St. George Down Under

First Day of Classes and Absinthe

February 23, 2009 at 8:49 pm (Uncategorized)

Well, today was my first day of class. I had class at 11, so I woke up around 9 to get ready, which was WAAAy early for me. I’ve been gettin’ to bed at around 3 and 4am and waking up at around noon, so it was quite a shock to the body. At first I had Drugs Across Cultures, an interesting class that will cover legal and illegal usage of drugs in different cultures. It was in a brand-new auditorium that had about 200-300 students in it. The university is pretty dang high-tech, the lectures are both audio-taped and video-taped, then streamed on the internet. It’s pretty sweet, and pretty darn lucky for me, because I have to leave halfway through that class to get to my next class, Biology 114.

Biology was pretty cool as well, but kinda boring because I think its gonna be similar to AP/IB Bio. It was mostly full of first-year students. I sat next to two girls, and by the end of the class was friends with them! Directly next to me was an Australian named Mona (actually Iranian, moved here when she was 4) and a 22yr old named Robin, from Bondi. She had been nursing for a while (I mentioned you, Nick) but got tired of it, and felt the need to head to school. After that I had lunch with Robin and her new friend, as well as my relatively new friend Joanne. It was over 80 degrees, we were sitting in the sun, and the sweat was just poring off of me. Crazy, such a contrast from two weeks ago!

Joanne and I headed to the Mac Centre to get some school supplies, then I went back to campus to head to my Critical Thinking class that I had in the same room as Drugs Across Cultures. I had this class with Ryan, and it was nice to see him there.

During my little lunch break I perused the courtyard, where a few hundred booths were set up that housed representatives from school groups, religious organizations, and businesses. I got a flier and signed up for the Macquarie Ultimate Frisbee team, and I’ve gotten kinda excited about that, actually. I need to exercise, but just running for running really doesn’t do it for me. And I actually kinda DO love the sport of ultimate. Tryouts, or workouts or whatever, is on Thursday at 4. I thought about bringing my cleats, but said no to that idea; now I’m regretting it. Now I’m trying to figure out whether it would be more cost effective to ship my cleats or buy new ones…the only catch is that they don’t play American Football here, and football cleats are the best for ultimate, in my humble opinion. Ryan’s also interested, so it should be fun!

Critical Thinking was pretty boring, not sure if its cause it was 3-4pm and I was tired, or whether the material was boring. Classes here are much more independent back in the states, with very little homework, just reading, and big exams and papers. We were also told that class is supposed to be much harder than in the states…however to get the equivalent of an A all I need to get is 75% or more, i believe. 

After class I just came back here, chatted with a few peeps, skyped the parents and said happy birthday to mom, then watched a bunch of videos of Conan O’Brien. I love that man’s humor, so freakin’ funny. Went on a run, and ended up doing more of exploring neighborhoods and parks and such, it was pretty fun. There are so many different kinds of beautiful, bright birds here, just randomly on the ground and flying, as well as A TON of rabbits hoppin’ around. I came upon a group of them today, it was pretty cool to see em all, bout 4-6 of em. I was too slow to get some for stew tho… ;(. 

Just had a great sandwich for dinner, finished watching Desperate Housewives with Jennya, and now I’m just chillin…

Oh, I forgot to mention kinda a highlight of friday nite. As I was at the bar getting some water I saw a guy next to me getting shots of Absinthe. WHOA! It was bright green, looked beautiful, and greatly intrigued me. Can somebody tell me why its illegal in America? I’m not trying to start a discussion or argument, i really don’t know. I think its thought to have hallucinogenic properties, idk. I’d kinda like to try it, see what its all about. It is legal here, so I’m thinkin it can’t hurt you too much….Oh, and I haven’t found cuban cigars yet, that can be my next little escapade. Alright, I’m out. School starts at 2 for me tomorrow…YEAH!

—-THIS ADDED AFTER ORIGINAL POST–Apparently as of 2007 it is now legal to purchase Absinthe in the U.S.A. Thanks wikipedia!