The map system at Deakin gives the impression of being much more complicated than it is- I confess, it had me stumped for a few moments. The lecture rooms have their own individual numbers (1,2,3 etc) regardless of what buildings they are in (and Deakin's Burwood campus is huge, so there are a lot)! Confusingly for a first-timer the lecture room number was used on the allocated timetables and not the room code, or even building code. After I had located a map with a key and found each individual one, however, it became very easy. It is one of those things that on the face of it (if you've never used it before- like Tumblr for me!) seems undecipherable, but once you have it you wonder what the problem even was in the first place.
As with the start of every new semester, I was really keen to be a good student- I was there, I had new pens and a notepad and I was READY for them to come at me bro. Give me some facts, I'll take those facts. Want me to write you a paper? There you are sir.
The Australian accent of my lecturers was a novelty for all of five minutes, but it has never lost its charm at least. There is something about it that just gets my attention a little bit more. I know it sounds strange but it's kind of warm and comforting... well, perhaps that is just the South! I have been told that the accent in the North (and in the country) is a lot stronger. Now, I hardly even notice the accent. I realised this a few days ago while I was glancing at the telly which had been left on. I remember staring at it wondering why the guy didn't have an accent, but then I realised that he did, it just hadn't stuck out as it always had before. Australian television is trashy, incidently! If you thought England was bad, think again! Australia have NOTHING like the BBC or iplayer- no documentaries, drama, comedy on demand... I missed QI so badly. So so badly, like a mother who's lost a child... Australians mostly watch American soaps. I didn't miss the general doom and gloom of England though. I've said this a few times to my parents on the phone now I think. Back at home there wasn't one day where I didn't see or read a story about how terrible the state of our government and economy is. Here I'm kind of out of reach of people whining about everything all the time. It's kind of refreshing. You don't realise how much that kind of mentality brings you down until you're out of it!
Classes began so interestingly. The first few lectures were, as always, introductory lectures and so they were easy. There were moments of awkwardness where I thought I should try and talk to a lot of people, but to be honest, no-one really talks in lectures anyway. It was more natural to find people on residences who had the same class as me to go with and sit with. At first, we were grateful to have someone to cling on to, regardless of the fact we didn't know each other very well, to sit next to at least, if nothing else.
Here are some hints for doing well in class on Study Abroad.
You are in a completely new environment- you have to really up your game and get yourself organised, because not only do you have a new university to get used to, its a whole new system and culture. People just do things differently here. If you don't know exactly what is going on all of the time, you might end up missing deadlines and dates. This means you're going to have to put yourself out there, even if it means just going on a treasure hunt for lecture rooms around campus on a free afternoon, or making lists of deadlines and dates for each individual module. Check that you can log into your learning platform, or that you are successfully enrolled onto each module, because if you run into difficulty at a later date and you just didn't realise, the important core module you might have needed for your Keele course will be full up.
Also, start compiling your portfolio straight away! This is the one thing I did not even begin to imagine would be so difficult! I have had to approach every module manager (some by email because they aren't even available on the same campus- they were a few hours away at a different one), get my module summary sheets signed by every professor (including one who was unwilling and awkward) and print module guides, ask very nicely for my submitted assignments back etc... Quite frankly, it has been a pain in the butt. I wish I'd got around this sooner, but to be honest I started thinking about it early on. If I'd have left it to the last minute, there would have been a huge possibility I would not have had anything to give back to Keele to show for my time here.
Melbourne City:
Flinder's street train station just behind where I was standing to take the picture above!
A shopping mall in Melbourne central, built over a listed building
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