And, Finally, Some Time

     It's been over a month now, and I am truly sorry I have not been able to keep up with this Blog! Since I last wrote, I am now over half-way into my Fall semester at Keele University, and it is blowing my mind. But, can I say, it continues to be a real joy being here, and boy am I glad I got to come! England, once again, is absolutely amazing, and the people here are as much so. Where do I even begin? So much has happened in the past month. I guess maybe I should sit back and look at where I left you and start from there.

School here is very different than back in the States. You only have one lecture a week, with a seminar time that corresponds to it. The lecture, for the most part, is just like what you would see or experience in most any University in the United States, but the Seminar would be more like what you would find in an upper division class, with discussions and presentations being the sole focus. Thus meaning, there is a lot you're required to read or do. However, it really isn't that bad. I'm only taking four classes this semester-- Historical Research and Writing (Boring... but I have to take it for UTSA. Why not take it in England?), US History in the 20th Century (I always get asked why I chose to take US history in England... And I guess it is kind of like Hermione taking Muggle Studies... but I just wanted to see a new perspective on the United States, and so far it is pretty interesting. Especially seeing WHY all of the English nationals in the class want to take US History as well.), Russian Social and Cultural History (I think this is my second-favourite class. We read lots of Russian social literature and watch movies on Russia, such like October and Burnt by the Sun. Very interesting! Very exciting.), and lastly, Russian Language... which is the class I ALWAYS look forward to. Next semester I will hopefully be taking Politics and Cinema, a class on the Holocaust, the American West, and lastly, Russian II. We will see how it all goes.

A few weeks ago, the international students all took a coach down to Stonehenge and the Cotswolds (a Gorgeous little village with cute places to shop. For those of you from New Braunfels, think vaguely Gruene... but prettier.) It was a lot of driving for just a little time at each place (8 hours of driving > 3 hours of combined Stonehenge and Cotswolds.) We thought an hour was going to be too long at Stonehenge, but we found out that we were having too much fun trying to take (failed) pictures of us jumping in front of the rocks that we were late to the bus! Here are a few pictures from the trip:

 At the coaches getting ready to go into Stonehenge!

 Stonehenge in all of her glory.

 Downtown village center of the Cotswolds. Isn't it gorgeous?

Since then, we have also had a Medics Pajama pub crawl-- lots of fun! Basically, we all wore our pajamas and crawled around Downtown Newcastle. Though it was for Medics, you didn't have to be a medic to do it. However, I think I was only one of three non-medics who went with our group. The building I live in here at Keele is FULL of med students, which I guess is probably a good thing. The great thing about Keele University is that there is ALWAYS something to do! The Union is always open, as well as Sneyd Arms and other various bars around campus. If that does not suit your fancy, you can always go out to things like a Ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) which is basically a barn dance, or to the Cinema. Our group tends to go to the cinema every Tuesday on cheap day, where the tickets are only £3.95. It's not an action-packed night out, but it is relaxing and fun! And you get to see a new movie in a not-so-crowded theatre.

Last weekend, we had the Monster Ball. A big, Halloween Fancy-dress party. It was pretty fun! Not as fun as the first Icebreaker, but still good. Aside from the unnerving aspect of watching a kid lose control of his muscles after drinking a spiked drink. Needless to say, I didn't buy a single drink after that. Here are some photos:

Everyone wanted to party with the Banana! I lost my B2 along the way, but I still had a lot of fun at the Monster Ball!

Tomorrow is Guy Fawkes night. Can you say... BONFIRE?? Or something. I'm not quite sure what we are doing yet, but we will figure it out.

As for now, there's not all of that much really going on, aside from school. I have a paper due next week on the influence the Atomic bomb held in Cold War American politics and culture. Woohoo! Better get on that... And, of course, Winter Fest is coming up! Managed to actually get a ticket for that. It's ridiculous how quick those sold out! It will be fun, though. And I look forward to it!

I hope to maybe try and get back to doing this blog once every TWO weeks, because we know once a week isn't going to happen. But we'll see how it goes. Regardless, I will keep writing! Just bear with me on time.

Miss the States! Until next time, guys.

P.S. I had an interview posted on UTSA's Education Abroad Services' website on my BUTEX scholarship win. Check it out!