Day 23 (LaTrobe University) - Bendigo, Victoria Australia

First day of classes…It was pretty frustrating, and I'm not sure if it's a LaTrobe University thing or just the Outdoor Ed department, but there is just mass confusion. My first class, OLATS (Outdoor Living and Traveling Skills), is a first year lecture class, and it went pretty well.After that I had EI (Environmental Interpretation), which is a second year course, and I could tell right away when the students entered the classroom. The maturity level in the room went up immediately. EI is a more stereotypical Outdoor Ed class. Our lecturer, Lesley, couldn't stand being in the classroom very long, we had to go outside and play a name game - the same name game that I've played multiple times already, "My name's Brad and I'm bringing a _________." And then you have to repeat everyone's name and the thing they're bringing who went before you. If I have to play that game one more time I'm breaking out step-in step-out, two truths and a lie, all my friends, or something else that Central uses.

I've realized that there's a different system of teaching/lecturing used here. In both EI and OLATS there's the course instructor and there's also another faculty lecturer who will take turns and also give lectures during the semester. These people aren't necessarily younger or less experienced, they may just be more of an expert in a certain subject or maybe they just like spicing things up. It will be a nice refresher to have lecturers taking turns.

My last class of the day was supposed to be on Monday but my lecturer (they don't say "professor" it's "lecturer"), Sean, emailed us and told us to come today instead.And after some confusion about two classes being assigned to the same classroom at the same time we finally got started. Safety in Outdoor Environments is also a second year course, and another "lecture hall" course. Sean decided that we're going to have class on Tuesday at 1pm instead of Mondays like our timetables (schedules) say. I didn't know you could do that - change lecture times and days, but okay. Then I found out that our first trip, which is next week, is a canoe/rafting safety trip. Apparently the sign-up for what days you want to attend for this trip has been open for some time already, so most students were already signed up. Once again, news to me. I wasn't too concerned, it's not like I have "plans."Having sign-ups already opened did cause a debate amongst students because it wasn't "fair" that sign-up was open and others didn't know about it. Apparently one option for the trip conflicts with a required lecture that some others have to attend. s*** really started to hit the fan when everyone found out that a required first aid certification training day in April is at the same time as some music festival coming to Bendigo. More chaos ensued. I was ready to walk out because I wasn't about to waste my time listening to 75-100 students complain about something that's already scheduled. Sean's dry humor made it entertaining as he mocked and mimicked everyone though.

My timetable confusion with classes being switched to different days and times has been frustrating, but I'm not the only one feeling lost. Garrett, another American student studying the same course, had an even more confusing and messed up timetable than I have. My immediate reaction was that the department or school is just simply unprofessional, but it could also just be how things work here. I guess lecturers arriving 10 minutes late will be completely normal - once again something that I'm just not used to.

Lingo Learned:
Compulsory = Required
Biscuit = Cookie
Jelly = Jello
Jam = Jelly/Jam
Bloke = Man/Guy
"He's a good bloke." = best compliment a guy can receive
"He's a s*** bloke." = worst comment a guy can receive