Almost One Month in OZ!

Family and friends:

            I am happy to see that some of you are still reading my blogs. That really means a lot to me. I cannot believe that I have been in Australia for almost one month. Oh the time flies so fast! As I have mentioned before, I have met so many fascinated people, ranging from Aboriginal people to peaceful and holy priests. If only I can put into words what I am exactly experiencing. I hope many of you have seen some of the pictures already on Facebook. The pictures are a little indication of my time down under.
            Right now we are in week three of the semester. I have been taking five courses. They are as follows:

Australian Cinema- very neat unit with a nice lecturer. To some extent, we watch Australian films and analyze/discuss them.

Christology- my upper division Theology course with Father Peter Black, a very holy and smart gentleman.

Critical Ethnography (Study Abroad Seminar)- with our faculty director from CSB/SJU. A very challenging and intellectually strenuous unit.

Aboriginal People- a course giving the history and viewpoints of Australia's indigenous population. Our lectures is from the Noongar tribe of southwest Australia. Very great guy.

Australian History and Society- with Shane Burke, a very passionate and smart lecturer. Although it is history, I am really liking it. Very interesting material.

           So I have each class one a week for a total of three hours, usually with a two hour lecture session and a one hour tutorial (small group) session. Classes are starting to pick up, but I think I am managing so far. I have my first research paper (eight pages long about the "White Australia Policy") due in week five. I have been chopping away at that a bit.
          Last Sunday a few of my American friends, Josh, Brad, and Brooke, hung out with an awesome Australian family. They want to, in a sense, sponsor us and show us a good time in WA (western Australia). We went cliff jumping (about 11 meters, or 35 feet) up, went to a park and had a barbeque and swam, hung at their house, went to church, and then later the bar. Great people.
           I have also been working at my Australian souvenir shop call "OZ." So far I have only worked three shifts, which is fine by me. I have been meeting very interesting and cool tourists at the shop. I just received my April timetable and I will be working about one or two days a week. The extra pay helps since everything is so expansive here.
          Although English is the primarily language here, there is so much I still need to learn when it comes to the linguistics of Australia. Here is some terminology different from the US:

jetty- boat dock
tomato sauce- ketchup
jam- jelly
jelly- our version of Jello
arvo- afternoon
thongs- flip flops
bogan- homeless kind of drunk person
bush- the Outback
BYO- bring your own grog (alcohol), often seen at restaurants
cobber- friend
hey- what? excuse me?
Oz- Australia
Jug- pitcher of beer
rubbish- garbage
stubby- small beer bottle
bushman- outdoorsman
uni- university
timetable- schedule
diary- planner

And many more...

Also, as I said before, everything is far more expansive here. For instance, here are some examples:
liter of gas- $1.43 ($4.50 a gallon)
pint of beer- $8.00
gallon of milk- $5.00

Eggs- $3.00

Case of beer- $50

Case of pop- $12

Anyway, that is all for now. Feel free to comment.