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The Good stuff.

Being back at uni and studying is really really good. I’m enjoying it immensely, and am actually finding myself a smidge excited at the prospect of being a teacher at the end of all this. We had a lecture today on Cross-Curriculum Perspectives in HSIE, which turned out to basically be a sociology of education lecture, which was so fantastic I almost cried. I’ve decided to make t-shirts that say "I ♥ Sociology" because I ♥ sociology. The campus is also quite lovely, kind of like maquarie, but larger and less obnoxious (although the food barely rates above crap, and there’s only one place to get actual coffee on campus at the moment, because the main food bit is being renovated. Still, at least I can get coffee). Anyway, the course is really quite good, although not as academically rigorous as the MTeach, which shows in the way it lacks depth and breadth in places, and in the fact that a few of the students don’t quite get what "critical analysis" means, which is kind of crucial in HSIE, especially at HSC level. So on the whole this course is a really good revision for me, consolidating what I’ve already learnt, and definately improving my confidence in being able to teach HSIE well. And I think the block format is really great and productive, if only I didn’t have to come to armidale to do it.

The Bad Stuff.

OMIGOD!!! I can’t remember the last time I was so bored out of my brain. Yesterday I worked myself up into a panic attack because there is nothing to do here and the prospect of endless hours of being stuck in armidale is so horrible. I’ve decided to drive back to sydney as soon as class finishes tomorrow because I can’t stand to be stuck in this god-awful town for another night. Class is great, and I’d happily stay in class for hours longer if I could, because armidale is a hole and I can’t stand it. There is nothing to do, no where to go and nothing to see. It’s not like Lismore which has much stuff within a 40 minute driving radius. The closest place worth going to here is Tamworth, an hour away, and Tamworth sucks (that big golden guiter is more like that big yellow guiter, as in buttercup yellow, not a shade of orange to be found anywhere). It’s two and a half hours to Coffs Harbour, and an hour and a half to Dorrigo, two hours to Grafton. Yesterday I went and stood on a hill for 40 minutes because anything worthwhile is too far away, and there was nothing else to do. I hate Armidale. I’m not even going to buy a thimble from here to add to my collection. The earth can open up and swallow Armidale for all I care. In fact, I hope it does, cuz at least that would be something interesting. And I can’t get internet in my room, and I can’t use dial-up internet because the phone system is stupid, and I can’t access the computer labs because I don’t have a student card, and there are no internet cafe’s in town, and I have to friggin’ come back to this dank, pee-pee soaked heck-hole again in April!!!