So I decided that it was time to make another entry for a few reasons which I will now give to you: 1)I went to my first class yesterday 2) I promised a few people (including the rents) that another entry was soon to come 3) My older sister Angelique arrives at the Melbourne Airport in a few hours and we are bound to be crazy busy for the next week and a half.
Time to elaborate on these aforementioned points. Classes officially started this week at the University of Melbourne (I have not had to sit in a desk since the beginning of December). I have a pretty sweet schedule with only four classes. The even sweeter part is how many hours I have to spend in a classroom: 6 per week. Are your eyes playing tricks on you? No, you read the last line correctly. Then the obvious question is what are you taking? 1)Macroeconomics (All Online) 2)Sociology of Religion (Lecture Online and a one hour tutorial) 3)Operations Management (2 hours of lecture and one hour tutorial) 4)Australian Sports (2 hours of lecture+field trips). That is how I only spend 6 hours a week in a classroom and not skip any class (I really can't believe it either...)
My sister Angelique has made a very wise choice, she has decided to spend her spring break with me in Australia. She is going to have some really good stories when she returns to her day job as a second grade teacher at St. Gregory's. I can see it in my mind's eye now...
Young eager student: "Ms. Deffenbaugh, what was your favorite part about being in Australia?"
Ms. Deffenbaugh: "Well, I would most definitely have to say just being around the coolest person I know, my brother for a week and a half straight"
Young eager student: "How cool is he?"
Ms. Deffenbaugh:" Just imagine Will Smith in Fresh Prince, and then double that level of cool."
Young eager student: "What is the Fresh Prince?"
Ms. Deffenbaugh: "Oh, the generations gaps."
Alright, time to fill you in on some of the shenanigans I have been up to in Melbourne. The city has a huge produce/meat market called the Queen Victoria Market within a 15 minute walk from my apartments. The market operates during the day and most everything closes down by 3pm. This is the case except for select Wednesday nights when the market transforms into the Queen Victoria Night Market. There are heaps (a lot) of vendors selling food, merchants selling all sorts of things, and musicians performing on stage. I went down with some of my friends to the last night market of the season and stayed down there for about 2 and a half hours. At the time we left, it was ridiculously packed and really hard to get around (we picked a good time to leave).
Since we are on the topic of the Queen Vic Market, I would just like to take the opportunity to say you can get some wicked good deals on produce there. I scored a a large quantity of lettuce, carrots, mushrooms (the non-hallucinogenic ones), cucumber,peppers, green beans, bananas, and apples for 12 Australian dollars. With the conversion rate that is about 7.89 US dollars (give or take depending on the day). Jackpot.
Another note worth event was the Brunswick Street Festival this Sunday. I went down there with some amigos and had a real good time (how good? realllll good). Just imagine an entire street has been shut down, then add a large quantity of people, numerous musicians, food vendors, merchants, and a dash of craziness. I took the posted pictures at this festival. We saw two guys that day wearing that "gifted" shirt. Really who wears that out in public?
Question: So what else have you been doing with your time?
Well, since you asked. I signed up for the ultimate frisbee club, the dance club, and the mountaineering club. The ultimate team played a pick-up game last week and it was nice to meet that group of people. It was really windy that day and I am scared to count the number of turn overs that we had.
I went to my first dance class this week, beginner Street Latin (which includes Salsa, Mambo, and Meringue). The first week of class was free so it was packed in the dance studio. During the entire hour we learned two routines and that was too complicated for people, so we scaled it back to one (over and over and over again). So I emailed the president to see if that was just going to be the pace of the class. Answer yes, but I was told I could just jump into the intermediate class and go from there.
The people from the mountaineering club are some pretty nice folks. The first meeting was on Tuesday night and trips are already underway. I will not be able to make the one on the weekend of the 14th/15th but will go on the next weekend (kayaking and bushwalking>>hiking). It will be nice to be outdoors again.
I found a church at Newman College, and it is really close (a 5 min walk). Newman is one of the college's on campus(beefed up residential halls) and has Catholic masses throughout the week and weekend. The priests are Jesuits and I sat down with one and had a good chat last week. There is a Magis group for Uni gys and gals(kind of like faith sharing) starting up this weekend and continuing through the semester so I plan on doing that.
What else? Crossfit. I won't belabor you with details, but it has been a great two weeks of working out at Crossfit Victoria. The trainers are very knowledgeable and know how to push you to your limit. The other athletes going to class are very welcoming and I have ejnoyed getting to know some of them. I even rolled out of bed and made it to the 6am class this morning (bc my sister is going to be in town today). Now that I mention my sister, I better get heading over to the airport so that I am there in time to meet her.
Cheers, please keep me in your thoughts and prayers.
No comments:
Post a Comment