Where was I...?
Friday, July 20th --
I had to make my sad farewells to all my newfound friends from my Welcome Week. After a a surprisingly sweltering -- remember it's "winter" here -- walk from Uni to our place at UniLodge (one of the accommodation options for students attending the school), my roommate Mark and I worked on making our apartment a home.
How does one go about doing this you ask? Well of course about two dozen trips to Big W. Big W is a poor man's Walmart, definitely great deals, but still lacking in selection in some areas. Did you know they don't have dryer sheets here? How annoying is that?! And don't even get me started on the lack of Crystal Lite.
To be honest with you, from July 20 to July 28, not a lot happened.
Mark and I did our best as amateur chefs, even making some pretty good looking meals. It's been a lot of simple cooking, but we do okay, especially compared to some of our friends here.
Internet sucks here. It's really expensive and you don't get a lot. So if you're looking to Skype, have patience, I'm searching for alternatives. Living at a Starbucks is the running, so yeah, it's bad. I could rant on this for a while, but in a cruel twist of fate, the internet would likely kick me off having consumed my daily limit.
I joined a few clubs. Nothing special. Truth be told, they lacked the variety that BC had. Odd.
CAKE -- a baking club. Get at me, cookies.
Poker -- sounds like a chill way to get to know people
Chocolate Lovers' Society -- need I say more?
MUSEX -- the obligatory club for all exchange students. Basically, they set up events for internationals
One semi-confusing tid-bit: the terminology used here can leave you bamboozled (no, they don't say that here, but I really wanted to start a bit of a comeback with a few words. Baby steps)
Cheers means just about everything from thank you to, well, cheers.
Football isn't football. It's not even football like in Europe. It's footy. So when I mention to an American friend that football season is only a few weeks away, an Australian passerby will correct me in saying that they're reach round 18 already.
There are plenty more to discuss, but that may merit it's own post in the future.
Okay, back to business. So my life...
I registered for classes, which was an adventure that occupied my attention up until about two hours ago -- it's a pretty terrible registration & enrollment process. Here, the full course load is four classes. For the curious, here's my schedule:
Aboriginalities -- a class dedicated to the study and discussion of issues of Australia's historical and present relationship with the indigenous people of the land. So it would seem, this relationship mirrors that of the sad tale lived out by Native Americans. I really wanted to take a class that taught me a bit about Australia's culture, so I'm hoping this subject can do the trick. This class may also happen to satisfy a core requirement at BC.
Making Movies 1 -- I've always loved movies, so this class was a no-brainer. Taught by a twenty-something independent director, this class has been pretty great so far. The class discusses techniques and supposedly makes you a film expert (so when I come back as a film snob wearing a beret and skinny jeans, blame this class). Also, it's a fine arts core fulfiller. Clutch.
Organizational Behavior -- also known as "organisational behaviour." The mandatory study-abroad CSOM (BC's business school) class. OB looks to be pretty standard, it certainly falls in line with lots of other management courses from years past: a group project, by the book definitions and a final exam worth too much. Only redeemable thing about it? The classroom.
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Sports Economics -- this one is really cool. Not only is it the first time the class has been offered, the professor coordinating the course is a complete wiz at this relatively niche field. I need to learn about cricket, which is an intimidating prospect. I love sports and I think applying concepts from economics to the study of sport is a really interesting idea. As one of maybe 5 Americans in the class, it'll be cool to be the residential expert on all things North American -- except NASCAR, 'cause that isn't actually a sport, obviously.
So yeah, that's my life right now. Classes started the 29th and I'm nearly through week 2 as we speak.
Are people reading this? If so, follow me on twitter (@DarnoldPalmer) for all kinds of zaney (another word I want to bring back) fun!
The week ahead:
-Going on a bar crawl this weekend (sorry Mom, I can drink here)
-Visiting the Footy stadiums and the Olympic training center
-Time allowing, trying to check out some beaches
Friday, July 20th --
I had to make my sad farewells to all my newfound friends from my Welcome Week. After a a surprisingly sweltering -- remember it's "winter" here -- walk from Uni to our place at UniLodge (one of the accommodation options for students attending the school), my roommate Mark and I worked on making our apartment a home.
How does one go about doing this you ask? Well of course about two dozen trips to Big W. Big W is a poor man's Walmart, definitely great deals, but still lacking in selection in some areas. Did you know they don't have dryer sheets here? How annoying is that?! And don't even get me started on the lack of Crystal Lite.
To be honest with you, from July 20 to July 28, not a lot happened.
Mark and I did our best as amateur chefs, even making some pretty good looking meals. It's been a lot of simple cooking, but we do okay, especially compared to some of our friends here.
Internet sucks here. It's really expensive and you don't get a lot. So if you're looking to Skype, have patience, I'm searching for alternatives. Living at a Starbucks is the running, so yeah, it's bad. I could rant on this for a while, but in a cruel twist of fate, the internet would likely kick me off having consumed my daily limit.
I joined a few clubs. Nothing special. Truth be told, they lacked the variety that BC had. Odd.
CAKE -- a baking club. Get at me, cookies.Poker -- sounds like a chill way to get to know people
Chocolate Lovers' Society -- need I say more?
MUSEX -- the obligatory club for all exchange students. Basically, they set up events for internationals
One semi-confusing tid-bit: the terminology used here can leave you bamboozled (no, they don't say that here, but I really wanted to start a bit of a comeback with a few words. Baby steps)
Cheers means just about everything from thank you to, well, cheers.
Football isn't football. It's not even football like in Europe. It's footy. So when I mention to an American friend that football season is only a few weeks away, an Australian passerby will correct me in saying that they're reach round 18 already.
There are plenty more to discuss, but that may merit it's own post in the future.
Okay, back to business. So my life...
I registered for classes, which was an adventure that occupied my attention up until about two hours ago -- it's a pretty terrible registration & enrollment process. Here, the full course load is four classes. For the curious, here's my schedule:
Aboriginalities -- a class dedicated to the study and discussion of issues of Australia's historical and present relationship with the indigenous people of the land. So it would seem, this relationship mirrors that of the sad tale lived out by Native Americans. I really wanted to take a class that taught me a bit about Australia's culture, so I'm hoping this subject can do the trick. This class may also happen to satisfy a core requirement at BC.Making Movies 1 -- I've always loved movies, so this class was a no-brainer. Taught by a twenty-something independent director, this class has been pretty great so far. The class discusses techniques and supposedly makes you a film expert (so when I come back as a film snob wearing a beret and skinny jeans, blame this class). Also, it's a fine arts core fulfiller. Clutch.
Organizational Behavior -- also known as "organisational behaviour." The mandatory study-abroad CSOM (BC's business school) class. OB looks to be pretty standard, it certainly falls in line with lots of other management courses from years past: a group project, by the book definitions and a final exam worth too much. Only redeemable thing about it? The classroom.
Sports Economics -- this one is really cool. Not only is it the first time the class has been offered, the professor coordinating the course is a complete wiz at this relatively niche field. I need to learn about cricket, which is an intimidating prospect. I love sports and I think applying concepts from economics to the study of sport is a really interesting idea. As one of maybe 5 Americans in the class, it'll be cool to be the residential expert on all things North American -- except NASCAR, 'cause that isn't actually a sport, obviously.
So yeah, that's my life right now. Classes started the 29th and I'm nearly through week 2 as we speak.
Are people reading this? If so, follow me on twitter (@DarnoldPalmer) for all kinds of zaney (another word I want to bring back) fun!
The week ahead:
-Going on a bar crawl this weekend (sorry Mom, I can drink here)
-Visiting the Footy stadiums and the Olympic training center
-Time allowing, trying to check out some beaches
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