The time has come. I wasn't looking forward to it that much, but it was inevitable. School has officially started. Seeing as I haven't been in a lecture hall since December 10th, starting classes two weeks ago was kind of a drag. However, I must say that I highly approve of the way they do school here. Like everything else in Australia, it is extremely relaxed. For each class you take you have to attend a lecture and a tutorial. The tutorials are like a discussion and are mandatory - this is where most of your grade comes from. Since all the lectures are recorded and put online they are far from necessary to attend which is nice, especially since most of my lectures are early in the morning. But, like the well trained BC student I am, I haven't adapted to this new system and I'm still attending all lectures anyway...we'll see how long that lasts! I also only have midterms and finals, both of which are papers, so I have no assignments due in between and my only homework is about an hour of reading for each class each week. In short - I kind of love school.
I'm taking 4 classes while I'm here which is the normal load for a University of Melbourne student. Since I'm well on my way to completing my major, Communications, I'm taking a few classes which I hope to count for my minor, International Studies. My classes are:
Australia Now - An introductory class to the world of Australia in all aspects from politics, history, art, sport, culture, and society. It's a class that a lot of international students take to be accustomed to where they're living. So far the history we've learned is really interesting, but much much less dense than American or European - after all Australia was only colonized by the British in 1788 and didn't receive independence until 1901.
Sport & Education in Australian Society - this class focuses on the world of sports in Australia. Melbourne is actually the sporting capital of the world so it's extremely eye opening to see how it really has affected society, especially in relation to the Aborigines. They played a game called Marngrook which was adapted into the game of footy. The ball game was played with a possum's bladder covered in skin - ew! Australian Rules Football (footy) is huge here. There are teams from all parts of the city and it's really important that you barrack for someone. Barrack is the Aussie term for "rooting", however to "root" for a team is a completely different term here, and highly inappropriate (think about it..). In the class we get to go on lots of field trips to rugby, cricket, netball, and footy matches as well as a day of surfing and visits to lots of museums. Win!
Aboriginal Cultural Studies - Another class that might possibly be counted towards my minor. It focuses on the study of the Aborigines through their history, relations with the colonists, current status in Australia, as well as a focus on art and music. It's probably the most rigorous class I'm taking in terms of work however so far I'm really fascinated to learn about the indigenous people of Australia. They are often compared to Native Americans in terms of how they were treated by the colonists, however their place in society today is still highly contested. We explore a lot of the racism that impacts them and how that conflicts with their culture.
African Drum and Dance - My most entertaining class! We have a 2 hour rehearsal a week where we learn to drum, dance, and sing traditional music from Ghana. My teacher is sooo enthusiastic and hilarious, I really lucked out. At the end of the semester we put on a performance which should be really exciting as well. So far I love going to this class because I feel like I'm using a part of my brain which hasn't been turned on in years. My days of reading piano music are all coming back to me!
So I know it's not the most rigorous of schedules...it's actually probably the lightest workload I've had all of college. I only have class Tuesday through Thursday which leaves me with a 4 day weekend, every weekend. Pretty sweet. That just gives me more time to soak up all of Australia! I feel like I'm on a constant vacation here and the slice of academia that I bite into each week keeps my brain rolling and furthers my education of this marvelous country.
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