Getting Settled in a New Home

I have officially been in England for over a week and am finally getting settled into a new life (that actually involves school). The campus and weather are so similar to UO that looking out my window I can almost pretend that I am there. Although at first it was kind of a rough transition, I am really happy to be here, and it is shaping up to be an amazing (though busy) term!

Campus: While smaller than UO, the UEA campus has some similar 60's-style buildings. We are about two miles from the town of Norwich, which is new for me since I am used to being in the center of Eugene. The seclusion is kind of nice especially since there is a lake and nature all around us. My dorm is HUGE, and I get a bathroom all to myself that someone else cleans once a week. That is living in luxury. I live with 9 British students, who are all very sweet and fun.

Norwich: Norwich (pronounced Norridge) is the operating center for the county of Norfolk, and is the biggest city in East Anglia. The greater Norwich area has roughly the same population as Eugene. Unlike most English cities, it did not start as a Roman colony, but came into being as a medieval town. As such, it has a castle, really old cathedral, ruined wall that surrounds half of it, and a bunch of adorable cobble-stone streets lined with old buildings. Scenes from the movie Stardust were filmed here to give you a sense of the place. Currently, it is rated as one of the best shopping towns in Europe, and it has a dangerous amount of cute shops for browsing and... buying! I'll tell you more about Norwich later since I am taking a walking tour of it on Sunday.

Classes: Three classes is considered full-time here, so that is the amount I am enrolled in. One of them is Contemporary Writing which meets once a week for two hours, and seems more like a book club than a class. Basically, we read a contemporary British novel a week and come together to discuss it. The reading list seems really interesting, since I haven't read many contemporary British novels. I am also taking 18th Century Writing, which has a lot of familiars like Locke, Swift, Pope, and Fielding. It is a larger lecture class, but should be good as background info for my thesis. My last class is a dissertation class, which meets not at all. Instead, we meet with a "supervisor" throughout the term and write an 8,000 work dissertation. This class is reserved for students in their final year. At first I was terrified because the other students had all started working on theirs over the summer and also had all of winter break to write it, which I do not. Turns out that because I have less time I have less to write (about 5,000 words) so that is a relief. I am taking this class to seriously start working on my thesis for the Honors College that I will have to write and defend when I return.

Classes here function somewhat differently than in the U.S. Rather than meeting several times a week with a specific reading list and assignments, the English practice much more self-motivated study. Classes meet about once a week for two hours, but we are expected to spend a considerable amount of time outside of class reading and researching for the papers. So when I tell you that I only have class on Tuesdays and Wednesdays technically leaving me a 5 day weekend, do not be fooled. I will have about two novels to read each week, along with research to do and papers to write throughout that time. I am actually worried about the time leftover for travelling!

Travel: So I joined about a million societies here the other day, including Literature Society, International Students Society (ISS), Cheese and Wine Society, and Hiking Society. They plan a considerable amount of trips throughout the term including Edinburgh, London, Amsterdam, and other towns around Norfolk... I want to do them all, so we'll see what time allows. These groups seem really awesome... For instance, the other night about 50 members of ISS went out in Norwich and we had a blast. I REALLY like those people. While I am here, I really want to visit: Edinburgh, Scotland, London, Cambridge, Stratford-upon-Avon, Bath, Amsterdam, and Ireland. I only have about two months left to travel (since towards the end I will be bogged down with papers) so I really hope I can make it.

So all in all it is shaping up to be a really exciting term, and I will keep you updated as much as I can. Today, I go to London to meet Grandma and Grandma and get my suitcase with winter clothes. I am so excited to see them, even if for only a short while. In two weeks, we will be spending four days in London together... I can't wait!