Random updates

As you may or may not be able to tell, the week tends to be a little slower than the weekend. So while I do not have any major or exciting updates, I wanted to share how my week has been.

I had two papers due this past Monday and Tuesday. Talk about stress!! The structure of classes and assessments is much different here, and it has been difficult adjusting. I had to do a lot of library work for the papers, something I am not used to doing at Case. Last Friday I had a 'feed-back session' for one of my papers, and I was pretty bummed when my professor told me that what I had written was basically wrong and that I would have to re-write it (said with a smile on her face, no less). I re-wrote it, but I can't say I enjoyed doing so.

The thing that is difficult about classes here is knowing that no matter how hard you try, you will not get a good grade. Since they grade on the bell curve the majority receive grades at or below average, and that's just how it is. Knowing that makes it difficult to produce quality work.

Additionally, the material of these courses is much more theoretical and abstract. I am used to assignments that force me to apply what I know to real world situations, and I really enjoy problem solving. That is not what it is like here. I know that I am intelligent but these last few weeks have made me question that! Who would have thought that CASE would be the 'easy' school?!?

In good news though, I only need a 50% to get a 'C' grade at home, which gives me some relief. Still, I would prefer not to get a 50%...

Fall is here in full swing! The weather has gotten much cooler, and it gets dark at 6pm! Can you believe it? I guess everyone's image of Australia is that its hot and sunny all year round- clearly not the case. Some of my other friends from IES neglected to bring warm clothes even, so now they have to go buy some. Luckily I came with a good amount of jeans and hoodies, which will come in handy over the next two months.

Charity and I went and played Bingo on Tuesday. It turned out to be quite fun actually. They use a different type of 'bingo' card here, but it was still the same premise. Sadly neither of us won, but we had a few good laughs!

My internship is going slow, and not very much work (not complaining...). My boss was in Africa for a couple weeks and I worked on an assignment from home. Unfortunately it turned out that there was not enough information out there for what we wanted to do, so we had to scrap the project. He told me to start my vacation early (Easter Holiday break is next week) and that he'll give me a new project when we meet on the 22nd. It is somewhat disappointing but at the same time I'm glad that it is not consuming my time.

I think that's about it. I will post again this weekend before I head to the Outback with a 2 month reflection.

Hope the snow stops at home!!!!!

Love,
Becky