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Classes have started off well. University (as they call it) is very different here. I only have four classes. A student goes to class once a week. Classes usually consist of a lecture followed by a seminar. The lecture is just the tutor (professor) talking for an hour - hour and a half. The seminar is an hour and a half - two hours of conversation about the reading and the lecture. So basically the student listens for the first half while taking notes and participates in the second half.
I only have class on Monday and Tuesday so I have a very long weekend. However, the course work is supposed to make up for the amount of time that the student is not in class. For example: I have a three hour class on Monday I am expected to spend three hours in the library studying for that class during the rest of the week.
This system was made for me. I love being an individual...I love that I can set my own pace and hold myself accountable. There is a lot of work to be done but I think I can do it and still have time for traveling and exploring the city.
Today I woke up and watched Lost. Mom, Dad, I think I told you before that Tom and I used to watch Lost religiously. Well, I never watched anything past the second season, so now I'm catching up on the third season by watching online through a site called tv-links.com. Before I came over here Seth told me about a similar site where you can watch American shows on the internet. Since our lounges are not yet finished in NIDO, I am supplementing by watching TV online. ANYWAY, I watched two episodes of Lost while I was waking up. After that I went exploring Oxford Circus.
Oxford Circus is more like a zoo than a circus. There are people everywhere and I'm told that it doesn't matter what time or day of the week it is there are always a million people roaming the street and bouncing from gigantic store to gigantic store. I didn't buy anything, I just wanted to see what was around and what that part of the city was like. It's crazy how big the stores are and what you find in them. Everything is so expensive though when I think about converting pounds into dollars. I really can't afford to be shopping for clothes...food is about the only thing I can spend money on.
I did find a good store to shop for groceries at. It's called Marks and Spencers (M&S) . It's not close to NIDO, but it's not far from the tube stop so I could easily carry a few bags home with me every once-in-a-while. It's great because the prices are good and a lot of the food is prepared to be cooked. They also have cheap salads which is good because I need healthy food.
Anyway, tonight I'm going to start on some studying for my Tourism and Leisure class. I made a friend yesterday in my seminar. Her name is Ellie and she's from South London. We joined the same reading group together along with the only boys in our seminar. One of them looks like Leonardo DiCaprio. It's pretty funny, I'm going to have to take a picture for you guys. The boys are really interested in coming to the states. I guess I never really considered that foreigners would want to study aboard in the states because it seemed strange to me that they wanted to know about where I come from. Anyway, I like my reading group and I'm glad I have a seminar that small because now I have a chance to really get to know people from London.
My next big thing will be Windsor Castle on Saturday. The whole group from GSE is taking a train there and we'll have a tour. I think I will be able to take pictures! I'm pretty excited.
I miss you all. Hope everything is good at home.
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