Two of my courses (Material Science and Fluid Mechanics)are essentially introduction courses.
This is to say that they are at a similar level and of a similar structure to course I've taken in my four previous semesters. My Aerospace Design course, however, is an upper-level course. This means instead of regular problem sets, we're given large projects. We typically have two such projects at a time, and they require use of computer programs, flow-charts and calculations. What really sets this class apart from the introductory courses is that there's very little guidance as to which direction to take in the projects. Using class notes, online resources and a few hints from the professors and TA's, we have to independently figure out what to do. There's no single correct solution to any problems, because all of them are real-world problems, which have uncountable working solutions. (Pictured is the Library Lawn).On another note, I've seen some interesting sports since I've been in Australia. The major sports here are cricket, footy, rugby and soccer. The way they name sports is very confusing. They call Australian Football ‘footy’, soccer is called ‘football’ and American football is called ‘gridiron’. I really miss sports at Duke, because there aren’t any scholarship athletes here, so nobody goes to University sporting events. No Cameron Crazies here.
Two weekends ago I went with my housemates to see an Australian Football League game (known as ‘footy’). Footy is more like soccer than American football, because there aren’t any pauses in the play. The participants are running continuously for the 25-minute quarters, and
the play is full-contact; unlike American football they don’t wear pads. The particular game we saw was exciting because the home team (the Sydney Swans) was playing the Melbourne Saints, who were undefeated for the season. The Saints were winning for most of the game, but Sydney came back and the game was tied with less than a minute left. They couldn’t pull if off though, and let Melbourne score just before the game ended. It was a really fun game to watch, even though I couldn’t totally understand what was going on. The rules are confusing because there’s 36 players on the field, and players pass by punching or kicking the ball. (Unfortunately I was in a rush to this game and forgot my camera. The picture here I found online, and is of a ball being caught. You're allowed to throw a teammate into the air to help catch a high ball).
I’ve been playing quite a bit of Frisbee. I bought a Frisbee at the a nearby sports store. The place I bought from is located in Bondi Junction, which is a five-story shopping mall. I throw around with my housemates when I get the chance, either on campus or at the beach. There’s also an Ultimate Frisbee club at the University, so every Thursday I play with other students. The club is nice because there’s a few people who are very good, and can teach the rest of us to play. Most people who go on Thursdays are casual players, so I’m able to compete well.
We've discovered two foods here that I bet you can't find anywhere in the United States. First is kangaroo, which tastes much like steak, but is cheaper and fun to eat because you know that meat was hopping around once upon a time. We've made kangaroo steaks, kangaroo burgers and kangaroo kebobs. The other product is Vegemite, which you won't find in the States because Americans usually don't know how to eat it properly. Taken plain, it is probably the grossest thing you could find in a grocery store. However, the beauty of this is that you need to eat it in very small quantities. On toast with cream cheese and grated cheese is how it tastes best.One day I found a book that Adam had called Outliers, and I picked it up and started reading. It
ended up being very interesting. The primary focus of the book is to determine why certain individuals, such as Bill Gates and Rockefeller, became so successful. His conclusion is that it takes a little bit of smarts, a lot of hard work, and many lucky breaks. It isn't a very radical conclusion, but he comes to the point very well. The author also looks to the cultural histories of groups of people to point to why come societies produce great students, and others produce mediocre students. I would definitely recommend this book.
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