First Week of School

It's been a while since I last updated. Sorry bout that!


Picture of a spider outside our house. I'm sure that's what you all were interested in.

I've met all my house mates finally. Josh is a post graduate student who studies British politics. He's also a runner and really likes Chelsea. My kind of guy. He reminds me of this kid I knew in Santa Barbara, Simon. He reminded me of a guy I use to run with back in North Monterey county. Everyone I know just seems to remind me of other people I already know. I need to stop that habit haha. Anyway, he's a nice guy. He's on the same floor as Channing and I. Channing is a fourth year at Leeds Metropolitan (Leeds Met) and she works at a bar. She's nice, but a bit of shut in.

Upstairs is where Fanni and Jim are living. Both of them are Geophysics post graduates. Jim is Scottish and Fanni is from Hungry. Fanni does Tae Kwon Doe, which I find hilarious. Her full name is Fanni Kiss....Make of that what you will. Jim is 29 and I don't know too much beyond that. He likes to drink tea, but that describes basically everyone here except Fanni and I.

On the ground floor is Rick. Rick is a real cool guy. Very outgoing and personable. He seems to be able to talk to anyone for a while about anything. Very friendly. He's a Geochemist post graduate and he also likes football. He also plays a little bit of guitar and use to skate. He's 24 I think. He's from Norwick.

On the first night we were all here, we all went to the pub and had a couple drinks and got to know each other. It was pretty cool. That's where I discovered everyone liked football, when we are all sitting around the TV watching the highlights. There are few things more thrilling than watching football highlights. One of the things that cracked me up is that Rick, Jim and Josh all are annoyed at football commentator's constant chattering. I was instantly reminded of hating Chris Collingsworth. No matter what any player did on a play, Chris always had a criticism of what they did wrong. Nothing is good enough for the mighty Collingsworth. I said that I thought the football's commentators were funny, and I think for the most part, they offer some good insight, especially for people who haven't been following the league really closely. We all went to the pub the other night and watched (at the same time) Man U versus Basel and Bayren Munuch vs Man City. Basel made the game pretty interesting by coming back from a 2-0 deficit to go up 3-2, but then Man U tied in stoppage. Bayren just killed Man City. Fun to watch with all the guys though, including the randoms at the pub (not pup).

So I had my first week school this past week (above is my schedule). I have to say, there's a lot less class, but a lot more assigned reading. They give you this huge list of secondary sources that you should be reading, in addition to the course material. Maybe they don't expect you to read it all, and its just a good list of material, if you choose to go and read outside material. But either way, I kinda really like it. It's like they're encouraging you to learn, rather than just pass the class. That is the ultimate goal of education, right? To learn things. Discuss intellectual material with people who are interested in the same things you are. Because once you get into the real world, finding someone to have a real conversation about, say, Things Fall Apart, is harder to do. Most people, at least in America, just care about America's Next Top Model, or America's Got Talent, or American Idol....or The Office. I feel like in America, we've been conditioned to do do well in class for a good grade, not necessarily for learning, and it's different here.

One of the things I don't miss about America is the awful state of politics over there. It's so frustratingly conservative and slow and panders to idiots. I meet someone at the Rock Social (I'll get to that more later) and we got to talking about politics. He said I'm sorry if I was offending me, and I said I liked talking politics. He pointed out that we are still having debates about creationism, where all of Europe settled that in the 1700s. The pope himself said it was wrong. Yet there are still backwards thinking people who think it could be right in America. He also thought it was hilarious that if I got hit by a bus in America, and had no insurance, that they would treat me until I wasn't dying, then throw me out on the street (but who pays for that if I have no insurance? Taxpayers. So we already have socialized medicine). Here, he was upset because Taxpayers paid to have someone change from a guy to a girl. Which is fair, a little bit. But he did had to convince a bunch of people he was actually a girl in a guys' body. So it wasn't like he just walked in and they gave it to him. But the more we talked, the more I realized that there are just so many ignorant, backwards thinking people who have votes, that hold America back. It's maddening. Obama's healthcare, which is sooo right wing here it ridiculous, was hailed as socialist in America. Our left wingers are crazy right wingers in the UK. When I got done talking to Russ, some of his friends apologized to him about him, saying, "I'm sorry he's so conservative", to which I replied, "I thought he was very reasonable". The fact is that people in the UK seem to just be nicer. They seem to not mind sharing with their neighbor (A CRAZY CONCEPT). They don't mind higher taxes if it means that more people can be happier, which then leads to greater prosperity. The post mortem love that Ronald Reagen gets just infuriates me. I had to hide someone on facebook recently because he kept saying ignorant things about Obama (Nobama. Soooo clever) and Reagen. Yes conservatives, less taxes and less government will lead to greater freedom. For you rich people. The people you've structurally suppressed through government constructed racism will have no chance in hell. Be a decent person. "Only in America could a movie star be President". Here in Britain, they do not pander to idiots. They don't think that they need to be nice to everyone "cause they're just different". They call them out for what they are: idiots who need to learn som basic facts before making any sort of decisions. I'm reading emails I get from Moveon.org and I'm realizing I just don't miss the awful, partisan politics bickering that happens in America. We're going to ruin the world because we can't tell the Sarin Palins to sit down and shut the hell up. End rant.

After this rant, I needed a drink. Not really, but this is a delicious drink they have here called Desperados. It's light beer and Tequila and they usually put a lime in it. It's amazing. And it's 6%, so you feel things from it.

So uh....I went to the Rock Society Social pub meet up this past Friday and met a bunch of really nice people. I met Russ (funny the name Russ always seems to indicate the guy is Conservative), and his housemate Rick. Rick is a very cool guy. He plays guitar in a band Tyrant and is an English study student. He likes heavy metal. He's just generally a very positive guy (if you say you like a band he doesn't, he always responds "oh to each his own!") and always seems to be having fun. He makes the best out of any situation, which is something I should try to emulate. We wandered around for a while on Friday with a pack of people before heading to his pad and having a small kick back. I asked if Rick was going to Between the Buried and Me the next day and he said he was! So Saturday, I got to see one of my favorite bands, and heard this crazy new band Animals as Leaders as the warm up act. Great show. Instrumental music, in my opinion, is the best music to watch if you don't the band. You can still take it in and enjoy it. Music with lyrics is hard to do that with, at least for me. After which, Rick had some friends who were at another concert down the street, so we went there and I heard this really cool band Mishkin. They remind me of Senses Fail, but a little more hardcore. Really enjoyed that. It was really loud in that club though.

Sunday, Rock Society put on their monthly "Two Smoking Barrels" party, so I went to that. I met some guy named Adrian, who is Polish, and has a bunch of the same hobbies as me. He was pretty fun to talk to. Rick DJd a set and it was pretty fun. It's a little hard to dance to metal, but he seemed to make the best of it.

Monday I had my first class: Post Colonial Literature. We're reading Things Fall Apart. I actually already finished it. What a great book. Love it for its simple language, yet very complex meaning behind all of it.

Tuesday I had the frist lecture for my Tragedy: Classical to Neo-Classical module(as they call it). Very interesting. We're reading the Greek tragedy trilogy called "Oresteia", which tells the story of the death of Agamemnon, the subsequent revenge by his son, killing is own mother, and the resulting trial that subjugates the Furies, and moves to a more democratic system of justice, rather a divine mandate. Good stuff, I must say.

I had class Wednesday, but didn't know it until Wednesday night. I refreshed my timetable that night and one just appeared. I blame not being in the course until the Thursday before. I had read Things Fall Apart too! I wanted to discuss it.

Thursday, I had my seminar for Ulysses and my Tragedy course. Seminars are when smaller groups of students get together and discuss the work with the professor, which I think is really cool. We get to bounce ideas off the guy who knows a lot about the subject. It's very effective in my mind. We also get to know the professor, which I really like too. I always miss getting to know them at UCSB, because the lectures are usually so big.

I ordered Goldfish. I can't get Cheez It, Party mix. It's $25 a small box. Hello Christmas Present.

I can't wait to get my Macbook Air. This dang Finical Aid Situation is just such a nightmare. I can't wait to get my money so that I can get rid of this old hunk of junk. If I running itunes at all, I can't do anything without there being a large lag. Lame. I'm going to take all my notes on the Air, so I can save them, and modify them easier. I think in a very sporadic pattern, so writing hinders my ability to effectively take notes. I can't squeeze in notes in between lines on paper. On a computer you can just hit enter.

The weather here had been amazing lately. I've been wearing tank tops cause I know I won't be able to soon.

I've fallen in love with Sandwichs (and food in general) while I've been here. Nothing "Mexican" is either good or spicy, but I can wait the 9 months to get real Mexican food. I bought Quesidilla(like how Napoleon's mom pronounces it) materials, so I can get a fix that way at least.

I've been skating a lot more too. It's been pretty fun.

Here's an okay picture of the City. I figured I needed something else besides this wall of text.