Week 2

Forgive me for not posting in a few days.

Sunday:

Took the 7:30am train to Fremantle (it was cheap...only like a buck fifty) to meet with the surf school bus and hit the beach. We just barely made it, with getting there 2 minutes before the start time. We weren't the only ones late, however, so they were cool with it. After donning our wetsuits (not an easy task as most people know) we walked out in the cold sand to the water. I must admit, I was a little weary about being in cold water for 2.5 hours. All of that was gone once we hit the water and immediately felt nice and warm in the thick wetsuits. Our instructor, some nice guy from New Zealand, was really cool and helpful. As it was pretty much my first time surfing, he helped me out for the first few waves with a nice push and I gradually started to get the hang of standing up. I seemed to have a problem with putting my feet in the right place and thus perfecting the balancing act, though I eventually got the hang of it all and stood up maybe four or so times? I had an amazing time, and the weather and overall location was beautiful. I definitely want to go surfing again sometime soon!

After our lesson, we dried off and took the train one stop into Fremantle and walked to the markets. We had expected some huge marketplace with tons of soveniers and the like, but it was not the case. Still, we had a good time looking at the different local vendors and I got a few gifts for those back home. We traveled back to Perth and I went down to the mall district to finish off my gift buying. That was pretty much it for the day.

Monday:

We traveled to Notre Dame University of Australia in Fremantle to listin to a lecture by Dr. Hamer, the dean of their PT school. While the lecture started off kind of slow, I eventually got into it and enjoyed the presentation. Dr. Hamer compared and contrasted the US system of PT schools and the system at their school and the whole of Australia. While the majority of american programs are graduate level and lead to a Doctorate of PT, Australian PT programs start right out of high school and lead only to a Bachelors. This at first seems quite strange, but after learning about their programs and classes it only seems like it is a formal matter of having a Dr. at the start of your name. Many of their classes seem to go along the lines of the classes at VCU, or at least at first glance. It would be interesting to see whether it is only a matter of salary difference and such between our PT schooling system and theirs. The group then had fish and chips at Cicerello's restaurant in Fremantle, a town landmark located right on the water. While I am not a huge fish eater (not whatsoever, really) lunch wasn't too bad.

After that was a trip to the PT office of Keiren Bell and Greg Borman. This was probably the best lecture since we arrived and I really enjoyed it. They spoke to us on how to gain the trust of a patient and diagnose and treat a patient with a few different techniques. We actually got to interact and pretend to diagnose each other, which was a lot of fun. Keiren is an avid cyclist, so we got to talk cycling for a while. He told me that he would ask around to see if anyone has a bike that I can use for a few days, though I doubt anything will come of it.

I then spent the rest of the evening studying and reading for my online class (HPEX 357) and watching some American TV on the few channels that are available. Aparrently they are fans of Desperate Housewives here?

Tuesday:

After traveling to Curtin Uni for the last time, we listened in on a lecture that outlined occupational health and safety. The lecturer, who's name escapes me at the present time, was a Singapore native who seemed to know just about everything there is to know about health and safety. His lecture was filled with visual pictures and a few videos of different accidents and events that he had studied for his Ph.D., which I enjoyed.

The group was then taken to the CSBP plant, a processing facility that deals with cyanide (for gold mining) and fertilizer. While we weren't really allowed to take any pictures and walk anywhere alone (due to the dangerous chemicals, etc.) it was nice to be able to apply what we had learned in the morning lecture on occupational health to an actual setting.

Tomorrow I will travel to the WAIS complex (like our olympic training centers, but for Western Australia) to spend the day with one of the Australian national cycling team coaches. Hopefully it will be a good time! Maybe I will get a free bike out of it or something...just kidding.