First Day of Class

Today was the first day of classes. My first class is on the opposite side of campus to the dorms which takes about 25 minutes at a brisk pace. This isn't bad unless your running late. I only have classes on Mondays and Wednesdays with a tutorial (optional) on Thursdays. Mondays are long days from 9 am til 445 pm and four lectures and one tutorial. Wednesday is interesting with one lecture and three tutorials then tennis. All of my schedules have been color coordinated and posted on numerous spots in my room and binders.

I am taking this semester:

• Australian Myths and Realities - a perspective of what "Australian" means to internationals versus the realities of being Australian and/or Aboriginal 
• Sports Psychology - the basics of psychology behind sport and exercise sciences
• International Finance - focuses on foreign exchange markets with Canada being the biggest competitor to Australia
• Investment Analysis - a detailed course on stocks, bonds, investments, and securities

I have an American, Canadian, and two Indian professors and none of them have Australian accents. I was hoping at least one would have an Australian accent that I could be entranced with. Most of my classes are about 400 people in massive lecture theaters. They film all of my lectures and post them online within two hours of class being concluded. This might become dangerous with the beach and travel. However, tutorials are not filmed and are worth 25% of each class so I will go to most days of school.

All of my lectures started immediately with no reprieve time. No course outline review and no one to tell any of us where to find the recorded lectures. I met a couple of kids who showed me all of the important parts of online learning. Classes are only 45 minutes in Australia compared to my 75 minute classes at home. They have significantly less contact hours with more emphasis on self-learn which will be interesting.

I know I have to write four papers this semester with four midterms and four finals. I have no assignments or group projects to deal with. Grades are all split by law 30% midterm, 30% term paper, and 40% final. 

AFN