First Week of School!

Last week was the start of term, and I must say I was quite apprehensive going into it. I was told many things about the units here, not two of them being the same. I was told they were extremely difficult, I was told they were super easy, I was told there was no homework and I was told there was a ton of homework. The one thing that was a common factor was that there were only 1 or 2 tests and they were the majority of your grade. As it turns out some of my fears were confirmed, while others now seem ridiculous.

Monday 14 February

I just want to make note quick that Valentine's day is not a big deal here at all. I was extremely surprised there were no decorations, there wasn't even a special dessert at dinner. My teacher did say Happy Valentine's day but only remember because he heard it on the radio driving in. 

(Happy Valentine's Day!... Now get to class.)

I started off my Valentine's by getting up at 6 am. Yes 6 AM! I had to get ready and put on my suit, since it is business attire between 8 and 5:30. 

Traditional first day of school picture for mom! 

I went to breakfast and then went to Student Services because I checked my timetable, and everything had disappeared. I found out they weren't opening until 9 so I went back then, and got my it all worked out, and got all my classes 25 minutes before my first one was to start. I got to my first lecture (distribution decisions) at 10am and went until 12n then had a quick lunch and was back for my 12n- 2pm tutorial (distribution decisions).  My week pretty much continued in this fashion. 

Tuesday 15 February

Event management project lecture 8am-12pm

Wednesday 16 February

Strategic management lecture 10am-12n 

Went to talk to my counselor and dropped my tuesday class. Added a class (Intro to event management ) for Monday 8am-10am and Tuesday 2pm-4pm. 

Event promotion and sponsorship lecture 3pm-7pm

Thursday 17 February

No class. I slept in late and spent the day at the beach! 

Friday 18 February

Strategic Management Tutorial 1pm-3pm

I talked to the teacher after and switched this one to Wednesday morning 8am-10am. My weekends start Wednesday night! =]

So after all of the changes I made here is my timetable:

Monday: 8am-2pm

Tuesday: 2pm-4pm

Wednesday: 8am- 12n and 3pm-7pm

There are also a few things I want to share about my first experience with australian schooling. 

1.  They call high school, college. And college (where I am now) is called uni.  
2.  The classes here are all in blocks of 2 hours. However, the classes don't actually start until 15 past and end at the 45. So really they're an hour and a half. 
3. There are usually 2 parts to each class; a lecture and tutorial. The tutorial is usually small group work and case studies to better understand the material.
4. Their paper is skinnier and longer. It doesn't fit all the way in my folders, and its becoming an issue. 
5. Their grades are wacky! They don't use the standard A-F scale. Here is their grading scale:

      HD- High Distinction        85-100%     4.0

         D- Distinction               70-  84%     4.0

         C- Credit                      65-  74%     3.0

         P- Pass                       50- 64%      2.0

--------------------------------------------Passing Grades Above Line-------------------------------------------

      PC- Conceded Pass        45- 49%      0.0

        F-  Fail                          0-  44%      0.0

So remember if I say I got a D that is a GOOD THING! If I say I got and HD I expect a party when I get home, because this is nearly impossible, especially for foreign students!!!  I'm told if I get this then I should be able to teach the class.