(dis)orientation week.

Not gonna lie, my first week of grad school was pretty overwhelming. Seven years away from academia, plunging headfirst into graduate-level study in a different country... lots of new things to learn, both in and out of the classroom.

But first, let's talk about brushtail possums? They're all over campus, like American squirrels. They're adorable. But when you're expecting to see squirrels, they look like... demons.

squirrel...? AHHH! awww?

squirrel..? EEEK! awww?

Anyway, here are some other slight adjustments I've been making to university life in Melbourne, so far:

tutes.

I know that Australians abbreviate everything, but I did not realise the extent to which they do so. For example...
Many of my classes have a 1 hour "lecture" (a large class taught by the main professor) and a 1-2 hour "seminar" (a small class taught by either the same professor or an associate). During my first lecture, the professor began talking offhandedly about "tutes."
"Mine is on Wednesday - what tute are you registered for?" whispered one of my classmates.
I broke into a cold sweat and frantically whipped out my class schedule.
"Twos? Tues? Toots? What? We were supposed to register for something else??" I tried not to shout, or cry.
My new friend pointed at my schedule. "Oh nice, yours is on Thursday!"
He was pointing at the seminar I had registered for.
Apparently: Seminar = Tutorial = "Tute"
...Why??


first in, best dressed.

I received an e-mail from a student group, giving away ten free tickets to a popular museum exhibition. "They'll be going quick, come to the office to pick up your ticket - first in, best dressed!" said the message. I was a tiny bit interested, but I knew I wasn't dressed very "nicely" - sneakers, no makeup, messy ponytail... The tickets went quickly, apparently to ten well-dressed students. It wasn't until I was sitting in one of my seminars tutorials tutes that I heard the professor say "...'first in, best dressed,' or 'first come first serve,' whatever you'd like to call it..." and realised that no, "first in, best dressed" doesn't involve dressing up - it just means that I need to show up. Ugh.


being chinese.

I've been "Chinese" my whole life, even though I was born and raised in the States. In the US, I feel like Asians particularly have a hard time being 100% American - they're always "something else," which can be illustrated by the enlightening question people often ask: "no, where are you really from?" So I've gotten used to saying I'm Chinese, just for simplicity's sake.
Anyway.
Here in Australia, I am not Chinese, not even if I tried to be - which is refreshing, in a way. There are TONS of real Chinese people at the university: Chinese people from China, who speak Chinese (not Chinese-American people from Jersey, who speak in sarcasm and Buffy quotes). My Chinese classmates are friendly and very smart, and I look just like them. So when I speak in class, everyone turns to stare at me like "what a peculiar Chinese accent..? oh wait! that's definitely Canadian."


being american.

There are other Americans at the uni, and I'm always very excited when I meet them. I totally feel a sense of "you're from home? LET'S BE BEST FRIENDS FOREVER!!" and that has yet to actually happen. But I'm usually the only American in my classes. Which means that during serious group discussions, I end up being the solitary, authoritative voice of... US politics. Yay..?

grammar.

In one class, I began taking notes on a professor's expectations about "grandma." It took me a few sentences to figure out that they were actually talking about "grammar."

It's going to be a long semester.
But I'll be okay.
Maybe.

CK