Australia

On this day, André and I met up and went to Acland Street.

Acland Street is a 3 Smiles Per Hour Zone.

Yes, I know. I, too, wondered what on earth that meant. Only 3 smiles an hour? Not really that much when you think about it. So I consulted Google to find out what it meant.

The Government's Explanation.
A news article.

It's actually rather hilarious, I think. Seriously, I want to be a Smile Spy!

So yes. We went to Acland Street, hopefully helped the smile ratings, and got some gelati! Yum yum. Then we decided to walk to the beach. On the way we stopped at Luna Park. We didn't actually go on any rides, as that would cost money, but I took enough pictures to make it look like maybe we'd spent some time there.

The famous face - entrance to Luna Park.

Various rides.

Next to Luna Park is the Palais Theatre. I think that this is where my mom saw my dad play for first time, which is why I photographed it. But if I'm wrong then this is just a nice building.

Then we turned and walked toward the water.

Bye, Palais Theatre!

Look, we're almost there! See that pier? That's where we're headed!

But first we have to cross a bridge.

We made it!

Onto the pier.

View of the skyline from the pier.

Close up.

Then we walked down the pier and went to the cafe at the end. Not sure why I didn't take pictures here. They would have been good ones! Oh well. We got a nice bowl of hot chips. Yum! Then we walked back and passed Captain Cook!

Hello, Captain Cook!

Then we went home. The end.

Well, I had the intention of doing millions of entries today, but then my internet died for a good portion of the afternoon and evening. So this will have to do!

So the second week of uni. Some stuff probably happened. I'm pretty sure that this week I started hanging out with the people I now hang out with most. But I have met a wide variety of people. Even boys, though they are few. In my department anyway. I'd estimate there are maybe 150-200 first years in my department. Probably 10 or so are boys. So yeah, hee.

Actually that reminds me of a funny conversation I overheard between two such boys the other day. Complete with Australian lingo, which is the main reason I am going to share it. They were talking about what it was like to be a boy doing primary teaching and how they "may be called poofs, but [they]'d rather be called a poof than a bogan."

Indeed. Well, anyway. Let's see. *searches memory*

No, I've got nothing. Well, I can tell you what happened on Friday!

Friday was the start of a great tradition between André and myself. Now, every Friday, we go to Hungry Jack's (Australian for Burger King) and get the Summer Stunner Deal. It's stunning indeed. You get a burger, fries, drink, and oreo ice cream desserty thing for just $4.95! And that's AUD! USD it's ... *consults Xe.com* ... $4.13! So truly, just stunning. The ironic thing, or so André and myself think, is that while in Australia autumn officially begins 1 March, we did not start partaking of this wonderful deal until 9 March. And here we are, halfway through April, and we're still getting our weekly Summer Stunner Deal. So, a bit strange, but I think we'll keep taking advantage of it until Hungry Jack's eventually realizes that it's autumn.

But anyway, yes, we did that for the first time that Friday. And then we decided to go to the State Library of Victoria, since it was just across the intersection. But that didn't really work out because the library has a stupid rule. You aren't allowed to take any bags in with you, instead you have to pay a dollar to rent a locker to put them in. André and I both had our uni bags and didn't feel like renting lockers, so instead we went outside and took pictures. So, I shall share them.

First of all, I was amazed at how many seagulls there were! We weren't particularly near the ocean. And I haven't noticed them anywhere else in the CBD. But apparently they love the State Library!

Here's some cool guy on a horse!

Here is the same cool guy but from another angle.

Here is Redmond Barry. I had to look up who he was. I have a lecture in the Redmond Barry building at uni. So I guess he was pretty cool.

Here's a view of the library from the street.

Here's a neat lamp post that's on the street by the library.

And of course, my buddy LaTrobe and I!

So that was Friday. The next day was Saturday. On that day I took a bazillon pictures, so I think I will make a separate Saturday entry!

But first, here is a random picture that doesn't fit in anywhere else. It's an entrence to a car park on campus. I just thought it was way nifty.

Well, before I go into the first week of uni, I thought I might touch on classes and structure, as I think it's rather different from the US system. For most classes I have a single lecture a week, along with either a tute or a workshop. Tutes and workshops are made up of 20-30 people, and we go more in depth with what was discussed in lecture, explore it a bit more. Additionally, there's no Mon/Wed/Fri, Tues/Thur thing. Instead, I just have my classes whenever they can be slotted in. So I'm pretty busy Mondays and Tuesdays, but then Thursdays and Fridays I have a single morning class. Wednesdays are sort of mediumly busy.

While I'm on this subject, I might as well go ahead and list what classes I'm in, for those of you who are interested. I guess this is also rather different from the US system, as all of my classes relate to my major. Ooh, that's another thing that's different from the US. I am not a freshmen, I'm a first year, which makes me think of Harry Potter, haha. But anyway, my classes. They are:

Education 1: This class is like a general Educational psychology, theories of practice, sort of thing.

Science and Technology 1: This class is focused on teaching us science knowledge that we're going to need to know so that we can properly teach it ourselves. So there's not much teaching theory or anything here, it's just sort of like a middle school science class. But more in depth, since we have to really know things to be able to answer all the questions kids come up with. But it's not all too hard, content-wise.

Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE): This class is about societal and environmental issues. Shocking, I know. And how we can teach our kids about them, make our kids global citizens so they will want to and know how to act and save the planet and end poverty and yay!

Maths 1: This class is about math. Both making sure that we know how to do primary math, quickly, easily, and without calculators, but more importantly that we understand the mistakes kids make and why and how we can help them understand math and fun stuff like that.

Primary Music: This is hands down my most fun class. We meet once a week, there's only about 15 of us, and we play instruments and sing songs and make music. We'll all grab whatever instrument strikes our fancy and sit in a group on the floor, and our lecturer will say, "Okay, let's make the sounds of the ocean." I'm not really sure what it has to do with teaching primary music. But it's fun, so I guess that's what counts.

So yes, those are my classes.

I typed up all that because I honestly don't remember much of my first week of uni, but I needed something to fill up this entry.

I do remember my very first lecture! I thought I was way too early, but then everyone else was way too early as well, so I guess it worked out well. I ended up finding some people that I met at orientation. But after a while, I found that they talked about drinking and partying a bit too much for my tastes, so I've since found different friends, but it was good to have people to hang out with the first few days.

Wednesday of that week was Eloise's and Pippi's birthdays! I went with Eloise to her birthday picnic and a movie. We went to the Royal Botanical Gardens for their Moonlight Cinema. You sit outside on picnic blankets and then when the sun goes down this inflatable movie screen appears! I thought this was very cool, so I took pictures:

Finally the movie began! It was the Breakfast Club. But the movie's film was apparently rather old and it broke every 10-15 minutes, and then it took another 5 minutes to get it going again. So we eventually left at about 10:30 and got refunds. But a fun time was had by all nevertheless!

So then I had Thursday-Saturday. Some things happened, I'm sure. I'm pretty sure I went to Pippi's for dinner Sunday night. We ordered pizza.

And so concludes the first week.

All right, well. I shall try to recount the last month and a half of uni to the best of my ability, but it's quite likely that events will blur together in my memory and detail will be less than spectacular. For the most part, the only way I remember what I did on any given day is from pictures I might have taken. If I didn't take any pictures, then who knows what I did! Not me. And nor will you.

But anyway, we are up to 23 February. That was a Friday, and the last day of orientation at uni. So I got on a train and rode into the city! Here is a picture I took from outside Flinders Street Station, where I was waiting for my tram.

Then it was on to uni for Clubs and Societies Day! I thought I ought to go and join some of those. I signed up for the Amnesty International club (and got a free tote bag), the Save Darfur Coalition (and got some buttons and stickers), and put my name on the theatre mailing list (but got nothing). Though truth be told, I have not been particularly active as of yet. I get weekly emails from Amnesty and Darfur telling me about all the neato stuff they're doing, but they both meet in the middle of the day when I have class. As for theatre, I almost got involved in Fireraisers, but then I did not. It's at night, After that, I decided I should probably walk around campus and figure out where all my lectures and tutes and workshops were, so I did that. And took more pictures, of course:as theatre often is, and I wasn't sure I wanted to go home and then go back to uni at night and then go back home later at night...going home by myself in the big city could be scary, at least for a newcomer like me! So yeah. Oh well. Anyway! I did at least take pictures! So here they are:

Join the art club! Come and paint our random mural.

Lots of club and society booths set up!

After that, I decided I should probably walk around campus and figure out where all my lectures and tutes and workshops were, so I did that. And took more pictures, of course:

This is the closest thing UM (or most Aussie unis) have to a dorm. UM has a few of these. Not very many people live here. Mostly people from overseas, other states, or rural Victoria.

Look, it's the name of my school.

I passed this on the way to one of my classes. It's kind of a weird thing. A lot of rocks in a cage. Or something.

Then it started to rain on me, so I went home.

That weekend, I don't remember too much of what I did. I know I went to see a play Saturday night with Pippi and some of her friends. It was called Caravan. It was about people stuck in a Caravan on a camping trip in NSW. It was quite enjoyable.

And then came Monday and...my first day of uni!! So that should be another entry. So this one can end now.

Well, my essays are in, Easter holidays have begun, and I am now ready to tell you all about everything I've been doing for the past month and a half! Hooray!!

I guess we are ready to pick on with February 21. What on earth did I do that day? I have no idea. So, I will have to go back and look at the pictures I took and see if that refreshes my memory.

One moment.

Ah-ha!

The 21st was a Wednesday, and it was on that day that myself, my mother, and Pippi met up with the Haleys for dinner at some Lobster place. So here are some pictures of us all having a lovely time.

Here is James and my Aunt Sue.

From left to right, here's Mark, Astrid, myself, Stacey, and James. Stacey is James' wife, the rest are my cousins.

Here is Mark's picture of my mom taking a picture of us.

Then on the 22nd, we went to Acland Street. And I made a lot of friends.

Then we went to get Pippi's car washed. This was so exciting! I haven't been to a car wash in ages. And this was the coolest car wash ever. (Or so I thought at the time. Apparently there's going to be a carh was/spa in Franklin soon. But anyway.) This car wash had a cafe where you could sit and watch your car go by! And I was so very excited, so I took many photographs.

Here is Pippi's car once it was nice and clean!

Then we went back to Pippi's and hung out for a while. So I took pictures of her pets.

Then Pippi had to go to a rotary dinner, so it was just my mom and me. We walked to the beach, and then went to the Fish and Chippery to get some dinner. Then I got really sad as I said goodbye to my mom, who was leaving the next morning, but we'll skip over that part, as it is not pleasant.