Shake' rattle and roll
In a perfect world, the lack of a post for a few days would be a hint of exciting happenings abroad.
Unfortunately, i've just been lazy.
A quick update:
Huck Finn in American Lit going well- my prof is the leading UK Scholar on Native Americans, and actually met the queen last Wednesday... the guy is a genius, and has made more tongue-in-cheek comments about the US than Jon Stewart- he has amassed a huge knowledge of US pop culture (movies, tv- he actually reinacted a scene from Cheers on Wednesday)
Islam: Still boring me to tears. I won't get into it theologically here, but wtf? Are you serious? There is a creepy sense of 'off limits' discussion about Islam because of the extremist views that a few radicals have, and it's really eliminated all kind of critical discussion of what Islam really is. I hope my critical opinion doesn't overshadow or taint my upcoming paper (due in a week?)
Paidiea/International Studies: Are you serious? Our lecture on tuesday night lasted just under 3 hours... At the outset, Mark exclaimed "This lecture is going to be very long and boring" He wasn't being sarcastic. After delving into the '8 points that helped in the development of Shakespeare's works' (his thesis was much longer and more complicated.....but i'll spare you).... Otherwise, it's been a regular orgy-o-Shakespeare lately..... We've reinacted, read, and watched more Shakespeare than I've been exposed to since..... ENG260: Shakespeare, last spring....
To say anything negative about Shakespeare would require me to give up my status as an English major, so i'll just admit to being pumped to be attending two plays this weekend, in Shake's back yard (Stratford-upon-Avon).... Winter's Tale is not really a favorite of mine, but i'll manage....
I'm starting to feel the pressure of Winter Break and my two huge assingments that come beforehand.... As part of Paideia, we are required to give a 30 minute presentation to M &C about what we want to write our paper on.... I don't think it would take me longer than 10 minutes to read my future paper out loud, so we'll see what they're thinking on December 11 when I deliver my joke of a presentation....
Islam is another story, a 5ish page paper due on the 7th... I'll handle it the way i always handle Luther papers- flying by the seat of my pants, using as many big words and complex syntax as is possible without ever reaching a real conclusion.....
Hostels and flights and train rides are giving me nightmares, as is the bank account.... i can't wait to be pulling down the big bucks once i land my first teaching job in the ghetto. This day to day stuff is killing me.
Hearing Christmas at Luther on my ipod is wierd, makes me feel nostalgic, homesick a little bit, and wondering why it's not cold here. Al Gore was right. Someone needs to get on this CO2 regulation thing....
*sidenote: Anyone feeling ambitious should rent Hamlet with Ethan Hawke, Julia Stiles and Bill Murray.... interesting way to play the whole Laertes/Ophelia angle (geek), but a good watch. Saw 'Shakespeare in Love' for the first time, definitley worth the 7 Oscars it won....
A Revelation of Sorts
Today I accepted my destiny. I am ok with my major, i am ok with my position in life, and i am feeling good after a coma-like nap and a 'jacket potato bar' and blizzard night for dinner....
Somewhere around the 95th or 100th minute of lecture today in Geology i realized something. First of all, our professor was moving entirely too fast on a subject that has no bearing on my life or anyone else's life for that matter, and i achieved a sense of occupational nirvana:
I hate geology. I hate science. I hate math. I hate business. Why is it that our country/culture/world is preoccupied with gaining occupations driven by consumerism and production, when in the end, it's the so-called 'useless majors' that lead to real self-actualization. While the answer to the question is obvious, MONEY, our lecture on river beds today gave me a perspective that i've never had before.
How could devoting your life to studying the bedding and strata and superpositioning of rocks in a riverbed possibly help you achieve a better understanding of self. The sciences are, in effect, the gorging of knowledge- essentially, science and math majors are hell bent on finding out things that, at the bachelor's and most college levels, people already know and have known for decades, if not hundreds of years....
My English major- along with philosophy, and others- while called 'useless'- serves no purpose but to help me Bullshit at a higher level. But isn't that what self-realization is? I can't imagine a physicist going home and gushing over some new proof that he's been working on to his wife- "Honey, i've discovered the reason for my existance....etc", whereas at least in literature you can get an emotional jolt or jog a few distant memories.
Of course i'm being over the top (hyperbole again), but what is my purpose if not to figure out more about myself? Selfish? Maybe, but not as selfish or harmful as ignoring your own well being to become an accountant. (Seriously, does anyone really like math? This is a serious question that has been bugging me.....)
It's hard to really describe or acurately express exactly what i'm thinking- in many parts due to the fact that most of this rant stemmed from a hate of THE DEPOSITIONAL PATTERNS OF RIVERS DURING THE CENOZOIC ERA....
I guess i figure there should be more to life than hating your job or working towards the end goal of getting through the day without killing yourself. Why is it that people in society can't understand the redeeming value of literature, art, and music if it's the one thing that can separate them from their mindless, robotic, number-crunching, mechanical existance?
Maybe i just like to BS, but it seems like there has to be more to life than repetition and finite known truths.... Literature is creative, interpreted, personal- Even if this professor knew everything that there was to know about Geology- EVERYTHING- what would happen then? Would she quit her job and become a librarian? Maybe that's an interesting way to put it..... if science majors working towards a goal of complete knowledge suddenly found everything out about the universe, what would they do? Sit back, relax, maybe crack open a book.....
Long Lost Friend
It's been too long. In more than one sense of the phrase. I feel like i haven't even attempted a post in about 5 days, so i'll dig in- hopefully with as much enthusiasm and vigor is as usually spent on an entry, along with some decent pics to match.
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving Day in the UK is like Boxing Day in the States. Who needs it? After punching down my aforementioned rolls (see previous post), Brandon, John and I made our way to the University so Brandon could turn in his paper. Sometimes I forget how A) big and B) cool our campus can be. John attends an international school with just 300+ students, wheras UNott is a very British school of about 35,000 students and 2,000 internationals.... The differences were obvious. A trip to City Centre brought out the sucker for Christmas in all of us, as the Old Market Square has been transformed into a Christmassy Mecca- the streets are lined with lights, there are little log cabinny huts filled with cheap candy and knick knacks, and the Chav-looking dirty Brits are out in full force, using the terrible British inflation to their full disadvantage. Needless to say, I bought some christmas presents.
Dinner was amazing. Appetizers, wine, more candles than you can shake a Fire Code violation at, and a nice collection of guests. Mary's parents were in town for the celebration, and it was cool to get yet another take on Notts... It's funny how much you take for granted or adapt to in just two months...
The turkey was good, the potatos (i always forget how to spell that, thanks Quayle)...were good as well. As always, my buns/rolls were good, although a little doughy? Eh, tastewise just fine...
Dishes done at 10pm (thanks to a late start time.... so strange to eat Thanksgiving at 6....), we decided a night in was probably the best idea. After another rousing viewing of Green Street Hooligans (aptly named just Green Street in the UK), we decided that getting rest might be a good idea if we were going to make the most of the weekend.
BLACK FRIDAY
While millions of American college students revelled in a day without class, The 6 Islamic Tradition students in the group (7 including a very studious John) went to class to once again sit through a painfully boring yet musical (this guy's inflection is hilarious... it's like a roller coaster of vowels and faded consonants) lecture....
Walking to class with John and Brandon really helped me gain perspective on the year. Having an outsider like John come in and make a few observations is invaluable- sometimes you're so far deep into something that you can't see it for what it really is.... With all of the quasai-drama, either said or left unsaid, in the flat lately, sometimes it can be laborious just thinking about it. John has a unique perspective of being someone who was close to coming on the trip, so he has the ability to fit into the group, as well as the knowledge of a study abroad student on his own, but can also take a somewhat objective stance on things... All in all, i'm so glad that he could come over, and i only wish that we had planned well enough to be able to visit him...
A dinner of leftovers (enough for 10 people about 3 times over thus far....) set the mood for a night out in Notts. Pitcher and Piano was our first stop (the club that invaded an old church, stain glass still intact), followed by V-Revolution, and after criss-crossing the city centre for a good half hour, Dogma for some Roscoe's style dancing. We had a great time- as some of the pictures reflect, but it wouldnt' be a trip to England without some oppressive rain.
Pitcher and Piano
Call me old fashioned, but i kindof found this offensive:
Another late night drew to a close (about 4 this time, nothing serious...) and we were pumped for a chance to see the Forest take on Millwall in what looked to be a huge blowout (Notts are No. 1 in the league right now, with Millwall sitting about 5 from the bottom...)
There seems to be something wrong with our group. No matter how early we pretend we're going to be at the game, or no matter how early we leave, we can never seem to be in our seats before game time. While this time we arrived more than an hour ahead of time, Hooters just seemed like a good idea....
20 minutes of sitting around. a Guiness. Our order. Food arrives. Rumors of the game being cancelled due to a 'waterlogged pitch'. Our bill. And now we're 10 minutes to game time with a 15 min walk just to get tickets. Maybe we've adapted to the European ease of living a little too well.
While waiting in line, boos from the stadium and a quick look at the sports ticker showed that Millwall had taken an early lead, 1-0, and we were still a block from our seats. In the end, the game's action more than made up for our early absence. John enjoyed a Pukka Pie, while Brandon, our resident cheese lover (more later) described his distaste for Cheese on burgers. It doesn't compute. A plate of cheese for a snack, but no cheese on a healthy slab of beef? Long story short, the Forest won on some amazing goals - some as close as 5 minutes apart- to demoralize Millwall and make for a happy walk back.
As with all matches involving Millwall, there was a police escort for their entire fanbase as they walked back to their train. A ratio of about 2 to 1 would be a lean estimate. The blues and twos were everywhere (slang for police lights/vehicles).
John got his jersey, some of the girls picked up scarves, and Ricky (Mary's Dad) got a kickin fleece hat that attracted the attention of some avid Forest fans when they went out to eat that night...
The cold was exhausting, so after falling asleep and watching Notting Hill (yeah, i've been there, not a big deal), we took John to The Lion Inn, our local pub, for some REAL CASK ALES and some authentic Irish Folk Music. The atmosphere is great- and, although i keep saying it, really reminds me of a bar you'd see on the campus of Harvard or something... painted red, some visable bricks, exposed beams, white christmas lights that decorate browned ivy of some kind- very atmospheric...
Mary's parents arrived looking for some authentic brews, and were more than happy with my second round of suggestion (The Charlie's Angel was a little too light, apparently..... don't get me started, Brandon)... We stuck around after the band finished and closed up shop, all the while Aaron finally revealed his underlying hate for Brandon that had blossomed almost a year previous.... Here goes:
Apparently, Brandon had been standing in front of Aaron at the pasta bar line in the caf last year, and unknowingly (or knowingly, i'm not sure if we'll ever find out) took the last of the parmesean cheese- cheese that Aaron had wanted, and had thus been unable to put on his pasta. Haha. So Aaron went back to his room and bitched about Brandon to his roommate (Ryan, another Notter). Brandon's love of cheese had been a point of conversation when the rest of the group (all but Me, Kate, Hil, and Brandon) had met up at the Minneapolis airport for their flight, and upon arriving at the flat, the group who had heard the story couldn't help but laugh as Brandon took heaping piles of cheese at our first get together with Mark and Carol when appetizers of cheese were served.....
It makes you wonder what kind of stories or negative feelings that people are harboring for you while you sit around completely unaware, piling on the proverbial cheese.
Once home, we invited the girls to join us in our now bi-monthly tradition of climbing on the roof and smoking cigars- this time John joined as a special guest as well... For some reason- maybe i'm more accustomed to the awkwardness of the window- i was able to slip in and out unharmed.... the following pictures pretty much define the experience...
SUNDAYWell, a bittersweet morning it was this morning, as John headed home for Switzerland and out of my life once again until June-ish.... It's so funny how things can be severed for months at a time but pick right back up in the same place. But maybe that's the definition of good frienship- the ability to pick up where things left off, oblivious to long periods of time. Hopefully this weekend acted as a sort of re-conditioning, a reaquaintance, a tune-up to get me through until sr year.
It was so strange to have a slice of Sophomore year at Luther back. So many feelings of not quite homesickness, but a recollection of the past- it makes you wonder sometimes why you put yourself though things just to make you tougher. Life would obviously be easier had I stayed at Luther, life would be a steady continuation. But I feel like, in the end, this will be worth it- and in many ways, it has already proved itself to be worth it. It was great to talk with someone who is going through many of the same feelings, and can relate in ways that someone still in the states or someone already home can't imagine. I'm glad that my group of friends at Luther- at least a majority- are studying abroad and can help me deal with some of these feelings when I get back. Zach and John will have the benefit of joining up at the same time this January, but again, I can't see this time away from Luther as having anything but a positive outcome.
Whew. Who knew that one visit could have such a revitalizing yet retrospective impact.
Time to forge ahead.
Christmas plans are still unmade, I cracked off a paper today that I'm proud of, but lecture notes and more papers loom in the distance. I have some kind of meeting with M and C later this week about our huge huge final paper due in Feburary, not to mention my huge islam paper due in a week or two. For as much sitting around as we do here, there seems to be a constant stream of random stuff to fill our time with....
One awesome weekend down, 3/4 of a year to go (ish- i guess Christmas is about 2/3?)
