Cultural Contrasts

Choir practice was fun today. We practiced our three songs
that we will be singing for "Open Day" which is Saturday. It's
basically a promotional day for all the prospective students.
We are supposed to have all the songs memorized. I know
them fairly well but I will need to work on some of the words
before then. Of course I'm in the front row so everyone can
see that I don't know the songs as well. But it shouldn't be a
big deal.

I can't wait for choir tour. It's going to be so fun. We will be
riding in a big coach bus. And we'll be stopping every night
to do a show. Apparently we all pitch in to set up and tear
down the equipment. This is something I've always wanted
to experience. I'm glad my parents talked me into joining choir.

Man I'm experiencing the different mindset of the Australians
more and more. For my multimedia class last week our teacher
told us what we needed to bring for this week. And so being
the good student that I am I did it all and had it ready to turn
in. But then today when she asked who had completed the
assignment, only myself and one other American student had
it done. And the teacher didn't seem to find this a bit odd. I
thought it was due today! It's like really laid back. She's like,
"Well just turn in what you have." And then for the entire class
time (except for a brief demo on a program) everyone just
worked on their assignment that I thought was due today. And
it's not like it was hard at all. I probably spent less than a couple
hours on it all week. Come on people! So after I talked with her
about what I had done she gave me some suggestions on what
to do next and I did it in class. Then I went to her again and was
like, "So uh, is there anything else I should be working on?" And
she said I could just turn in what I had and leave. So I left like an
hour early. I mean yeah it's nice to be all laid back and lazy
sometimes but we could be covering so much more ground if
we were just pushed a little.

It's also funny how many breaks they have. I think there are a
total of three weeks off all semester. I heard last semester they
had two weeks off in a row! I mean I can't judge all of Australia's
higher education system with just this one little experience, but
it sure seems that in general Australians aren't quite as driven
as Americans.

This is obvious to many of you I know. But you know how God
saw that Adam was lonely in the garden? There's so much truth
to that with regard to the soul's of man even today. I have such
an intense desire to improve upon my life by having a close friend.