An ukulele and a bit of courage

Hey Mates! My name is Rike, 21 years old, from Germany and my biggest problem here in Sydney is teaching this name to every new person I meet. I know it´s hard, but obviously, my parents didn´t think about me going international someday.

On the other side of the world, everyone dreams about travelling to Down Under one day and so did I. However, fortunately, I can stop dreaming, because I´m finally here and I´ll stay for breathtaking three months. I started my internship at Eastside radio just yesterday and I´m very excited about working at an Australian broadcasting service, because I´ve only gained experiences at a German radio station so far.

At home, I study journalism at major and additionally I´ve had two jobs for almost two and a half years to earn enough money for my big trip. I´ve seen a lot of places in the world, but I´ve never been this far away from home.

I have to admit, that it took me a lot of courage to come here, just because it was not easy to prepare such a big journey all by myself. Things are so exciting, but also so different here. Just a few examples: I´m so used to right-hand traffic, that I still always choose the wrong door if I want to get in a car in Australia. Furthermore, I was excited about the rent being so cheap in Sydney, until I realized that it´s actually per week and not per month like in Germany.

At home I usually hang out with my friends, work out, get some food (such an addiction) and of course I listen to music. I´m one of those undetermined I-love-every-kind-of-music people. It doesn´t matter if it´s Rihanna, Simple Plan, Ed Sheeran, Blink 182 or typical German techno: if it´s got a good melody and rhythm, I can listen to it permanently.

I´ll show you the song, which is on top of my playlist. It´s catchy and I love the message.

But I do not only listen to music, Since I weren´t able to bring my guitar to Sydney, my mom bought me a sweet ukulele and now I practice at the beach almost every day.

I hope to have a wonderful time here and I enjoy every second of being part of this huge city and the Eastside community!