Uni & Classes

Before I begin a long entry about my first week of classes, I have a fun fact for everyone. Fun Fact #1- Australians do not bump & grind. Yep, that's it. Dancing here is difficult and weird.

I can officially say that I am back in school, and I have never been happier. Uni here is different. Let me explain. Classes are broken up into lectures and tutorials. Lectures are, you guessed, just like in the states. Most classes have 2 hours of lectures per week, but one of my classes only has 1 hour. Then you have tutorials, which are smaller group sessions where you discuss the readings for the week. Tutorials did not start this week, but I do have a bunch of reading to get started on. All in all, I do not hate my schedule yet. I do have a lot of awkward breaks. I just usual bring a book and my iPod and find a spot around campus to sit and read. I am falling in love with our campus more and more.

I am taking four classes, just like at IWU. Australian Theatre, Film & Learning; Land & Nation; Reality, Ethics, % Beauty; and American Literature. My theatre class is going to be awesome; it is an education class. We get to go see performances and such. Plus the teacher is a good looking Aussie man. Can't beat that! Although, I do find it extremely difficult to look past the accent and focus on what he is saying during lectures. Oooooops. The first day of Land & Nation scared me because I despise history courses. But then the second day I realized EVERYTHING I was learning was new to me. I really know nothing about Australian history. I am nervous about the debates later in the semester. As for Reality, Ethics & Beauty, I would never be taking this class if I didn't still need an AV gen ed at school. I may struggle a bit because I am not a philosopher of any kind, but I think if I work hard it will pay off. And finally, American Literature wasn't my first choice for a LIT class. I wanted to take Australian Literature but then it was no longer being offered. I do think it will be interesting to read the books and have them talked about from an Australian perspective. And I like that we are actually reading things that I have not read before, minus The Great Gatsby.

My first day on campus was OVERWHELMING. Uni has sooooooo many more students than IWU. It didn't really hit me until I saw everyone walking around that first day. I'm adjusting to it now, but it is still a very large change for me. Also, most of my classes have upwards of 100 people in my lectures. I've never been in a class of more than 30. I just keep telling myself that this is what I wanted. I don't hate it; just have to get used to it.

What else? Angelica wants me to go blonde. I found a place on campus that serves bubble tea; only boba is called pearls here. But tea is way cheaper than coffee, so that is my new obsession. Oh, we officially have all of our flatmates. Stephanie is a redhead too. 3 out of 5 of us are redheads. Coincidence? I think not. Totally planned. However, we still have a mound of junk that is not ours. We will be going through it and taking what we want and throwing the rest away soon.

It's been raining a lot here. Boo.