Classes, mainly

I'm all done with my first week of classes, and it has been a rather easy thus far. For the first week, we only have our lecture sessions, and we dont attend any of our practicals (labs) or and tutorials we might have. Tutorials are kind of q/a sessions where we go and work on things with the professor, so we can get any help if we need it.

So far, there has been a big difference in the way material is presented here, then in the states. There is a lot more of an expectancy to show up with some knowledge of the material you are going to learn. This is to my liking thus far, as it keeps class moving, and you dont dawdle on the simple logistics of things, and we can get down to business a little quicker. There is one thing about this system that frustrates me a little though. My coolest class, Exercise Prescriptions and Practices, is very, very, centered on you knowing the material before you show up to the "Synthesizing Sessions". It is kind of nice, since I feel like i get so much more out of the material, but at the same time, my coolest class is my hardest class, and also the class that i have the least amount of actual class time. Despite the benefits of this different style, it will take a little getting used to.
I am really excited about some of the practicals that we get to do for Exercise Presciption. We get to go in the heat chamber and exercise in heat and humidity and monitor different things on the people in the chamber. We get to do power and acceleration tests for lower body strength, VO2 max, aerobic capacity, and all kinds of cool stuff. There are lots of very nice facilities here that would not be available to me at Bethel. Such is the nature of attending a bigger (and state funded) school.
Sport and Exercise Nutrition has been really interesting so far, and professor Andrews is a very good lecturer. Although, it may just seem really interesting in comparison to physics, which I have right before hand.
Physics is kind of a drag right now, since I've already taken most of it in AP Physics in high school. Even so, i would of thought that college students could skip the lecture on scientific notation and converting metric units. (I kid you not). On the other hand, an HD in that class should be no sweat.
My last class is Biodiversity of Tropical Australia. So far, lectures have been incredibly informational, and interesting. The professor we have seems amazingly knowledgeable in his field, so lectures are great. This class is unique for me since I'm quite out of my area of "expertise". I'm finding myself asking Melanie all kinds of Biodiversity terms and things since this is more her arena then mine. Despite the initial catching-up, I think that this class is going to be awesome. We are going to take some really neat trips, including one to the Reef HQ museum in town, which is world renowned.

Enough about classes though, I want to talk about fun stuff. Last weekend we were down at the Strand again (huge long beach-y area with a walking path all along it). It has been pleasantly warm all week, and the water has been pretty cold, but refreshing. The waves aren't real big here, since Magnetic Island and the reef block most of them, but swimming in the ocean again is amazing.

I have also found the home page for the Townsville Roadrunners club. They meet on Saturdays and go for big group runs, then do some snacking and socializing after. There is a small membership fee, but i am thinking of joining since a lot of weeks, they do fun runs, road races, cross country events, and other stuff. More on that later though.

Until next time,
Matt