Hello Koala lovers,
When I left you last, I was almost done with O week and almost at a point that I was getting accustomed to waking up at 6 am. This was not my brightest moment. Now, I am a week into uni (university/ college as they say in Australia) and have just returned from Australia's largest city, Sydney.
Firstly, my Academic week at UQ was much different than Dickinson. My first lecture was in a theater hall filled with 450 other students. Compared with my biggest lecture from the states of 50, you can imagine that it took me a while to get used to being such a small percentage of the class. Most of the classes are split up into a 2 or 3 hour lecture and a 1 or 2 hour tutorial for the week. Lectures to convey the information and tutorials to put it into action. While this system is different than what I am used to, it makes some sense. I was lucky and got a schedule that keeps my Monday mornings free and my Fridays completely free. I am taking 4 classes, as is usual for study abroad students: Psychopathology, Aussie History, Marine Biology, and Social and Organisational Psychology (yes, they spell it wrong here). The classes don't seem too far off par with Dickinson at this point, but I will need to keep up with the assignments and not let them pile up on me. Most of the classes only have a few if not only 2 assignments for the semester, so attention to detail will be critical. Books are also very expensive here, much like Dickinson, so I will be figuring out which ones I need and which ones I can read in the Library soon enough. I am especially excited for the Marine Bio class, because there are two Dickinson paid for trips to Heron Island and Moreton Bay, where we will get to hang out in the ocean and do some research amidst the coral.
After this first week of classes finished, Dickinson students left at 6 am on a Maxi Taxi to the Brisbane airport to catch a flight to Sydney. When we arrived, we were disappointed to find that the weather was not all that desirable; rainy and overcast. The walking tour through different parts of Sydney and lunch in the park could have been better had the sun cooperated, but we made it fun in our own ways by playing on the playgrounds and huddling under umbrellas.
We did actually see a lot of cool scenic look outs that Sydney had to offer as well as the bustle of the city. Some were happier than others to be wearing bright blue (obviously tourist) ponchos.
We saw a lot of the old architecture of Sydney and our tour guide, Ross Alexander, told us of the history of the city and of Australia, especially Australia's relationship with the United States. It is very fascinating how the country started with convicts and also has a large aboriginal population. I will certainly find out more in my Aussie History course.
On Saturday night, we all went out to take part in the culmination of 2 weeks of a festival known as Mardi Gras. It is a bit different that in the United States. The focus in Australia is on Gay and Lesbian culture and the night was filled with a lot of culture. I think everyone enjoyed getting out on the town as a group and having some fun in Sydney.
Finally on Sunday, the weather cleared up and provided us a great day for touring the Sydney Opera House and the surrounding city. It was much better to see it in person compared with tv. I would love to go to some performance there but that would require quite a large sum of money. Probably worth it but man...
Not sure these pictures do the place justice but here you go.
I didn't get a bad sunburn, so all in all, the trip was a great success. Now off to a Cromwell meeting and a new week of classes.
Cheers,
Serenity
One of which was this past weekend. I, as well as 20 or so other students in the class, went up to Moreton Bay on North Stradbroke Island. This trip was focused on the shore and the tidal factors affecting the different organisms in the area. We caught a bunch of fish with a huge net. My group specifically looked at the shell selection behavior in hermit crabs. We didn't get significant results but we quickly realized that empty shells to use as potential new shells for the crabs were hard to find. While the trip was fun, there was more work and research that I expected. I suppose it was a research trip so it makes sense. But also while we were there Nick Rapp and I mastered the art of throwing boomerangs. It started out very slowly and with a lot of shameful chasing of boomerangs that didn't turn back, but soon developed into a two man game of 500. So much fun, even when we got the boomerang stuck in a tree and had to throw rocks at it to get it down (which we did after 15 or so minutes). 
