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"The future depends on what we do in the present"
-Mahatma Gandhi-
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From Our Desk |
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Dear student,
Well March has certainly been a month of change! Our office has moved from Seaforth to Level 1, 141 York St. directly across from the QVB building. We are all getting used to the hustle and bustle of city life and appreciate our new premises. They are rapidly becoming 'home' to the GE Team. You'll notice our contact number has changed and is now 9264 4022. Calls to the old number will be diverted over the next few months but please make a note of the new number for your records.
Linked with this month's issue, we feature a special article on personal development "Change your habits; change your life" and some hints about working in Australia which hopefully can be beneficial for you.
Until next issue, guys!
Agnes Ong
Marketing Executive
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Student of the Month - Winnie Lo |
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Winnie is a 26 year old student from Hong Kong. She will be in Sydney for a year and is currently studying at the University of New South Wales. She loves swimming, reading and movies.
She really enjoys the lifestyle in Australia due to its fresh weather and lovely natural environment. Her favourite place is Sydney Harbour as it reminds her of Hong Kong's harbour.
Winnie described her hometown, Hong Kong, as a multicultural city; which has been influenced by both Chinese and British cultures. Hong Kong has always been famous for shopping and eating; most shops will close late at night. From her point of view, she would think that Hong Kongnese will find it weird that most shops close as early as 5pm here in Australia.
Winnie also said that she loves Australian people. She found most of them are quite funny, kind and warm. She loves the expression "G'day" everytime she meets an Australian.
Food wise, Australia is very enjoyable; food is fresh and tasty. She likes visiting wineries here in Australia and enjoying the taste of white wine.
Winnie is also very happy with her current host mother. She said her host mother is very kind and helpful. She makes her feel at home as she can always have a chit chat with her whenever she arrives from University. Winnie said that she is a talkative person so does Susan, therefore they both equally match. She has also made a friendship with "George", a lovely toy poodle that belongs to her host family. She refers to him as her 'little boyfriend".
She spends a lot of time going dog walking with her host mother at Centennial Park. It is always fun and relaxing. They normally have a chance to interact with other dog owners and talk about dogs' topics; otherwise they just sit down and watch black swans with "George".
Winnie has previously lived in Adelaide; and completed her Bachelor in South Australia. She has also worked in Adelaide and Queensland. For her, adjusting with Australian way of living has not been a hard task as Hong Kong is also a multicultural country. However she emphasized that her personality, that is being open minded, friendly and easy going, has helped her to adapt to new changes.
She plans to stay in Australia until she finishes her Master degree and possibly she would also like to apply for a permanent residency. She likes Australia a lot thus although one day she will go back to her country for good, she will still visit Australia and travel around.
Winnie was introduced to Global Experience by a friend. She was in a homestay before she moved to her current homestay, Babbs' family in Centennial Park. To her, that family that she was staying with was an awful family. They didn't treat her good and made her had such a bad experience. She then contacted Global Experience and found the staff were very professional, friendly and helpful. She found GE understood her needs and now she happily settles in her 'lovely' new home. Winnie said that she would like to recommend GE to her friends and other agencies and she is hoping that GE can keep their standard and bring more good host families so that students can have memorable experiences during their stay in Australia.
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Change Your Habits; Change Your Life
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If you have tried to eliminate a bad habit, you know how difficult change can be. Your good intentions fall apart as you try to eliminate overeating, procrastinating, negative thinking or being disorganised. Too often, as you proceed toward your desired outcome, you bump into internal resistance.Here are five strategies to change a negative habit:1. Be awareIdentify a pattern of thinking, speaking, feeling or doing that interfere with your health, success and well being. A bad habit can be blaming yourself or others, worrying about your future, etc. 2. Stay motivatedUse imagery to promote change. Associate a pleasant, desirable outcome to the positive change you want.3. CommitYou need to develop a plan that is simple, easy steps to achieve your goal. Make sure it is specific, time oriented and realistic.4. Give up excusesDon't give into the old ways you sabotage yourself or the distractions life puts in your path.5. PersistStay focused and keep going until you remove all obstacles to changing a limited habit.When you are commited to improving yourself and your life, you will find ways to make the changes that lead to successful outcomes. Bad habits can be replaced with positive ones if you are willing to do the work. Become an agent of change; the rewards are endless. |
Working in Australia Fact Sheet - What is NOT OK at work? |
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1. Unpaid work trials are generally against the law - you should not be asked to work for free. You should be paid for all hours you work, including meetings or training and the time you spend opening and closing the business.
2. Not being given a pay slip - you should receive a pay slip within one day of being paid.
3. Having money taken out of your pay to cover customers who have left without paying if the registers are short.
4. Being sent home from work early - you should start and finish your shift at the rostered time no matter how busy or quiet it is, unless you and your employee agree otherwise.
 5. Receiving goods or services instead of pay.
6. Being pressured, forced or threatened to sign a workplace agreement.
7. Being sacked because you were sick or injured.
8. Being sacked because of your race, colour, sex, sexual preference, marital status, pregnancy or religion.
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Global Experience
Level 1, 141 York Street
Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
P: 02 9264 4022
F: 02 9264 9322
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