One Month Already

Wow, have I really been here a month already? Well the good news is that I still have at least three more months here but what a month it has been. As I had figured now that I’m more settled in and down to a routine the times starting to go by quickly. The weather is starting to show potential of improving soon. So far it’s still been cool, windy and sunny to overcast at any point but Friday was warm and sunny and it should be a more common scene over the next month. Also as the days are getting shorter at home they’re getting longer here, finally staying light past 6 o’clock which is also something to look forward to.

Well this week was a little less eventful as past weeks but I still kept busy. My day off Monday I spent doing some homework and studying as well as doing some homework. I had a test in each of my classes coming up towards the end of the week so got some things done early in the week. As far as assignments are concerned there seem to be less than what I would expect at Northeastern. I have a quiz every other week for all three classes which unfortunately makes them fall all in the same week each time but I’ll have to cope with it. For Geomechanics I also have two lab reports and a group presentation for the end of the semester. Fluid Mechanics I have three assignments and a few lab reports although they haven’t told us exactly how many yet. In History of Ideas we have a minor and major essay as well as a presentation on top of the quizzes. However for each class there is a lot of suggested work to do, such as readings and practice problems which I know will help me better understand each course, it just isn’t graded. At Northeastern we had lab reports due every other week with assignments nearly every week for each class being at least checked if we had done it if not handed in and graded.

Tuesday was my lab for Fluid Mechanics and this week we looked at the flow of water with different pressures and compared the pressure with the flow rate. We used both a flat plate and a hemispherical plate for the water to hit to compare them as well. Tuesday night there was supposed to be a barbeque in my building but the grills weren’t working so the barbeque got moved to the other unilodge building but either not many people knew it was moved or not many showed up. Bret and I went over for a little while before heading back to our room.

Wednesday morning was my Geomechanics class and we moved on from our geology unit in the first two weeks to the classification of soil. Soil properties are very important to civil engineering as they are used as a foundation and material for structures. In the afternoon was my Fluid Mechanics lecture where we went through Fluid Kinematics which deals with the motion of fluids and visualizing these flows. Afterwards Julie, Mary-Beth and I went down and booked our trip to Cairns and I’m now very excited about it. We’re now leaving Monday the 22nd and returning the following Monday the 29th. The flight was much cheaper to leave that Monday and we wanted to leave ourselves enough time to get to everything we had hoped. So our itinerary is as follows: we arrive late Monday night and will be staying in a hostel. Tuesday we go to Fitzroy Island and spend the day on the beach and hiking the hill in the middle of the island. It should be a nice relaxing day after our late night. Wednesday morning we get up early and are taking a hot air balloon ride at sunset which should be absolutely amazing. Thursday we’re going to Cape Tribulation which is up the coast from Cairns, going to a wildlife sanctuary, walking through the World Heritage Daintree Rainforest at Mossman Gorge, taking a river cruise and then having some free time. Friday we’re doing a zipline through the jungle before returning to Cairns in the afternoon. Saturday we’re sailing out to the Great Barrier Reef and will have a few hours on the reef to snorkel. Sunday we’re doing a waterfall tour in Cairns, walking to two different waterfalls in the area and having the rest of the day and Monday in Cairns before flying back to Melbourne Monday night. Unfortunately a friend of ours called us a few hours after we made our reservations to say he was getting some people together to make a trip to Cairns but they’ll be going Friday the 19th through Thursday the 25th but we’ll be able to spend a few days together hopefully. My roommate Bret has decided to join us now as well but was hesitant at first by the cost which is why we booked without him but hopefully he’ll be able to book everything with us and we have room for an extra person in our hostel room so we’ll see.

Thursday was a busy day starting with my History of Ideas lecture. We’re moving along the history timeline and have moved into the 17th and 18th centuries where science has progressed to the idea of evolution, although that was still a radical thought. We further discussed this in the tutorial following the lecture and then had presentations on the Lunar Society which was a secret society of intellectuals in Europe as well as a presentation on Lamarck’s evolutionary theory. After the tutorial was my first test of the week in Fluid Mechanics which was just 1 problem which was similar to one we had done the previous week and I knew how to do so I think I did well on it. After the test we did some problems which covered the concepts we went over in the lecture the previous day. After class I spent the remainder of the day studying for my test and doing homework for Geomechanics which required drawing to scale a part of a mountain range where the various layers had been squished together creating various inclinations.

Friday I had a short lecture in Fluid Mechanics in the morning and then my Geomechanics tutorial in the afternoon where we took the test which was 20 multiple choice questions and then had our homework looked over before leaving. After class I had an online quiz for History of Ideas which was 8 multiple choice questions then went grocery shopping with Bret before spending the rest of the day hanging around the apartment and in our common area of the building where some other people from the building were hanging out.

Saturday was Melbourne Day so Bret, Mary-Beth and I and some kids from Cal Poly all went into the city. We took a cruise on the river which took us along the Yarra to the end which is Port Melbourne before turning around and heading back. I had yet to go down the river that far so it was good to see parts of the city I had yet to explore. I noticed that there was a lot of construction happening with new buildings arising all over the place especially towards Port Melbourne indicating that the city is expanding fairly rapidly. Afterwards we went to the Crown where the casino was I had been to before and this time we went bowling which was fun. We went back to campus for a few hours before heading out again to the city to go to an Ice Bar which was a small bar with everything made out of ice, from an ice couch, chair and tables, to ice sculptures to and even the bar and the glasses were pure ice. After staying just a short while we walked around the city a little before heading back to campus. We had to take taxi’s back as the trains had stopped running by this point and while the rest of the group were able to grab a taxi, it took Brett and I and our friend Mike an hour and a half to get one which wasn’t very fun.

On Sunday Julie, Mary-Beth, Brett and I went to Queen Victoria Market which is this huge indoor and outdoor market which had everything from meat to cheese to fruits and veggies to clothes and souvenirs. We arrived only a few hours before closing and some of the shops had already closed up while others were starting to do the same but we were still able to see most of it. For dinner Mary-Beth, Julie and I went to Prahran so I could show them the Lucky Coq pizza place I had been to the week before. This time I got a calamari pizza which was delicious and the three of us split two desert pizza’s, a dark chocolate and mascarpone one and a mixed berry and mascarpone which had strawberries, blueberries and raspberries which were each cooked on pizza dough and were excellent.

Well it’s now September and I’m only a few weeks away from Cairns but hope to be doing plenty before then. Hope you’re all doing well. More to come next week!