As I mentioned in my previous post, I have a couple of trips in mind that I would like to take while I’m here.  The most immediate is to London (tomorrow) and then Dublin the weekend after.  Actually, this is going to sound kind of crazy, but the next four weekends are booked (or planned anyway, not booked just yet…).  The plan is: London, Dublin, Paris (longer trip – that is my Reading Week, more on that later), and Scotland.  Dublin will be for a couple of days, Paris for four days, and Scotland for two days and one night.  The Scotland trip, for those of you who have checked my dates on your calendar, will be Halloween weekend! 

Apparently Halloween is a bit different here, not as big I guess.  This is a shame as a) I LOVE Halloween, and b) the lack of excitement means no Reese’s and no candy corn, two things I also love.  Much to my dismay, the British have not discovered the miracle that is chocolate and peanut butter.  What could be a more natural and perfect combination, I ask you?  As such, I am having my mother post me some Reese’s (I’m not cheating!  This is pretty much life or death).  Originally, we were going to go to London for Halloween, but one of the other internationals thought that Scotland would be much more exciting – I believe we are going on a tour of a haunted castle (scary!).  All of this trip planning is making me very excited.  I think I will wait to tell you all about the other trips I have planned; I wouldn’t want you to get too overwhelmed (or jealous).  I have plans to see ‘Chicago’ with two of my friends who will be in London the same weekend, and I would like to get some shopping in at Camden Markets on Saturday.  Very excited about both of these!  I would also like to do some of the touristy things, like visit the landmarks and such.  We are so close to London though that I would like to devote and entire trip to this.  More to come about that trip later. 

I suppose I should move onto my courses now.  Reading Week, as I mentioned earlier, is one week during the term when the sit-in class is not held.  Basically, you just don’t have that class during that week.  Generally, all of the reading weeks for each of your courses should line up (if they are in the same department), and the result is a week of no class.  The intention is to students to get a head start on work, essays, projects, and the reading for the rest of the semester.  In reality, many students just use it as a vacation, which is partly what I am doing.  But I am dedicating TWO whole days of my reading week to studying…

Outside of reading week, I believe I finally have my course schedule figured out!  I have class Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday – so a break during the week is nice (and unusual – Penn State should adopt this system).  I am rather excited about my courses.  The teaching style is a bit different, as is the assessment of grades, but it will be an interesting experience.  Outside of class, I have been enjoying time spent in Canterbury and around campus.  I did have a bit of culture shock last weekend though – I met one of my international friends for coffee in the city centre at a Starbucks (yes yes, I need to branch out) on Saturday, and we literally got kicked out of the store at 7:30.  With the exception of the pubs and McDonalds, everything downtown was closed.  I was so shocked!  Isn’t it against Starbucks law to close before 10 PM?  Apparently not.  Needless to say, I do not plan on spending long weekend evenings in any coffee shops downtown. 

Other than this, nothing terribly interesting has happened since my last post.  I attended a Vineyard Church service, which was similar to the ones at Purdue in some ways, though the services at Purdue were much, ah, tamer than the evening service here.  Needless to say, I will not be attending the evening service again – I think I will opt for the morning service, or check out the local Methodist Church.  Overall, I think I’m adjusting well to life here (possibly because it is like a mini-Penn State), which means that I am growing to like it more and more daily.  There are more similarities than I realized (like how I handle schoolwork, cooking, student events, difficult roommates…). I can already tell that I am going to have trouble adjusting in the reverse – I won’t know what to do with myself once I get back to the States!

Generally, I do not feel like I’m missing out on a whole lot while being here.  Of course there is Penn State football – but there is always Penn State football.   If the Yankees make it to the World Series again, I may have to retract that initial statement, but for now it stands.  As for the Colts, well, they are just looking OK, and the Superbowl will happen after I return home.  I did have a moment of excitement in the gym earlier this week – one of the students lifting weights was wearing Colts shorts.  In my excitement, I approached and asked if he was from the States.  The answer: no, but he loves American football and plays on the team here (yes, they have a team!).  He loves the Colts as well because “Peyton Manning is a GOD,” after all (his words). 

With any luck, the weather will continue to remain nice for the weekend [disclaimer: ‘nice’ here means not cloudy, it does not mean not rainy.  It never stops raining, even when the sun is shining], and some quality shopping/touring/show-watching will happen!

Location: Canterbury, UK