The Most Important Things (Johanna)
Warning to all – when you attend welcome sessions and transition workshops, there are a couple of very important things that they forget to tell. A basic rule I have now learnt is: wear comfortable shoes to uni. There is a hell of a lot of walking around to be done. I thought I was being all sensible by wearing flat shoes – it only took ten minutes for me to find out that, yes, they may be flat, but they are also too tight around the heel, too pointy and probably should be worn with socks. Ouch. Many moments of wishing I had bandaids. Another thing is that you should dress in layers! Weather can change extraordinarily quickly in Melbourne.
Apart from my mutilated heels, school’s a blast. I think I’m getting the hang on my subjects – modern literature is brilliant fun! Right now we’re studying Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, a play about a woman who leaves her family. It’s a poignant and sinister-beneath-the-surface kind of play, and I love it. I think I’m still in the honeymoon period, because I haven’t been able to analyse or critique it in my mind, I just adore it. My other subjects are lovely as well – Chinese has a wonderful atmosphere. There are… probably less than 20 people in the class and we have the same teacher (the classy Zhou Shaoming) for three out of four classes. It feels like high school, which is extremely welcome, especially in a subject that continually makes me feel like an idiot.
I’m settling into my house situation nicely – there have been quite a few drunken kitchen parties and 1am movies together, it’s nice. However, somebody stole my milk this morning – NOT HAPPY JAN! I had bought a carton of milk and only used it once, just to put a splash of milk in some milo. Then this morning, I woke up to find my almost full milk carton had been left on the bench for hours, slowly going sour. I have no idea who used it, but it was just really really really annoying – especially when I went to make breakfast and realised that I had no milk! Grrrrr! No use crying over spilled milk, or any milk.
Speaking of milk, one of the hardest things I’m facing at the moment is the whole cooking-for-myself thing. It’s hard work! First of all there is the quandary of ‘what am I going to make?’. Then I have to figure out if I can afford it, what ingredients I will need, whether or not I should make more and freeze it, etc. The majority of the time, so far, I have been too lazy to even consider these things, instead opting for two-minute noodles or baked bean jaffles. Something must be done!
My boyfriend visited me on the weekend – he’s going to Deakin Waurn Ponds. Originally he was going to transfer to Burwood so that we could live in Melbourne together, but alas… it was not to be. So instead, he arranged his timetable so that he has no classes on Friday or Monday, leaving four days to visit me, should he choose! He stayed Friday night and Saturday night, then we checked out the Sydney Road Festival. It was great fun – there was an African vocalist singing on the Blues and Roots Music Stage who was gorgeous beyond gorgeous. Listening to her just made my body feel like it had to dance; a similar thing happens to me when I’m watching musicals, either on stage or on television – I get this choked up feeling in my throat like my voice just wants to sing along. I am looking forward to throwing myself into the theatre scene as soon as I’m more settled. A part time job would be nice.
GAH! I just found out that the topic for the first Literature assignment will be handed out at the end of the week. Oh tragedy, oh pain, oh agony… assignments. Matthew (my darling boyfriend) told me that assignments were the first thing that made uni serious – it took him until he got his first one to realise that university wasn’t going to be simply one big party, as much as O-week might make it look that way. It’s only a 1000 word essay, so it shouldn’t be so terrible. But with such a constrained word limit, it has to be quality.
Alright, I’m slipping off onto tangents… until next time!
Love from Johanna