Week 1

Cheers Mate!

Been having a fabulous week in Australia. First week of classes was surprisingly interesting for all the course info and introductions. It's wonderful taking classes outside the sciences. I really forgot how much I loved the humanities.

I'm finally settling into life here. As I walk around campus, I am beginning to feel at home. The adjustment from a college of 3,000 to one of 30,000 has been interesting. There are literally a sea of people trying to get to class every day. For me, it's even harder because everyone walks on the other side of the sidewalk. Not something I thought would be a huge deal, but I have bumped into many a confused person as I try to plow through on the wrong side. My classes all have 100 + people in them. Being the super nerd that I am (and having bad eyesight), I always sit toward the front so the classroom is only as big as the number of people in front of you right?

I am becoming more thankful for my apt location as it is within walking distance of campus. Many have to commute on buses and even trains to get to college... SO happy I'm only a short walk away. However, my ablility to attract semi-crazy roommates (think freshman year) still persists even on the other side of the world. Both my roommates are wonderful, lovely people and the three of us get along very well. However, Ari and I are from American, are undergrad students, and spend most of our time socializing and making friends. Our third roommate is from Singapore, getting her Masters, and never leaves the apt. Ari and I like to have people over to hang out or cook, which Mariah is not ok with. She is actually not comfortable with having people over... EVER. We have tried to compromise and even had some friends over in our garage... to no avail. Should be an interesting semester in that regard.

Something I find very interesting in Australia is the lack of college pride. My mom asked me to get her a shirt that says UQ on it, but I seriously don't know if those exist. No one wears anything that symbolizes their university. All students in Australia simply go to "Uni" rather than University of Queensland or QUT etc. Perhaps the consequence of a government funded higher education system?

Thats all for now folks. In short, I am really starting to love it here! Huzzah!