Surviving Melbourne

Teresa Yong

LIS C0'18

Hello!

It's been a few months now since graduating from Logos, and a little birdie told me that there are quite a few students wanting to move to Melbourne! Well, guess who's unexpectedly found herself living in the literal heart of the city?

Applying to University!

Honestly, I had not realized that I wanted to attend university until very late into the year, so it's quite a miracle I made the application deadline! Depending on your university and method of application, deadlines for the first semester could be as early as January or as late as March. I say method of application because I applied through an agent associated with my choice of university; it's quite a messy story. However, if you do decide to go with an agency relax a little knowing that there is a slight leniency on application deadlines, but do not depend on it. Much like every other university, there are minimum requirements for each subject areas of interest. However should you not meet those requirements, there's always the foundations pathway program; it's basically high school except more tailored to succeeding in your particular course.

Finding an apartment!

I am currently living in a student accommodation as per recommendation by all the seminars I attended. However, I would not recommend it as a long term solution as I'm paying two-thirds of what I paid for my first-year program to live here for 12 months. The seminars basically advise you repeatedly to get a short term contract with a student accommodation, and eventually move elsewhere more affordable after properly doing research. In other words, make friends that you think you can live with, and personally go apartment hunting together. Logically, prices vary depending on where you're living. For example, rent living in the suburbs would cost less in comparison to living in the city, however I would strongly recommend reading about the public transport before deciding.

Your choice of university should have a web page specifically for accommodations, and you might just find the one I'm currently staying at enlisted on it as well! Student-built accommodations here often house students from all sorts of different universities organized into different floors. If you're under 18, there will be rules and protocols that you will have to follow, but it's all meant to keep you safe.

If not, I would recommend using student.com to look for your accommodation as they have a large library of listings to help you compare and contrast. Not to mention, in my experience, they will assign you a personal consultant that will help you out with no extra costs.

If you're using an agent, ask them to help you out! Often times they are working with other students hoping to attend the same university looking for a friend and place to stay! Why go through what I had to go through when you can literally save yourself the time, money, and loneliness?

Public Transport

Ouff.

Let's talk about Melbourne's public transport!

Basically, the city is separated into different zones that even I haven't quite fully grasped. There's the free tram zone that covers all the main attractions of the city, and the everywhere-else-you-have-to-pay-for zone. It's quite self-explanatory, the free tram zone is where you don't need to pay or tap on to travel around. If you're outside that zone or simply traveling out of the free zone, ensure to tap on to avoid penalties. Keep your eyes and ears open for indicators that you are leaving that zone. There are officers posted outside that will check your myki card to see if you've paid for your ride or not; sometimes they'll even get on the trams.

I almost got fined $230 AUD on the first day I arrived here; I had no clue my place was two stops outside the free tram zone. Moral of the story, tell the truth and ensure you have a digital copy of all your documents with you at all times. Had I not have been thorough with saving a copy of my plane ticket, I'd have about $230 AUD less to spend.

Here they use travel cards to pay for public transport known as myki cards; they can be purchased at any convenience store or train station. It's quite expensive to straight up pay for every single ride outside the free tram zone so, I recommend purchasing a monthly or yearly plan. Approach the information desks at the train stations to purchase a plan. Don't go to the convenience stores; they're rip-offs. Ensure to check with your university to see if you are eligible for a concession travel card; this gives you 50% off of travel fares.

If you're caught not having tapped on your myki, know that there's a $75 on the spot fine. Often times the officer will not mention this, so know your rights. If you can't pay the fine on the spot, they will send you a $223 ticket fine to your address.

Sign up your myki cards!

Please sign up your card immediately after purchasing it at mymyki.com.au. Get yourself an account. Save yourself the distress of losing a card you paid hundreds on a monthly/yearly pass for. I speak from personal experience after losing my card at a KFC. Each card comes with special digits on the back that allows you to sign them up. If you were to lose that card after registering it up to your account, you can always just transfer those funds from the missing card to a new one. No extra fees.

Luckily, I live in the city center with everything I need just less than 5 tram stops, or an 18-minute leisurely stroll; school and shopping included. In other words, I am never late and it is amazing.

However, I wish I could say the same for my friends living further out in the suburbs. The public transport system here is very different from what I'm used to in Singapore. Perhaps call it a lack of familiarity, but there are a few extra layers of complication with traveling by train. For example, a single platform will host different trains all leading to different places, so you need to keep an eye on the screen to see where each particular train is headed. Not to mention, the train only waits on the platform for one minute or two at maximum. As a result, if you have to change trains, you need to run for it, or wait for the next train that may or may not even go to your destination. Just ensure you tap on before entering a train as there are officers posted at each station waiting.

No comment on the buses here, as I haven't had the need to take one.

If you're thinking about getting your own car, do know that parking in the city can be quite costly. However, there's always leaving your car parked at the train station and taking the train into the city.

As far as I'm aware, the state of Victoria has an app for navigating through the public transport system called PTV. It does the job if you already know your way around, but personally, I use Citymapper to find places. Just don't always go for the first option or you'll find yourself walking half an hour to get to Ikea.

Safety

Prior to moving here, I was quite concerned about safety as this is a considerably big step to take alone in life. Frankly like every other city, I would say it's quite safe during the day. There are officers posted at different tram stops on random days, and more can be found at the corner of every other city block on weekends.

From what my lecturer has casually mentioned the other day, it seems like there is the occasional rumor of violence at the public transport stations. Thus, as a result, her train was forced to take a detour to avoid that particular station, however, she made no other mentions of it.

From my research, it seems like the state of Victoria has banned 'any article designed or adapted to discharge an offensive, noxious or irritant liquid, powder, gas or chemical' (VIC Police, 2019). In other words, carrying pepper spray with me would be considered an offense, but so far I would not say I need it.

Life

> Frankly, life here much like exam week back in high school. Classes are 2 hours minimum and 3 hours maximum with a short break in the middle; sometimes you have two in a single day, other times you have one. You can practically do whatever you want in between classes as long as you get to the next class on time.

> Don't get me started on the weather. It genuinely can go through four seasons in a single day. The cold temperature itself isn't so bad, but it's the wind that makes it unbearable. It's basically the weather equivalent of hot spicy soup; either way, you just go numb. Kudos to the weather app on my phone that has suddenly seen a surge of usage.

> Height matters. Seriously. I'm a petite girl, my height being around 5'3" or 160cm. I cannot fully express the daily struggles of trying to reach things, as the average height here is significantly taller than I am. All those cartoons showing a small character jumping and climbing things to reach the top shelf is actually me.

^ Yes, that is a genuine photo of me sitting on my counter top after trying to reach the top shelf of my kitchen.

> Personally I have been avoiding the drinking night life aspect of university despite multiple invitations. However, there are plenty of other things to do here at night without drinking! Like ice skating, bowling, mini golf, laser tag and eating giant oversized food!

Contact Information

Unfortunately for the current moment it seems like I will be studying in Melbourne until the end of November 2019. However, should you need any advice don't be afraid to hit me up!

Instagram: teresayongty

Resources

Weapons definitions. (2019, February 22). Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.police.vic.gov.au/weapons-definitions