Update on Classes

I've finished up with my third week of classes at UCL.  As each term has only 10 weeks, I'm actually done with a somewhat significant portion of the term!  I switched one of my courses (the Science Communication course) for a new history class called "Ancient World in London Collections," which meets most weeks in the British Museum and involves exploring the museum with our tutor and learning about what the various artifacts can tell us about ancient history (so cool!).  I've been keeping myself very busy with water polo (I'm currently on three teams: the UCL mixed first team, the UCL girls team, and a club girls team called Poly) and rugby (I've been going to some of the girls team's practices - very fun but very very agressive!) and lots of other events.  By the end of October I'll have been to a show or concert every week - I saw The Lion King with a bunch of other UCL students earlier this month, went to a Joshua Radin concert with friends last week, saw Jamie Cullum last Tuesday in Kentish Town (wonderful concert - got some great videos!) and have tickets to see Laura Marling (a British musician I absolutely love) next week.  I've been showing my friends many of the places that I visited a lot over the summer (like Borough Market) but am still exploring and finding new places as well - recent favorites include Regent's Park and Gordon Square.  I've been spending a good amount of time on schoolwork (with only 8 hours of actual class time a week, they expect you to do much more independent work) and just over a week ago I took the GRE, so now I embark on the next big part of applying to graduate schools: the applications themselves.  Luckily my 4-day weekends give me some extra time to spend on grad school applications, though between water polo tournaments and traveling I'll be gone a lot.  If I'm lucky enough to get any interviews, I hope to take Reading Week of next semester to come back to the US and visit schools.

I have been having a bit of trouble with my current roommate (she doesn't know the meaning of the word "compromise" and I mean that literally), but I found out today that I'll be able to switch into a single at the term change in January!  Not yet sure where I'll be living, but I hope to stay in my current dorm as the location is so great.  And this experience is definitely providing some amusing stories, at least.

Off to dinner now with a few friends - dim sum and then visiting the Tate.  There's an Gerhard Richter exhibit there I'm very excited to see.  Cheers!


P.S.  I went to Copenhagen a few weekends ago and had a fabulous time!  It was much colder than London but absolutely beautiful - I especially loved eating at the cute little restaurants on Nyhavn (right on the canal) and venturing out into the Danish countryside and seeing Fredriksborgslot, the beautiful castle in the picture below, as seen from the many-leveled garden across the lake.  (Mange tak to Brett and Karen!)

First Week of Class!

After returning to London on 15 September, I have finally begun classes at UCL!  I'm still only partially registered for classes (their online registration system here is not the most efficient or intuitive) but I went to all the classes I requested this week and I expect everything to be figured out by Friday.  Before I write anything about my classes, I have to explain a little about the UK educational system, because it is strikingly different from the American system.  In general, British students must choose far earlier than American students what they want to study at university (which they usually call "uni" and which is different from "college" or "school").  At age 14, they choose 10 subjects to study.  At age 16, they choose just 3 of those subjects to study exclusively for the next 2 years.  At 18, when they go to uni, they choose 1 of those 3 subjects and that's their department.  While in the US we normally don't have to choose our majors until the 2nd year of college, British students must choose their general area by age 16 and decide before applying to university exactly what they want to study.  This also means that introductory British university classes are usually much more advanced than American introductory courses, as the tutors (their word for professors) expect you to have already studied the subject area for 2 years.  Students also don't often take classes outside their departments, except for in very special cases, which makes being an Affiliate student taking classes in several departments quite difficult!  I think I have it mostly worked out, however, and if I get approved for everything online my courses will be:

Term 1:
Introduction to Greek Literature
Greek Authors: Homer
Literary Responses to the First World War
Science, Communication and the Global Community  ---> now taking "Ancient World in London Collections" instead

Term 2:
Greek Myth: Its Use and Meaning
Greek Comedy
London before the Great Fire
Literature and Memory in a Globalised Society

Another big difference from the American college experience is the amount of time you spend in class - taking 4 classes each term, I only have 8 hours of class a week!  This first term I only have classes Monday through Wednesday (4 day weekends!) and next term I have two hours of class a day, Monday through Thursday.  Compared to my 4 years at UM, I'll have so much free time.

It's been a very busy week with starting classes on Monday, but today I'm off to Copenhagen!  When I come back, I'll write more about my classes and how they are going, plus the other things I've been doing while in London (like going to see the Lion King, joining the water polo team, and trying out rugby!).