One week....

Thought I would throw up a quick post. One more week before I head out! Very excited for it. But 7 hour layover in San Francisco?! What's there to do?! And I need an idea for entertainment. I'll be traveling for 24 hours and know for a fact my phone and notebook won't last.... iPad maybe?

Also, I have another blog page (within blogger) dedicated to me IN Australia. I'll have that posting up once I get there, I'll stop using this Pre-Depart site once I land there.

If you're in San Fran or Auckland, New Zealand let me know so we can hang out!

Cheers.

-H

Just a number...

Registered for classes tonight. Very confusing process. Bond University could take a note or two out of the way WSU does it. Also received my student number! No longer a nobody within the student system. Student 10742654 to WSU and now Student 1298754 to Bond University! And also received my email address (not as exciting, but still).

As per my degree, I have to fulfill 120 points to graduate with a Masters in Criminology, with each class being 10 points. At 3 classes a semester (30 points) I'll be out of here in 4 semesters. 10 points transfers over to either 3 or 4 credits to the US Educational System depending on the structure of the class.

For my first courseload of the semester I've chosen CHNL71: Chinese 1, CRIM71: Introduction to Criminology, and HUMR71: Epistemology and Theory of Knowledge (ETK). While ETK is a CORE subject that I have to take as part of Master of Criminology, I must also take one more CORE class, 9 other optional classes and a humanities course as well (to make up 12 classes). So for my humanities course I decided to go with Chinese. I've always wanted to learn aside from German and with China being just North I would like to take what I've learned and apply it to real-world scenarios. Plus China just surpassed Japan as the world's 2nd economy (behind the US). So if I can't get a job in the world's 1st economy, I can fall back on number 2 right?


As per the photo: Australia uses the 24 hour clock system, which is nice since I use it with my iPhone (if you know me, it's true). Chinese makes up of class seminars two days a week, Monday and Friday (and I wanted Fridays off too...). ETK makes up of a class on Monday followed by a tutorial on Wednesday. Tutorials are kind of what English 102 was or labs for all the science courses for all my WSU peeps out there. For the rest, we have these ENORMOUS classes making up of about 300-500 students, tutorials break down that population to 15-30 students per class. Within these, professors go over the lecture of the week, the reading material, and how to best prep for quizzes and tests. When I was studying at Griffith University in 2007, I found these tutorials VERY helpful and I wish more US universities would adapt to it. And lastly, the same process for Intro to Criminology.

Classes start Sept 13 and end with last day of finals Dec 18 followed by 3 week summer break. Another step towards the right direction! Still working on housing though... 21 more days until Australia!

Cheers! Or should I say 欢呼! (Is that correct? Should be, I copied and pasted, HAHA)

Extension!

Patience is a virtue. Especially when you want to escape to Australia... Everything has fallen into place, but not in the correct order that I would like for it too. So to ensure that my trip is a success and I am not a bum living on the streets before school starts, I bumped my fly out date a few weeks. This is to coincide with financial aid and some other events that I am waiting to take place BEFORE I take off. I learned that from my previous trip there... Only downside is I have a 7 hour layover in San Francisco, GREAT....

September 6th - September 8th
19 hours in flight, 24 hours total (not including crossing date line)

Seattle - San Fran
12:03p-2:12p (mon)

San Fran - Auckland
9p-5:15a (wed)

Auckland - Gold Coast
6:25a-8:05a (wed)

Cheers!

One and done.

After weeks of waiting and praying to the Australian gods that it goes smoothly, I was finally confirmed for my Confirmation of Enrollment (CoE). For those confused, the CoE allows me to apply for a student VISA so that I can stay in Australia for the duration of my studies (they don't want some broke bum coming to the country to ask for change day and night). It also allows me to work 20 hours a week with school in session, and 40 hours a week during breaks. All electronically stamped so I just show up and flash my passport to immigration once I land.

Without a CoE for school or sponsorship from an employer, most who come down to Australia either look to just visit or come on holiday. Being there on a holiday VISA allows anyone to work and live for up to a year with the chance to renew for another year. It's common as many of the citizens from the northern Asian countries venture down to find work temporarily before returning home. And if any of my fine friends out there are looking to just escape for a year or two to live and work the good life, I definitely encourage this.

Finally, I registered my travel with the US Department of State as well as inquired about Thailand, New Zealand, Indonesia, South Korea, China, and Japan. These are the main countries I am looking to travel too and visit and by having my trip on file with the US DOS, they'll send you updated info. pertaining to the country. For example, they would send you emails and phone calls about the protests occurring in Thailand if you had it marked as a spot you were traveling too. It's pretty insane as my last time down in Australia in 2007, President Bush was in office and with the help of Prime Minister John Howard, continually sent troops to the Middle East. Well this didn't sit well with Australians, so there were plenty of protests.

This is the last leg of my pre-departure as all I have to do is wait now (just 12 more days!). I'll send out a final blog before take off and then once I land in Australia start over to my Australia page: http://hardy-australia.blogspot.com/. So be on the lookout! Video blogs to start up soon too!

Cheers!

Ticket. Check.

Financial Aid at Bond University finally completed the proper training through the US Department of Education to secure financial aid for all US students. A strenuous process on their end but they assured me I am good to go for September term. With that I booked my ONE WAY ticket to Australia via Air New Zealand. $600 one way, $900 round trip? You can't beat that (anyone want to come visit?)!

I'll be flying out of Seatac airport down to LAX for a 2 hour delay and from there I have a layover in Auckland, New Zealand for 5 hours before jetting off to Coolangatta, my final destination in Brisbane, Australia (see video). Needless to say I'll be spending 18 hours in the air and 24 hours total traveling from point A to point B. I contemplated staying longer in New Zealand to see the sights and sounds of Kiwi nation but figured I might as well finish my journey and fly back later on holiday.

It feels weird though, a ONE WAY ticket. AH! I'm waiting for approval to apply for my student VISA and then from there register for classes. I'm hoping to pick up a language class on the side, preferably Chinese but am also willing to learn Arabic (if possible). Overall things are falling into place with a little more than a month left. I'll update you all as time comes near.

-H

Grrr. President Obama

In what I thought would be secured and ready to go by July, I have come to find out that President Obama has made things a bit more difficult.

Because of the new education reform act, the US Dept. of Education must travel to the foreign universities and educate the financial aid department on the proper steps and systems to secure financial aid for American students. And because of this, it has delayed mine.

No worries, I'm still set to start semester II down there come September. My goal is to fly out Aug 18th, no particular reason why except it is the middle of the week (low airfare). That way I have plenty of time to secure lodging and get settled in before classes start (unlike last time).

Almost out of Pullman. I put in my two weeks at the bar yesterday and my final day at AT&T is June 30th. So just in time to squeeze in a few iPhone 4 sales and head home. I'll be looking for a part time job, nothing too hectic or hard and DEF not dealing with customer. Preferably night guard or something of that nature. So if you hear of anything, holla!

-H

Bond University

I will be studying at Bond University in Brisbane, Queensland right on the Gold Coast. It's not too far from the tourist city of Surfer's Paradise and def. not too far from the beach (LOVE IT!).








Classes start Sept 13th and run until the end of Jan 2012. My VISA will allow me to be in Australia from beginning of July 2010 to end of March 2012. Needless to say I won't be heading over until mid August, but will be exhausting my VISA expiration until March 2012. =]






Bond University is a private school and much different than Griffith University (where I studied back in 2007). The campus is AMAZING, near the beach, and they specialize in business and human social sciences (psychology, criminology, law, etc). So it's essentially a perfect fit for me.



Semester runs from Sept 13 - Dec 18, and then Jan 17 - Apr 26. Then do it all over again.