Hits and Misses!

Thursday, March 21

Hits:

•  Family Placement
• Mom Got Facebook
• Letters From Daddy
• Skyping Amanda
• Facebooking Cooper, Sarah, Chelsea, and Josh
• Weather
• Beach
• Class Schedule
• Hillsong
• Redback Racing
• Naps/Sleeping In
• Independence Out of Comfort Zone
• Blog
• Cafe/Food
• Witnessing
• Not Doing Dishes
• My Kitchen Rules/TV shows
• Ipad and Kindle Books
• Opportunities

Misses:

• Hugs from Daddy
• Cooking with Mom
• Singing and Shopping with Sarah
• Dissing Dance Moms and Gold Miners with Cooper
• Not Being Able to Hear How Everyone's Day Was
• Movies with Amanda
• Josh's Bad Jokes
• Church
• Rensselaer Motorsport
• Working/Being Involved
• Familiarity in Comfort Zone
• Mystery and Indy
• Reliable WiFi
• Current TV Series'
• Books/Library

Off the Face of the Earth?

Sunday, March 17

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, but I have had my first full week of classes, first 2 meetings of Redback Racing, and first Hillsong young adult event.  

On Sunday I went to Hillsong for church, and the sermon this time was much better!  I was challenged, but also was able to take something practical away! After the service I met one of the leaders of the young adult group, and was invited to an afternoon barbecue. I went to that, and it was nice to meet more people.  

On Monday I had my first full day of classes, which meant that I had both lectures and tutorials.  My actual International Relations professor was back from traveling the Middle East, and while I was hesitant about the class last week, I now am really dreading it.  The professor does not regularly teach, but is a lawyer, and that was quite evident from the first day of her teaching (if you can really call it that). She did not know how to operate the computer, even to pull up the PowerPoint, and a student had to walk her through that.  As she was quick to assure us, she did not have any part in creating the class structure; it was another professor that created the curriculum, and she would just be following that.  That was quite evident when she read, word for word, off the lecture notes that had been given to her, and did not raise her head for anything, including changing slides or answering questions. So that was disappointing.  Apparently it is common at UNSW to have different professors for different sections of the course (for example, one professor will lecture for weeks 1-8, and another for weeks 9-12) and that can either hurt you, if you lose a good professor, or help you, if the professor is bad.  Unfortunately, I think I am stuck with this bad professor : (

Tuesday was my long day, with classes from 9-2, and 5-6, and a meeting from 6-6:45.  A few of my classes involve group projects, and I am really not a fan of group work, so we will see how that goes. The first official meeting of Redback Racing went well, and from that I was invited to their workshop on Saturday for an official Business Team meeting.  However, on Tuesday I had one more thing to do after my Redback team meeting.  The Lord Mayor of Sydney had invited international students to the Sydney Town Hall for a reception celebrating the diversity that they bring to the city.  I went to that, but it was not as I expected, so I left after only a few minutes, but the Town Hall is a gorgeous old building!

Wednesday was my day off, and I spent the afternoon sleeping and reading on the beach! 

Thursday I had classes from 5-8, and they went well.  

Friday was another day off, and I again spent the afternoon on the beach! It was also my 3 week anniversary of being in Australia! 

On Saturday I went to the workshop for the Redback Racing Team, for my first official business meeting.  The business team here is very informal, and kind of scattered, but they are looking to improve that.  So I now have a few tasks to do for the team : )  The team leader also asked to see what Rensselaer Motorsport was doing and using for some of our materials, so I shared those, and answered some questions he had about our team.  Everyone that I met was very nice, so I'm really looking forward to working with the team.  

Today I went to Hillsong once again, but I will eventually visit some other churches around me.  

I have had several discussions with various family members about how we do things in America, and it has been really great to get their perspective on us, and what we do.  I think one of the most interesting things is that the daughter that is my age thinks that the US should have a public health system.  She insists that none of she or her friends have ever had a bad experience with the system, and she can't imagine not being able to walk in anywhere, and having to pay.  As that is all she has ever known, I can understand that, but she acknowledges that should the US switch systems, it will likely take 20 or 30 years to get a good functioning system, and I am sure those years would be awful.  

My favorite thing that I have eaten/drank this week would be a delicious chocolate milkshake that I had this afternoon.  It was phenomenal! 

The weather today is cooler than it has been, about 70, and it is really windy, which makes it feel cooler.  

As I was coming home on the bus, I saw the ocean, and couldn't help but smile.  I am so blessed, not only here, but also at home.  Not only where I live, but all of my family and friends, and the new people that I am able to meet, and the opportunities that have been given to me, and the experiences that I am having.  I am so thankful for everything that I have, and never want to forget how blessed I am! 

Thanks for taking the time to catch up!

Until Later,

Kaitlyn 

Education Over Vacation?

Saturday, March 9

I haven't written since Wednesday, but not a lot has happened since then.  I had a 2 hour lecture on Thursday night, but spent the day doing laundry and reading on the beach.  My lecture was Business Finance, and it seems to ba an ok class, largely because the professor seems good.  The professor is from New Jersey, but has been here in Australia for 2 and a half years.  He has a great personality,  and made fun of America quite a bit during the lecture, so I think what could be a boring class will be manageable.  That was my last class for the week. Having 2, almost 3 days off during the week makes me super happy : ) Because this was the first week, I did not have a full schedule, as tutorials begin in week 2.  So this upcoming week will be my first full schedule week.  Overall, I think my classes will be ok, and I see many similarities to classes that I have taken in the US.  One thing that is the same is the cost of textbooks.  I need one book each for 2 of my classes, and just those 2 books is over $250!  The books are published by the same publisher as many of my previous textbooks, so clearly their strategy is worldwide domination by overpriced textbooks : )

Sports are extremely popular in this part of Australia.  Some of the popular ones are National Rugby League (NRL) , Aussie Rules Rugby, cricket, and netball.  The NRL had their first game on Thursday night, which was 2 teams from this area playing against each other.  Because the teams were from this area, many of the players are friends of, or are known to the daughters and their boyfriends, so the game was very exciting.  Dinner on Thursday was fish and chips, just further evidence that food here has been influenced from all over.  (Wednesday we had bangers and mash (sausage and mashed potatoes)).

On Friday I did more laundry, then once again hung out at the cafe and surf shop.  Another NRL game was on after dinner (ribs and pizza) and I believe I can say that I understand rugby better than I understand our football : ) 

Today I Skyped my BFF, and will be heading to the beach in a bit! 

I'm looking forward to Hillsong Church tomorrow, where I'll be meeting a leader who can potentially connect me with a Bible study type group.  

Weather is glorious and in the 80's once again!  So sorry for those of you stuck in the snow in NY!

Until Later,

Kaitlyn

My Time at Uni Begins!

Wednesday, March 6

I had my first class on Monday, International Relations, and it seems as though it's going to be very intellectual.  A lot of theory, especially for the first day, but it should be ok.  I also had my first meeting for Redback Racing, the UNSW Formula SAE team.  I'm really looking forward to getting involved with another team!

On Tuesday I had 2 more classes, Consumer Behavior and Information Systems for Business.  Both seem like they will be all right.  I also decided to switch my schedule, so that I now have Wednesdays and Fridays off!  It means that my Monday and Tuesday  will be longer, and I now will have class for 3 hours on Thursday night, but I can sleep in on Friday!

Today I slept in, then Skyped my family : ). I spent the next few hours on the beach, reading.  The sun is so much stronger here that even with sunscreen, I got lightly pink.  I then hung out at the cafe and surf shop! I'm really going to enjoy my days off! I'm hoping to take a few surf lessons, but have to find a good teacher.  

I know this was brief, but nothing exciting has happened : (

Thanks for reading!

Until Later,

Kaitlyn 

A Platywhat?

Sunday, March 3

So it's been a few days since I updated, but nothing too exciting has happened.

I went to the  Taronga Zoo on Friday, but the weather was really bad, so it wasn't much fun. However, I was talking with a girl that attends UNSW, but just got back from an exchange, and she told me that she had a pass to get 4 people in the zoo, and would I like to get in for free? Of course I never say no to a deal, so I took her up on her offer! I'm really glad that I did, because as soon as we got into the zoo, it started to pour, and if I had had to pay $30 for the privilege of walking around a rainy zoo, where most of the animals were hiding from the rain, I would have been very upset.  The weather was supposed to clear up, but didn't, and there was supposed to be an indoor alternative to the zoo, but that didn't happen either.  So overall, the zoo would have been much nicer if the weather was nicer, but at least I didn't have to pay! Probably my favorite thing that I saw was the platypus. (FYI there is no agreed upon plural of platypus).  I had seen kangaroos and wallabies before, but was really excited to see a platypus.  Apparently platypus are nocturnal and have sensitive eyes, because they were in a completely dark enclosure, and you were not allowed to take pictures with a flash.  Because of that, I didn't get any great pictures.  However, seeing them in person was really neat, and the one in the tank was very active (swimming in circles, digging with his beak, and somersaulting).  I will say that they are much smaller than I thought.  From beak to back legs, it was no longer than 18 inches.  

On Saturday I didn't do anything other than Skype my family : )

Today I went to the Hillsong church campus located in Sydney.  Their big church is on the other side of the city, so I technically went to one of their satellite locations.  The service was interesting in a few ways. For the sermon, the pastor of the main church is broadcast onto large screens at the front of the church.  The sermon topic itself was not as challenging as I would have liked.  Also, most Australian people that I have mentioned Hillsong to, only know it as asking for money or donations, and after today, I can understand why they feel that way.  Hillsong also has a number of small groups for people to join, including one for young adults on the UNSW campus, so I am looking forward to getting more information on that.   Overall, the church did a nice job making people feel welcome, and I'll probably go back, but I really am looking forward to visiting other churches too!  

I don't really have anything else planned for today, other than a family dinner to celebrate the birthday (yesterday) of the father of the family that I'm staying with.  

I do have that doomed feeling of the last day of summer, or when a really good weekend is coming to an end, as I start classes tomorrow : ( I know that you all back home have been back for several weeks, and I've been lucky to have been off for so long, but there is still something about going back that feels awful!  

Miss you all lots!

Until later,

Kaitlyn