And the Classes Continue

September 7th, 2006 Bridgewater Apartments, Brisbane, Australia
A night’s sleep helps a little bit in the way of feeling stress-relieved. I, as my other writings may hint, was feeling a little apprehensive about the next few weeks. I have begun to accept the workload, which I know I can handle, and am preparing myself for an intensive time in Brisbane.
I walked out of the gates of Bridgewater and down the street, where I turned right onto another and walked for about a hundred yards (I could be terribly wrong, since I’m horrible at distance guesstimates) where I turned right into the courtyard where the Mediterranean-style building in which our classes are held sat. I say “Mediterranean-style” building only because it’s white, has verandas, and a few arched windows. Anyway, classes were long, but interesting. Dr. Byram, who professes to dislike lecturing, has a tendency to do it quite a bit, which isn’t inherently bad. The man seems to be a wealth of knowledge. Basically, he knows something about everything. And Rich doesn’t seem far behind. Interesting note: his grandfather was an actor. He appeared in movies with Charlton Heston, and was in Robin Hood:Prince of Thieves, An American Werewolf in London, Oliver Twist (the old one, which was his first), all the great musicals (including My Fair Lady), Lawrence of Arabia, and First Knight, with Sean Connery. I found that rather intriguing.
The first quiz was held in International Studies, over the first three chapters of Bill Bryson’s In a Sunburned Country. Basically, he has the job I want: he travels and writes. And he’s very funny. I would say it’s the most enjoyable assignment I’ve been given on the trip. For Missionary Anthropology, we’re reading two books, one of which is Christianity Rediscovered, written by Vincent Donovan, a Catholic missionary to the Masai of Tanzania. Rich described it as being one of those “life-changing, thought-provoking” sort of books. I have found Donovan to be very insightful and enjoyable.
Chapel is at 12, and we have it on the patio of the Littles’ apartment, right by the river. It’s very nice to be outside in the breeze and sing (I being the only one clapping from time to time).
I ran after classes, and it feels great to stretch after a long day of sitting. I need that time alone and that time of exercise. I made dinner tonight………popping the top off a can of Irish stew and tossing it in the microwave. But it was really good! I read Bryson, and then headed to a little study group for Psychology. I still have quite a bit of studying to do, because of the tests tomorrow, which Dr. Byram so humorously calls “quizzes.” My opinion is that if it ranges from twenty-five to fifty questions (which these will), they do not qualify as quizzes. But they shall be studied for nevertheless, mark my words. And I will conquer and will overcome and will most likely be as thin and frail as Gandhi by the end, but perhaps as wise. Nah, I’m just kidding…………but seriously.

PS Pardon the repeats of a few pictures. Not sure how that happened.