Crunch time!!

Hello everyone!

Well, it's that time of the year again - classes are winding down (they finish in 2 days!), I have a week of no exams and no classes (equaling MUCH studying time) and then it's down to 5 exams in 2 weeks. Funny how no matter the location and despite being on the opposite side of the world and in a very different country, the feeling I get at this time remains the same. It's that stressed out, not sure what to expect, pressure-filled anxiousness. And then of course, just like back home, I am sure that all my exams will go swimmingly, and I will wonder why I even worried about them in the first place. Some things never change.

Not much has happened since my last entry about the Australia Zoo visit. Derek and I have quite the baking system going - he buys the ingredients, I bake the goods and he shares a few with me. In the past week, I made one big batch of Gma Arlene's chocolate chip cookies, which made about 40 or so cookies in total. It took Derek 2 days to finish the entire lot. The only thing holding him back from more cookies being made is a lack of funds that prevents him from buying the missing groceries. But that will change with his paycheck next week.....

I am currently sitting in my last french class of the semester. It's pretty boring - I just came from the last french oral presentation, where I think my group completely smashed. The professors were quite stunned after we finished, and I think (or hope?) it was because we did swimmingly well. Fingers crossed. Speaking earlier about accents, hearing Australians speaking french with their Australian accents is weird. They also all think that I am this crazy french speaker because I come from Canada and compared to them, have a very thick french accent. It's hilarious, and definitely improves my confidence with the oral french.

Now all that's left is one more anatomy class tomorrow morning, followed by some celebratory drinks on the campus pub. Then next week is a full week of studying intensely. I'm imagining many hours spent in the anatomy lab, pouring over my cadaver (whom I have affectionately named Mortimer. My exams are on the 12th (Marine Biology), the 15th (Terrestrial Environment), the 17th and 18th (2 parts of Anatomy) and the 23rd (French). I'll be really happy when the 18th rolls around, since French should not be too hard. I think the house is having a major party on the 18th to celebrate the end of exams etc etc, and that should be fantastic.

I should probably sign off now, since we were just handed a worksheet and are supposed to be working on that instead of listening (and I can't really pretend to be taking notes anymore....haha).

I'll be in touch soon - if studying doesn't kill me first!
xoxo Danielle