After a week of non-stop adventure in New Zealand, it was time to settle back into school-mode in preparation for the last twelve weeks of my journey abroad.
Since the first day of classes on February 18th, I have been sucked into the intricacies of kernel land, learning about the ins-and-outs of Windows and MacOS for my Operating Systems course. When I’m not manipulating programs with semaphores and locks, my mind is swimming with “big-O” notation, trying to develop the most efficient methods for my Algorithms class. Then, when I have a bit of free time on a Friday night, I’ll sneak in a few episodes of “If You are the One,” a Chinese dating show assigned to me for homework for my Chinese Media and Communications course.
I’ve also made my way into a few “societies” (clubs) for my short time here.
My Tuesday evenings are dedicated to the UNSW Wind Symphony, and with almost twenty flutes in the group, I am in good company. For our concert on April 12th, we’ll be playing Whitacre’s “October,” “Handel in the Strand,” and even a few selections from the Lord of the Rings, which is ironic considering that I just visited the land where the movies were filmed.
On Fridays, I always look forward to joining the UNSW Campus Runners on their Friday evening runs. Now that classes are in full swing and everyone is back from their summer holiday, the group has exploded in size, from an average of 10 people per week to almost 50 for yesterday’s beach-hopping run. I’ve already made my impression as “the American” in the group, embarrassing myself while trying to do conversions from miles to kilometers and back again, but seeing my friends’ faces contort when I mention Fahrenheit returns me to their level.
While it is nice to take a break from being a tourist, I am eager to resume my intended role when my first visitor, Emily Crook (my first friend from college), comes bright and early on Monday morning. I’ll be up and waiting!!
While I do hope to keep posting regularly, I would rather not bore anyone with my weekly grocery store trips and accounts of my classes. Thus, when anything extraordinary happens, I’ll be sure to let it be known.
I’ll catch you next week after today’s Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival and my long-anticipated fun with Emily!
Study in Sydney 
Your blog entries are never boring G. Although I will never be able to understand your class work, I enjoy hearing about each and every one of them. Just hearing the titles gives me a greater appreciation for why the first month and a half were truly a “holiday”! ‘-). Enjoy your “societies” and your time with Emily. (See, a few native words have crept into your lexicon as I predicted.). Love, Aunt Zoe
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Hi Gretchen – That’s exciting that your friend is there! Have loads of fun …….and enjoy your classes …….. although, I have no idea what they’re about!! Teehee You’ll have to fill me in when you get back! 🙂 Take care. Love and miss you! Grammy
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