Hello from Tassie!

Well I've been here in Tassie for 2 weeks now and I really am feeling settled in. I'm living on campus in Block 8 of Investigator Hall which is located at the Australian Maritime College (AMC), which is connected to the main Uni campus. Is a realy fun place to live because its 48 single rooms with one big common room and one bit kitchen. Its like Wright Hall in that there’s always someone around to hang out with and its really easy to meet everyone. Its winter here, but it feels like late October in Worcester. There are actually some flowers still blooming. The Tasmanians think it’s unbearably frigid but for me it really isn't. Still, I'll be happy when spring comes and it doesn't get dark so early and I can go without my jacket. The only wildlife I've seen are birds and possums. So no, I haven't seen a kangaroo, wallaby, Tasmanian devil, quoll, platypus, or koala. I certainly will post when I do. I am looking forward to it. I think there's a zoo/wildlife reserve about 20 minutes from here that I'll go visit soon.

Classes! I actually am going to school down here. Here's the rundown of my "units" as they call them:

Devised Performance: This is a theatre class I have with 3 other students during which we have to devise a performance (obvs). We have to come up with a concept, write the script, direct it, act in it, and perform it for an audience. We have to do all of our own tech as well. It should be a good experience. My group is most likely going to be doing a eerie piece about the ghosts and spirits in Launceston, especially in the theatres. We're obviously still in the planning stages, but we hope to perform in one of the old churches or theatres or along a stop on the Launceston Ghost Tours.

The Avant-Garde and the Necessity of the New: This is a really interesting class in which we focus on the Avant-Garde movements in theatre that started in the 1890's and continued through the 1960's. The plays are crazy and the playwrights that wrote them are even crazier. It will be really interesting to see how these dramatic, shocking works of theatre have shaped contemporary performances. The final paper is on whether or not we believe if the Avant-Garde is still alive today or if we can no longer shock today's audiences. Only 2 classes in, I do not have an opinion yet. Luckily I have over 3 months before the paper's due.

Theatre Skills 3: This is an acting skills class. The first few weeks we're working on the International Phonetic Alphabet and learning accents. We're doing Proper British, Cockney, Standard American, and General American. I've got 2 down already. Haha. So I'll be focusing on the British ones. I hope to hone my Australian accent skills, too. After we get the accents down we'll move on to scene work. My partner and I are going to be working on a section from Sarah Daniels' Ripen Our Darkness. I really like it so far.

Writing Short Fiction: This class is a series of seminars and workshops throughout the semester; it doesn't meet regularly at the same time each week. It is very self-directed between classes as we are to be working on a 2,500 word short story. I've got a few ideas kicking around in my head for my story but I haven’t actually started writing it yet. The first draft isn’t even due until the last week in August so I’ve got some time. I really appreciate knowing all my assignments for the semester from the first week. It gives me a little more control over how I will organize my time. At Clark, we know when the assignments will be due from the first day of class, but we might not actually receive the actual prompt for the assignment until later.

The campus here is really nice: an interesting mix of old and modern. Unfortunately, the Academy for the Arts, where all the Theatre classes are, is located 12 minutes away at another branch of the campus. Luckily I know two people who live in my building who also have classes at that campus so they give me lifts in the morning. I have to take the city bus home in the afternoon, but I don’t mind the afternoon bus nearly as much as the morning bus. I have to leave unnecessarily early and I always fear I’ll miss the bus and it only runs through campus every half hour. I usually don’t have any reason to be rushing back home in the afternoon so other than waiting for the bus to come (it’s always late) it isn’t so bad.

Everyone here is so incredibly nice. They are warm and welcoming and have really done wonders to make me feel at home and accepted by the group. And the two other American exchange student girls are really fun and are like a little bit of home, even though I didn’t know them before I got here. I think we’re all traveling together during the first week of September for semester break. We are going to Melbourne, Sydney, and the Great Barrier Reef I believe.

Life is so easy-going here. There are only a couple student organizations on campus and they really aren’t active. Everyone just hangs out and enjoys each other’s company. We aren’t overscheduled. We go out on the weekends. Or we don’t. Life is fluid and calm. It’s really a nice change of pace for me… especially since I am the queen of over-scheduling. I am trying to find a job though, to take up a little more time (10-20 hours a week) and to make a little extra spending money. I’ve got an interview at the Subway up the street on Monday. They called me within 24hrs of me turning in the application, and since I have experience at Subway, I am feeling optimistic. If I don’t get the job, I will explore other options.

I haven’t been feeling homesick at all yet. Skype really is wonderful (username: chelsea_long). I mostly miss my car, because depending on public transport and the mercy of others is really annoying because I am used to being so independent. I also miss Mina. Kitties aren’t so cuddly over Skype. Although, he did walk across Nicole’s laptop keyboard last week and accidentally called me on Skype. Unfortunately I wasn’t at my computer at the time.

Australian TV is a bit strange but I’m enjoying it. Most of the shows are American, and some British. The only Australian-produced TV is dramas, some reality TV, and talk shows. The humor is different but it’s a nice change.

Tomorrow night is the winter formal dinner that Accommodation Services is putting on. It’s really not that formal, just dressy casual. But they’re serving a 3 course dinner for $5 so you really can’t go wrong with that. Most people in my building are going so it should be a good time. Hopefully this weekend I’ll be able to do something fun and exciting. If its nice weather, maybe I’ll go see some animals or walk in the gorge.

Well I’m signing off now, more updates soon!