The Story So Far

It will not be easy to summarize the events of a whole month in just one post but I will try. Inadvertently, some events may be omitted and for that I apologize. However, from now on, I shall be making regular weekly updates to my blog.

The morning of the 18th heralded my departure from Sydney and my arrival in Canberra. Alex drove me to the train station where I caught the train. He offered to pay the difference between the economy and first class seats (which was $10), if I paid the student economy fare (which was $30). I accepted so I got to ride to Canberra first class. Al it really meant was a slightly larger seat that reclined further and I was a little closer to the food. I don't think I'll go first class again. Nonetheless, I am grateful to Alex that he allowed me to stay with him for those few nights; his generosity is boundless.

I arrived in Canberra just past noon on the 18th, was picked up at the station and was driven to my residence. This is a university residence off campus named Fenner Hall. I was greeted by other residents of the floor and was immediately made to feel welcome. I settled ion as best I could for the first day.

Canberra is a city a lot like Ottawa. As the capital, the largest employer is the federal government and many people here are civil servants. Like Ottawa, it was chosen to settle a rivalry between 2 larger cities, Sydney and Melbourne, who were both vying to be the capital of the new Australian Commonwealth. I have described Canberra, based on its reputation, as Ottawa 1/3rd the size and 1/10th the fun. Unlike Ottawa, Canberra does not seem to have yet grown out of its shell. That being said, fireworks are legal here and can be set off by anyone on the Queen's Birthday holiday. Canberra is administered separately as the main component of the Australian Capital Territory.

One of my first tasks was to get my student card and signed up for courses at university. I went to the campus of the Australian National University (ANU) and had to wait in line to register for courses. For some reason, ANU, like most universities does not do first-year registration online. It took hours but I finally got my courses and student card. The whole thing was a convoluted process involving waiting in several lines and moving between buildings.

I should say now why I'm in Australia and studying law. A while back I came to the tragic realization that the law was one of the only things I was actually good at. I applied to various Canadian schools but none accepted me. I then applied to Australian law schools, at my mother's suggestion, and was accepted to all of them. I chose ANU because it is consistently ranked the best school in Australia, and by extension the southern hemisphere, and it is in the middle of the price range. Taking all that into account, I made my choice.

After my scholastic duties, I became involved in Plast in Canberra, and the Ukrainian community in general, which is small. I have been invited to several events and homes, including barbeques, sailing and birthday parties and the legendary Ukrainian hospitality is affirmed. Having Ukrainian visitors to Canberra, particularly from outside the country is quite rare so I am something of an oddity. However, I could not feel more welcomed.

I have also become involved in residence life and assisted in Fenner Hall's victory in the Interhall Trivia Competition. As the name suggests, this was a tournament involving all of the residences of the university. Actually we tied for 1st with archrivals John's but they said we could keep the trophy. As it happened, I took custody of it and it is sitting on my shelf although it is not meant to be there much longer. It will soon be put in the trophy case. Fenner also just won the Interhall Chess Tournament and our cricket teams are in good positions this year. I also attended the Commencement Dinner.

I have also been training as a goal umpire for aussie rules football. I will shortly be umpiring games in the various junior leagues in and around the city. It will provide a little extra money and keep me fit at the same time.

Law school so far has not been terribly onerous, though there are many cases to read. My dad says that the most important thing to consider when studying is what is the issue being decided, though I think most important is whether the judge was sober when making their decision. I think my dad is correct nonetheless. Although I'm a little anxious with assignments starting to be distributed, I will be putting every effort in to excel and make the most of this opportunity. I may even find that being a soulless, evil lawyer (as if there were any other kind) is not so bad.

Please stay tuned for photos and more adventures.