The first few weeks of school

Hello loved ones,

So much for being punctual with my updates. My apologies for promising often updates and not following through. I blame school; it's in the way of me being able to take the time and type out my life for all of you lovely people to read. Frustrating, isn't it? I think so too, yet I don't have enough guts to skip class and not do my homework, so I guess I'll have to learn how to manage my time a little better.

While we are on the topic of school, I'll dive right into all the great details of my classes. I'm taking four classes while abroad...four very worthless classes. Actually, one is of importance so I'll rephrase and say three very worthless classes. Here they are:

Varieties of English Grammar - I know you're all thinking "why in the world would you take varieties of English grammar as a fun class while you're in Australia?" Good question. I don't have an answer. Anyway, this class should really be called "The History and Philosophy of English Grammar." Sounds fabulous, doesn't it? In all honesty, it shouldn't be too bad and I find myself to be surprisingly interested in the majority of the material. It's a lot of reading, but it's doable. My professor has a great Australian accent and is very animated, so it keeps the class interesting. I am a little terrified to how my grade will turn out in this class seeing as we are graded on one essay (which is 45% of our grade) and one exam (which is a 2 question exam that will take 2 hours, also worth 45%). Participation makes up the remaining 10%. So if I write a terrible answer for one of the 2 questions on the exam, there goes any chance of doing well. It's a little terrifying.

Australia: Land and Nation - Worthless class number 2. This is a pretty interesting class and it's fun to learn about the place where I'm studying. Right now we are learning about the Aboriginals and I am thoroughly enjoying it. However, my professor is the opposite of my English professor. This guy apparently doesn't understand the concept of voice inflection. Not only is he monotone, but he speaks very softly with a not-so-great Australian accent. It's a struggle to stay awake.

Genres in Cultural Context - Worthless class number 3. I really do not enjoy this class at all. It will probably be the easiest of all my classes, but I care very little about any of the content. One would imagine that a course with such a title would be about learning about different cultures around the world (or something among that line). Oh no, it's not. In fact, I'm not really learning about real life cultures; I'm learning about aliens. I can sense the confusion from halfway across the world and through a computer. Let me explain: yesterday we had a screening session for this class. What did we view? Let me tell you. We watched 3 hours of Star Trek. Laugh it up, people, laugh it up...it was torture. Next week we are watching Star Wars (which is at least better than Star Trek...but really?). While watching these films, I am to be analyzing how the "others (characters who are alienated from the rest of the group)" are being portrayed. Why? I have no idea. So that's that class...a mistake to be enrolled in.

Media Globalisation - This is the only class that is worthwhile to me and also the only class that I actually enjoy in its entirety. It's very comforting to know that I picked the right major. My professor is awesome, brilliant, and has the best Australian accent of them all. He is also very laid back and helpful, which is great. It's very interesting to learn about the material while in Australia because a lot of it is about different arguments as to whether or not America is taking over the world with their culture and media outlets. It was really awkward for me to read the last chapter in our book becuase it was all about "Americanisation" and how the world is doomed because American culture is taking over and making everyone illiterate dumbasses. It was actually very insightful and interesting, but still a little awkward.

So there are the great, wonderful, juicy details of my classes and professors. I successfully did not get lost on my way to classes nor did I go in a wrong classroom (which is always a fear of mine whenever it's the beginning of a semester). I only have class 3 days a week, which I love. Though after enjoying my 4 day weekend, it's hard to get back into the grove of school for the week. There are a couple of times when I have an hour break between my classes, so I go and sit under the archways of campus to act like I'm in Harry Potter while reading my course materials. One day, while sitting under an archway and admiring how the campus looks like Hogwarts, a guy wearing a black cloak walked past me. It made me laugh and slightly confused. Is he also just wishing he was in Harry Potter and therefore wears a cloak around campus or is he actually a wizard? He didn't have a wand, but that could have easily just been in his back pocket.

This past weekend Emma came to visit me! She is studying up in Townsville at James Cook University, so her and her friend, Vivian, came down to escape the cyclone that was hitting them and to enjoy Mardi Gras with me! It was very exciting to have them here.

As I mentioned in the previous sentence, it was Mardi Gras. We went to the gay/lesbian mardi gras parade on Oxford Street Saturday Night and it was absolutely insane. I don't even know how to explain it. There were rows and rows of people on the street all standing on stools, so we couldn't see a thing. We were trying to plot a way to run across the street and make friends with the people watching the parade on their hotel balconies, but that was impossible since we a) couldn't get past the rows of people, b) couldn't run in the middle of a parade, and c) probably wouldn't have been able to make friends with cool balcony people. So after abandoning that plan, we went to a Hungry Jack's (aka Burger King) and went in the upstairs sitting area to watch the parade from the window. There were a lot of amazing costumes and crazy floats. My favorite 2 floats that I could actually see were "My Big Fat Gay Wedding" and "F*ck Homophobic Religions." There were many way more vulger ones, which I also loved. It was just an overall great and fun experience and I must say that the GLBT community knows how to throw a hell of a party. While we were walking around on the street attempting to see the parade, Emma walked up to every person wearing a crazy costume and asked if we could have a picture, in which everyone allowed us to take pictures with them.

After the parade, we went to a club in King's Cross called World Bar. They are famous for their teapots, and they are delicious! A teapot is exactly as it sounds - a cocktail in a teapot and you just drink straight from the spout; it's great. As much as I love drinking straight from a teapot, they were really awkward to dance with. You basically just had to hold the teapot out in front of you and bounce. I did witness one girl who didn't put the top on her teapot and so when she went to drink from the spout, all the contents came out of the top and went all over her face. I laughed at her. Later on in the evening when we were no longer dancing with teapots, we went downstairs (this is a 4 story bar) to go dance on the main dance floor. While dancing, a guy comes up to me and decides that he is going to teach me how to do the running man. He does it in slow motion at first and I'm doing it with him in slow motion, and then he shows me how it looks normal speed. Little does this guy know that I already am a pro at the running man, so when I was able to bust it out right away at normal speed, he thought I was the coolest person ever. I never told him I already knew how to do it, I simply just accepted him praising me all night for "learning the running man so quickly." Apparently it took him days. Then I decided to bust out the side running man, in which the guy was completely amazed. Oh yeah, and I did all of this in heels. I'm a champ.

After wearing my heels for twelve hours, my feet were killing me. Yes, idiot me decided to wear a pair of heels out for mardi gras parade and a nightclub. This was a full twelve hours of walking, standing, and dancing. We leave World Bar and are embarking on our 45 minute walk home and I am dying. I have a rule about heels: if you wear the heels, you commit to them. I hate seeing girls walking on the street holding their heels; you knew what you were getting yourself into..now wear them. Well, I had to break my rule for about 10 minutes. But I hated the fact that I was carrying my heels, so I put them back on. Then Emma gave me a piggy back ride and I think we got hit on more while walking home than we did our entire time at the bar. One guy came up to us and said he has never seen a girl give another girl a piggy back ride. He though Emma was "really sexy" for giving me a piggy back ride and that he "didn't think he could even bench press my weight." I got mad at him and told him to go away.

The next day we went to Darling Harbour, but while we were there, it started pouring outside. We only had one umbrella for the four of us. We tried to all fit under this one tiny umbrella, but it didn't work so well. We all looked like drowning rats. The rain never stopped the entire day, so me, Gabi, Vivian, and Emma all decided to go to a movie. Of course we saw "He's Just Not That Into You" for a second time. It was a good day. The next day was a nice day, no rain and hardly any clouds, so us four went to the Opera House and walked through the gardens. Then Emma and Vivian left very early Tuesday morning. It was great to have them here and very nice to have a little taste of home. I'm planning on going to visit them sometime in May.

And here is a fun little story to end this novel. One day, Gabi, Jeff, Cliff, Evan, Suvir, and I all go down to the hot tub (only Gabi and I read our books becuase Gabi forgot her swim suit...she doesn't live in Unilodge like the rest of the cool kids). After we leave the hot tub, the boys start playing soccer in the lounge area. Gabi and I had to finish our chapter, so we came to the lounge a couple of minutes after the boys...who are already playing soccer at this point. So I open the door to the lounge to go join in the fun, and as I open the door, I get smoked in the face with the soccer ball. Don't worry, I was fine and there was no blood, but it was pretty embarrassing.

This weekend I will be at my surfing camp! I will probably do very poorly and will be extremely sore, but I'm very excited for it nonetheless. I'll tell you all the fun stories from this little adventure.

Thanks for taking the hour out of your day to read this long, but exctiting (I hope) entry.

Much love,
Whitney