I have officially made it through my first week of classes at Uni here! I think the hardest part of this whole experience will be the actual studying part.

Here are some differences I have noticed thus far:

• Instead of saying thank you, your welcome, or even to end a conversation everyone here says "cheers"
• We call the "lecturers" by their first name. We do not refer to them as professors but rather as lecturers. All of mine have been extremely welcoming to all of us international students.
• The grading system is remarkably different instead of having A,B,C . . . they have

High distinction

Distinction

Credit

Pass

Fail

It is the University's policy to have a curve so only 35% of the class receives marks above distinction for each class, which will cause a problem for smaller classes . . . or for me who has no desire to study while am I am living in this beautiful country causes a problem for all of my classes.

• Instead of having a lot of opportunities for grades each class usually only has one or two assignments for the entire semester and the final exam is worth 40-50% of your grade
• The Australian students do not pay for their tuition until they are working and making more that $40,000 a year.
• When you go to a café and order iced coffee you do not just get coffee with ice in it you get coffee with a scoop of ice cream and honey
• Peppers are not called peppers they are called capsicums
• Australian students usually graduate from high school at 17, since they are so young many of them take a gap year before Uni and usually travel. The majority of the Australian friends I have made have spent the last 4-6 months traveling/backing throughout Europe they are all very well traveled.

On a side note congrats to UD for being ranked, for the second year in a row, the number 1 school in the country to be at for St. Patrick's day!!!! (but I really don't know how you could beat last years celebrations!)