today's classes so far have been way less awesome. i'm taking 2 bio classes and a chem class. getting used to the structure of australian schools is going to take a bit of getting used to. i'm not sure whether it's australian schools or big schools that are different from what i've experienced in the past, but it's way more self-led learning. my chem class has 1100 students in it... but "only" 450 in my section. it also has 35 lab sections! it's going to be a bit difficult because i was supposed to have taken another chem class during semester one that leads into the one i'm taking now. obviously i wasn't here semester one and i can't wait until next year to take this class, so i'm going to be playing catch up for most of the semester.
my bio class i had this morning is a little smaller... 350 students. i have another bio class this afternoon but have no idea what that's going to be like. the main problem with my bio classes is i was supposed to take one of them last semester and one this semester. instead, i'm taking them both at once. one of them assumes you've taken the other... and i will be in the process of learning things that i'm supposed to know already. ahh!
lectures are a little weird here. first of all, you can buy lecture notes at the bookstore. they cover all the powerpoints for the entire semester. also, instead of assigning you certain chapters to read for each lecture, they basically just tell you to read the entire book sometime before the midterm/final. instead of having lecture MWF from 1-2 or something every week, lectures are held at really weird, inconsistent times. it'll be held like tuesday 9-10 in building A, wednesday 1-2 in building B and friday 10-11 in building C. it's a little confusing. i'm pretty sure i'll have to carry my schedule/where all my classes are with me all semester.
labs should also be interesting. my chem class is so big that we only have labs every other week... whooo! in one of my bio classes, we're required to actually run the lab for our entire section once during the semester. we're graded on how well we teach the concepts/get kids through the lab... even though we'll have never actually done it ourselves. joy. and from looking at info on the website, my other bio labs are half done online.
i already can't wait until next year when i can start taking more specialized classes. this semester is really just full of necessary evils to get me to that point.
i haven't experienced too much culture shock yet, just class shock. everyone is super friendly (plus i lOvE the accent) and there are so many americans that it doesn't really feel much different. the main exception would be the fact that guys wear teeny tiny shorts and uggs. i may never get used to that. there's also the fact that everything here is SO. EXPENSIVE! too bad the exchange rate's not better! we have a formal dinner coming up for our college and all the girls have to wear cocktail dresses... dianne and i went shopping at a nearby mall and did not find a single dress for less than $90. i'm not even exaggerating. plus, dresses here are TINY! we stood in nearly every store and looked at half the "dresses" debating whether they were actually dresses or whether they were tank tops. we actually had to ask a couple times. they were dresses.
the uni is similar to an airline... seems pretty reasonable when you first sign up, but then they charge you for all the little extra things until you're bankrupt. you have to pay for internet based on how much you use it/how much you download... but all of the class information is online and i have to download all of my class readings, so i have to use it a lot. then they charge you to print things (which is reasonable) but it's going to cost me $25+/week just to print off one class's readings! you have to be a member of the bookstore co-op, which is an additional membership fee. you have to pay to take the bus... you get a discount but when you first get your "go-card," you're charged an additional fee because you're a student eventually getting discounts. it's totally ridiculous. sigh. goodbye money to travel the country, hello purchased internet so i can read my class assignments.
the past 24 hours have made me a bit cranky, but i think once i get into more of a schedule, things will be fine.
as for the fun things, i started yesterday morning off with a run along the lakes on campus and then the river. there's a dirt trail that runs alongside the river, so i ran on that and watched the sun rise in the process :) i also ran past the netball courts! haha, totally made me miss africa. hopefully i'll manage to get my butt out of bed with quite a bit of frequency so i can experience that more... and so i can wear previously mentioned tiny dresses! i definitely need to get into the habit of running/walking on the LEFT side of the sidewalks. i run into 3-4 people daily before i remember, "oh yeah. the right side is the wrong side here." yesterday i nearly got trampled by a middle school cross country team as i was running by the river.
tomorrow is market day, where all the clubs and sports teams have little stands and you can sign up for things you're interested in. i'm super excited because it'll be nice to meet even more people. plus, there are parties all week to kick off the first week of classes! haha tonight i believe we're going to the "down under" bar in the city for ladies night. friday night there's a big college party held at cromwell (another college) and apparently the entire college community + heaps of the uni students attend. the theme is "into the jungle" so i better start planning a costume :)
time for lunch and then i have to begin mentally preparing myself for my other bio class!
so have you been to a place like this? to see your breath as it paints against the sky. the fever is near. i wish you were here. i'm thinking ambitious. i've got this feeling things will be alright. --umbrellas
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