Classes

Day 2 of school went much better than day one.

Woke up around 9 and was at Uni by 10:30. I rushed to where my seminar was for my Adaptations class. The the class got there right at 11 and were really bubbly and asking each other how their holiday was. The professor asked us to put our desks in a circle. There were only about 20 students in the class and we had a really neat class discussion on the topic… Adaptation.

For this class we will read 5 novels that were made into films after being published. After we read each novel and watch each movie we will compare and contrast each and discuss why the differences exist. The 5 novel/movies are Memento, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Shining, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and No Country for Old Men. It should be interesting, and a good way to improve my writing.

Afterwards I went to get some lunch at the Mayo Café where I got a salami, tomato, and cheese wrap. I sent some emails, went for a walk along the River Torrens, and at 2 headed to Napier to my lecture for my anthropology course, Australia: Communities. I ran into some other international students I knew taking the same class, so we all sat together. The class seems fascinating and I’m really looking forward to it! An anthropological look at Australia! So exciting to get to learn about this country I know next to NOTHING about while I’m here!

I walked back to the Village after class with Jenny, from Washington D.C. who’s also one of my roommates. I relaxed for a little bit but couldn’t stand staying inside when it was so beautiful out and the sun was still up, so I headed over to Central Market to get a few things (juice & breakfast bars). That evening I met up with some of my friends who also live in the Village and we cooked dinner together and had some wine at Karin’s. It was a lot of fun.

Day 3, Wednesday, I was up at 9 again and headed to the Blue Lemon, a coffee shop right across from campus, to grab a cup of coffee before my first lecture of the day at 11 for my Passions class. It was fascinating! I feel I should definitely be a Passions professor someday. Like, that should be my career. I’m gonna be so into that class. The class description is: “An introduction to the changing cultural significance of affects, passions, feelings, and emotions and their traditions of literary representation.” We will be studying such works as The Tempest by William Shakespeare, A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. After my lecture, I headed to get some lunch, and then went to my next lecture which was for Beauty: Pleasures & Principles at 2pm. That class will be extremely interesting and great as well.  We will be studying philosophical aesthetics, such as beauty, the sublime, disinterested pleasure, the ugly, imagination, and style. We’ll be reading works by Hume, Plato, Kant, Hegel, and Nietzsche and then applying these concepts to contemporary culture in television soap operas, art works, novels, visual art, and film.

I had another hour break, then went to my last class of the day, which was a workshop for my Australia: Communities anthropology course. It was really relaxed and informal and we basically just had discussion. We talked about what made a place feel like home and why.. and when one is overseas or traveling, why do they not feel at home and how long does it take before they do? I’m not very good at speaking up in class, so I didn’t say much.. but I guess I’d have to say the main difference I feel between home and being here is the comfort.. the familiarity. Knowing a place so well, knowing everyone around you, being surrounded by familiar things, smells, sounds, people, etc. I feel that to feel “at home” here, I will need to feel comfortable here. I will need to be settled in and feel like I belong.

We got out a little early, so I headed back home at 4:30pm. That evening was the pub night at the Crown and Anchor, (or as the Aussies call it, “the Cranker”), put on by ESN Adelaide, so we went there around 8 for some drinks and to see all our friends.

There are a lot of differences between the Uni here and college back home, but the main thing is the class structures. All my courses consist of one lecture and one seminar/workshop/tutorial. The lectures are just the professor up front lecturing on a topic and about 50-100 students taking notes for about an hour. Then, the next time you attend that class it’s a “seminar”, for example, and its just about 20 students and lasts for about 2 hours. It’s a much more intimate setting and they really encourage you to participate in class discussion and activities. Its really cool. Most of my classes are made up of Australian students, though there are a few international students throughout them. It’ll be nice to really get immersed in Australia now that I’m actually starting at Uni.

I have one seminar usually Thursday afternoons, but this seminar doesn’t start till next week, so my first week of school is over! It was a good few days I’m I really am excited to be starting the semester here in Adelaide. I’ll have the hang of things in no time. This weekend should be pretty laid back. Friday there is an “International Student Party” at Light Square, which should be a lot of fun. Other than that, the only other plans are to go to an Aussie football game Sunday, Adelaide Crows versus Port Adelaide Power. Will take lots of pictures. It should be a great time.