Laundry, Lectures, and Lateness

For the first time in my life last week, I did my laundry. Shocking, I know. But, it was rather fun and I didn't mind that it took three hours of my life to finish it all. One load, seven washing machines, eight dryers, and four hundred people living on campus always provides for bad timing in the laundry room. It doesn't help that the dryers don't exactly dry the clothes, but rather flop them around simulating the effectiveness of the wonderment of the dryer at home--which before last week, I had only used for the wrinkle-out function. I made some new friends in the laundry room so not all was lost. I also bonded even more with my friend, Patrick, who taught me how to wash my clothes and caught me just before I threw one of my dryer sheets into the washing machine. What are friends for, right?

Besides traveling and socializing, I have been going to class for a week and a half now--believe it or not. Instead of meeting two or three times a week for an hour or two for one class (module), here in England, students meet once a week for a class for an extended period of time (about four or more hours) to listen to a lecture. On top of that, most modules have seminar times set aside for students to meet and discuss what they've read or heard in lecture. I really like the set-up here because it's much more centered on individual learning rather than homework assignments and short lessons that are to be done nightly. The discussions and readings seem to be more beneficial for thought development because there is more time to think about lectures from week to week rather than every other day.

Another difference I've discovered while here in England is that people are generally way more relaxed about meeting times. So far, none of my lectures or seminars have begun on time--one even starting a half hour late. I don't really mind because this lateness is an inconsistent constant that I can count on and possibly run an extra errand or two in the morning before lectures start. Although, I still end up being ten minutes early out of habit. This pattern shows again in the start times for dances and nightly socials. The evenings at the Venue--a club on campus--get going around half ten; whereas, at AU for instance, dances usually start at eight sharp! The night doesn't end until four or five in the morning, which is hard to get used to as well, but I'll adjust.

Peace.