The Australian Bite

Advice for students & a day at the races

22 October 2009

Listen and download: MP3

On this week’s Australian Bite, Danny Ong, the former President of the Monash University international Students Asociation joins me to talk about his very informative new book, The International Students Handbook – Living and Studying in Australia.  And we also head up north to the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and drop in on the annual Picnic Races and fundraiser in Derby.

Helpful advice for international students

Leaving home and heading off to study overseas can be a pretty nerve-wracking experience – especially if you’ve never lived away from home before. What sort of food can you buy, how do you get around on public transport? How do you adjust to the the culture and language of a country very different to you own?  How do you deal with your parents expectations? And who can you turn to if you’re struggling with your studies, or even life in general?  Well these questions and many more are answered in a new publication called “The International Students Handbook – living and studying in Australia.”  Unlike most other handbooks for prospective, or current international students, this book is different, because it’s not published by a government department, or University. And that, says its author, Danny Ong, means its a more realistic, warts and all appraisal of what international students are likely to experience in Australia . . . in fact it even includes a chapter called “The Ugly Side of Studying Overseas”  Danny Ong, has been living in Australia since 2002. He’s the former President of the Monash University International Students Association.  He’s currently doing doctoral research on the international student experience and I spoke with him for The  Australian Bite.

The handbook is published by University of New South Wales Press

A great day out at the Derby Picnic Races

The Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival is well under way, with the highlight of the Carnival, the Melbourne Cup, being run on the third of November. But in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, another racing carnival – the Derby Picnic Races – is of equal importance to the locals, raising much needed funds for the Kimberley School of the air and the local Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) branch. The main event is the Margaret River Cup, but unlike the Melbourne Cup, it doesn’t feature registered jockeys or thoroughbred horses. Instead, the horses are stockhorses, and the riders are ringers – that’s the local word for the most talented stockmen. Rural Reporter Matt Brann was there, and caught up with some of the crowd, as well as two time cup winner Shannon McKinnon from Napier Downs cattle station.

More of Matt’s photos from the day can be found on the ABC Rural website

More info on the Kimberley School of the Air can be found at their website

Google Map of Derby, Western Australia

Music (not in podcast)

Five piece country outfit President Roots formed in 2005, and honed their craft playing a weekly residency at the Bay Hotel on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. They recently released their debut album, Migration.

Artist: President Roots

Track: She Lights Up

Album: Migration (2009)