Mood:
happyI have officially completed my first week of school...sort of. Technically, despite my having gone all week, school hasn't started, yet. If officially starts on Monday...sort of.
Here's why. The first week of school is an orientation week. We all get our pictures taken, get broken down into our study groups (syndicates), get our lockers assigned, get a tour of the facilities, etc, etc. No actual classes take place during this week beyond the admin and control sorts of classes that are designed to teach us what the course will be about. That is week one. That is next week.
All of the international students had to go to classes this week as well. We did all of the same things that will occur next week, but we also got classes on Australian laws, customs, history, government, all of the things that the rest of the class will know very well once they arrive. We also got a bus tour of Canberra. Since next week is considered week one, this must be Zero Week!
All in all it was a good one. We got to meet all of the international students and develop our own friendships before the Australians come into the mix. The Australian Army is small. There are only about 25 thousand of them. To give you some perspective, we have more than that on Fort Bragg, North Carolina on a day to day basis. You take that number and you count only the Majors, then take only the ones eligible for the course, and then you take only 120 of them and you can see how it is possible that these guys all know each other. At least this way, the international guys don't feel like they are standing in the middle of someone elses class reunion on day one.
Outside of school, nothing much has happened this week. Jacoby's school won't start until mid-February, so no news there. Kimberly took her first drive in Australia while I was in school. She drove to the Embassy and checked the mail. It would have been a great trip if we had gotten any. :) Anyway, she made it there and back with no issues, so at least we got THAT out of the way.
We have plans to go to the McKaskills house this Saturday evening for a BBQ get together with them and some other friends. Outside of that, we have some grocery shopping to do and that's about it for the plans. Looks like a quiet weekend ahead.
Next week: Week one! I'll let you know how it goes.
