| R.M.I.T |
| The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology was established in 1887 and is a leading Australian university. RMIT is an international university with over 45,000 students including 7,000 international students. Students and staff come from all over the world to study and teach at RMIT. During O-Week (Orientation Week) at RMIT, I met many students from other countries. The Center of International Student Services threw several parties and organized get-togethers for the internationals. Throughout my time at RMIT, I made friends from countries such as Hong Kong, Germany, Norway, Mexico, and Bangladesh. Of course, there were other American students there and was a great to hang out with students 'from home' as well! The classes I took at school were Introduction to Cinema Studies, Australian Society, Macroeconomics, and Technology, Culture and Society. I enjoyed Cinema Studies and Australian Society the most. In the cinema class we viewed a film on Monday afternoons and then discussed it the following Tuesday. I learned a lot about movies and filmmaking, more than I ever knew I could possibly know! For the final exam we had to give a 50 minute presentation on an excerpt from a film we studied in class. I worked with 2 other girls and we delievered a presentation on the "Good Morning" song and dance sequence from Singin' in the Rain. It was a great assignment because we had to use all of our learned knowledge from the semester to develop this presentation. I enjoyed Australian Society because the professorss combined both fun and education to teach us about this country. Before school officially began, all the students went on a weekend trip to The Grampians, a mountain range in western Victoria. For many of us it was our first encounter with kangaroos! The camp owners raised the little kangas and they were lounging and bouncing over the grounds. Fair dinkum! I had a surprising glimpse into Aussie living while I was on the trip as well: Aussies love their beer. I knew Aussies liked sports a lot and, true, drinking is assiociated with sporting events, but this was just unreal: Our teacher organized for 2 stops to be made, one on the way to the camp and one the second day, at local bottle shops so we could stock up on beer and alcohol for the weekend. This was on a school trip! Drinking is just the norm for the students and there is even a bar in the main cafeteria on the city campus. I can just imagine the craziness it would cause if a bar opened in Smokey's! My other 2 classes were ok. Nothing special about them. However, my Technology, Culture, and Society teacher did not like Americans at all and he wasn't afraid to show it either. Comments about such things as the accents and the pride of Americans made me uncomfortable at times, but it didn't bother me too much. I can see how easily someone can blame America for problems their country is facing because we are quite powerful and dominant in a fair number of international issues. Obviously, it just wasn't my teacher who felt this way. Many Aussies are not happy with America and its leaders. I just wish they wouldn't have taken it out on the students. Perhaps since Americans seldom travel to Australia the Aussies don't get to voice their concerns very much. And when they do meet an American, they just move in for the kill. This is sad and is, of course, not the case with all Australian/American interactions, but it did happen to my roommate and me when we were there. Since few Americans make the 14-hour flight across the Pacific to see this great ('grouse') country, be sure to check out the General Information page to learn a bit about this awesome place. Here's a quick question to test your knowledge of Oz: What is the capital of Australia? If you guessed Sydney, sorry mate. Better throw another shrimp on the barbie...you've got heaps to learn:) |
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