With that out of the way, I'm gonna break it down a little different this time since we have a second dis-orientation type week PLUS the first week of classes. So the day by day breakdown of DLC life will be a bit shorter and then there will be a general part about classes here so far and then another just general feelings about Australia bit. If you don't feel like reading it all, here's the abridged version: It's been really fun, I'm taking really interesting classes, and I can already feel the time flying by so I need to get on the things I need and want to do ASAP.
Sunday, Day 7, saw most of the old DLCers moving back in. After having a week to the college to ourselves basically, it was kinda weird for us freshers to watch all of these people come in. And I'm sure it was weird for all of them to come in and see all these random new people living in the rooms that their friends lived in not so long ago. Again, it was another lazy day for me.
Day 8 was a bit more exciting. It was the first day of class, but seeing how I do not have any classes on Monday or Friday, it didn't really affect me. Monday night was the East Wing vs. West Wing vs. New Wing... er games. Before the competitions we had a mini floor party in our RA's room, which was nice. Seeing as at this point I didn't really know the people outside of the new freshers, it was nice to start to get to know the others. At the games East Wing, where I live, pretty much sucked and came in last(I think). But it was still a great time, and it was a lot of fun pre and post games.
Day 9 was a bit more relaxed after the events of Monday. It was trivia night, which was awesome. I love trivia. Except I kinda sucked for once. My team tied for 3rd so w00t.
Day 10 was a giant patriotic party at The Ranch, the club/bar I talked about in my last post. I decided not to go because 1. I didn't want to spend money and I knew I would because I have no will power and 2. I had a lot of work I needed to(and still need to) get done. I want to get as much done before Friday night so I can have the weekend off and not worry about much school work.
Day 11 is today. Uh, yesterday since it's after midnight here. Whatever. Tonight was ANOTHER patriotic party at the UBar. The UBar is the bar located on campus, since Macquarie is not a dry campus. It was actually pretty nice, except no one(including myself) really dressed up. And it was kinda empty and no one was dancing and the DJ was just alone doing his thing. You know those high school dances you went to(or put on in my case) where it actually looked nice and the DJ was good but no one was really there so it made the whole atmosphere feel kinda lame? That was basically how my first time at the UBar was. But I managed to get 2 vouches for free drinks. Free anything=good. Free drinks=amazing. So I didn't end up spending money, which is awesome since I don't really have a whole lot at the moment. I lied I bought a piece of pizza for $4 even though it was advertised as $2 but I was hungry so I was fine with it. Plus I had $5 bills and I need a $1 coin so I can do laundry. It all worked out.
Now tomorrow night should be a lot of fun. We're going into Sydney tomorrow night for a pub crawl. For obvious reasons I've never bar hopped or been on a pub crawl, so it's going to go down as another first. And I will probably end my streak of not spending money this week. Anyways, onto the scholarly bit.
I forgot to add a picture last time and I don't really have a picture that fits this time so here, have a pygmy hippo.
So I am taking 4 classes here at Macquarie. History Since 1945: An Australian Perspective, Introducing Indigenous Studies, Myth in the Ancient World, and Ancient Egyptian Religion. Each class is worth 3 credits here, but there is a good chance that some will come back as 4 or even 5 credits so that's a plus. See, the classes here at Macquarie are set up a bit different than back at ASU. Each class is split up into Lectures and Tutorials. You have 1-2 lectures a week, sometimes even online. You then have 1 tutorial a week, where the class is smaller and you discuss what's going on in lectures and talk about your assignments for the class. So even though I have 4 classes, I go to more than a couple lectures during the week. There is a good chance I can bring back all A's in these classes, but that depends on how well my studiousness translates to Australian university expectations. I only have class on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Which is awesome. This would give me awesome opportunities to travel, if I had the money to do so. But I'll talk about that soon.
Since I am new here, I had no idea where anything was. It doesn't help that all the buildings are labeled like W6A and E4B instead of simple names. I've gotten lost quite a few times. And I have three classes in this building way out on the far end of campus. Luckily two of them are back to back, so it isn't too bad.
So far all my classes seem really interesting. I think part of that has to do with the fact I can't really find any of these classes back home at ASU. Of the four classes, three are 100 level classes and one is a 300 level class. Here the university system is done in 3 years, so my Ancient Egyptian Religion class is equivalent to a 400 level class at ASU. That class is gonna be a bit more difficult since I have no real background in Egyptian history, but I'm gonna give it my best. Hopefully my keen eye for analyzing, synthesizing, and understanding history will pull me through. I only had to spend around $150 on textbooks. I was expecting at least double that, so I was pleasantly surprised. Each class only has 3 assignments/tests throughout the semester, and that makes up your overall grade. It doesn't sound too hard since I'm usually pretty good at papers and decent on tests. The hard bit will deal with scheduling when I turn them in. A bunch of the assignments I can do at different times during the semester, so I gotta coordinate them to make sure I make the best use of my time and make sure I have plenty of time to focus on my major essays latter on in the semester. So there isn't a whole lot to say quite yet about class. But do expect to see a lot more talk of school here, since I am STUDYING abroad (technically I'm not a StudyAbroad student I'm a Student Exchange student but I'm not one to argue semantics. Well, most of the time).
So now for segment of the show/blog where I talk just about random things not really related to DLC/Student life. As I continue to adjust, I'm still finding those little differences between here and the States. Like the food. It's not totally different and out there, but it's not the same. Like it's not like we're eating koalas and wallabies, but things like chicken are cooked and put in sauces that I haven't had before. And if you know me you know I'm an extremely picky eater. But I'm proud to say that I've been trying everything offered, and I have only really disliked a few dishes. That's an accomplishment right there. And it seems that the people here are a lot more laid back and relaxed. Although, I'm not quite sure if that's coming from my actual experiences and interactions here or because that's part of the pre-conceived notion I came into this with based on stereotypes.
I also really need a job. Preferably on campus. I haven't really had time to go in and talk to Career Services, but I plan to tomorrow. All of my work experience comes from working on campus at ASU or at Sierra Linda High School. I don't have any working at a fast food place, a retail store, or a restaurant. I don't have any of those skills needed to get hired. And it doesn't help that I kinda have issues with pride and being in control. It makes me extremely uncomfortable to just walk up to places and ask if they have any openings or if they are hiring. To me it kinda feels like I'm putting my life into others hands and that I have to go and beg for something, which I HATE doing. But its something I need to get over because if I don't get a job soon, I don't know what I will do. And it's not just because I want money to go out, I want money so I can travel.
It's now August, and I leave here in December. To me, that sounds and feels like no time at all. I only have about 7 weeks until the Mid-Semester break, and I don't have someplace to live during that time so I NEED to go out and travel. But I need to figure out where I want to go and what I want to do, how I'm going to get there, who I can go with. And then not to mention figuring out how and what do do in December after the semester is done. I mean, it's looking like my decision to wait to book a return flight home until I knew what I was gonna do is gonna bite me in the ass. As of know, flights back home will be between $1500-$2000 dollars. Yikes. So if you happen to be reading this and you need someone to work for you and you are around the area of Macquarie University hit a brother up.
PS- In case you didn't get it the post title is referencing the fact we're kinda having another orientation this week at DLC and I feel like a freshman all over again at a new campus.
PPS- Have you seen some of the ads that appear on my blog? It's not on this page but go to the main page and you will see it. Some of them are hilarious. One I'm looking at right now is advertising beautiful Chinese women.
