Help! I am now seriously addicted to Facebook. I check it every time I'm on the computer and end up spending time which should be spent studying commenting and adding applications. Arggh!! I'm one of 'those' people now. Well, at least it's less shameful than Myspace!
Note to Sophie: I ended up doing both 'Sex Gender and Power' and 'China Since Mao' because I dropped one of my other subjects because, (can you believe it!) they wanted me to come in on a Thursday as well as Tues and Wed. And both are fantastic, I'm really glad I swapped!
I really don't want to know how much of my college download limit I've used up today.
You see, in the past 7 days I have had two essay deadlines. And a choir concert. And open day tour-guiding. And music ball organising. And a mini-chamber-music presentation. On top of the usual practise, reading, and meetings.
Plus I have another essay due next week. One which is worth 50%, and which I haven't started. And it's a research project, so it's rather difficult to do last minute because library opening hours aren't long enough for pulling all-nighters.
I could probably finish it last minute. But I don't want a repeat of Legal Method and Reasoning last semester, because it really bothers me that I could have gotten an H1 in the subject if my essay hadn't been complete crap. So I've decided to just download several dozen megabytes of journal articles off the internet at home so that I can work here instead of being limited by library hours.
Meh. So much to do, so little done.
EDIT: I forgot to mention the highlight of my week, and another big cause of busyness - Queens' College musical! For those of you who remember, I actually go to JCH - but my clarinetist friend at Queens had another commitment during the matinee performance on Saturday, so I got to fill in for her last minute for their production of Urinetown, which is one of my favourite musicals. It was awesome fun, Queens had an amazingly professional production and now I'm really jealous and wish my college had enough people to stage a musical. Oh well.
Well, SOMEHOW I ended up in a prosh team. For the first time M-ASS (the Melbourne Arts Students Society) had a team. Most of the week there were 4 of us... hilarious because we were still trying despite having NO chance of winning. By Thursday our team leader (a guy who'd actually left uni but had come back to do prosh) had left to move to Canberra sooo we joined the science team for the scav hunt.
I really recommend this week for everyone who has never tried. I wont specify everything we did but everyone really surprised themselves. It's a great bonding and teamwork learning experience!
The funniest parts that I can talk about here were probably on Wednesday and Thursday.
Wednesday- "Jolly wrestling", "Iron gut", "Boat Races" and "Trivia night". I only got involved in the boat races and the jolly wrestling. Let me tell you- I was the only girl in my team so I volunteered to be the female entrant in the jolly wrestling. We had all been told to meet on South Lawn for wrestling... but we had all assumed it would be in jelly (not so bad). But. No. It was CHOCOLATE SAUCE. Never have I been so filthy. Luckily it was warm so it was bearable. Afterwards I ran around uni covered in the stuff scaring people.
Thursday- At 3pm everyone (all teams) stopped the Scavenger hunt, met at the state library dressed as "the undead" (zombies, dead nurses, ghouls, mummies, etc) and proceeded to walk down the middle of Swanston street shouting "equal rights for the undead". I'd never been on a protest before, and it was CRAZY how we stopped traffic and trams and wow! Everyone were taking photos of us. We even walked into "The Body Shop" moaning for "Braaaaains" and "Bodddddiiiieeess" which was so so so funny. Hoping to get a hold of some of them.
On top of this- I managed to hand in my first essay of the semester (just to show you that it's not ALL fun and games). I was happy with it, but who knows what that will mean in the end. For once I did a fair bit of extra reading!
Hope everyone has had a good weekend.
Bob Dylan tonight!
Well, eveyone's been talking one thing - it's PROSH WEEK. And I dunno what the heck it means and from what I have witnessed, it's just some fun filled activities and some which really goes over the limit.
It's been a long period since I wrote a blog here, so I shall blame it on my busy timetable and tests, etc. Anyways, I need to share what I saw as part of this week's "crazy" activities.
SIGHT NO.1 : During the wonderful, interesting bio lecture, comes a deafening voice from the back. I atfirst thought some drunk has rocked upto class. As I glance back along with the rest of the class, it's BORAT!! I liked this, though, coz I have found Borat funny (at times). I had some laughs which then turned to amazement as I see a guy coming from the left 'almost' naked. Well, I could laugh at that. After that ended, the lecturer told us that she had seen worse than that. So, I comforted myself that I wasn't there at that time.
SIGHT NO. 2: That comfort was destroyed during the next bio lec yesterday. First some guys dressed as sailors come in and start dancing. I was like, wow..nice music and nice moves. It got worse when more came down and started stripping!! And let me tell, at the end, every single one was naked!! Ok, I dunno what this is all about coz I haven't been confronted with these sights before. I like the idea of unexpectedly coming into the lecture room and having a bit of dance, but I was quite offended by this. I had to look down when I couldn't bear any of that.
SIGHT NO. 3: This was a good one with the imitation of the advertisement about nicorette and the cigarette. That's a good song, by the way. I enjoyed that.
So, I have had some good and bad ones on the way. But I guess it's all part of the fun, huh? Just want to thank them for bringing a fresh change into the lecture room when some are simply bored.
Till next time
I just couldn't believe in my ears when the Physics staff told my prac group that we will investigate the famous photoelectric effect in the week beginning 13 Aug. They said this is a trial which will lead up to the new teaching scheme which the School of Physics is considering. It's simply AWESOME. Regardless of the outcome of this trial, I believe they should maintain this innovative approach. The traditional style is seriously lagging behind the stride of technology and the students' ever-growing demands for polished (and re-polished) educational schemes.
This is exactly what the School of Chemistry has already seen and taken measures to tackle the years-old problem. The brand new Learning Centre is beyond innovation. Recently, they even trialled the new multiple choice controls, where each student is just like the audience in "Who wants to a millionaire": you're given a controller, then you press the appropriate button to select A, B, C, or D. After 20 seconds, the data are collated and the results are displayed in graphical form. At the end of each question and the display of results, the tutor will go through the question in great details or just briefly, depending on the performance of the class for that particular question.
My vision of a science lecture involves 2 things: the white/blackboard which the lecturer will mainly use and a PowerPoint slide for referencing. For example, my Physics and Maths lecturers use the blackboard for working out, while relying on the slides for examples (including images from external sources which are not readily available on the blackboard. -lol-), reference materials and so on. But the point is that it is the combination of both that keeps a lecture alive. Preference for one over the other will fail to interest the students who are either sitting doing nothing (as in the Powerpoint style) or just copying off the board, not seeing the vivid demonstrations/applications of the materials they're learning (as in the blackboard style). The one exception is Biology where the Powerpoint style perhaps should dominate due to the nature of the subject (literature-based rather than mathematics-based). However, innovations should know no limits. I think they will find a way to make Biology lectures better (something already seen in the pracs).
As a science student, my vision is limited to the context of science teaching. I would love to hear from everyone in the other faculties.
Have a nice day,
Cheers
It’s been a fair while since my last post, I sincerely apologise for that. As a result of my long absence from this blog, this is gonna be a long one and since most people cant be bothered reading the whole blog, I have outlined the paragraphs and their respective topics:
- Moving into college
- Uni – including lining up 24 hrs for commerce ball
- Friendships and my thoughts on girls
- Balance
Well semester started with me packing my bags and moving into Janet Clarke Hall. Naturally I was very excited and this excitement doubled as I unlocked my room and had a glance inside. It’s the best room ever! High ceilings, quaint furnishings and the best of all, an open fireplace! My window faces west which allows me to witness the beautiful yellow-orange-red sunsets, its soooooooo romantic. Decorated with a few posters and some of my favourite things, the room feels like home. The experience itself at college has been good so far. It was a bit daunting the first week or so entering into an environment where everyone knew each other and I was the new kid on the block; a bit like starting at a new school. But the people here are friendly and that makes the whole experience a whole lot easier. Being part of the footy team has been good too. We are playing against Trinity this Sunday and I can’t wait to kick their arse. The food here is OK, I have never been picky about food anyway. Sure it’s repetitive (I think I have had potatoes for about 18 consecutive days) but that’s no different from home. My parents aren’t chefs who come up with something special every night. To be honest, I think I am eating healthier here because i always have brekky (at home there’s always the morning rush), I don’t have as much junk food (cos I have to buy them now). The lifestyle here is fantastic – everything I ever imagined it to be. I still make my classes if I sleep in; if I ever forget anything my room is only a short walk away from uni; I get to escape the noise of my family and enjoy peace and quiet when I want to (well except for the trams on royal parade); I get to invite friends over whenever and roast marshmallows on the fire; I don’t have to fork out a fortune for a cab home after a night out; the CBD is a short ride away; I don’t have to spend time on public transport to get home for dinner. I still can’t believe how little TV I have watched since living here. For 3 weeks, the only TV I have watched is the Tour de France.
I wasn’t looking forward to uni at all, especially with all the excitement of moving into college. Even now, it still feels like the holidays. I thought that beginning semester two would be a lot easier than semester one but I was wrong. After 6 weeks of relaxing and carefree holidays, the first week of uni was a bit of a shock with unfamiliar faces everywhere and the boring nature of lectures – it was back to the impersonal environment of university where everyone is together during classes but after classes, diverge on the own life, as though everyone has more important things to do. I am not liking it so much this semester; I have lost my motivation already. I am behind in my study already, that’s what I get for joining facebook. I was one of those fools who lined up for 24hrs to secure tickets to the annual Commerce Ball. I am a hypocrite as I bagged those people who lined up Krispy Kreme donuts. Well if the ball turns out to be better than donuts, then my decision is justified…sort of.
My friendships aren’t doing well this semester. I am pissed off at some and with others it’s awkward – I think it’s something to do with reassurance or security or something like that. On a slightly similar topic – girls – girls are so damn confusing (probably one of the most common complaints by guys, right up there with itchy jocks). Or maybe it’s just me. Maybe girls do act rationally, maybe they believe that guys have feelings too, maybe girls don’t actually drop clues and expect guys to read their minds. Just maybe? Or maybe I am an example of how single sex schools fail. Nah no way, I think it’s the teeny weeny chance that girls are actually complicated beings.
One aspect I am finding very difficult in life at the moment is balance. Now that I am living away from home, I have sort of neglected my family. My mum is constantly calling to say how much she misses me (its only been 3 weeks and I have seen her once or twice in that time) and I have a younger brother who wants to spend time with me. I guess what Im trying to say is that in this modern day, it’s so hard to balance between living for yourself and living for others. The media and our peers emphasise so much on living for yourself – that is, attaining as much happiness as you can for YOURSELF. Clubbing, restaurants, expensive clothes, drinking beer (that’s not my opinion, just a general statement) - having FUN, isn’t that what uni is all about? That’s what they told me in high school anyway. After all, there’s a direct correlation between getting drunk every night and happiness isn’t there? And I can see myself transforming with that mentality which I am uncomfortable with. Shit, this paragraph doesn’t make a whole lotta sense does it? Sorry I just had to get it off my chest and I don’t have another blog to send my thoughts into cyberspace.
From now on, I am gonna try post more regularly with shorter posts.
Bye
You know, one of the things that is most annoying about university is that there is no longer a standardised timetable of events that everyone attends. This means that most weeks there are multiple places I need/want to be at the same time, and unfortunately, only one of me.
For instance, next Wednesday is both the date of the law school's annual Sir Anthony Mason lecture, and the chief justice of the Victorian Supreme Court, who happens to also be the first female chief justice in an Australian supreme court, is giving a speech on law and justice. This happens to be the same day and time as my college's literature dinner, where we all read a book as a college and then invite the author to dinner to talk about it. I don't really like this year's book, but at the dinner we get more food (and because this is a special event, it'll be loads better than regular college food too) than at the lecture, which, although catered, is not a full meal. So in the interests of eating good food, which, of course, trump all other considerations in my life, I will be going to college dinner instead.
Tomorrow I am also double booked, because the MSO is playing Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique which is a concert that I really want to see at the same time that there is a college costume party. The day after tomorrow I have a chamber rehearsal, a volunteer tutoring appointment, and choir rehearsal on one after the other, but overlapping, so I'll have to give one up. On Monday, the Victorian Opera is playing Orpheus and Eurydice at the same time that I have both my college tutorials. Yesterday I had an information session for the 50% law assignment and a meeting for the Student Ambassador Leadership Program at the same time. Being me, I chose to skip both and eat lunch instead.
So I have been fairly busy since the start of this term. But really, the double bookings aren't due to being busy -- I've had plenty of spare time to fit in practise and study and laundry and calling my parents and general goofing around (if I didn't, I wouldn't be writing here. Or maybe I would. Passing up a chance to procrastinate has never been a skill of mine). It's just that everyone seems to pick the same times for all their events, and so, barring the ability to perform amoeba style fission, time travel, or the superpower of making other people conform to your timetable, you're going to have to pick and choose.
Which really kind of sucks sometimes.
In other news, yesterday we had a marshmallow toasting party in my friend's room, which has a fireplace because she's the JCH student club treasurer and therefore gets an awesome room. It was fun.
First; thanks to all who commented on my first blog :)
Okay, so it's Sunday but I should reflect on the week.
I actually had a pretty dull week at uni. The cold weather mixed with the strong and freezing wind of DEATH made me very grumpy. Being on South Lawn wasn't nice at all and thus "the meeting spot" of everyone I know was gone gone gone!
From this week I have also made a huge change. Because I'm hoping to move out of home next year, I've started an internship at an advertising agency on Wednesdays and Fridays. I didn't usually have uni on Fridays but now I have to listen to my 2 Wednesday lectures online. Motivation is not high but luckily the online lecture system is pretty near flawless.
My psych tute was funny; our tutor was 45 minutes late as she thought we were an hour later than we were, so we all got to know each other while waiting. We were paired up for an experiment that will be later during the term. I have always found it bizarre that they pair people who aren't friends together but this was even weirder as we have to invite our partner to our house or vice versa. Luckily my partner seems really friendly and we got along pretty well!
The main discovery for the week was of "Prosh week". Could anyone explain this to me? When is it?! I'm really confused... my general understanding is that its a crazy week filled with activities, most of which involving alcohol. And teams! But M-ASS doesn't have a team... does anyone know how I'd go about joining another? It's so funny, my dad went to Melbourne and always told me about this famous "week of mayhem"... and then the other day when I brought up Prosh week he told me it was Prosh week for him too! I asked him how it worked back in his day, and whether it was around classes... he told me that no one really goes to classes... and was serious about me doing the same! Very funny.
M-ASS arts ball tickets go on sale Wednesday! I'm very excited. Even though I won't be there :O! I will have to ask someone to get me a ticket.
Advice for the week:
If it's cold at lunch and you're alone, there aren't many places to go to eat. I discovered this on Tuesday. Everyone had gone to get pizzas and I was left alone and just wanted somewhere warm to eat. Library would be perfect... but you can't eat. The union house food court offers a lot of seating but sadly is not ideal for a "loner". The best place to go is level 2 of Union House. Not to U-Bar, but if you go to the other side, down the hall from the co-op are many couches and cushioned seating. Perfect.
Xx
As a hopeful Cinema Studies major, I decided that it was not only my duty, but educational, to go to the Melbourne International Film Festival. So I got a mini pass, which gets me into 10 screenings, and poured over the guide, carefully selecting 10 films to see. So far I've been to seven, so I have three more until the festival ends on Sunday. It's been a whirlwind - I don't think I've ever seen so many films in such a short period of time. So here's a rundown on what I've seen.
Once: A gorgeous little Irish film about a busker and a Czech musician who meet and start recording songs together. It's a twist on the musical genre, as the songs they record detail their pasts and their own developing love story. I'd recommend it to anyone - it was the first film I saw and still my favourite. It's uplifting, charming, and the songs stay with you. The lead actors are both musicians in their own right, Glen Hansard from The Frames and Marketa Irglova.
Eagle vs Shark: This was an oddball, quirky comedy from New Zealand. I wasn't a huge fan, in all honesty. There's something about these sorts of films that are just a little too left of centre for me (and there goes my Cinema Studies street cred). I didn't think the characters were likable, and their misfortunes were just painful rather than funny.
The Hottest State: Okay, so I have a confession to make. The only reason I went to see this film was because Ethan Hawke directed it, who was in one of my favourite films of all time (even after studying it for a year), Gattaca. The film is slightly autobiographical, and it's about a young man trying to make it as an actor in New York, and his relationship with a young budding musician. It was an enjoyable film, and I thought it was very honest. Although Ethan Hawke himself was in the film playing a character called - wait for it - Vincent. (Non-Gattaca nerds, you can tune out now). Vincent! I freaked out. On a similar note, Ethan Hawke did a Q&A earlier, but I didn't go, because I knew I'd just freak him out by asking if he ever saved anything for the swim back.
After Life: This was an interesting Japanese film about life after death. When people die, they spend a week in a facility, where they have to choose one memory to take with them to the afterlife - and only one. All the memories in the film are actually ones from real people who the director interviewed. It really made you think about the nature of memories, and which one you would choose to spend eternity with.
Manufacturing Dissent: Michael Moore and the Media: My final essay for Cinema Studies last semester was on Bowling for Columbine, so I was interested to see this film. As it turned out, I was a little disappointed. The filmmakers started the film as a biography of Michael Moore, and as they struggled to get an interview with him it sort of took of a critical tone. As a result the final film didn't manage to do either fantastically, and so it felt a little wishy-washy. Although that may have been because I had researched a lot of their evidence in the course of my essay.
The Boss of it All: A comedy from Lars von Trier about an IT company where the head created a fictional president who lived in America in order to pass the blame onto a higher authority figure, and consequently has to hire an actor to portray him during a major business deal. Hilarity ensues. The most exciting thing about this film (which was very amusing - sort of a Danish The Office) was that the lead guy from The Eagle, which is a great show on SBS on Thursday nights, played the actor. I was so excited when I recognised him.
Sicko: I couldn't do the film festival without seeing Sicko. It's a slightly different Michael Moore film, as his presence is much less conspicuous. Rather, he's absent from in front of the camera for most of the first half, instead letting the film rest on the individual stories. This creates a slightly more sombre, less confrontational film, and even though the facts are debatable, as in any Moore film, it's a good starting point for thinking about the flaws in the American health care system.
So that's it so far. Last Friday I saw 3 in one day, which was pretty exhausting. But I also ran into an old school friend who had not seen 5 on Friday, but 14 since Sunday. I was amazed, but not surprised - he's studying film and Swinburne and this is exactly the sort of thing he'd do. But 14 in 6 days! I can only just manage 10 in 19....but it's been a great experience so far, and I'd definitely do it again next year.
Well hello again world.
I feel like i haven't written in ages. So what's been going on?
Well, I was worried that I wouldn't have enough work for the holidays, but I ended up having way too much. I was in at the law firm and at A&R in Heidelberg and so I ended up getting quite a bit of money, but not a lot of time to spend it - is that a catch 22? I went away to Inverloch for a few days with 3 of my younger cousins (17, 12 and 10), so that was good.
I now have absolutely the best uni timetable ever. I only have 2 days of classes. Tues: 9-6 and Wed: 9-1:30. This has further cemented in my mind the idea that uni is the best thing that ever happened to me. So now I'm at the law firm Monday and Thursday and the bookshop on sundays - independent allowance, here I come!
Before I came back this semster I was a little worried that I would have to make friends all over again, but thank god I didn't have to! I now have lunch at the uni bar (which my friend says is called that because it's uni spelled backwards, anyone know if that's true?) with a bunch of friends on tues, lunch with my best friend in the whole world on wed in the union lounge (now nicely furnished, I applaud the make over) and then hang out with a friend from Newman (fantastic college, very jealous she's there) till drinks with a bunch of other friends. So, feeling a lot less friendless.
My uncle passed away yesterday, so that was a crappy day. My auntie told me when I was home alone so I got a bit distressed and then had to ring up and tell my mum and my brother and my dad, who's in South Africa at the moment, so that sucked double time. I went up to Sydney a couple of weeks ago to visit him, so I was glad I got to see him. He was pretty old and had been in hospital quite a while and I think he was just really glad a lot of the family had gone up to see him. But I think most people would agree with me when I say, death sucks.
Anyway, hope everyone's holidays were fun and that no one has tutes in Queensberry St!
Cheers,
Georgie
Oh, and have now become hooked on facebook. Not seriously, I don't spend a lot of time on it but I check it about 2 times a day. Is that bad?
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