So, another week has come and gone in the land of Oz. I can't believe I've been here for a MONTH! It really feels like I have been here forever, but it is certainly going by very fast. This week has been more class intensive, and I've actually spent a lot of time doing reading and homework. The classes are becoming more and more different from those at home, and although I still feel fairly lost, I am starting to figure out the expectations. My favorite class so far is Bioethics. Although the lecture is fairly boring, it should get better, but what is great is the tutorial. This happens once a week for an hour, and basically it is a group of about 20, and we debate ethical issues. As those reading this likely know, I LOVE to debate. I can safely say it is one of my passions to debate various issues, especially those that are medical. There was another American in the class, who is a biochem major, and we really went at it on several topics, especially euthanasia and genetic testing. The class is a "history and philosophy of science" course, so a lot of the students do not come from a scientific background, but the two of us do, making the debate even better, since he did not at first expect my knowledge of science, as he bragged about what he knew. Once I busted out some terms regarding blastulas, gastrulation, totipotent vs. pluripotent and IVF methods, he shut up pretty quick, and we had a great debate! As I said in a previous post, I got into developmental psych, which should also be a cool course. We have a longer tutorial portion of this class, and I will be doing an experiment on a 3-5 year old child, regarding Piaget's preoperational theory. How shall I find a child in Aus? No idea! I'll work on that, and can hopefully hook up with someone in the class who has access to some kids. A lot of the class has to do with theories, so I should be able to get into depth on topics I haven't done since beginning psych courses. Brain and Behaviour is...dull. We have been learning about classical and instrumental conditioning, extinction, and fear learning. Once again, things I did many years ago, and did not enjoy at the time. But a new lecturer who is supposed to be great is starting the next series of lectures tomorrow, so hopefully things will pick up, and we'll get more into the "brain" portion. We started the lab component this week though, so I have a rat of my own for the whole semester! Finally, is my only actual physical science (which is strange because I'm used to ALL science) course, "cell biology". It has focuses on regulatory cell biology, and is not quite as easy as I expected, but I don't think it should be too taxing. The four hour lab this week was very basic and boring, but I volunteered to do a presentation which the professor loved. They were also impressed by my knowlege of scientific journal searching, as the rest of the class probably didn't even know what a journal was, while I am an avid reader of the New England Journal of Medicine!
This week I had a great conversation with a new friend about the process of becoming a doctor in Australia. It is very different from the process in America, and I didn't really know what to make of it. The school system is very different in general, so I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised. I will actually do a seperate post on this whole phenomena, so as not to bore anyone reading this one. So stay tuned for that!
I also had a lot of fun this week, going out several nights, and doing the hike yesterday. I unfortunately did not do anything off of my Sydney Top 25 list this week...I can't believe it! There are also no big goals that I completed. I better get a move on in the coming week. But I definitely had a great week and learned a few important lessons!
#12: It is unhealthy to eat Pide so much that the man knows who you are and what you want.
#13: Be careful where you hike alone. It is likely you will run into a naked man and have to run away on your bum leg...
#14: Do not expect that you will not have to do work on semester abroad. It is one of the saddest facts you will learn very quickly. So it's just better to know ahead of time.
#15: Do not forget to go to the beach! You will quickly become as white as your friends at home.
Alright, that's it for now. The coming week looks good-classes until Thursday AM, and then who knows what the weekend will bring? Definitely a hike, beach, surfing, and who knows what else! Only 4 weeks til New Zealand...Time to get planning!
Until next time!
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I can't believe I made it through all that science-y crap. But I did. Because I love you. I'm glad you tore it up in your Ethics class and made that other American eat his words. :)
ReplyDelete...ditto on what A said.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I cannot believe you just called me white. I am so much more tan right now than you'll ever be. JEALOUS? yeah.