Classes!

So here, finally, is the lowdown on my classes. I have one class per day starting on Tuesday. I enjoy them all quite a bit, though two would be better if they didn't start at 9, sadly those are my favorites.

Tuesday: 2-4 pm: Geographies of Home
Geography here is like a combination of sociology and history, human geography that is. This class is a 3rd year course, which means it is taken by geo students in their final year at university. It seems quite easy and straightforward for being an upper level but I am most definitely not complaining. It is also very interesting material though this is somewhat ruined by the fact that my professor gives us the slides and then reads directly from them on the screen. She seems to be a nice lady but people talk in class while she lectures and she does nothing about it. I cant comprehend that; at home the students would be tossed out. Anyway! The class is focused on the meaning of 'home' be it the physical dwelling or the feelings/emotions we connect to the word. We study particular places at particular times looking at the human relationships and connotations of the word home. For some home is a place to relax, feel loved and escape to, while for others it is a place to fear or run away from, or home could be a place to long for when you do not have one. Fascinating stuff really. Were discussing home in relation to the concept of the 'motherland' and the design of a physical house in relation to the dynamics of the family who lives in it (i.e. the situation of the kitchen as a the focal point of many family homes, and who spends the most time in there, who has the power, etc. etc.) The class will include a field trip to an interior design museum I am very excited for; it has rooms that are decorated according to the styles of decades from the last few hundred years. More on that as it comes closer.

Wednesday: 9-10 and then 12-1: Politics and Society During the Reign of James I
The first hour is a lecture that never starts on time because no one, the students and professor, can get there on time. That second hour is a seminar, or the discussion equivalent for Brits. However, what is wonderful here is that I have no TAs. We meet in the professors office and discuss the packet he gave us in lecture. The professor is awesome by the way, probably late 40s to early 50s and exactly what I always imagined a British professor to be like. Somewhat thin with rimless glasses, sometimes just in slacks but today wore a 3 piece gray suit that made me very happy. He is a history professor but cant for the life of him remember genealogies or names (i.e. "Catherine was his first wife? Or Margaret? Wait no, that was his sister? Oh I don't know, never mind!") He also makes excellent connections between James I's reign and current American politics, Hitler's regime, and the upcoming British general elections. Witty and cynical, he is utterly wonderful.
As for the class itself I am really interested in the material (not just the professor!) : ) I have always studied right up to James I (who was the monarch of England right after Queen Elizabeth I) because I was so fascinated by the Tudors. An excellent background to have I must say, and I am excited to continue my education down the line to the Stuarts, though this course will only cover James I and thus I will need to study on my own for the rest of his dynasty. And that will not be a problem because it leads to the English Civil War and later the Jacobite Rebellions (which thanks to a certain historical fiction I know lots about).

Thursday: 9-1pm: Contemporary Hollywood Cinema
So who would have guessed that this is my favorite class? I am one of only 4 Americans in the class, and along with a friend of mine we are the only ones from LA. This had the professor (awesome guy who is 40 but is so cool that I wouldn't have put him over 29) very excited. The first day he asked the class who had been to Hollywood and if their visions were destroyed and some of the class raised their hands. He called on some Brits and then pointed to Danny and I saying "What about you, I saw hands over here." Danny and I looked at each other and said ,"Well were from LA so..." The professor thinks we are just great, its just lovely. The class focus can be read in the name, with emphasis on the relation between film and American politics, economics, etc. in the current period. We started with 1970s the first week with a screening of Shampoo and last week was the 1980s with Flashdance. As he said, not necessarily the best movies but those that are of their time. Tomorrow we will discuss the 80s and watch a 90s movie. Its really great to discuss American film from the point of view of a non American with non American peers. He gave us a handout that had a flow chart of American politics that explained the United States political parties better than anything I had ever seen in my life as it was so dead on. Also, the only project for the class will be a film note that is about an American film from 2001 on as he wants us to be able to discuss film following 9/11. I think I am going to do Catch Me If You Can (which is good because I have that DVD with me) and because I can relate it to cinematic nostalgia for the past, the crime/detective genre and American flight/travel following 9/11. Go me!

Friday: 2-3: Reinventing Britain
Another geography class though this is a first year course. Which is surprising because it seems way more intense than my other class. Three of my friends and I really only signed up for it because the title sounded good and it has a FIVE DAY FIELD TRIP to northern England the last week of the semester. How cool is that? The class is basically about how Britain, though England in particular, is transforming as the industrial economy it was once known for is being exchanged for what they are calling a 'knowledge' economy. This will be a bit more difficult for us Americans, thank goodness my grade doesn't really count and I have friends in it, because we have little to no knowledge about current English affairs of this sort. But I figure I will know a lot more about contemporary Britain when I leave. Plus, that field trip, which will take us to areas most affected by the closing of factories and manual labour industries, is going to be awesome.

And that's all folks. Sorry if I rambled a bit. Questions? Comments? Sarcastic remarks? : )

Link for picture albums

http://picasaweb.google.com/movie1012

Cruising down the Thames... and a fire alarm

Good morning all. At least its morning for me.

I have my first class this afternoon, called Geographies of Home. Here geography is like a combination of sociology and history, two subjects that interest me, and since I couldnt get into any of the history classes I ventured over here. Here is a description of todays class.
"The module aims to explore geographies of home on scales from the domestic to the global; to introduce feminist, cultural and postcolonial studies of home in work both within and beyond geography; and to consider the theoretical and empirical importance of geographies of home."
Not really sure what that means but the professor guy thought I would like it.

So since the last time I blogged a great deal has happened, or very little depending on how you look at it. We did go to Brick Lane for dinner that night. FYI Brick Lane is a really long road in the East End that is crammed with almost all Indian/Bangladeshi restaurants. The proprietors stand in front and try to persuade you to come in by making outrageous offers. We went in a group of 12, which was insane trying to walk there, and ended up going to the practically last restaurant on the street because our unofficial leader for the night, my friend Robert, knew of that one. It was okay, the nan was really thick and tasted funny I thought but it wasnt a bad meal. A couple of my friends had never had Indian before and they all enjoyed it, which is good because it means we can go find other restaurants.

In the days in between there has been a lot of pubbing and restaurant touring. The Brits did not arrive til yesterday so we have had no cookware making it necessary to check out the local food scene. We had Japanese at a place across the street which was relatively good, I liked my chicken rice dish but those that had the salmon sushi werent so impressed. And we found another Indian restaurant, next door to the Japanese one, that does a Sunday buffet. Best meal we have had so far, though still not up to my shmancy Los Angeles standards : ) However they had fresh fruit that we all agreed we would pay for alone. The pineapple and honeydew were delicious. They also had these potato things that were like latkes and there was an orange sauce that we dipped them in- SO GOOD. The end of the table that I was with has also somewhat convinced me to make latkes in the near future because none of us managed to have any or many during Hanukkah. - I am pleased to note that there are actually 3 or 4 Jews in my little group! And I found some others around-

Sunday was our bus tour of London. Originally I had not signed up but was convinced by two of my friends at 2 in the morning on Saturday night that I should try to go. Having been sightseeing in London before I did not see a whole lot of new things, though the financial area was a nice addition and I had a good time with my friends. It also worked out that the tour guide never collected the tickets so I went for free!

And yesterday was the first day of the semester. I didnt have any classes but I needed to run around to different departments trying to finalize my schedule. I will provide more info on them as they arrive. The exciting part of yesterday was the cruise down the Thames. Or the booze cruise as we crude Americans termed it. And did I mention that it was only for the Americans? It was a sort of welcome event for the study abroad students. Not knowing if alcohol would be served onboard (though looking back, why were we unsure? There is not a joint in this country that doesnt serve alcohol) a good number of the Americans decided to pregame before we left. With the exception of one or two people everyone was able to hold their liquor and fortunately there were no cases of seasickness. The cruise itself was very nice and gave us all an exquisite view of the city via the river. There was a slight buffet of sandwiches and chicken on sticks which wasnt enough for most people and the dance floor was inside and too tiny. However a good time was had by almost all I would say.

By the end of the evening though a lot of us were very tired. Upon our return to campus we went to Drapers Bar, the student pub on campus, to check out the scene because its not like anyone needed more alcohol. We went in and it looked really cool but it was overflowing as it was the Brits first night back and we all felt like we had American signs on our foreheads. Thus we returned to our flats where some of us hung out for a while and others went to bed. I went to bed somewhere around midnight I think and fell asleep right away. But just over a half hour later I was rudely awoken by an extremely loud ringing noise. A fire alarm... great... And this was not a drill. We have yet to hear what the cause was but the entire building had to troop out into the cold at 1 in the morning. The people in charge then tried to call roll which was absolutely impossible and beyond time consuming. Finally after they seemed to have tried every flat one of the few adults in a yellow vest called for flat 26 from the doorway. Freaking out as we walked up, thinking that "what?! omg?" that the fire alarm was caused by our flat we were told that it was now fine to go back in and we were just the first to be called. Phew. The English really do take fires very seriously; at orientation we had a half hour lecture dedicated to fire safety alone.

And as I just woke up a little while ago that brings us up to the present. There are a few pictures included with more on the way. Enjoy! And hope you are all enjoying your better weather at home, no matter where in the country you are, as I freeze over here.

Cheers!

Snowy mini on the street

Snow falling on the British MuseumDad with a DumDum in the British Museum
Carnaby StreetMinerva Street for all you HP fans : )The Barney purple trash cans around campusThe Tower Bridge
The London Eye at night from the ThamesMy friends and I in front of Parliament on the cruise

Greetings from freezing London!

Shiver...

Greetings and Salutations!

Welcome to my blog. I will do my best to make it interesting and informative for those of you who want to keep up with me. And if you dont find it interesting, thats just too bad. : )

I dont have much time to write a lot at the moment so just a couple of things for those of you who were dying to know where I disappeared to. So here is just a bit.


Weather: I am currently sitting my flat in a coat, scarf and gloves as the heating is not working properly and the people that are can fix it cant get here because of the snow. London has been in a state of confusion and disrepair due to this snowfall. They really dont know how to function. That said... I absolutely love it here. I am more than happy to watch the snow fall and adding colorful scarves to any outfit is awesome.

Flat and people: I just got my internet here at Queen Mary and that is more than can be said for a number of my friends. I already have a little group here comprised of 3 of my flatmates (all American, and two who are from SC!) and maybe 5 or 6 others. We have yet to meet any of our British flatmates because they are still on holiday. They should be here within with next day or so. My room is pretty small but I dont have a roomie which is fabulous. I also have my own bathroom, though the floor flooded when I showered this morning because the shower is not a separate entity. That was lovely...not.

Classes: Schools begins on Monday but I dont think I have any until Tuesday or Wednesday. I am currently registered for two film classes and two history classes. The film classes I was already registered for so that makes me happy. The history classes on the other hand were not my first choice. All the history classes I was interested in were closed or not open to the study abroad students- not cool, there were some great WWII classes offered, damn. But well see how they turn out so more details on those later.

Food and drink: Have I mentioned that Im legal here? So exciting! I am a big fan of cider, Strongbow in particular, and am having a great time trying ales and bitters from around the country and Europe as well. My friends and I went to one of the local pubs last night- where my Dad and I had had lunch earlier- and the bartender remembered me. I think he and I will become good friends. We had a great time, even though we went out at about 530 and left by 9. It was good fun to realize that we were leaving the bar hours before we usually go out at home. The food has also been good. Im excited for tonight because we are heading to Brick Lane, the Bangladeshi neighborhood of the East End of London which supposedly has hundreds of restaurants. Speaking of which I need to go get ready.

More updates and pictures coming soon. The weekend has no plans yet so I will be back here.

Love to all. Cheers!