I started my first week of classes with fellow students at Uni of Westminster on Monday, January 14.

Here, it is normal for a lecture to last for 2 hours (sometimes with a 5-minute break) and is followed by a more-intimate seminars. Many study abroad students here seem to have at least one weekday off and I only have one class per day from Monday to Thursday.

While it may sound great to some of you post-sylly-week Penn Staters, trust me, it is not what it seems. It means I have to put in more self-directed work, I have to do the readings and note-taking outside of my lectures. For each of the 3 classes I’ve been to so far, my mark (aka. grades) will be determined by 2 essays. Yuck. I normally do better with a bazillion weekly assignments that weigh less. …..And I am a procrastinator. I shall plan ahead and start thinking about this essay which is due in February……

On the bright side, all of the professors were nice so if I have questions I can always shoot them an email 🙂

Wednesday’s class was absolutely my favorite (don’t get me wrong, I adore my women’s studies class too)!!!! It’s called “Arts and Society.” It is a London Studies class specially designed for us study abroad students which critically examines the “visual culture” of London from 60s onward. It is a great way to get to know London in less cheesy, touristy ways. The class format is a one-hour lecture followed by a 2-and-a-half-hour field trip to London’s cultural landmarks.

This week we went to the British Museum! We were sorted into small groups with TAs and museum guides to explore different corners of the building. Our guide took us to the Ancient Greek, Enlightenment Era and Dying & Living rooms.

The Ancient Greek marble sculptures were such a delight to look at. The anatomical precision is just amazing. I felt a strong cultural connection between the ancient Greeks and contemporary college-aged Americans, particularly in what they value the most: athleticism, intelligence (now in the form of diplomas), hardwork and masculinity.

The Enlightenment Era was decorated like the interior of a rich person’s old private library with its rows of wooden cabinets. This was the time when modern natural science and defiance against religion (in the Western World, at least) were born. This also marked the time when ethnocentrism was most openly expressed without much questioning.

The Living & Dying room, in contrast, gave more contextual details of its objects, explaining how the items were made, who used them, when they were used, why they were used and how they were used.
It was interesting to see how other cultures interpret and observe milestone events such as birth, marriage, illness, misfortune and death.

After the class was over at 12:30pm, we were dismissed right on the spot. I was hungry by then but ended up staying for another hour and a half looking at other exhibits. I simply couldn’t get enough of the place!!!!!
 
The Egyptian mummies and sarcophagi were eerie but cool. The fragments of ancient Mesopotamian/Persian palaces and the reconstruction of the gates with a pair of winged lamassus were breath-taking.

There was a touch-screen interactive guide panel in front of a mummy that I thought was interesting. Through the panel, I could “slice” the bones and remaining flesh on the body to see what’s inside. I could also “flip” and “rotate” the body around. The panel also informed me that the mummy is a male who was stabbed to death in his shoulder blade and that due to the arid climate, his body was naturally preserved, with fingernails, hair, some skin and clothing intact. After playing with it for a few minutes, it was taken over by a bunch of uniformed primary schoolers.  

Last night Carol, our local CIEE coordinator/director, took us to Brixton area to see the musical “Taboo.” It was candid and interactive. The musical greatly reminded me of “The Rockey Horror Show” minus the flying bread crumbs (that was awful, by the way. I will never forget.). There was lots of exploring relationships, cross-dressing and boundaries of homo- vs. heterosexuality.

And surprisingly, for the last 2 days, it’s been SNOWING in London!!!!!!
I woke up to a winter wonderland but both times I failed to take pictures that showed the snow clearly. I shall try a couple more times since the snow will persist for 3-4 more days 🙂
I have worn 2 pairs of pants (not exactly, because I have a leggings + jeans combo), 2 pairs of gloves and 2 pairs of socks on top of my regular winter get-ups but oh my!! It is still cold! I need a pair of comfy boots and a trench coat ASAP.
Lots of study abroad students around me have been sick these days, so everyone please take care and stay warm!

I will continue to upload my pictures on Facebook and then on Tumblr (non-Facebook friends, you can still get a sneak peek on Instagram!). Have a good evening :]

Location: London, UK