I fly home in a week. Next Friday at this time I’ll be on my flight home... study abroad experience complete. Australia has been great, I have really enjoyed my time here. Sydney is a wonderful city to explore, Manly was a great location for three months (I don’t think I could do touristy suburb for life), and I’m happy with my adventures to Cairns, Auckland, and soon to be Melbourne. The weather has been less than desirable most of the time, save a few decent beach days, but you can’t win them all... and with the alternative being subfreezing, wind, and snow... I guess I turned out alright. Big picture at the end of the day, studying abroad was a pretty sweet decision. It broadened my perspective on a lot of things and made me pay attention to the world around me... not just America and the Midwest. I guess that’s what it’s supposed to do, right?
So Australia was a good choice; I got to try a lot of new things... surfing (not that I ever got good at it), scuba diving, sky diving, and canyoning. I entered a safe, but unfamiliar environment. Not knowing anyone coming over, I had a chance to figure out who I was without the influences of family and friends watching my every move. I found out I’m more of an individual than I give myself credit for. Also, I might have more introverted tendencies than people often assume. Thanks to Dr. McRae for pointing that out. I always knew I liked traveling and seeing new places, but seeing the rest of the world has now become a top priority. I’m still not sure exactly what I want to do with my life, but I know there’s going to be lots of traveling involved. I love the ocean and sunlight. I’m never going to live in a climate with consistent rain. I’ve had multiple dreams of being back home and breaking down crying because I can’t see the ocean... I don’t think it’ll actually ever happen, but it might. There are few things more relaxing and calming than looking at the ocean for hours, walking, beaching, thinking, talking... these things are all more enjoyable with an ocean in sight.
That being said, I also found out what I don’t like. I don’t like being forced to wear a uniform especially just to go to lunch. I don’t like systems that are set up to demotivate people. An organization that consistently tells students they’re not good enough and doesn’t offer to help them succeed is nothing I want to be a part of. I’m sick of grading systems that don’t record an individual’s achievement. I thought the Carlson bell curve was bad until I came here. While the grades must average to a certain letter in the end, at least you receive marks for what you do. I have one test left... I don’t have any idea what my grades will be. The few marks I’ve gotten back are comment sheets with a letter grade on them. This is meant to be a “range” grade... no numbers. How do you average letters? Also, the comments are inaccurate... things you were marked down for not including may have been explicitly stated during your presentation. The lecturer of course doesn’t want to hear your opinion or justification, nor do they want to provide theirs. I’ve never in my life been hoping to achieve 65% in a class... now I’m praying I can achieve just that in two of them. There is no rhyme or reason for failure, they must enjoy giving low marks. The people here for three years (most of them with English as their second language) study so hard just to hope for 50% and a pass in the class. If you have a school where everyone is hoping to get 50% you don’t have high enough admission standards, or your lecturers are not properly preparing students for assessments or grading properly. I’m not going to blame the Australian education system... I’m not sure how other schools run... but the academic curriculum and procedure here don’t make any sense to me.
Academics aside... I’m pretty much ready to be done with this place. Again, not Australia, but ICMS. There are pros and cons to the international environment. I feel like I kind of missed out on the true Australian culture but also feel blessed to have met people from around the world with such a variety of perspectives and experiences. I have the best roommates in the world... they keep my lamp on for me at night when I’m out late, give me herbs/medicine when I’m hurt or sick, teach me about Chinese language and culture, make me try authentic Korean food when I want to take the easy way out with teriyaki chicken. I’ve learned so much from them. I was scared at first, and I’ll be the first to admit it, but it turned out so well. I’m really going to miss them when I go home. Luckily they both created facebook accounts so we can keep in touch. I know people from Sweden, Germany, Norway, Finland, Australia, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, and Brazil... I'm sure there's more. Didn't expect that coming over.
Living on campus was convenient, and at first the castle thing is pretty sweet. Eventually it gets hot and you want to open your windows, but you can’t because there aren’t screens and there are bugs galore. After about two weeks you’re sick of the food... there’s only so long you can last on an all carb and fruit diet. When it gets to finals time and you’re really craving something good to get you through a long day of studying and exams, they quit serving hot food. Breakfast is cereal, bread, fruit, and yogurt... lunch is cold sandwiches and salad. This is the schedule for the rest of the term. Apparently they can just stop serving real meals. I’m glad I’m going to Melbourne this weekend. Also, that its holiday time when I return and there will be plenty of delicious hot food to eat.
For the last week the internet has been worse than normal. Most stuff just won’t load, other sites have certain pages that will load, the idea of uploading pictures is a joke. I actually write my blogs in word now, email them to myself, and wait in the lab for a computer to open so I can post. The school’s email system doesn’t actually work... emails don’t go through, if they do, it takes about 2 days. I’m not sure how a place can operate without functional technology, but this place is pretty good at ignoring the problem. I know some of this stuff seems petty... but its frustrating. I can’t imagine putting up with it for three years. Students and staff complain about being here and the way things are run, but no one does anything about it. Term one is bearable... people are too focused on studying and learning English to care. Term two everyone just looks to get by into industry training. They leave for 9 months and either drop out to keep their industry training job, or come back refreshed from being away for so long. Two more terms and people usually just stop and settle for a diploma. Those that do complete all three years for a bachelor go to school strictly for class and to get a degree... no one enjoys being there. I can’t wait to return to a campus with some enthusiasm and organization. I may be a 7 digit number, but at least in Minnesota I feel in control of what I’m doing. Here I feel pretty helpless, and that even less people care about what is going on.
I know... how can I complain right? I just had the opportunity of a lifetime. You’re right, I did. I think I took advantage of it and learned a whole lot. It feels a lot better writing it down. Not that anyone reading can make it better, nor would anyone at this school care to. I wouldn’t trade the people I’ve met, the places I’ve seen, or the adventures I’ve had for anything else. I think these things would have been equally great in an academic environment where success and achievement is encouraged, students are supported and motivated, and activities or functions have a schedule and format with details available. I guess I got better at dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity? Another lesson learned I suppose.
Tomorrow I take my last final and fly to Melbourne for a four day trip to relax, see penguins, hopefully tour the Great Ocean Road, and celebrate the terms end. For those of you who don’t know, I think penguins are quite possibly the coolest animal around and I am so excited to see a sunset penguin parade. Not a ton planned like my last trip, but I’ve heard Melbourne is a great city to explore by foot. Let’s hope the weather cooperates. I’ll return Wednesday night for a going away party and some wine on the beach, finish packing Thursday morning... then attend end of term dinner and party. Friday morning we’re hoping to watch the sunrise on the beach before checking out of our rooms and heading to the airport. Lots of travelling before I’ll be back home in Minneapolis at 10pm Friday, local time. Should be a good week.
So this turned into kind of a book, congratulations for making it to the end. I’ll probably have one more update on Melbourne? Other than that, my blogging is coming to an end. I appreciate everyone who has followed my journey and sent me messages. Special thanks to my mom who has been sending cards almost weekly. They always seem to come at the right time, whenever I need a little encouragement to keep me going. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone when I return. I’m currently jobless with lots of time for coffee, lunch, etc. if anyone is interested.
Have a great weekend :)
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