July 10
Got up this morning and went up to register for the orientation week here for international exchange and study abroad students. They gave us each a packet of useful information about this week which was then explained to us later in the morning. They then proceeded to feed us breakfast which consisted of various hot foods (I had hash browns and cooked tomatoes) and cold foods (I had kiwi, strawberry, honeydew, and danishes). After breakfast ("brekkie") we moved to a lecture room in one of the academic buildings on campus and were told about the various policies and quirks of the campus and Australian and UC life. We found out that the ACT (Austrailan Capital Territory, the state in which Canberra resides) is a very "liberal" state and people don't mind talking about politics, religion, etc. no matter what you believe. Aussies like a good debate apparently. Also, it turns out if someone in Australia really likes you a lot, they'll tell you something such as "your clothes look absolutely horrible today", or something like that. A few of us asked another Aussie student later if that was true, and she said it definitely was. Aussies also apparently don't like people that "talk themselves up", and it's common for people to play down everything they do. An example that was given is if in Aussie studies 15 hours for an exam and come up and talk to you before the exam, they'll say "I haven't studied at all for this test, I'm probably going to fail". Apparently it will be rare to see an Aussie studying in the library or outside on campus and most students study "in private" in their rooms. She said that was one aspect of culture shock that we would definitely experience here.
I learned a few other things in that lecture that I didn't know before also. One thing that I was disappointed to learn was that we are allocated $25 of internet credit to our user ID, and every time you use the internet it charges you according to how many megabytes of data are transferred. I found out how to check online my credit balance and it turns out that me uploading lots of large pictures to my blog has used up a significant portion of my internet credit. I am going to have to undoubtedly go and pay for more credit to be put on my account sometime in the future. As a result of learning of this policy, in the future I am going to make an effort to significantly decrease the file size of all the pictures I upload to my blog. I will, however, continue to upload photos. Maybe I should start charging everyone for viewing them. ;-)
Another thing I learned is that University of Canberra is the only Australian University that has kangaroos on campus. They are supposed to be on campus more inthe morning than at other times, and I saw pictures from one of the other American girls of a small group of kangaroos that she photographed outside her dorm this morning! I'm excited about that, and am going to have to get up early in the morning and go out to look for some 'roos in the future. I learned also of a surfing weekend where for $240 Aussie you get transportation, meals, accomodation, and surfing instructions for an entire weekend in October. It sounds like it would be a lot of fun, but I'm not sure if I'm going to want to spend the $240. Apparently that's a good deal, but it's still a lot of money. I have to decide by Thursday morning if I want to commit and sign up for the trip. Hmmm...
This afternoon several of us went to the international office when we heard from the study abroad officer of free stuff that other study abroad students had left and not taken home with them. Responding to her invitation we went on a first-come, first-serve basis to claim our free stuff -- and it was well worth it! I ended up getting up getting many things that I needed and wanted, including post-it notes, a pot with lid, some hangers, a dish towel, a dish washcloth, a picture frame, three-ring binder, some push pins and paper clips, another electrical converter, some measuring cups, several tupperware food containers, an extension cord, some dishes (bowl, plates, cup) and silverware (forks, spoons, butter knives, and sharp cooking knife), as well as a beach-type towel. I'm not sure what the retail value for all those items would be, but I would guesstimate that I obtained probably about $100 worth or so of items. The great thing is, at the end of the semester I won't be needing to take any of these things home, so I can just give them right back to the international office for some exchange students next year to have.
Today I managed to meet several Mexicans, a few Canadians, two girls from Kuwait, some girls from several Asian countries (including Taiwan and Japan), as well as U.S. students from around the country (CO, NJ, MS, ME, CA, NY, CT, NC, and probably others). Not too many Aussies around yet, as most of them are still away for winter break. Many will be returning this week, and especially this weekend. This evening some of us exchange students are going to hang out in the lounge/rec room of my dorm and play some games and stuff, then tomorrow morning it's time to get my classes sorted out.
P.S. Good Job to my fiance Rachel Hall for running the 15K (9.3 miles) Utica Boilermaker in 61 minutes and 8 seconds and being among the top 400 finishers out of ~11,000 competitors!! :)
I learned a few other things in that lecture that I didn't know before also. One thing that I was disappointed to learn was that we are allocated $25 of internet credit to our user ID, and every time you use the internet it charges you according to how many megabytes of data are transferred. I found out how to check online my credit balance and it turns out that me uploading lots of large pictures to my blog has used up a significant portion of my internet credit. I am going to have to undoubtedly go and pay for more credit to be put on my account sometime in the future. As a result of learning of this policy, in the future I am going to make an effort to significantly decrease the file size of all the pictures I upload to my blog. I will, however, continue to upload photos. Maybe I should start charging everyone for viewing them. ;-)
Another thing I learned is that University of Canberra is the only Australian University that has kangaroos on campus. They are supposed to be on campus more inthe morning than at other times, and I saw pictures from one of the other American girls of a small group of kangaroos that she photographed outside her dorm this morning! I'm excited about that, and am going to have to get up early in the morning and go out to look for some 'roos in the future. I learned also of a surfing weekend where for $240 Aussie you get transportation, meals, accomodation, and surfing instructions for an entire weekend in October. It sounds like it would be a lot of fun, but I'm not sure if I'm going to want to spend the $240. Apparently that's a good deal, but it's still a lot of money. I have to decide by Thursday morning if I want to commit and sign up for the trip. Hmmm...
This afternoon several of us went to the international office when we heard from the study abroad officer of free stuff that other study abroad students had left and not taken home with them. Responding to her invitation we went on a first-come, first-serve basis to claim our free stuff -- and it was well worth it! I ended up getting up getting many things that I needed and wanted, including post-it notes, a pot with lid, some hangers, a dish towel, a dish washcloth, a picture frame, three-ring binder, some push pins and paper clips, another electrical converter, some measuring cups, several tupperware food containers, an extension cord, some dishes (bowl, plates, cup) and silverware (forks, spoons, butter knives, and sharp cooking knife), as well as a beach-type towel. I'm not sure what the retail value for all those items would be, but I would guesstimate that I obtained probably about $100 worth or so of items. The great thing is, at the end of the semester I won't be needing to take any of these things home, so I can just give them right back to the international office for some exchange students next year to have.
Today I managed to meet several Mexicans, a few Canadians, two girls from Kuwait, some girls from several Asian countries (including Taiwan and Japan), as well as U.S. students from around the country (CO, NJ, MS, ME, CA, NY, CT, NC, and probably others). Not too many Aussies around yet, as most of them are still away for winter break. Many will be returning this week, and especially this weekend. This evening some of us exchange students are going to hang out in the lounge/rec room of my dorm and play some games and stuff, then tomorrow morning it's time to get my classes sorted out.
P.S. Good Job to my fiance Rachel Hall for running the 15K (9.3 miles) Utica Boilermaker in 61 minutes and 8 seconds and being among the top 400 finishers out of ~11,000 competitors!! :)
posted by itsbenrael at 6:04 PM
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