I've been terrible at updating this sucker. I suppose it's because I often think of stuff I want to share, but only at times when I'm away from the computer. When I return to my room, everything that I thought of while in class or whatnot just disappears from my mind and I'm left staring at a blank screen. I'll try and re-cap everything from the past like...week and a half? as best as I can recall. I left off at Orientation/Registration I think.

Some social highlights between then and now include a special dinner for all of the new students this semester here at Trinity (including us internationals as well as locals that just didn't start until this term). Apparently there was something ridiculous like 70 of us beginning this semester living here which turned out to be a record I believe. It was a fun time since everyone got very dressed up; the boys were in sweaters, ties, and dress shirts, and the girls were rocking the formal dresses, tights and heels. The food they fed us this time was also pretty decent, but that could possibly be attributed to the fact that we got to serve ourselves and determine our OWN portions. Something interesting was this pumpkin mash which looked like orange mashed potatoes. For a person like me who isn't the biggest fan of other pumpkin foods, particularly pumpkin pie, I really enjoyed it. At all the tables they also gave us a bottle of white wine and a bottle of red wine. Of course, it was ultra cheap stuff that is referred to by the Aussies as "goon" since it's so nasty, particularly the red wine. Nobody at my table was drinking any of it but me and another girl, Jess, so we were forced to pander some of it out to the other tables since we, as two girls, could clearly not finish two full bottles of nasty tasting wine. Waste not, want not.

After dinner we ventured out to a club and had a swell time. I'm learning the ropes of going out to these clubs finally, including where they are, how to get there and back on the buses, hailing cabs, budgeting my money since drinks are far too expensive, and what to wear. Going out here calls for much fancier dress than at home, where I would throw on jeans, flip flops, and a tank top. Girls here go all out with their clothing, whether it's for a night on the town or merely going to class. There are a lot of shiny dresses, skirts, tights, leggings, and boots. Needless to say, it's a difficult adjustment due to my affinity for converse sneakers, jeans, and t-shirts.

Classes started a week ago, so I already have a full five days of lessons under my belt. The units here are a lot different than both what I expected and what I am used to. There are no "discussions" but rather "tutorials" and the two labs that I had assigned on my time table are not labs at all, but times set aside where we can meet with groups for projects. It's kind of frustrating since I'm honestly not a group project kind of girl, but rather, an individual. I like to get things done on my own time and that's that, not...working together. It's a skill that I am going to have to develop to survive these courses and it's probably for the best. There aren't many or any career options in the real world that allow one to work by themselves only.

The courses I am taking are Animal Ethics and Welfare, Zoophysiology, Behaviourial Ecology, and Aquaculture. So far I don't have a favorite, but one positive aspect of these classes is that there is really a minimum of both class time and busy work. In all of these units, there is basically a couple of really important assignments (debates, research projects, group presentations, papers, or exams) and that's that. On one hand, I have a lot more free time than what I'm used to, but on the other, I don't know how to utilize it since the majority of these projects and such have due dates in Septemeber and October or cannot be worked on yet since I haven't met with my lit group yet/done my field work day yet/gotten assigned my debates yet etc etc.

But enough about class.

This past Friday, the residential club of Trinity put on a pajama party for everyone who wanted to come which turned out to be a heck of a lot of fun. They put cushions and pillows all over the room if you wanted a nap and had music playing for dancing. It was also hilarious to see what people decided to wear for their "pajamas". A few got creative and went out and bought full pajamas or nightgowns, some like me just threw on some flannel shorts and a tshirt, and others were lame and wore normal clothes. It also felt like it was a flash fest since everyone was taking a million pictures of each other. I've yet to bring my camera to a social function because I fear for its safety. What can I say, it's a brand new camera that I bought with my own money. It's more valuable to me for that reason and given my history, I don't want anything to happen to it!

Okay I do really need to start snapping more photos. I promise it'll happen soon. For now, however, I'll stick a few right here that I took of my room when I first got here. It looks a bit different now since it's actually been lived in for 2 and a half weeks, but eh, it'll do. I'll put those on after lunch since it's taking AGES to upload into photobucket. Everything takes forever to upload and download...

Oh! One last fun fact. I've booked my plane tickets to take my semester break (which I suppose is basically spring break here) to Bali! There are several groups of us internationals who are planning on vacationing there during this week, but at different times. Some are going from Friday to Monday, some from Friday to Saturday, and some from Sunday to Thursday. Personally I, along with one other girl, Jess, have gotten my tickets to leave Sunday the 6th of September and return Saturday the 12th. We are planning on finding some hostels to stay at and it should be an amazing time.

P.S. I have a Skype name (shenannaigans) with a webcam or just a mic if anyone cared to know.

Cheers.