A bit of a rambly one.
Hello my lovies! It has been a few days so I realized I had better do a post!
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to share with you today. I haven't been carrying my camera with me, and the USB connector cable that came with my phone has decided to malfunction, and it won't even let me email pix to myself. Very lame.
Things are going well. My mom just left the other day and she should be safely in the States by now I think. My schoolbooks finally arrived so I've shut myself in for the day to just kind of regroup and study and save some money by not going out again. Although, as you can tell, I'm not actually doing homework right now. I've gotten through a whopping 37 pages of the introduction to Oliver Twist, and to be on schedule for what they're asking, I've got to get through at least 250 pages tonight. Le sigh.
And yes, that's right, I'm reading Oliver Twist again. Hopefully this time I'll actually get through it. Sadly for me I was unable to get into any drama classes. The registration system here is very different (you have to go to the department at a designated time and register in person) and things were getting a bit complicated so I figured I would just do English. In the British system, you really only take classes in one subject anyway.
So I am taking a third-year level course (which is equivalent to the first year of grad school work in America, apparently) on Charles Dickens. I'm a little anxious about it, because it will be quite a lot of reading, and I'm not sure what they expect me to already know, but I'm sure it helps a bit that I've already taken Qualls' 19th C. British Fiction at home. Appart from Oliver Twist though, it's all stuff I haven't done before, so that's good. We'll also be working on Dombey & Son, Bleak House, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, and Our Mutual Friend. I have one 2,000 word paper due in the middle of the term, and one 4,000 word paper due at the end of the term. And then I'll be done in mid-May way before the other students. Because in English you only do essays, they don't have to work you into the exam schedule, so we're pretty much done the earliest.
My other class (that's right, there are only two) is called Contemporary Writing and is a first-year course (which is about equivalent to like a 200 or 300 level course at home). Hopefully the English department at Rutgers will be exceedingly gracious and let it count for my 20th Century requirement, as it should, but they don't tend to like making exceptions like that so I'll just be lucky if all my work over here will at least count towards elective credits. For that class we're doing a bunch of shorter things including lots of plays, and we're starting with some Tom Stoppard things. I had to order all my books from Amazon.co.uk which was quite pricey, but they don't have a school bookshop here so I really had no other option.
Anyway, because it's so focused on independent study here, I'm only in class for five hours a week! I have one lecture for the Contemporary Writing course which is led by a different professor each week. It's an hour on Mondays. And then I have a two-hour seminar for each class. Not too shabby. Also, whereas everyone else has started classes this week, I get an entire reading week (precisely so I can read three Dickens' novels before seminars begin). Eep! Wish me luck.
And then... well I don't know. I suppose I might try to come home a bit early and get going on an internship this summer. I still really want to do that Acting program at the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey, but I don't know if i can afford it, or make such a big time commitment. I also really need to take Basic Acting if I ever want to finish my Theater major. And with all this stuff to do, it's looking to me like it's highly unlikely I will graduate on time unless I drop one of my majors. And I'm just as indecisive as ever - I love both of them! But now I'm not sure what to do about my Cap&Skull application. Ugh, so much to worry about. And still so much unfinished business left over from back home (like financial aid applications, CAP reimbursements, and of course my Shakespeare project!)
So I am taking a third-year level course (which is equivalent to the first year of grad school work in America, apparently) on Charles Dickens. I'm a little anxious about it, because it will be quite a lot of reading, and I'm not sure what they expect me to already know, but I'm sure it helps a bit that I've already taken Qualls' 19th C. British Fiction at home. Appart from Oliver Twist though, it's all stuff I haven't done before, so that's good. We'll also be working on Dombey & Son, Bleak House, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, and Our Mutual Friend. I have one 2,000 word paper due in the middle of the term, and one 4,000 word paper due at the end of the term. And then I'll be done in mid-May way before the other students. Because in English you only do essays, they don't have to work you into the exam schedule, so we're pretty much done the earliest.
My other class (that's right, there are only two) is called Contemporary Writing and is a first-year course (which is about equivalent to like a 200 or 300 level course at home). Hopefully the English department at Rutgers will be exceedingly gracious and let it count for my 20th Century requirement, as it should, but they don't tend to like making exceptions like that so I'll just be lucky if all my work over here will at least count towards elective credits. For that class we're doing a bunch of shorter things including lots of plays, and we're starting with some Tom Stoppard things. I had to order all my books from Amazon.co.uk which was quite pricey, but they don't have a school bookshop here so I really had no other option.
Anyway, because it's so focused on independent study here, I'm only in class for five hours a week! I have one lecture for the Contemporary Writing course which is led by a different professor each week. It's an hour on Mondays. And then I have a two-hour seminar for each class. Not too shabby. Also, whereas everyone else has started classes this week, I get an entire reading week (precisely so I can read three Dickens' novels before seminars begin). Eep! Wish me luck.
And then... well I don't know. I suppose I might try to come home a bit early and get going on an internship this summer. I still really want to do that Acting program at the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey, but I don't know if i can afford it, or make such a big time commitment. I also really need to take Basic Acting if I ever want to finish my Theater major. And with all this stuff to do, it's looking to me like it's highly unlikely I will graduate on time unless I drop one of my majors. And I'm just as indecisive as ever - I love both of them! But now I'm not sure what to do about my Cap&Skull application. Ugh, so much to worry about. And still so much unfinished business left over from back home (like financial aid applications, CAP reimbursements, and of course my Shakespeare project!)
Oh, I almost forgot, I have a song for this entry! I've been thinking about this one a lot, because even though I'm not in London, it pretty much is applicable to all the weather here. He wrote this song for his girlfriend who is from Brazil and was getting all depressed about the weather here. Give it a listen.
Which reminds me, not that I'm over here, I can start stalking all my favorite celebs! Like Jamie Cullum, Jamie Bell, Alan Cumming, Eddie Izzard, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet... I should stop. :-[
So I'm doing what I can to get involved in the theater scene over here, and as most of you know, I think I've found my niche. I'm looking into joining the Pantomime Society because they look entirely ridiculous and basically just like CAP but British. ;-) I think I'll fit in best there. Although they have several groups here, and I was laughing to myself by thinking how me trying to figure out what they all do is kind of like Americans trying to conceive something other than a 2-party system! I mean, there's DramSoc, which I've decided is like Cabaret, because they're the most traditional. Then there's PantoSoc, which I've already said is like CAP. And of course Music Theatre Bristol is LTC. But then there's Spotlights. And they... kind of do everything too? And I can't wrap my head around having a fourth theater company that isn't pigeonholed into a genre! Not only that but they all work together here on many projects. They also have a Stage Technician's Association who crew all the performances of every group - so not only do they look professional and not have to worry about giving up acting to run lights or whatever, but I think that helps unify things a bit, too.
So anyway, tomorrow night I'm going to a meeting for ImprovSoc which was part of PantoSoc for a while but has since become its own thing. They are, however, made up of many of the same people. I'm really terrible at Improv, but I enjoy it and would like to get better at it, and they look like great people, so I'm gonna go check it out. Then on Sunday they have a sketch comedy workshop which I'm really interested in. Hopefully I can bring back some priceless British knowledge for the benefit of CAP. And finally, I'm auditioning for their Easter Pantomime on Monday and I'm totally nervous! Ugh I'm so shy all the time. So wish me luck on Monday, which, coincidentally, is also my first day of classes. Awesome-tastic.
In other exciting news, I finally caught all the way up with Questionable Content, it seems I was born in the "Virtual Reality" phase of the moon, and I finally have somewhat mastered Skype so download it now so we can chat for free.
Much love to all!
Which reminds me, not that I'm over here, I can start stalking all my favorite celebs! Like Jamie Cullum, Jamie Bell, Alan Cumming, Eddie Izzard, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet... I should stop. :-[
So I'm doing what I can to get involved in the theater scene over here, and as most of you know, I think I've found my niche. I'm looking into joining the Pantomime Society because they look entirely ridiculous and basically just like CAP but British. ;-) I think I'll fit in best there. Although they have several groups here, and I was laughing to myself by thinking how me trying to figure out what they all do is kind of like Americans trying to conceive something other than a 2-party system! I mean, there's DramSoc, which I've decided is like Cabaret, because they're the most traditional. Then there's PantoSoc, which I've already said is like CAP. And of course Music Theatre Bristol is LTC. But then there's Spotlights. And they... kind of do everything too? And I can't wrap my head around having a fourth theater company that isn't pigeonholed into a genre! Not only that but they all work together here on many projects. They also have a Stage Technician's Association who crew all the performances of every group - so not only do they look professional and not have to worry about giving up acting to run lights or whatever, but I think that helps unify things a bit, too.
So anyway, tomorrow night I'm going to a meeting for ImprovSoc which was part of PantoSoc for a while but has since become its own thing. They are, however, made up of many of the same people. I'm really terrible at Improv, but I enjoy it and would like to get better at it, and they look like great people, so I'm gonna go check it out. Then on Sunday they have a sketch comedy workshop which I'm really interested in. Hopefully I can bring back some priceless British knowledge for the benefit of CAP. And finally, I'm auditioning for their Easter Pantomime on Monday and I'm totally nervous! Ugh I'm so shy all the time. So wish me luck on Monday, which, coincidentally, is also my first day of classes. Awesome-tastic.
In other exciting news, I finally caught all the way up with Questionable Content, it seems I was born in the "Virtual Reality" phase of the moon, and I finally have somewhat mastered Skype so download it now so we can chat for free.
Much love to all!
