Classes have begun!!

Hello hello,

So here I am again....finally (as I'm sure you are whispering under your breath or thinking to yourself). I believe I left you all last time with a lovely picture of what my O-week here at Uni Hall was like. I hope you all enjoyed it. Don't worry...my life is not all party and fun and games while I'm here. The real work has begun! ...well sort of.

Last week was my first week of class. You know, I find it amazing that I am able to take some of the classes I am taking. Let me just run them by you quickly.

I am taking MB3160: Evolution and Ecology of Reef Fishes. Today was my first real day of lecture as my professor was talking with the Emporer of Japan about gobies. For those of you who are wondering, gobies are these great little fish that live on various reefs throughout the world. My professor seems like a great guy. The first lecture today was very interesting so that helps a lot. He made sure to tell us that the Emporer is a great guy! hah! Anyway, I think that the class will be very interesting. For those of you who think it sounds like a blow off class...think again. It will be challenging. He told us this today. We are going to be learning about variations in skull structures of different families of reef fish and their ecological significance. So when I come home, I should be able to name you each and every bone that makes up the skull of reef fish (with slight variations in each family). But yes, as I said before, my professor seems like a very interesting man. I found myself intrigued throughout the entire class. I think my favorite line he said today was, "If you think this is going to be a class about commercially important fish, fish that we eat, think again. I don't give a damn about commercially important fish. This class is about reef fish and reef fish only!" It was quite comical I must say. He said it much better than I can express to you. So anyway...we will be discussing these kinds of things in lecture. For this class we will also be taking a field trip over our lecture recess (I suppose the equivalent of a spring break back home...only it's not spring here...it will be the beginning of fall at that point in time). Our field trip will take us to a place by the name of Orpheus Island. It is a major research facility for JCU. We will spend 3 days and 2 nights on the island snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef and observing reef fish in their natural environment. Of course all field trips are not fun and games...there will be a paper to write about the trip! So anyway...enough about this class...let's move on...I have three more to tell you about.

The next class is MB3210: Evolution and Life History of Reef Corals. Sounds great doesn't it? So in this class we will be learning all about different species of morphologies (somewhat like families) of corals. We will learn about their physiology...why they are here...how they work, grow, etc. Why certain corals grow in certain environments and others don't...etc, etc...you get the point. I thought it was so great...we spent an entire lecture discussing the 6 basic growth patterns/morphologies of corals. AN ENTIRE CLASS ABOUT CORAL!!! haha...So anyway...this class also has a 3 day 2 night trip to Orpheus Island. However, for those of us who can SCUBA dive, we will be diving instead of snorkeling on this particular field trip. Those who do not dive have the option to snorkel or just walk the reef flats. So the class caters to all individuals. Anyway...this class will also have a write up about the field trip and the observations we made. I believe we will be working in pairs and picking a particular kind of coral to observe. So this is Reef Corals.

Next on the list is EV3203: Conserving Marine Wildlife: Mammals, Birds, and Reptiles. Sounds great huh? This is the only class I have that does not have a field trip involved. For this class we will discuss the families mentions above so animals such as whales, dolphins, manatees, dugongs, sea turtles, sea birds of various sorts. If there is time, we might discuss sea snakes a bit. So anyway...I thought this was pretty cool too...more only "real" lecture so far in this class discussed the grazing habits of turtles, dugongs, and manatees! hah! Great fun isn't it? So yes...this class will be about these animals, their habits, and how we can go about finding the right conservation methods.

The 4th and final class I am taking is ZL3203: The Australian Vertebrate Fauna. This should be a very interesting class as well. I will be taking yet another field trip over lecture recess for this class. It is a 4 day 3 night trip to the Outback to a place called Moorinya National Park. I believe it's about a 5 hour drive from Townsville. The only way to get their is by big 4WD vehicles. While out there we will be trapping rodents, bats, birds, reptiles...Now I know what you all are thinking about the reptiles...yes Australia is home to the greatest population of deadly snakes. NOT to worry...for we have expert snake handlers that will be with us. They are the only ones allowed to touch the snakes we encounter. So anyway...while on this trip we will learn how to classify and handle the animals as well as collect data through surveying. I have a feeling that this will be a great field trip and class. It is a video lecture with the Cairns campus. So sometimes the lecturer is standing in our classroom and other times he standing infront of the Cairns campus speaking to us through video. This is because this class consists of so many different subjects. The experts for all of the different animals are spread out between the two campuses, so we have class together. Anyway, we are going to discuss how some animals came to live in Australia while others did not. We have to write an argumentative paper answering one of four questions he has given us. An example of this is: Why are there not elephants in Australia? We must answer this question in a persuasive manner. So anyway...this will be a great class. I can't wait for the field trip. One of the lecturers showed us some photos from the trip of various animals they had caught in traps. One of them was an Eastern Brown Snake. For those of you who don't know what this is...it is one of the most if not the most deadly snakes in the world. ooo...soooo cool!

Hah! So moving on...I think my classes are going to be really great this semester. I don't think I will be slacking off, but there will be a lot more free time here than at home. Here there are about 1 or 2 assignments for each class throughout the semester and then the final exam. In most of my classes the final is worth at least 50% of my final grade. Sounds scary right? It should be okay though. I think I will learn a lot and study hard while I'm here because these are all things in which I am interested.

So, try not to worry too much. I realize some of you were probably worried after seeing my photos and reading about what has been going on around here lately. Yes, I will do some partying, but I will be responsible and work hard too! =D

There are a couple of other things to tell you about before I go to dinner...yes it is 5:15 pm here on Monday and 3:14 am on Monday for you all. I am currently 14 hours ahead of you all! Anyway...

This morning I booked myself a ticket to the Davis Cup. It is a tennis tournament in which a tie break between Australia and Thailand is being played here in Townsville. I bought a three day pass to the event. It should be a great experience...when will I ever get another chance to say I went to the Davis Cup? I'm stoked!

More exciting news...as you all know Easter is fast approaching...only two weeks away! I have decided to take a trip to Fraser Island. This place is going to be amazing. I'll tell you a little bit about it and you all can look up some photos and be jealous! Fraser Island is off of Hervey Bay, just north of Brisbane (so quite a ways away from Townsville). I will be taking a bus down and back...about a 15 hour bus ride each way...ouch! Which is crazy when you look at the Australian map...that tells you how big Australia is! Anyway...Fraser Island is the biggest sand island not only in Australia, but in the world. My adventure begins at 6 am on Friday the 21st and ends at 6 pm on Sunday the 23rd, where I will catch the bus back to Townsville. While on Fraser Island we will be visiting three of the freshwater lakes that it is famous for. Lake Wabby, Lake Mackenzie, and Lake Birrabeen. Make sure to look up Lake Makenzie...it has the most crystal clear blue water I've seen in photos. It looks like the ocean on a south pacific island. So we will be visiting these three lakes, Eli Creek (check it out). It is a winding river/stream that you float down...clear water here as well. We will also go to Maheno Wreck. It is a big rusty skeleton of a ship sitting in the middle of the beach. Very cool! Check out photos. We will visit Champagne Pools. Here the waves crash over rock pools which are like natural spas. I think this should be pretty cool as well. I've saved the best for last (actually I don't really know since I've never been...but you'll understand when I tell you). We will visit Indian Head. Here you climb up a cliff/mountain and look down over the water/shoreline. The water is supposedly so clear here that you can see all the marine life including manta rays and wait for it...sharks...especially TIGER SHARKS!!! I guess the reason the freshwater lakes are so popular on Fraser Island is because it is highly advised against to go into the ocean due to the high population of Tiger Sharks that frequent the shores around Fraser Island. I hope to see some while I'm there! Anyway...these are some of the places we will visit while camping on Fraser Island.

I hope I have given you all a little bit to read for now. I need to go for it is almost dinner time. I hope all is well at home (wherever you may be). I miss you all, but I am having the time of my life here. It is so great!

Love,

Krissy

xoxo