Back to school - the 1st weeks

Much has happened since my last blog 2 weeks ago. After the initial period of settling in and acclimatizing to my surroundings, Monday 23rd of Feb came around and marked the start of my study at Macquarie University.
The first thing I noticed in each of my subjects is that at least 85% of the students are international students, reason being that many of these folks are missing 1 or more core subjects that they need in order to be able to enroll into the master program next semester. Out of those 85% inties, at least 70% seem to be of Chinese heritage or origin. From what I've seen in the classroom so far, pretty much all of them seem to be struggeling with the English level already. Considering the fact that the English level is not going to get much easier than this, it will be interesting to see who will still be here at the end of semester 1. Funnily enough, 3 out of my 4 classes consist of at least 4 students from the Netherlands so Holland is well represented to say the least!

During the first week of school, various student and external organisations hosted the yearly O-week (Orientation week) so stands filled the large uni's courtyard from Monday thu Thursday. Here students could get information for all sorts of activities or join clubs in the areas of sports, leisure, academics, religion etc. There was also a DJ in the center couryard playing all sorts of tunes ranging from R&B to some pretty funky and even hardhouse types of music. This almost convinced me to put on my dancing shoes for a bit to show the Ozzies how the Dutch 'get down and boogy'. However, I decided to let it be as it would not be fair to bring such mad dancing skills to a largely unsuspecting crowd, clearly not ready for an unannounced event of such epic proportions ;-)

On thursday night there was a 'Summer Haze' party at the school bar to celebrate the many successes of O-week, so lots of new students (both Ozzies and Inties) showed up ready to party. Both inside and outside were really crowed already by the time I got there and I walked around for a bit since I couldn't find the people I was supposed to meet there.
Before I knew it the police were onto me and told me I was walking around quite a bit and supposedly 'looking over my shoulder' (which is highly suspicious over here). To make a long story short: I was frisked, my school bag was emptied and the police dog who had checked me when I entered the premises was instructed to sniff me over 1 more time just to make sure. They finally let me go and so I joined my friends for a drink. Unfortunately that's were problem #2 arrived because to get a drink, you had to get in line for 30-40 minutes. I figured I'd just get a few pitchers of beer for me and my friends so I waited and waited and when it was finally my turn, the bartender told me that there was a rule that evening to give each person a maximum of 2 drinks. Their argument was that they could better monitor how much each person was drinking and avoid people getting to drunk. I have 2 problems with this, which are:

1.) It's a bar, people come there to to socialize and drink;
2.) All people were 18 or older, meaning own choice/responsibility.

From what I've heard since the event, many people have complained about these rediculous rules so from now on, the uni bar has decided to also place a bar outside where people can order their drinks during events like this. Problem largely solved.

The weekend of Feb 28th/March 1st (last weekend) was predominantly spent on studying for my classes, and I ended up at a nice BBQ in Centennial Park on Saturday night (see pictures in slideshow below). Around 20 or so people showed up and after plenty of burgers and beers we ended up at a bar that was close to the park. After that we decided to go to another bar but they wouldn't let me in because I was supposedly too drunk (which wasn't true at all). Later I heard that there was a rather strict door policy that night at most bars largely because of some large dance event that was taking place nearby. They were not letting people in with shorts and/or flip flops, and I was wearing both! Since I didn't suspect that any arguments would be considered by the security guys standing at the door, I chose to crack open my last stubbie before getting in a cab to take me back to the main bus stop near Circular Quay, where I jumped on my bus to Neutral Bay (a.k.a. home).

Here are some pics, mainly of my school during 'O'week and a few of the BBQ.



Today is Saturday and I've lived through my 2nd week of classes. Finance has really been the only 'thorn in my eye' so far, so I will need to focus hard on this subject tomorrow, Monday and Thursday. Supposedly there has been an overall failing rate of 40% for that course in recent semesters but the main thing is to keep up with the work each week and not fall behind at all. Teachers move on to the next subject each lecture and tutorial assuming that you've fully understood the material from the week before so if you haven't, then it's your own responsibility to get extra help at the numeracy center or by asking the professor for support on something specific through the online portal.

But first things first, today is MARDI GRAS in Sydney!! Mardi Gras here is very different from the one in New Orleans (USA) since the focus here is really on the gay community, so it's a gay pride parade much like the one we have every year in Amsterdam, only much larger. Mardi Gras Sydney is the largest event in the world of it's kind, and it starts tonight at 7:45 pm, followed by an all night dance party in the Hordern Pavilion with DJ's such as Paul Oakenfold and the Freemasons. Although I'm skipping the dance party, the festival should be a great event and I will definitely report back on it with some pictures to add to the dramatic effect...

Until next time!