An LJ Post Dedicated to the Wonderful Ms. Katie Molski!
so i talked briefly to Katie online a little while ago, and she had a bunch of questions for me. a couple of these questions were the same ones that Scott had asked me earlier today when i talked to him on the phone. Katie wanted me to send her an e-mail, but i figured if so many (or at least a few) people all have pretty much the same questions, i should really just post it in my LJ. so i told her i would write a special post for her.
here goes:
classes- i haven't spoken much about them. well, they are going fine. i'm taking 4 of them. i spoke earlier about my Business Law class, which is really interesting. i'm enjoying it quite a bit. kind of makes me want to take another business law class at AU, so i can contrast differences in the law between the two countries. the lecturer is very engaging, and the tutorial sessions are equally interesting. right now we're studying tort law. a lot more fun than you'd think. i'm also taking Gender, Power, and Politics in Australia. now this lecture isn't as good, because basically the lecturer is just talking to us, and we have to try and write everything down. however, the tuts are really good. we basically have to read articles for them every week and then we discuss the main arguments and sub-arguments during the tuts. i enjoy the discussion, especially since most of the people there are Australian, and a lot of what we've been talking about until now has had to do with relations between Aborigines and white Australians. also (and this is completely random, i know) there's this little old Chinese woman named Kay who's taking the class, and she happens to be in my tutorial group as well. she reminds me so much of my mom. i know my mom's not Chinese, she's Indian, but Kay is little and cute and foreign just like my mom. every time i see her, it makes me miss my mommy a little. but i digress. my Australian history course (Origins of Australia to 1901) is probably my LEAST favorite class. the course material might be sort of interesting, if the lecturer wasn't SO BORING. he talks really fast, and we have to try and get everything down, which of course is impossible. and he also conducts the tutorials, so they're boring too. my 4th class is Marketing, for my business major. it's kind of boring, but most of it is common sense, so at least it's easy. other than that, i've written a couple papers, and have a couple more due in a few weeks. also, midterms are coming up. the good thing is that, by the time i hand in these last two papers and finish up midterms, i'll have NO MORE assignments due for the rest of the semester. just finals in November. so basically i just have to get through the next 3 weeks or so, and then i'm pretty much free. oh, i'm also taking a belly dancing class, which is fun, even though i'm really bad.
Katie's next question: what do i miss? the following list is in no particular order, and is not all-inclusive, as i'm sure i'll think of other stuff later. also, while a lot of this stuff pertains to things at home, you should keep in mind that if i weren't in Australia right now, i'd be in DC, and wouldn't have all of that available to me anyway. also, some of it pertains to stuff from last year and the year before, which are no longer relevant for various reasons. so the list really doesn't make much sense. but just humor me:
my house; mom's cooking; daddy's corny jokes; my bed; my bathroom; watching movies in the basement; playing pool in the basement; my basement in general; WESTCHESTER; Rye Playland and the Renaissance Fair in Tuxedo (didn't get to go to either this summer!); going down to Yonkers to hang out with high school friends; my high school friends (including the Fordham kids, Mary, and Caitlin of course); driving on the Taconic late at night coming back from Yonkers; NYC; nightly fireside chats with Scott; WELCOME WEEK (can't believe i'm missing Capitol Steps!); getting to see/hang out in Yellow Brick House with its 4 super cool tenants; hanging out at other houses/apartments of cool people in DC/MD/VA (Yuma, Burlington, JJ's, Michelle's, Beth's, etc...); cool people in DC/MD/VA; the occasional meet-up with Laura and Meaghan in DC; living with Will Mount, Adam, and Patty in the cramped quarters of Letts 513; being sexually harassed by Will Mount; RHA; the RHA office; my E-Board; Susan Hoglund (we all miss her); Jim; Tom; Sophia; gossiping with Soph about Jim and Tom; gossiping with Tom about Jim and Soph; gossiping with Jim about Tom and Soph; getting advice from Tom and Soph (and occasionally Jim); long phone conversations with Tom where he inevitably talks to me about God; my violin; playing with the Catholic Choir; violin classes; playing in chamber groups; MPM (i MIGHT have been a counselor if i hadn't had to leave in the middle of the summer); my cat; the DC metro; Dupont Circle; Adams Morgan; the Mall; DC in general; TDR (unbelievable, i know); actual lemonade (lemonade is sprite here); being able to drink coke whenever i want (pretty much all the time); peach flavored snapple; having my own fridge; attending random campus events; planning random campus events; house parties at Burlington; being inundated by the overwhelming Jewishness that is Scott and Micah together; not having to worry about an MB quota for internet-use; being able to go downstairs to my kitchen for a midnight snack; attempting and failing at cooking; watching Rachael Ray on the food network; watching the food network; Masses and Chapel services at Kay; staying up until all hours of the night having random conversations (sometimes meaningless, sometimes meaningful) with people when i'm supposed to be doing homework; making Eagle's Nest runs at all hours of the night when i'm supposed to be doing homework....
this list could go on for a while, but you all get the point.
next question: how do i feel?
really quite good. i would have to say that, thus far, i am having a good time here in Australia. i'm thankful that i had the opportunity to study here, and that i didn't pass it up as i'd been considering for a little while there. i've made a couple very good friends, for which i'm also thankful. i can't honestly say that i'm having a blast, or that i wish i could stay longer than just the one semester. i think i'll definitely be ready to go home when November rolls around. nevertheless, i am having fun.
aside from that, an update on my weekend: went back to the Gold Coast with Lesley yesterday. we went to an adrenaline park, where we got to go on a sling shot ride, which was a lot of fun. Lesley also went bungee jumping, and had the time of her life. i refused to do it. we had dinner at the Surfers' Paradise Hard Rock Cafe, which was very cool. today was pretty uneventful. as i said, i talked to Scott on the phone for a little while, which was quite nice. other than that, i just went to Mass.
hope this answers all your and everyone else's questions, Katie!
here goes:
classes- i haven't spoken much about them. well, they are going fine. i'm taking 4 of them. i spoke earlier about my Business Law class, which is really interesting. i'm enjoying it quite a bit. kind of makes me want to take another business law class at AU, so i can contrast differences in the law between the two countries. the lecturer is very engaging, and the tutorial sessions are equally interesting. right now we're studying tort law. a lot more fun than you'd think. i'm also taking Gender, Power, and Politics in Australia. now this lecture isn't as good, because basically the lecturer is just talking to us, and we have to try and write everything down. however, the tuts are really good. we basically have to read articles for them every week and then we discuss the main arguments and sub-arguments during the tuts. i enjoy the discussion, especially since most of the people there are Australian, and a lot of what we've been talking about until now has had to do with relations between Aborigines and white Australians. also (and this is completely random, i know) there's this little old Chinese woman named Kay who's taking the class, and she happens to be in my tutorial group as well. she reminds me so much of my mom. i know my mom's not Chinese, she's Indian, but Kay is little and cute and foreign just like my mom. every time i see her, it makes me miss my mommy a little. but i digress. my Australian history course (Origins of Australia to 1901) is probably my LEAST favorite class. the course material might be sort of interesting, if the lecturer wasn't SO BORING. he talks really fast, and we have to try and get everything down, which of course is impossible. and he also conducts the tutorials, so they're boring too. my 4th class is Marketing, for my business major. it's kind of boring, but most of it is common sense, so at least it's easy. other than that, i've written a couple papers, and have a couple more due in a few weeks. also, midterms are coming up. the good thing is that, by the time i hand in these last two papers and finish up midterms, i'll have NO MORE assignments due for the rest of the semester. just finals in November. so basically i just have to get through the next 3 weeks or so, and then i'm pretty much free. oh, i'm also taking a belly dancing class, which is fun, even though i'm really bad.
Katie's next question: what do i miss? the following list is in no particular order, and is not all-inclusive, as i'm sure i'll think of other stuff later. also, while a lot of this stuff pertains to things at home, you should keep in mind that if i weren't in Australia right now, i'd be in DC, and wouldn't have all of that available to me anyway. also, some of it pertains to stuff from last year and the year before, which are no longer relevant for various reasons. so the list really doesn't make much sense. but just humor me:
my house; mom's cooking; daddy's corny jokes; my bed; my bathroom; watching movies in the basement; playing pool in the basement; my basement in general; WESTCHESTER; Rye Playland and the Renaissance Fair in Tuxedo (didn't get to go to either this summer!); going down to Yonkers to hang out with high school friends; my high school friends (including the Fordham kids, Mary, and Caitlin of course); driving on the Taconic late at night coming back from Yonkers; NYC; nightly fireside chats with Scott; WELCOME WEEK (can't believe i'm missing Capitol Steps!); getting to see/hang out in Yellow Brick House with its 4 super cool tenants; hanging out at other houses/apartments of cool people in DC/MD/VA (Yuma, Burlington, JJ's, Michelle's, Beth's, etc...); cool people in DC/MD/VA; the occasional meet-up with Laura and Meaghan in DC; living with Will Mount, Adam, and Patty in the cramped quarters of Letts 513; being sexually harassed by Will Mount; RHA; the RHA office; my E-Board; Susan Hoglund (we all miss her); Jim; Tom; Sophia; gossiping with Soph about Jim and Tom; gossiping with Tom about Jim and Soph; gossiping with Jim about Tom and Soph; getting advice from Tom and Soph (and occasionally Jim); long phone conversations with Tom where he inevitably talks to me about God; my violin; playing with the Catholic Choir; violin classes; playing in chamber groups; MPM (i MIGHT have been a counselor if i hadn't had to leave in the middle of the summer); my cat; the DC metro; Dupont Circle; Adams Morgan; the Mall; DC in general; TDR (unbelievable, i know); actual lemonade (lemonade is sprite here); being able to drink coke whenever i want (pretty much all the time); peach flavored snapple; having my own fridge; attending random campus events; planning random campus events; house parties at Burlington; being inundated by the overwhelming Jewishness that is Scott and Micah together; not having to worry about an MB quota for internet-use; being able to go downstairs to my kitchen for a midnight snack; attempting and failing at cooking; watching Rachael Ray on the food network; watching the food network; Masses and Chapel services at Kay; staying up until all hours of the night having random conversations (sometimes meaningless, sometimes meaningful) with people when i'm supposed to be doing homework; making Eagle's Nest runs at all hours of the night when i'm supposed to be doing homework....
this list could go on for a while, but you all get the point.
next question: how do i feel?
really quite good. i would have to say that, thus far, i am having a good time here in Australia. i'm thankful that i had the opportunity to study here, and that i didn't pass it up as i'd been considering for a little while there. i've made a couple very good friends, for which i'm also thankful. i can't honestly say that i'm having a blast, or that i wish i could stay longer than just the one semester. i think i'll definitely be ready to go home when November rolls around. nevertheless, i am having fun.
aside from that, an update on my weekend: went back to the Gold Coast with Lesley yesterday. we went to an adrenaline park, where we got to go on a sling shot ride, which was a lot of fun. Lesley also went bungee jumping, and had the time of her life. i refused to do it. we had dinner at the Surfers' Paradise Hard Rock Cafe, which was very cool. today was pretty uneventful. as i said, i talked to Scott on the phone for a little while, which was quite nice. other than that, i just went to Mass.
hope this answers all your and everyone else's questions, Katie!