Updates, Classes, and Fire Alarms

Sorry for my recent inactivity... I just started class last Monday, and I've had a little bit of trouble keeping up with the blog. I know that I will at least make a post every Wednesday, since I have off that day. Wednesday really means Thursday for everyone that is reading in the States. Hopefully I'll be able to make more than one post a week though, I feel bad when I don't write in here for a while.

I keep telling myself that I'll do a ton of things once I "get settled in", but it still doesn't feel like I am. There is always laundry to do, food to buy, or homework to do... Very rarely am I just hanging out in my room. I suppose it's a good thing though, because it doesn't really leave me any time to be homesick. I still manage to feel a little homesick at times, but it's usually only at night when I am talking to friends online or writing emails.

Classes started last week, and I was a little nervous because I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if the professors were more strict, or what the format of a normal class was. After a week, I've found that it is pretty similar to college in the US. There are a few differences, but for the most part, it's the same thing. There are 3 different types of classes; lectures, tutorials, and practicals. Lectures are just like the lectures I am used to at home, with a professor speaking in front of the class. Tutorials are more interactive, with a much smaller class size and are occasionally given by graduate students. Practicals are laboratory experiments that last 2-3 hours. It isn't much different, and consistent with uni back at home, books are more expensive than they need to be. If I buy all my books this semester, it will cost me about $565.

Typically, I'll head to Deakin early in the morning and stay until the last bus leaves at around 9:15pm. This gives me 10-12 hours on campus at least 4 times a week. I'll do homework, study, and just hang out in the dorms. During all this time on campus, something interesting is bound to happen. Last weekend, Nick was cooking dinner, and everyone was just watching TV and relaxing, and I was sitting at the kitchen table playing solitaire. It was a pretty quiet night with nothing much going on. Nick and April were bickering, as always, and April decided to put some ice down Nick's shirt while he was cooking. Nick pulled the ice out and turned to throw it at April. April ran away and ducked, and the ice sailed over her head and hit the little tiny pane of fire alarm glass behind her. The fire alarm went off in every housing unit in the vicinity. Everyone had to evacuate and wait while not 1, but 3, fire trucks came to the school. We all thought it was really funny, even the fire fighters were amused. Nobody got in trouble, and now it is really easy to poke fun at Nick and April... But mostly Nick.

I have been doing a lot of searching to find a place to play some hockey. I'm almost certain that the ice rink in Geelong has been taken out, and now the closest one is on the east side of Melbourne. I called them today, and the guy told me that it will take a 20 minute train ride from Flinders Street Station and then a 25 minute bus ride from the second train station. There is no drop-in hockey, only public skating. He did give me the number of a guy that has the ice on Wednesday nights, and always gets a group together to play hockey. I'm going to give him a call to see if he'll let me come out and skate with them. I haven't played for a month now, and it is really starting to wear me down.

I'm glad to hear that everyone enjoys reading my blog, and I'm sorry that it takes me so long to update sometimes. I haven't taken many pictures in the past week, but I'll try to get some of my older Lorne and Melbourne pictures up. Maybe I'll go for a walk and take some pictures of Geelong to give everyone a better picture of the city that I live in. It is a great place, and I love living here. I'm doing really well and I am having a great time.