習的同時做這么多兼職工作非常勞累，但眾多的兼職工作豐富了我的工作經(jīng)歷，使我的留學生活多姿多彩。更重要的是，我很高興也很受鼓舞，在異國他鄉(xiāng)我終于可以養(yǎng)活自己，而不再需要父母的經(jīng)濟資助。

2004年11月1日是我終生難忘的日子，這一天我從格里菲斯大學畢業(yè)了。在穿上學位服的那一刻我欣喜萬分，并且在隨后的一天里都滿面春風。經(jīng)過一年的艱苦學習，我終于獲得了國際旅游與服務(wù)管理碩士學位。然而，這只是通向未來新生活之路的起點。從大學畢業(yè)之后，我正在申請工作簽證，希望能在澳大利亞的飯店行業(yè)找到一份全職工作。

在國外找工作可不是件容易的事，但我永不放棄。經(jīng)歷了過去的一年，我在克服困難時變得更加自信。選擇了這條路，我就會一直走下去，決不在生活的十字路口徘徊。擁有了發(fā)展理想職業(yè)的目標，我堅信所有努力將給我?guī)砭薮蟮某晒Α?/p>