Dark_Silence said:
fireangel: thanks for the advice!
Did you study Geology?
No, I study Geography, and Geomorphology is a part of it. That´s why I had beginner´s stuff in Geology, too, like that book. But I´m not into the chemistry- and math-stuff, so I don´t go into rock- or soil-science.
You are right, usually when I was in school in belgium, the teacher always gave pretty much everything we needed for homework, and not so much questions from the pupils. Even at the university, all the "skripte" where already printed out and you just had to buy them in the Uni's library. And the exercices paper were given by the Professor during the class.
Glad to know I made the right assumptions
So I guess it´s a matter of different systems, and you just have to see how this one works, then it doesn´t look so problematic anymore. In most cases, I have to say, it´s you on your own, you have to go out and ask people for information, or look at many books and decide by yourself which would be useful to borrow or buy. In some cases, there is the "Fachschaft", the student body, which organizes introductory events for beginners, tells you about the reading lists, gives you an overview on the recommended semester plans or such.
One of the most important things for starters would be to know how the libraries are organized (because no-one can buy all the books and magazines, and often really there is no need, if you only need a chapter, or the books are not good, or you just have to read something for a certain course in them); and also to know the IT-resources, or in your case probably also the labs.
I can understand it´s hard if you don´t know many people, but that´s the case for most of them, so just try
They don´t need to become your best friends; colleagues is alright, just that you can discuss with them about study subjects would be enough for the beginning, and many you´ll meet often during the next semesters.
I have an amendment to my note-taking point above, for example you wouldn´t need to write: "Let me introduce three main theories in tectonics", it could be shorter just: "3 theories in tectonics", then you´ll go 1., 2., 3., and then add information to each point as the lecture continues. For speaking or writing a book you need full sentences, but half of the words are not necessary if you later look at your notes for reviewing; you just need the content
Have fun
