Ursa As is a 32-year-old student from Slovenia, studying a Certificate III Commercial Cookery.

What are the main differences between your home city and Darwin?
The main differences between my city which is Ljubljana and Darwin is the weather, no traffic and that Ljubljana is an old city with rich history.

Have you ever lived away from home before your study in Darwin?
No. This is my first time living away from home. I travel a lot but this is my first time to actually live in a different country.

What did you miss most from home during your study?
My cats, friends, family and food.

What activities did you do outside of school?
I normally spent time at home playing with my dog, gardening, cooking and sometimes we went on road trips to national parks.

Why did you choose to study in Darwin?
I came to Darwin to visit a friend and I fell in love with the place and decided to study and live here.

What friends have you made since moving to Darwin?
I met a lot of friends since I moved to Darwin. They are from Germany, Spain, France, Japan, Korea and more.

What is your favourite thing about living in Darwin?
People. Warm Weather.

Did you have any hospitality work experience before starting with ICAE? If yes, how has the curriculum at ICAE helped expand on this?
Yes I was working in a French pastry shop in Slovenia for 6 months and I also studied food technology back home. The course helped me broaden my knowledge in the culinary industry.

Did you work while you were studying at ICAE?
I worked at Petra’s Cake. It’s a family owned cake business supplying cakes to different shops and cafes in Darwin.

What is the most interesting and enjoyable part of working in the hospitality industry?
One thing that I enjoyed the most is I get to do something that I love which is cooking and I love food.

What was your favourite part of the course?
My favourite part was the practical stuff, like cooking and learning different cuisines.

What advice would you give future students?
Work hard and have fun.

Tell us about a funny experience or story that happened during your arrival or since you have been in Darwin?
There was a frog on my toilet and it’s something that we don’t have back home.