Increasing the number of Iranian students in Australian universities

Australia has the third largest number of international students in the English-speaking world behind the USA and UK. Statistics revealed that there has been a significant increase over last year in the number of middle East countries from UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq and Jordan looking at Australia as a chosen destination for higher education.
Last week there was a "postgraduate welcome barbeque" in RMIT. It was as an orientation session for the new postgraduate students. In that ceremony I was surprised with meeting 10 new Iranian students. Due to Australian universities advertising in Iran, the number of Iranian students has increased in most of these universities. Although, this makes me happy to have more people from my home country, people in Iran should pay more attention to the economic issues in Australia. From last year till now, the universities tuition fee has increased up to 25%. Public transport's fare has increased at least 15% from last year till now. This inflation is not limited to these two items. It includes most of goods and services. Just have a look at "Australian Bureau of Statistics"

Muslims in Melbourne

It seems that multiculturalism is one of the common characteristics among English speaking countries. In their big cities you can find people from almost all over the world. This diversity makes them comfortable. In Melbourne, I have never felt that I am a forigner. It is interesting that "where are you from?" is the first question in establishing a conversation. There are few people who are originally from Australia.

Being as a muslim is not a problem here. There are many muslims from different countries. There is a big and very nice prayer room in the university. At first time, I was surprised when I couldn't find "Mohr" for praying in the prayer room. It is because most of muslims are Sunni. Some of them don't know anything about Shi'e. I remember that day which a Sumalian girl asked me "if you are muslim why you pray in a different way?". In festivals and ceremanies, the university provides Halal foods for muslims. People from different nationalities and religins live close to each other friendly and respect various beliefs. They have have special places and facilities to carry on their religious or national ceremonies. However, the important thing is that nobody can exceed from his/her borders and this is why all religions and cultures can survive without any problems.