Birthdays, beginnings and book launches (Zoë)

So here we all are, back for another semester. I feel okay at the moment, but yesterday I definitely had the beginning of semester blues. How can five weeks of holidays go so fast? It’s a question I ask myself after every holiday, and I never manage to find an answer.

My holidays were excellent. I had five whole weeks off and yet it still seems like they went fast. I spent them doing exactly what I wanted to – sitting by the fire with either a book or my computer in my lap, which was great on those rainy, 8 degree days we had. I finished watching season 3 of Battlestar Galactica, finished The Dark Tower series, reread all the Harry Potter books, and rejoiced in my 10 GB a month download limit. I also turned 19, and my sister made me a cake in the shape of a Dalek from Doctor Who.

It tasted as good as it looks!

My results were good, which gave me a bit of a confidence boost for this semester. My subjects for semester 2 are Genetics and the Evolution of Life, which I’m looking forward to, as my two favourite topics in Biology are genetics and evolution. Chemistry B seems okay so far, basically just a continuation from first semester. Although considering that I pushed Chem far out of my mind after the exam, it’s going to take a little getting used to. Sigh. I really loved Cinema Studies last semester, so I’m taking Introduction to Film Theory. It looks really good. The films we’re studying are great, everything from Hitchcock to The Piano, from Carrie to Batman Begins. I’m really excited about it. Finally, I’m doing Contemporary Culture and Everyday Life. I’m thinking about doing a double major in Cinema Studies and Cultural Studies, as they complement each other and they’re the sorts of things I’m really interested in. HPS didn’t really engage me all that much – I’m glad I’m not doing it anymore.

I have a good feeling about this semester. It’s sort of like a new beginning. I feel more settled into the whole university style of learning, and I feel good about the subjects I’ve chosen. I’m also pretty happy with my timetable – I finish at 11 on a Friday, so I can take the afternoon train home to Shepparton when I want to. Of course, by the end of the week I might be completely sick of all my subjects and studying, but I’m hoping to keep a positive attitude. The only thing I’m not so positive about this semester is college.

I moved back into college on Friday – a day early, for reasons I’ll get to later. I didn’t really want to come back – if I’m honest with myself, I don’t really like college all that much. It’s not Ormond in particular, I’m just not really a college person. I think it will have been a good thing to do for the first year, and I’ve made friends that I’ll probably keep for a long time, but I’m looking forward to leaving. A bit prematurely, I know, but I can’t really help it.

So if I didn’t want to come back, why move back in a whole day early? Well, the last week of my life has been entirely planned around a certain book launch that you might have heard about once or twice on the news. Yep, I’m such a nerd that I came back to college a whole day early in order to have unpacked so to be able to do nothing on the weekend but read. My sister and I spent last week making costumes to wear on Saturday morning. We had our academic gowns from college, white shirts and black pants, red and gold ties (we were Gryffindors) and broomsticks. We got up at 6 on Saturday, got ready, and walked into the city to the Borders launch at Federation Square. On the way we got many strange looks, many smiles, a few car horns, and a bunch of photos with a group of Japanese tourists. The final countdown was the most magical moment of the entire year. I felt such a sense of unity knowing that all around the world, people were sharing the same feelings of anticipation. What I was actually thinking at the time was ‘”this would make a great Patronus memory!” Our photo was in the Sunday Herald Sun, and I think we were on the Channel 9 news, but I missed it (stupid college!). I’m not going to say anything about the book, to protect those who haven’t finished yet, but I will say that I was so pleased with myself, as many of my theories were right. It still hasn’t hit me that it’s all over. I’ve been with Harry since I was 8 years old, and so now it feels a bit like the world is telling me that it’s time to grow up, to become an adult.

Of course, that didn’t stop me trying to apparate back to my room from my sister’s room last night. 🙂