Officially "Studying" Abroad

I have made it through my first week of classes! The educational system here is a lot different than at home. I only have the lecture class once a week for two hours but then there is a tutorial or lab along with each class and that is at a different time, and sometimes day, from the lecture portion. So instead of having a certain class every Monday, Wednesday, Friday (or Tuesday, Thursday); I have it three hours a week divided between two subsections. I've decided I like this better. The tutorials only have about seven or eight people in each and that's where you really get into the heart of the information. The labs are strictly for additional assignments structured around twenty people instead of seventy.

My favorite class is, and will be, Buddhist Philosophy. I was made for this class. My professor comes in full garb and the fact that she has to use a cane--since she has bad knees--makes her demeanor that much cooler. I want to be best friends with her. She has an almost-shaven head--which shows her commitment--and is probably one of the wisest---if not thee--wisest person I've ever met. And I've only interacted with her through class! She's witty and full of wisdom. And she's from the Midwest--Cincinnati actually!--so we're pretty much friends already; I hope she knows it. Apart from having a phenomenal professor, I'm so interested in Buddhism. We dabbled in it during senior year of high school but that was back when I was just memorizing my way through for the test and all I wanted was the next day to come. Although I still do that memorizing for tests business, that isn't the case when something really interests me. I enjoy the readings and lectures; I look forward to my Mondays now.

My other classes, seemingly insignificant to me now, are: Australian Popular Culture; Love, Sex, and Relationships; and Biological Psychology. They may not trump Buddhism but I still enjoy them. Biological Psychology is going to give me a run for my money but I really can't complain considering I lucked out with (hopefully) only having that one be my hard class. Australian Pop Culture will be a treat in of itself because I'll actually learn about the places I'll be traveling to, or traveled to, so I won't just see a majestic landscape; I'll know the story behind it as well. And within my class of about fifty or sixty people, only one person is from France and the rest are Americans! Love, Sex, and Relationships will obviously be a fun class and a lot of my friends are in it as well.

Aside from the class subsections, the grading is also really rigid. 50% is passing because of the such high distinction. And the average here would be a 74%. In order to get high distinction--equivalent to our letter grade, "A"--one would have to have something so profoundly written, that it could be submitted for an academic article. I guess I'll have to concede on my straight A's streak and settle for my passing marks. Totally okay with it. There really aren't little assignments either. In most of the classes, there's a huge paper, a midterm and then your final. My Bio Psych class only has two grades: 2500 word essay worth 35% of my grade, and then the final worth 60% of my grade (5% attendance). Pray for me people.

The weather has still been lovely and someone said the other day that it hasn't rained in about 60 days. I hope I didn't just jinx it. The lagoon that is hooked up with the ocean (you know, the one with the bull sharks in it) apparently floods when it rains a lot at one time. So, I really hope that I get to experience that at least one time here. The Australian Bondies claim it's one of the coolest things to see.

This week wasn't all classes, I did have some fun Wednesday night when a bunch of us went to a nightclub in Surfer's Paradise where the baseball team was having a fundraiser. It was a sporty theme so of course I was all about it because I could wear my running gear!

There was a free bus there and we were in the nightclub no more than two minutes and all of us had hit the dance floor. But after only a couple hours, my dancing legs got tired! The return bus was coming at 3AM and there was no way we were all able to make it to that time. We ventured to a bus stop only to realize when one came, that three guys were missing. So, Katie--being the great friend and wonderful person she is--decided she wasn't going to leave without them; all of them go to SLU with her. Me, being the great friend I am to Katie, didn't want to leave her alone. So we watched everyone board the bus while we sat to try and figure out where the three guys were. Our friend Pat stayed behind with us, too. Phone call after phone call, it was a lost cause (pun intended) as to where they were. Mind you, we're only wearing what we are in the picture above and it dips down to be about 62 degrees at night. Finally, another one of our friends Cody shows up and he miraculously gets them to the bus stop. But the next bus that comes is the wrong one. We find this out after getting a 10 minute lecture on how you have to enter the front of the bus, not the side like I did. I was only trying to hide Katie because she didn't have any money! My bad, Mr. Bus Driver.

Now, wait 15 more minutes for the next bus to supposedly come, but we weren't even sure if it was the right one for us. After 25 minutes, I couldn't wait any longer and suggested the people who lived on campus to just take a cab. So, them all feeling sorry because I was cold, testy, and wanted my bed, obliged and we hopped in a cab. We had to make a pit stop at beach housing first to pick up two people but then by 1AM, I was finally in bed. My fun of dancing prior outweighed my frustration with the end of the night so all in all, I'd say my first night out on a Wednesday night was a success. WHO AM I?!