Jackie Chan was in my cocktail class!

I stood right next to him, in fact. The White House (which, funny enough, is the on-campus bar here at UNSW) is celebrating its third anniversary, so they put on some extra events this week. Nick found one that seemed like fun: learn-to-make-a-cocktail class! Seeing as neither of us knew anything about cocktails, it was an obvious fit. The class was limited to 15 people, so we signed up quick and were in. When we showed up that night, there were only a few other guys, and one of those fine gents was a short Asian fellow. They were calling off names to see if the people who showed up had also signed up, and I learned that this dapper Asian chap's name was Jackie Chan. So I stood next to Jackie Chan in a cocktail class.

This week has been quite nice. It started with a day at Coogee Beach (Sunday), where only few other people could quite call it a beach day (it was in the low 60s / high 50s, which makes it winter coat and scarf weather for Australians). But I listened to the entire Fading West Switchfoot album, read a bit of David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell, and listened to the waves crash as I watched a family with young ones throw food to a flock of seagulls. Was an excellent time.

Then, since last week meant the end of midterm exams, this week is the beginning of getting marks for assignments and exams. So far, I've earned a 13/15 on my lab practical (unfortunately, the 2 points I lost were due only to faulty equipment...), 36/40 on my math midterm, and 9.7/10 on my fluid mechanics assignment. So although the grading system isn't scaled, I'm in line to potentially do better academically in Australia. More relaxed, live by the beach, lots of friends, no pressure to perform (as technically my classes are pass / fail while I'm here) results in better grades - go figure, eh?

That's it for now. I've almost run out of my candy supply you guys sent, Mom and Dad. Shame...

#photo