Eighteen students taking management courses in the College of Business Administration continued to take classes and explored Sydney, Australia, with side trips to New Zealand and Fiji between August 13 and August 27, 2005. J. Randall Martin, lecturer in the Management and International Business Department and coordinator of study abroad program, spent a year planning the trip.
Offered through the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), this first study-abroad trip to Australia was designed to expose students to a country known for its rich natural resources, its strong economic relationship with China, and its British roots—reflected in the language, food, and culture. All the study-abroad trips are based on the idea that learning about another culture while living in it deepens the academic experience for international business students.
Senior international business major Khabeer Mustapha, a veteran of study- abroad sojourns in Paris and Milan, thought the trip was “great.”
“The study abroad experiences are always good, but it was nice to be in an English-speaking country,” he said. “And the sights were really interesting.”
One such sight was the world famous Sydney Opera House. The students, none of whom had ever been to an opera, attended a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Despite its length, which can tax even opera buffs, they enjoyed it.
They also enjoyed their site visits, a standard feature of the study-abroad trips along with coursework and sight-seeing. This group spent an entire day touring small vineyards, where they got the flavor of the up and coming Australian wine industry.
Although the Australia junket was arduous—24 hours just to get there and back—and more expensive than any of the other short study-abroad opportunities, CIBER may offer it again.
“The August trip is a wild card,” Martin said. “Next year, we may go back to Australia or may go to Cape Town, South Africa.”
For information about the many study-abroad opportunities please visit https://business.fiu.edu/globiz/.
