O Week

7.21.10

Well,

I am finally done with orientation. It was only three days and it was nowhere near as intense as DU’s 8am-10pm Discoveries week…thank goodness! I have a couple international welcomes and required lectures about the school and about Australian culture. The first one was kind of boring but necessary telling all the international students what “O Week” (Orientation week) is and how to enroll in classes and how to find out what the events for the week were. The next one was the official welcome but the vice chancellor of the Uni (university) and some other department heads and speakers. Again, they told us about enrolling and how to find out the events of O Week. Then there was a break for morning tea. That was followed by a special lecture for study abroad and exchange students. This is where I learned about Tim Tam Explosions, which are supposed to be amazing, I didn’t get to try it, and about how to get cheap flights for when I travel the rest of the country. Then it was time for the BBQ. The next session I went to was “Safety Down Under.” This was entertaining. They talked about how to be safe on campus, at the beach, where not to go late at night, what animals are around and what to do if for some reason we encounter them, and we got lots of phone numbers and contacts for poison control or emergency help. Then I went to an “Exams at UQ” lecture that was super boring and unhelpful. Then I went to a “Learn to Enroll and Read Your Timetable” session which was the shortest and most helpful session I have gone to all week. I think I finally figured out my schedule which I will list later. And lastly, I went to the Bachelor of Creative Arts session which I thought was going to be more talking about the music school, based on the description that talked about the head of the music school coming to talk, but it was worthless to me since I will only be here for a semester.

Around King’s, more people are showing up and I am meeting more Australian’s. The kitchen staff is amazing and the nicest most talkative people I have met. I finally tried vegemite! It looks like chocolate frosting and when I initially tried it, that’s what I thought it was and was sorely mistaken. Then I was shown the proper way to eat it and am still not a fan. I tried it and that was one of my goals checked off. I have met a couple more Americans, a guy from Pakistan, a guy from Seoul-South Korea, and many more Australians since the QUT guys are back from break. The meals are slowly getting better as more people arrive. I am told that by this weekend, everyone will be back and that means about 200 people in the College. The lady that works at the front desk, Sue, is awesome. If I need anything, she knows who to talk to and/or where to get it. It has been very nice having a resource like that.

I have slowly been talking to the DU girls a bit more and we are heading to the city for lunch tomorrow and hopefully the koala sanctuary this Friday! I am really excited for that. This weekend I will also hopefully make it to either the Gold Coast or the Sunshine Coast. But we will have to wait and see.

So my class schedule is tentatively:

Monday:

World Religions Lecture 10-12

World Religions Tutorial 12-1

Tuesday:

Marine Environment 1-2

Wednesday:

The Supernatural Lecture 10-12

The Supernatural Tutorial 12-1

Marine Environment 1-2

Thursday:

Marine Environment 1-2

And then depending on which ensemble I get into, I will have rehearsal either Tuesday night or Thursday night.

I have posted pictures on my Facebook page in the Album called Aussieland!