A New Semester

Alright so classes. Now as much as I love going to bed at 5am, waking up around 1pm, going to the gym, eating, and doing nothing for the rest of the day, the idea of school was actually appealing. We were really bored, I took some time every day to walk around Kingston, but I really didn't feel like going too far. So classes started Monday, and I love them all. Let me go into more detail.

Monday is Fiction and Social Change in the 20th century, followed by Children's Literature. Social Change is a pretty good class, I recognized a few kids from last semester in it. The teacher is really nice, and we will be looking at 1930-1960, and how it was a time of experimental, and wondering if they should go back to the 19th century, or go forward with literature. Of course the social part is society in Britain with both wars, and how things were going. We watched 15 minutes of Bright Young Things, a movie that I need to see! It looked really good, so many people were in it, like Peter O'Toole, James McAvoy, the woman who plays Umbridge, David Tennant, Simon, Dan Aykroyd, and many more. So I'll be putting that movie on my To See List, it's a very long list now. Oh boy. I already read a novel for that class too, A Handful of Dust, it was really good, about really nothing, the characters lead pointless lives, but I enjoyed it. Different style than what I've had before.

Children's Lit was fun, we talked about how it came about, the first stories, what we would be reading and learning, our experiences with Children's Lit. It was interesting, the class period is only an hour long. Those go by quickly, usually because they start late, and kids spend half the hour talking. Argh so annoying.

Now on Tuesday I go from 9-2. EW! I start out with Narrative, Character, Voice in Prose Writing, which is awesome. I love my teacher, she's really nice, and interesting. We did a few writing exercises, and talked about what we would be learning in class, and she did a long introduction about herself. She's written a few novels. After that was seminars for Social Change, Narrative and then Children's Lit. Between those classes, I had one hour break for lunch. But the Social Change seminar has one other American in it, I introduced myself to her. She is just a spring student, so I said if I could be of any help, just to let me know. We discussed movies and ourselves more than anything in that period, but also discussed a few pages from the novel. It was fun, I sat next to this kid Ben, who is really nice. Actually I think we talked about everything but the novel, we talked about Germany a lot actually, he use to live there, and I was just there. It was cool.

Narrative seminar, oh boy did I put my foot in it. She asked us what we read, what we write, and I said if I do write it's about hockey. Well she wants a sample of something, and I was like yeah sure. Dang! Now I have to write something! Oh well. I said that I am still trying to read Crime and Punishment, which impressed her, and she said to stay with it. Sooo trying to do that, but with all the novels I have to read, somehow I don't think I will. I only have 400 more pages! LOL! Oh well. We had a Harry Potter discussion after that, which is always fun. I really like my Narrative teacher, she is really down to earth, and a lot of fun to talk to.

Children's Lit seminar was last, and that was good. I was late to that according to my teacher's watch, 5 minutes early according to mine. ARGH! I hate that all clocks have a different time. Oh well. We read a few things, and discussed them. I said a few things, which were received well, go me! I cannot wait until we start reading Alice in Wonderland and the other novels. Not a big fan of early Children's Lit, which is what we were reading. Once Alice in Wonderland comes out, it changes! I wish we would read some A.A. Milne! Oh well.

My last class was today- Global English. Um. It might be interesting, today we translated some sentences from a language a Polish guy invented that he tried to sell as a global language, and that everyone should jump aboard it, but yeah it didn't take as well as he thought it would. This was like in the 1950's, and 1960's. When we were translating these sentences, my teacher came around and asked how we were all doing. Well I gave up foreign languages back in high school, and I basically said that to her. It was hard, languages are sooo difficult for me. It was easy for the two Spanish kids behind me, this language is basically a mixture of Romantic language. Argh, but I'll hold judgement on this class til next week, maybe it will get better if we stop translating languages that were invented 50 years ago.

Now also with this new semester is Elyse. She is currently at Roehampton University which is not that far from me. So before she came, I gave her my cell, and said if you need anything, call me. But I'll meet you at your dorm at 11am on Wednesday. So Wednesday I woke up, got ready, took the uni bus to Roehampton Vale, and started walking to her uni. I was about half way there, and my phone rings. It's Elyse. She's at Heathrow, and was forgotten by CIS. So I asked if she wanted me to pick her up, and she said yes. Alright then. I look up at the sky, and a plane is going overhead, and it's a lot closer than in Kingston, so here I'm thinking... SWEET! I run down to Roehampton and start looking at bus signs to get me to Heathrow. Well hindsight they say is perfect. I should have run all the way back to Kingston. I asked a few people in the area, what is the best way to get to Heathrow, and they all said the 85 to Kingston, and go from there. Well as soon as I got money, that is what I did. I took the 85, and then got on the 285 to Heathrow. I got there at like 1pm. The CIS people were coming back at 2pm to pick up the remaining people, and I wish I knew this before hand, but whatever, Elyse needed me so I was there. So once again hindsight is perfect, I should have taken the 285 back to Kingston, but no I went on the Underground. Elyse is suppose to be near the District line, so that is where we went. I did not get us lost... I just didn't get us close enough to Roehampton. We got off at East Putney, or Putney Bridge, and we walked for about 15 minutes with her giant suitcases. We ended up getting on a bus, this really nice guy helped us. The bus took us to Whitelands College, which is part of Roehampton, just not her college. So we walked more, now I've never been to her part of the campus, or have that much of a clue where it is. So we walked, and we did make it to her college, but boy was I glad to see it. I was so tired from dragging her bag around... I am not moving in anyone else! Monica and I had a fun time going to Oxford, this was a fun time... I'm done. My move in was so uneventful, I think I slept through it. Anyway, she's settled in a really nice flat, it's basically the same set up I have, except she's with 5 British girls, and I'm with 4 American girls and 2 British boys. Well lucky her, she won't have any boys peeing in the showers! ARGH! Still mad about that! Anyway, I've seen Elyse twice, and tomorrow I believe we are going into London, but I haven't heard from her. Oh well.

It's awesome to have Elyse here, and she's met some cool kids. My favorite is Emma, who reminds me of April from the Gilmore Girls. Elyse agreed with me, and of course when I said this, she hit my shoulder and her bag went flying! HAHAH! Serves her right. We all went bowling, well it was a Roehampton thing, and since I was visiting her, I got a spot! They went bowling in Kingston though, which was fun! I've never been to that bowling place. Awesome! But bowling was fun, it was the big bowling balls, and not what we have in Mass, and Elyse won! I didn't do that bad... er, I did get a spare! It was a good time with her friends though!

Kathleen and Amaya came with me the second time I went to Roehampton, and they really like Elyse. I'm glad, I mean those two mean soooo much to me, and if they didn't like Elyse, or the other way around, that would hurt. I also love hearing Bowl again! I have so missed my nickname! But now whenever someone says Bowl, like if they are referencing to what you eat out of, I'm back again going, 'what... oh you aren't talking to me.' HAHA! So awesome.

Well that's about it, will write again later! SUPERBOWL PARTY ON SUNDAY! HAHA, we are planning on having a huge party! It's going to be so much fun!