(Written 5:20PM Brisbane Time 2AM Eastern Time)

This video is of Surfer’s Paradise. The closest city to Bond Uni, is Surfers. It takes about 15-30 minutes on the bus, and the bus leaves every 30 minutes or so. Surfers is where all of the clubs are located, and the main extracurricular in the evening tends to be frequenting the clubs in the various clubs in the area. Bond University has a binding contract for the year with The Bedroom and Sin City, where all of the students get free admission and the clubs get unlimited advertising on campus. I have to admit; I’ve gone to the clubs every weekend since I’ve been here, something that I normally do not participate in at home.

My classes are great, and I think I’m going to like them more and more as the weeks go by. This is my schedule:

Tuesday:

8AM – 10AM Cinematography & Lighting Lecture

10AM – 12PM Cine & Lighting Practical

(we work with the cameras and lights, etc)

We’ll be using these beautiful Panasonic HPX’s in this class. They are stunning cameras.

2PM – 4PM Directing Actors Lecture

(This so far seems like it’s going to be my favorite class. The professor is very good and she understands students and varies the way she teaches in order to keep the class engaged and interesting. The class is obviously about the relationship between actor and director, but it’s also about reading people and trying to get people to feel what you want them to feel (if only these techniques worked in real life).

6PM – 9PM Directing Actors Practical

(the professor brings in real actors and we do different exercises with them in a studio)

Thursday:

8AM – 10AM Editing Lecture (I’m learning to edit using Avid. Currently, I only know Final Cut Pro; however, in the industry it’s good to know both.)

10AM – 12PM Australian Cinema Screening / Lecture

(Australian Cinema starts at 9, so I’ve worked out an agreement with my professor to miss the lecture and come for the screening. Afterwards, the professor, and two grad students re-teach me the lecture. In the US something like that never would have worked out. I would have had to pick between the Editing class and Australian Cinema. I was glad I didn’t have to pick because I’m interested in both)

2PM – 3PM Australian Cinema Tutorial

(Every student is required to do a presentation on a film… Mine is on the movie “Getting’ Square” Which is a movie made by a lawyer, and is set in the Gold Coast. I’m going to try and watch it soon, so when I do I’ll let you guys know how it is.)

4PM – 6PM Editing Computer Lab

This photo is a an example of the edit suites that are near the iMac computer lab where we have class.

(We sit down behind the iMac computers and follow along with the instructor. Fortunately, the edit suites are open 24/7. )

I was very surprised when I found out that a.) My classes happened to work out to be only twice a week and b.) That they only meet once a week. It’s very different from the Monday, Weds, Thursday or Tuesday/Friday schedules that I am accustom to at Northeastern University. As of right now, I don’t know how it will be possible to learn as much in a given semester, but we will see. Although I am a hard worker, I’m a bit concerned about the grading system here. Apparently the professors do not give out “High Distinctions.” They are pretty strict with what they give out, but NU curves the grades to be in par with the way we do business. Another observation is how strict the administration at Bond University seems to be. Maybe because it is a smaller school, they are able to keep the students more on a tight leash, but it’s very unappealing. I understand that they are nervous about students doing things they shouldn’t be doing, but there needs to be some level of trust and understanding between the school and the students. It seems that the school is running the students whereas at other institutions I’ve been in the students help run the school. I was also surprised that classes were held on Australia Day. From my understanding, Australia day is like July 4^th. Having classes on July 4^th would be blasphemous in the USA, so like I said, although unaffected, I just was very surprised.

Having class twice a week has a lot of benefits. One of the major ones, of course, is being able to travel Thursday night – Monday night. Already I have booked my flights to Sydney for their big Mardi Gras weekend. Two of my friends and I leave on the 6:30 flight Thursday evening, we are flying Tiger Airways. My roundtrip tickets, and 4 nights in a hostel cost me a total of $205. Now that’s a bargain. The hostel we are staying at is called, Base Backpackers, and we are staying in the sanctuary room, which Base describes as “The Female only SANCTUARY DORM is for ladies who like to be pampered! 4 to 8 bed dorm, clean, modern and comfortable non smoking room comprising a luggage security locker for each person, wireless internet access (surcharge applies), security swipe card access with a 24 hour reception, heating and air-conditioning. The beds have feather pillows and doona and made up with fresh linen. The rooms are featured with full length mirrors. Hairdryers, hair strengtheners and beauty kits are available for your use on request at reception. Rate is for 1 person in a single bunk bed in the dorm. Fantastic price for that extra bit of luxury in a fantastic location, close to all the action in the heart of Sydney.” This cracked me up a bit, because who associates hostel with luxury? Well, I’ll of course, be assessing the situation as to exactly how luxurious this accommodation is.

I haven’t officially made any other travel plans. The great news is that none of my classes have finals, so I am going to have two weeks where I plan on traveling for the entire duration. Places I want to go? Cairns, The Outback, New Zealand and Fiji. Hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze all of this in, but the main issue is trying to find reasonably priced airfare. If I do, then of course I’ll be going to all of these places.

Other great news is that I, without even looking for one, found a job. My friend and I were leaving the pool, like I do everyday, and stumbled upon a sign asking for volleyball referees. I immediately walk in, speak to the guy and was hired on the spot to reff beach volleyball games. It’s great, happens every Monday night, at the beach volleyball courts, which is perfectly located right next to my dorm. The pay is good, and it’s from 6-9:40, but I get paid per game. And there are 5 games that are held within those hours. I did it for the first time this past Monday, and it was a lot of fun. It was a seriously nice pick-me-up; for I had been feeling the most homesick I had ever felt in my entire life Thursday-Saturday.

I’m on week 3 and my life in Boston has grown slightly more distant to me with each week that passes. The first two weeks it felt like I was only going to be here for a short vacation, but now I’m starting to realize and accept the fact that I am here for three more months. I’m starting to fully give myself to this place, allowing myself to follow the ways of the culture and accept it as my own. The months before I left, my relationships, my living situation, all were contingent on this trip to Australia. Relationships needed to end, I needed someplace temporary to live, and it was all because of where I am right now. I ask myself if it was worth it, but I don’t think that’s a fair way of looking at it. I need to realize that it’s not about it being worth it, but about realizing that life gets in the way of life at times. Sometimes you want to be able to have everything, but you simply can’t. You have to make choices, and those choices are at times very painful and uncomfortable to make at the time. So, I can’t say that this has been worth it or not worth it, but it certainly has been an experience. I never realized how different standing on the other side of the earth would actually feel.

Although this picture doesn’t do it justice, Surfers Paradise is very much a beautiful, fun beach area. There are many shops all around and the water is beautiful. While I was leaning over to take a picture of a sea gull, I knelt down and didn’t look where I was kneeling and ended up kneeling right on a jelly fish. I had cut my knee the day before, so when I felt the sharp pain I thought it was just because my knee started hurting; then I looked down and couldn’t believe there was some kind of thing attached to me. Soon enough I looked around and noticed all of the baby jelly fish that were in the area. Here are some pictures:

It was very small, so the pain wasn’t that bad. Some may be upset that they were stung by a jellyfish, but in all honesty I’m glad I was able to experience the sting. I’ve always been curious as to how that would feel.

Well, I have much more to update on, but I’ll do it when the sun isn’t as inviting.

Until then.