All Attention on Exchange

Um. So. What? I am fini! (that is finished in French btw). YES finished. This feels weird. The emotions are so real right now.

What are you finished, you may be asking? I am officially done and dusted with uni here in Australia until 2015. I just (about 3 hours ago) completed my final exam and woo that feels good. Actually to be honest I am not sure how I feel because I am that excited. I have  been waiting for this day for SO (really need to emphasise the "so") long. It is the day I pictured all summer as I worked 8+ hour shifts.. day after day.. it was also what (just) pulled me through exams and this bitch of a semester. 

DONE DONE DONE…. It is officially time to celebrate and get so damn excited for exchange and travels and French food and wine and ah. Am I going to get any sleep over the next 44 days? I am going to guess not. Oh man.  

 

Shall we celebrate with some Bordeaux wine and the bay view?

 

In addition to building up my excitement levels to the most ridiculous level possible (If you haven’t realised already I looove to get excited over anything. Seriously anything) I will also be working my butt off over the next four weeks. Again. Yep.. more work. But like I mentioned in my   previous post, the more money I can save now the more I will appreciate it. Oh and also I have the world’s longest to do list to complete.. I was serious about the no sleep. There is a S#@*T load of work to be done. But bring it on. I’m excited.

 

Enjoying the native Aus blossoms I spotted

                                                                                                                                                                        

Another thing... packing? When does this begin? I have somewhat started my list but it is one of those things I keep avoiding, eeek. French Steph, Brooke (my other travel buddy) and I sat down for lunch last week and made a crack at our packing list. To give you any idea of the difficulty of this task.. it took us a good 20 minutes to decide on 4 pairs of shoes. Yeah.. It is going to be a long road for us ladies but I am so incredibly happy to have these two by my side. Our facebook group message has been keeping me going through this hell of a semester and I really cannot wait to travel with these two fab human beings. 

The moment we realised how close the trip really is!!

One last thing.. I stumbled across a notebook that I had written some things down at the beginning of the semester. It was basically a message from myself to myself (weird) saying to stop stressing and to not worry about insignificant things e.g. MONEY. We all do it. Whether we have insufficient or more than enough funds, we will always worry. It really is ridiculous no matter what the situation. So this was a really great reminder for myself to just calm down and most importantly let those things take care of them self. I think it’s time to enjoy this final chapter of the planning stage because  I really don’t want to hop onto that plane as an exhausted, nervous wreck. So on that note.. tips for myself for the last 4 weeks:

1. Calm down. Seriously caaalllm. Time isn’t going to go any slower so get your act together. 

2. BE PROACTIVE. Start ticking off that heck of a to-do list so that I have time to really relax and be with my family and friends before I head. 

3. Just let things sort themselves out. Don’t take yourself or anything else too seriously because like most things, IT WILL unfold.

Love time with my fam and best friends.

And that is it.. Another not-all-that-great blog post but tonight was momentous so it had to be documented.

Bye for now, chat soon when my to do list isn’t as mental. 

Siobhan X. 

Instragram: siobhanash
Twitter:    siobhana4

I dream of Paris..

Welcome back

Hello world! Or just hello to you Siobhan coming back to read this in a few months time..
Either way I am back again and I have decided to try and write a blog post once a month up until I depart. Life here in Syd is getting a little hectic between the craziness of uni (get me out of there ASAP please) and working my butt off on weekends to save my pennies for my time O/S. 

 Oh yeah the countdown is on.

Nobody warns you how much of a stuggle the lead up to going away is. I mean I know I am getting a little ahead of myself as I don't leave for another 96 days but still.. trying to have any sort of motivation for uni work is non-existent right now. Every time I sit down to start on that marketing research assignment it seems to turn into a perfect and rare opportunity for me to browse at hostels in Santorini, make lists of 'must visit' cafes in Paris and my personal favourite (thanks French Steph) is to look up hashtags on instragram e.g. 'Bordeaux markets' haha pathetic I know but so handy! My point is that it is really difficult to keep on track with normal life when you have something so exciting that is slowly creeping up, not to mention the difficulty to save money. Why does shopping exist? And delicious lunches and lattes? Ahh the struggle is so real! In saying that, I think I have somewhat mastered the top tips to save those pennies for exchange or an O/S adventure which I would love to share..

So here we go!

Santorini I am coming!

 
BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET

Thanks to a push from my mum (the queen of saving money and following budgets) I created my own weekly budget. Let me just put a bit of a disclaimer - prior to using a budget I certainly was a lover of frivolous spending.. nothing crazy I just thoroughly enjoyed regular trips to Zara and of coarse lots of eating out and nights out on the w/e. A lot of this had to stop if I wanted to have any funds for Bordeaux.

Tip #1. Roughly work out an attainable range of money that you will put away each week from your pay (e.g. $150 - 200 or if you really are working hard $500-600). Remember to be honest with yourself - disappointment is not fun so think of an amount that you know you can achieve.

Tip #2. Write down your weekly costs. I am very fortunate in that I live at home so these are relatively minimal for me, including, transport costs, phone bill and most importantly coffee costs. I am sorry Mum I can't give up my coffees! I just limit myself to $10/week for coffee.. I am a uni student so it's a NEED.

Tip #3. Put away a smallish amount of money each week to go out for lunch or dinner, or what I like to do is accumulate multiple week's 'extra spending money' to buy a top, shoes or lipstick I have been eying off (aka convinced that it will add value to my life).

Tip #4. The most important for me - STEP AWAY FROM THE SHOPPING CENTRES. I cannot stress this enough! If you are anything like me you must physically remove yourself from shops because if you don't see it then there is no chance of you subconsciously convincing yourself that you need that pair of jeans. In addition to this don't even open your emails from ASOS or Missy Confidential. It's just not worth it!

Tip #5. Lastly, change your mindset. You need to realise that the more money you save the more you will appreciate it later on. Of coarse money isn't the be all and end all but learning to have discipline with your money allows you to have more comfort and enjoyment overseas. My Mum always says to me as I leave for a 9 hour shift of work "just think darling.. a whole day in Paris!".. so positive thoughts like that certainly help and keep you on track. Also remember that no one is perfect so don't expect yourself to stick to your budget for months on end.. of coarse there are times here and there that I treat myself.

 All day every day..

Three hours later you made it to the end of this blog post! Extremely long I know, but I really hope this helps just one single person out there. Although 'saving money' seems like an easy task it really isn't (so I have discovered) so hopefully these tips will help someone get overseas to their dream city.

Enjoy your day,

Siobhan X.

Instragram: siobhanash
Twitter:    siobhana4

Bonjour!

Welcome to my blog!

 

Here it is - my exchange blog.. only 4 months early! That's right today (April 3rd) marks 4 exciting and nerve wracking months until I and two other lovely ladies hop onto a plane to London - the first destination of my 6 month journey! Woo hoo!

I have specifically created this blog to document my exchange so that all my Australian loved ones can be kept in the loop! Sometimes it's hard to keep everyone up to date via email so I figure a blog is fun for everyone (me included) - my own little hub that will be filled with pictures, stories, dramas, and of coarse what I am eating.

If you don't know what is going on or who I am.. I am Siobhan, a 20 year old Marketing university student from Sydney, Australia. For the past year I have been dreaming (literally) about doing the student exchange in 2014 and after a painfully long process spent filling out forms and anxiously waiting (I wont bore you with anymore details) I got it! 

I was accepted for exchange. 

Where to? Bordeaux, France is where. 

It was actually my 3rd preference, however I now look back and think that I was completely crazy for not putting it number 1. It always amazes me how things often pan out as if they are meant to be! Who would have thought such a beautiful city in the South West of France would be perfectly suited to me. 

During this crazy process of prepping for exchange I have met a new friend, aka 'French Steph' aka someone who I should have met 20 years ago!! Steph emailed me a couple of months ago as she was also selected for Bordeaux - in fact we are the only two lucky gals headed to the winetastic city in France. After conversing over emails we took it to the next level and met in person.. Long story short we got along like a house on fire and we meet for coffee every Tuesday to discuss travel plans, our accommodation, the amazing food and wine to come our way and the overload of photos to be taken.  

Before I wrap this up.. I shall give you a snapshot of my travel plans before French Steph and I will begin our studies in Bordeaux:

Arrive in London -> Paris -> Lauterbrunnen -> Munich -> Venice ->
Rome -> Amalfi Coast -> Rome -> Greek Islands.

These are just rough but they give you an idea!

Anyway I hope you enjoyed my first baby blog post. It was certainly a bit of an overload of excitement but it has given you an accurate insight of how I am feeling! I didn't explain earlier but I decided to jump on the blogging band wagon 4 months early because I thought why not share one of the most important parts - THE PLANNING! So stay tuned for more.. 

I really hope you like it!

My acceptance to Bordeaux!

 .. More of Bordeaux

  The countdown is on to eat macarons at Laduree

 And look how glorious Lauterbrunnen looks!

Siobhan X.