When you first decide to study abroad, the first few months are spent in the mind-boggling anticipation and excitement of living in a new country, but after some time has passed, you realize that you are going to live in a new country. Especially when studying abroad, you have little-to-no choice in what type of accommodations you'll be staying in, and it can be pretty nerve-wracking in the weeks leading up to your departure when you realize you have no idea what your accommodations will look like when you get there-I know it definitely was for me. WELL-I am here to tell you that I was very pleasantly surprised, and to show you around a bit. So, here is a quick tour of my new home for the next three months.
Welcome to Scape Darling Square, our student housing located right off of Darling Harbor and only five minutes from the CEA CAPA Sydney Center. Not only is it a short walk to classes, but with your Opal card, you can use public transportation to get pretty much anywhere in the city without having to walk *too* much. Nearby are plenty of stores, parks, a large indoor farmer's market, and tons of restaurants. These accommodations are found right next to Chinatown, so there is plenty of new cuisine to try while you're here.
All across Sydney are 13 Scape Student Living buildings, all of which have a monthly calendar packed with events and activities just for Scape residents. While I haven't had a chance to go to any yet, some on the schedule for this month include yoga, laser tag, and skydiving. One of my favorite things about Scape is that it is filled with students from all around the world, so while you are living with people from your home country, you still get exposed to plenty of different people and cultures, even many from outside of Australia!
Also throughout Scape Darling Square are a variety of rooms for students to use. Some highlights include study rooms, a gym, bike rental, a rooftop patio, a cinema, AND a video gaming room. Plus, we have an in-house laundry room, so you don't have to worry about carrying your clothes to a laundromat.
Now for a tour of my actual apartment. In each of our apartments are four double bedrooms, almost all of which are shared. Each bedroom has its own bathroom so you thankfully don't have to use a communal bathroom like in the States. Here is my side of my shared room!
You'll notice that there is a divider in the middle of the room, which is a bit weird at first, but honestly it is very helpful for giving you a bit more privacy and making it feel less like you and your roommate are on top of each other all the time. Some other features of the rooms I like are all the places for storage AND that you have a light switch right next to your bed. Being able to turn the lights off without getting out from under the covers is such a perk that I honestly don't know how I'll live without it once this semester is over.
Here is our great kitchen and living space! It honestly has much more room than I thought it was going to, and even though there are six people living in our apartment it doesn't ever feel claustrophobic or like we don't have enough room.
In the living room, we were provided with a couch, coffee table, TV stand, and TV. I highly recommend getting or bringing an HDMI cable so that you and your flatmates can connect your laptops to the TV for all your streaming, music-playing, and YouTube-watching needs.
The kitchen is set up so that most things (fridge, oven/stove, dishwasher, and sink) are doubled and can be split between residents. The fridge and pantry are also conveniently labeled so that you have your own cabinet/shelves and don't have to worry about mixing up your things with your roommates'. There were also some other appliances available like a microwave, toaster, and kettle, and we were even provided a few dishes and utensils to get us started in our first few days here.
Aaaaaaand that's my apartment! I hope you enjoyed the tour and love it just as much as I do!