First week of school: Check.

Contrary to popular belief, no, I have not been eaten by a shark. My lack of blogs this week stems from the fact that school finally started!

My class that I’m in right now is called “Spinning Yarns: Media and Message in Australia.”

Monday was just the general introduction, and we talked about differences between U.S. and Aussie media. About 80-90% (by my estimation) of T.V. shows shown here are American made. A typical primetime lineup includes things like Greys, Lost, Ugly Betty, 24, etc. However, they are about half a season behind on all those shows. So, I will not be able to have my Grey’s fix until I get home (my internet isn’t fast enough to watch it here). Apparently the reason why there is not a lot of Aussie programming is because the country is relatively small and so the networks would not make back the cost it would take to produce sitcoms and dramas.

On Tuesday, I had a print journalism workshop, which wasn’t really anything new for me. Nikki and I got to interview a professor on Australia’s water shortage and then write and article about it. Water is a huge problem here, since it’s really arid and people aren’t changing their consumption habits. There are a few options (besides using less water), including building a second desalination plant, where they take ocean water and make it suitable for drinking. Crazy stuff.

On Wednesday, we learned about Public Relations, press releases, etc. Again, stuff I already did in Media Writing. Our guest lecturer talked about a PR campaign she did for a street performer’s festival, featuring St. Matthew, a sword swallower. More to come on that in my next entry.

On Thursday we learned about Aboriginal storytelling, which was pretty cool. Our guest lecturer was of Aboriginal and Russian descent, and so his complexion was about as dark as mine. Definitely not what typically comes to mind when you picture an Aboriginal person. We made message sticks, wooden cylinders about 6” long and ¾” in diameter. We painted Aboriginal symbols on it to make a message. We all enjoyed our arts and crafts, it was a good time to be sure.

On Friday we learned about photojournalism and about our main assignment for the class, which is to make a photo narrative. (Basically we have to tell a story through a series of pictures). I think I might do mine on lifeguards. We only had class in the morning, so in the afternoon a bunch of us went to Scarborough Beach, another gorgeous beach (see above).

Also this week, Mary, Brittany, and I worked on our Spring Break and Easter vacation trips. For Spring Break, we’re going to New Zealand (yay!) on a tour through STA Travel. For Easter, we’re going to the Great Barrier Reef, but we’re still working out these plans.

Since this is turning into a novel, I’ll save the weekend’s activities for my next entry.