First day of classes!

23.2

Today was my first day of classes. I had my 2 environmental science classes and my math class. One girl from college is in my first environmental science class, and a guy from college is in my math class. I think I will really enjoy my environmental science classes. They are all about the Australian environment and the interactions between people and the environment from an Australian perspective. Australia is very interesting. The northern area is tropical (Queensland) and is experiencing severe flooding. The southern area (Victoria) is temperate and is experiencing a severe drought with dangerous bush fires.

The lecture halls are very large. There are probably a hundred plus people in my two environmental science classes, but only about 30-40 in my math class. I have not had archaeology yet. I do not have anything on Fridays! Yay! Although my schedule is quite busy the rest of the week.

Monday, I have class 9-12 which is not bad at all. Tuesday I have class 9-11, 12-2 (no lunch!), 5-6. Wednesday is 10-12, 1-3. Thursday is not very fun; 10-11, 12-3 (no lunch again!), 5-6.

Here are some things I have learned from my first day/first reading assignment. The dingo is not native to Australia. It was brought over about 3000 years ago. 93% of frogs and 89% of reptiles are unique to Australia (they do not exist anywhere else in the world). Australia is the 6^th largest country in the world, and it is the only one to cover an entire continent.

I am playing (field) hockey, cricket, and tennis (maybe) for Ursies this term (first half of the semester). I have been told repeatedly that I will be coaching softball next term (last half of the semester). Unfortunately, volleyball is next semester. They cannot get even 6 girls to play, which makes me sad. There is no softball field! It is just a large grass field!! I wanted to cry when I found out. Oh well, it will still be fun.

I still have not taken any pictures of campus/Canberra, but I will. Eventually.

O-week!

Hey all! Sorry it has been so long since I have posted here. This week has been wicked busy. I have walked all over the place, stayed out late, danced all day and all night, watched movies, eaten gelato, and made new friends.

Yesterday, I went lawn bowling (it is similar to bocce, but is slightly different). You roll a white ball called a jack down to the other end of the field, then bowl (roll your ball) after it. There is a certain way to hold the balls, and it is not very easy. I really enjoyed it though. In the afternoon, I went paddle boating in the lake, although it is closed because of blue-green algae. Everyone ended up soaked, some people went swimming (I stayed in the boat). I have a nice large, swollen bruise on my knee from that. It is quite amusing telling people I had a paddle boating accident. Someone jumped off our boat, which made us unbalanced, then my friend fell on top of me and I landed on the pedals. I was lucky I didn't fall face first into the water!

Today, we had a scavenger hunt, and each block (section of the building) competed against each other to take pictures of landmarks in the area. It was a lot of fun! We ended with a bbq, and a dance. Tonight, I will go disco bowling (bowling in disco clothes). Tomorrow, I am going to the beach, although we have to be up by 8am! Monday, my classes will start. It feels weird having to go to class after 2 weeks of hanging out and having fun, with nothing really important to do.

More pictures!

 

Here are more pictures from the zoo, as well as the video of the penguins!!!! :-D

I am having a lot of fun here.  I am now at the ANU, and today I enrolled in classes!  I will be taking two environmental science classes about Australia, Archaeology, and a math class (I had to make this trip look legitimate).

I have met lots of cool people from all over the world.  Everyone is very nice.  The weather has cooled off significantly from 40C.  Today and yesterday it has not hit 20C.  It is very odd weather here.  I have heard that it will warm up some this weekend.

Here are some pictures I took at the zoo in Sydney.  Kangaroos and Tasmanian devils!

Sorry for taking so long to update this!

7.2.2009

Today, I moved into my dorm on the ANU campus. It is called Ursula Hall, and it is a residential college with a dining room attached. My room is pretty nice. It is not too small, it has a wash basin, it is fully carpeted, and it has a large closet. Since I do not have a lot of stuff, it seems like the room is huge. I have a whole shelf that is empty, and half of the closet has only my luggage in it.

This morning I got up at 5.45 to see the sunrise on the beach. It was beautiful.

My flight from Sydney to Canberra was only 35 or so minutes long (I fell asleep, so I don’t know exactly how long it was), but the flight was delayed an hour. When I got to the Canberra airport, there was someone from ANU there to meet me and bring me to campus. I sat shotgun in the car, which was the left seat. It was a little strange to be sitting in that seat and not be driving. I am still not completely used to people driving on the left side of the road.

I went surfing

Hello again!

Today, I went surfing. I actually stood up and rode 2 waves to shore. I stood up several other times, but promptly fell off. It was a lot of fun, and I hope to do it again. There were jelly fish in the water as well, but I did not get stung. They were small and easy to avoid.