My China Volunteering Adventure and Sydney Research Life

Name: Anoushka Parylo

Your academic school: Psychology

Where did you go? Australia and China

What type of placement did you complete?

Placement year in Australia, Volunteering in China

What motivated you to take up a Global Opportunity?

Travel is one of my passions, I have always been interested in Australia so I took the initiative to find my own placement in Sydney, Australia. I dad never considered travelling to China until the Gotoco TEFL opportunity caught my eye. I thought it would be a great way to travel whilst gaining experience and qualifications.

What were your top 3 highlights from your time abroad? 

Living in Australia with the sun!
Travelling the East Coast
Scuba Diving in the Great Barrier Reef

How has your placement been beneficial to your studies at Cardiff University or your future career? 

Yes, the research assistant work I did in Australia was very helpful for study design and data collection in my dissertation.

What would you say to a student that was unsure about spending a period abroad? 

Do it! This is the perfect time to do it, you are free from the constraints of work holidays. You will only gain responsibility as you get older, so best to do it now while you can!

What are 3 things to do in your host destination? 

Sydney- get the boat to manly, go op shopping and bar hopping in Newtown, go whale watching!

China- have a clay oven roast chicken with dry fried green beans, climb up rocks in the karst mountains of Yangshuo, pick your own tea and have a tea ceremony.

Share your top tips for thriving in your programme destination 

Pack some waterproof clothing for Australia! when it rains it rains HARD! I would recommend staying in a hostel when you first arrive to meet people. Lots of people in hostels are there to stay as people like to go to Australia to do a working holiday visa, so you can make friends there. then to search for accommodation, have a look on flatmates.au, flatmate finder and Facebook groups. For China, download WeChat and a vpn before you arrive- you can’t do anything without!

Please sum up your experience abroad in one sentence
The best year of my life, I will remember and cherish it FOREVER!!!