Five Things
1. I am, as of the beginning of March, a university student. Oddly enough, this hasn't felt like a particularly big change in my life. I suppose I have experienced larger, and this particular change is, at least, one I was ready for.
It was at first a bit of a shock to go back to one hour - well, fifty minute - lessons after the hour-and-three-quarter ones in Germany. Lectures seemed so short - how could you possibly fit enough in? I still think that it's a bit ridiculous for some courses - I would be able to sustain interest for more than an hour in my history and theatre papers at least - easily, even. Tutorials, too, feel squashed.
Italian is an exception to this. A problem with languages is that the very basics of them - verb conjugations etc - have to be memorised, which means a lot of repeating and reworking this material from various perspectives. And I mean, I know it's neccessary and useful and all, but it's not exactly enthralling. My lecturer is a lovely woman, but tutorials and AV classes are not all that they could be. Still! At least the teachers are competent, which after last year's German class I am counting as a blessing.
I am still finding my feet on the social side of things. I'm sure it would be easier to meet and sustain conversations with new people if I was living in a hall of residence, but I'm not. Living at home is good in some ways and bad in others. The worst part is the commute. On Thursdays I spend more time on the bus than I do in class.
2. Last Saturday was my eighteenth birthday.
I also had a cold, which has gotten worse and then better again since then. So I haven't really celebrated, and to be honest I am completely out of the habit of celebrating birthdays. I haven't had a party since I was twelve.
3. Today it is raining. At times it falls heavily, at other times almost torrentially. It's one o'clock but the day is grey and green and full of water. The camellia by the front door is covered in pink blossom. I suspect they may begin to rot.
4. I have been watching youtube videos of David Tennant's Hamlet. I will be performing a short excerpt of Hamlet in my Theatre tutorial in about three weeks. I may audition for a role in a production of Hamlet in about a month. Who knows if I'll get one.
5. Diana Wynne Jones is dead. I believe she died of lung cancer. More on this later.
It was at first a bit of a shock to go back to one hour - well, fifty minute - lessons after the hour-and-three-quarter ones in Germany. Lectures seemed so short - how could you possibly fit enough in? I still think that it's a bit ridiculous for some courses - I would be able to sustain interest for more than an hour in my history and theatre papers at least - easily, even. Tutorials, too, feel squashed.
Italian is an exception to this. A problem with languages is that the very basics of them - verb conjugations etc - have to be memorised, which means a lot of repeating and reworking this material from various perspectives. And I mean, I know it's neccessary and useful and all, but it's not exactly enthralling. My lecturer is a lovely woman, but tutorials and AV classes are not all that they could be. Still! At least the teachers are competent, which after last year's German class I am counting as a blessing.
I am still finding my feet on the social side of things. I'm sure it would be easier to meet and sustain conversations with new people if I was living in a hall of residence, but I'm not. Living at home is good in some ways and bad in others. The worst part is the commute. On Thursdays I spend more time on the bus than I do in class.
2. Last Saturday was my eighteenth birthday.
I also had a cold, which has gotten worse and then better again since then. So I haven't really celebrated, and to be honest I am completely out of the habit of celebrating birthdays. I haven't had a party since I was twelve.
3. Today it is raining. At times it falls heavily, at other times almost torrentially. It's one o'clock but the day is grey and green and full of water. The camellia by the front door is covered in pink blossom. I suspect they may begin to rot.
4. I have been watching youtube videos of David Tennant's Hamlet. I will be performing a short excerpt of Hamlet in my Theatre tutorial in about three weeks. I may audition for a role in a production of Hamlet in about a month. Who knows if I'll get one.
5. Diana Wynne Jones is dead. I believe she died of lung cancer. More on this later.