First day of School!

The long awaited, equally nerve-wracking day had finally arrived – our first day at the University of Sydney. Riley had his first class at 10 AM, while I did not have one until noon. Riley wanted to get to the university earlier in order to make some last minute changes to his timetable, or rather course schedule.

Riley’s first day: Well my first day started off by waking up at 8:30. I was thinking 9 o’ clock would have been a good time, but I wanted to give myself a little extra time… and I’m thanking myself for that one. So heading out the door I started my 15 minute walk to school. The first stop was the add/drop station in the Wentworth building which was ‘kinda’ off campus. I have heard the horror stories about the add/drop station and how the line always wrapped around the building, but apparently it was my lucky day because there were a total of three people in line. By this time it was 9:30 and I had to be in class by 10. After a ten minute wait, I was called up and was able to get my classes approved. I am currently taking two Australian classes, one anthropology class, and unfortunately one Asian culture class that I’ve been putting off for my minor requirements.  But with my first class fast approaching, it was time to head off… only thing was I didn’t know where it was at. After stopping by the Faculty of Art, the white building, the basement of the white building, back to the Faculty of Art I was finally able to talk to someone who knew where my class was. I was only 5 or 10 minutes late to my first class, but like any other class the teacher was just going over the syllabi. Also, my teacher was really funny so that was a plus. The class was over before I knew it and by 10:55 I was out of the door and done with my first and only class of the day. Now it was off to the library to finally adjust my timetable and get the classes during the time slots that I wanted. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be to switch times around and I was able to show Lauren how to do the same thing a little later in the day whenever we met up. Since I was out way earlier than Lauren, I was the chosen one to go all the way back to Kings Cross to get the groceries that we forgot there. It wasn’t too bad of a journey since I was able to stop by the apartment to get my skateboard to make the trip go by faster. On the way back into the city I had enough time to grab lunch for Lauren, which I was happy to bring to her since she told me her stomach was growling and we enjoyed our lunch on the grass. During lunch we counted what money we had left over and realized we had exactly the right amount, literally, to get the harbor cruise tickets that the International Exchange Office was throwing for us exchange students. We waited in another 30 minute long line, but it was all worth it to hold those tickets. Other than that there wasn’t much more to my day! So off to Laurens day…

Lauren’s first day: My day started a little later than Riley’s, but regardless we both woke up around the same time to enjoy breakfast together. We had gotten cereal and cold milk, finally, for breakfast this morning along with pine orange drink which isn’t bad at all. The crunchy nut cereal is very similar to Frosted Flakes and very delicious indeed! I was about to take my time getting ready for school and organizing my school supplies for the day. With my backpack packed I was ready for my first day of school and headed out the door. Walking down Broadway Street I wanted to start the day with some friendly small talk with people of the way to school but it seems that everyone wears headphones while walking in the city so that thought was short lived. The short fifteen walk is nothing compared to the long journeys we’ve had to go through lately, so I was at the university before I knew it. I went straight to the computer lab to check my timetable only to find that the website was not letting me log in. Slightly in a panic now I headed to the international office in hopes that they could add me in the Creative Arts that I can actually transfer back to UNC Charlotte and let me know where the class was located. I waited in a 45 minute line to simply sign a piece of paper and be on my way. By then I could access my timetable and find out where the class would be held and headed off to actually find it. Walking through the campus I easily found the building I needed along with the room number. I walked into a lecture hall with about 10 people already seated and took an aisle seat. As more people started to come in I moved towards the inside of the row and instantly three girls came and sat next to me. They introduced themselves (3 Aussie girls) and when I mentioned that I was an exchange student from America the questions just started flowing. They were all interested in the US, to see if it was really like the movies portray it be and I was as equally interested in their Australian ways since they were also elementary education degree seeking students. The class started and instantly we had to join groups of 3 to discuss and come up with some type of way to explain “What good is the Arts?” Many groups shared skits and poems that were hilarious. The class intimidates me a little since I know I’ll have to actively participate in the workshops by doing skits and such, but I know that it will make me come out of my shell and later be a more entertaining teacher because of it. Then it was immediately off to my next class which was International Education. This class was a lot smaller and not as interesting, but I know that I can learn a lot from it in the end. By then, Riley had texted me to let me know that he’d be waiting outside my class for me so we can have some lunch together which I was definitely gracious for. We enjoyed out lunch in the sunshine and then went to buy cruise tickets together. I had another tutorial, or lab, to attend for my International Education class before I was done for the day. I met another guy that went to grade school in America, and had also traveled all over the world which is exciting to me! Overall, I wasn’t too intimidated or overwhelmed which my classes or the assignments that I will have to do.   

Finally done with classes for the day we met up at Broadway Shopping Centre to get a couple of necessary things and also ingredients for delicious bar-be-que sandwiches. Seriously one of the quickest meals to make, but they are beyond delicious. We were sitting down to eat around 7:30, so we’re getting better at eating early but still haven’t fully got it down yet. With no homework or anything to do tonight we simply relaxed and watched a little bit of TV!