When does this semester end in the U.S. (I assume it's the first one)? The university semester in Australia is already over, and the schools are on the wind down towards the big summer break.

Hello Trapper Zoid! This is the last week of additional coursework. Next week is supposed to be "Dead Week", where we will not get any further assignments. The week after is Finals Week. So, the last day of this semester is going to be the 15th of December. I believe my last day is on the 13th. Don't think I have a final on Thurs or Fri... I'll have to check.

We won't have to return until Jan. 11th.

Yes, this is the first semester for the "Year". This leaves me with about 1 1/2 years left here.

Kindly,
-Dave

Here the "teaching" part of the semester finished on 27th of October, with exams running until 18th of November. After that the undergrads disappear until late February. It's a pretty big summer break.

That doesn't apply to us postgrads who work whenever we want - but it sure is nice having the campus to ourselves [grin].

Wow... How are your summer breaks between the years? We normally end mid May and we start late August.