1st week of lectures at USyd!

Ah, it is such a relief (and utter joy!) to have Fridays off. Yup, you guessed right - by some stroke of luck, all my classes (not that very many actually) have fallen into place in such a way that I get to have Fridays off each week. Which means the first week of lectures are over, for me anyway. Last week was enrolment, and I've enrolled in 4 classes for this semester, and my schedule as of Wednesday is as such: American Author, American Auteur on Mondays, Journeys of Healing on Tuesdays, Literary Journalism on Wednesdays, and Major Movements in Contemporary Prose on Thursdays, and they all take place from 5 to 7 p.m., which basically means I miss dinner and have to put in an order for late dinner (more on this later). If you're sharp, you'd have noticed I phrased it as "my schedule as of Wednesday", and here's why: I originally enrolled in Literary Journalism because I'd thought the class would be teaching us how to write about literary works, i.e. emphasis on English lit, which I thought would be pretty interesting (and also I didn't know what other subject to take). Until I went to class yesterday. Imagine my shock (and horror!) when I realised the class was literally about journalism! Don't get me wrong, I find journalism a really exciting field (have even considered it as a potential career), and the class was interesting, but I thought for the prospects of my future career (hopefully this will have something to do with English lit), I thought it would be best if I stuck to my major and thus decided to drop Literary Journalism and enrol in Literary Comparison: History and Methods instead. I know they sound similar (literary journalism, literary comparison), but they're really very different. I've missed the first class for Literary Comparison because it also takes place (coincidentally) on Wednesday, but I read through the course synopsis and apparently it focuses on various literary theories and stuff, which is something I'm more (only slightly more) familiar with. So now I can breathe easy. Phew.

I know this blogpost is absolutely peppered with italics and all that other fancy stuff, so I'll try to refrain from using anymore. Try being the operative word here. Muahahahaha! Anyway, I went to Coles just now, and I managed to pick up more food for my increasing store cupboard, in preparation for winter break (27 June - 27 July), when most students will be going home and the dining hall will be closed, i.e. no food will be served, so I'll have to cook for myself (something I'm increasingly looking forward to). Coles is fantastic, they have all this little bargains and weekly cheap stuff and all, and today I literally swooped in and picked up 2 packets of San Remo's dried pasta (1 packet penne, 1 packet wide fettucine) for a total sum of $3, which makes me really very happy, because it's a very good brand, and the texture of their pasta is simply fantastic, and $3 for 2 packets is really very good! So happy!

Talking about food, I better tell you guys about this strange concept of 'late dinners' here at IH. Dinners always served in the dining hall from 5.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. during term time, so those who are not here during those times will (of course!) miss dinner, if not for their 'late dinners'. People like me who will otherwise go hungry for lack of food after 7 will have to troop over to the servery during lunch and write down their names, room numbers, and choice of dinner on the late dinner list, and the very kind and friendly kitchen staff will prepare a plate of our dinner and clingwrap it and label it with our names and room numbers and place it in the fridge, from which we later collect at whatever convenient time we're back and then we just heat it up (more like defrosting actually) in the microwave (hey I know how to operate a microwave now!!!! I wonder when the poisonous rays will turn me into a superhero...) and voila! Dinner is served, albeit a little late (and cold).

Pictures of my cold and late dinners on Monday and Tuesday:

Pictures of my not-so-cold but still late dinners after microwave:

Oh and yesterday I went with Su-Wen to OfficeWorks which is this fantastic (reminds me a little of Ikea - don't faint trishie!) place on Paramatta Rd specializing in well, office stuff. We were real lucky, cos when we arrived there wasn't anymore printers (we were aiming for the $37 ones) at the aisle where they were supposed to be. So we were on our way to ask the staff if they had any more in the stock rooms, when we glimpsed, up above our heads, on the out-of-reach shelves, not one, not two, but several boxes of the printers we were after! So we grabbed ahold of the closest staff member and asked him about them oh-so-tempting printer thingamajigs, and he told us they were actually reserved (*sniff!*) but that he'll ask his supervisor, and he came back soon after and said we could have them (*hurrah!) and he very nicely took them down for us (re: out-of-reach). And so we've got our printers! And they only cost $37 apiece!!!! And so this morning I decided to spend some time before lunch installing my brand new HP Deskjet D5560 (comes with introductory black and colour ink cartridges, installation CD, USB cable, and the other usual cables and brochures and stuff). It took me almost 2 hours to set it up, that's how totally un-tech savvy I am. But I'm glad to say it works, and it managed to print out the alignment thingy (which means it works, right?) and now I've got a pretty little black printer thingamajig! Yay!

And that's it for today (and the past 4 days), people! Tomorrow I'll have to wake up earlier and part with my dear moolah for the sake of several (I have here on my list approximately 15!) books which have made it to the required (re: compulsory!) reading list of my courses. So goodbye, people, and goodnight (it's 2 in the morning here, Friday!)... Cheers!