And so it goes :)

Week one of classes at York St. John is finished, and I can honestly say I've got some really interesting course subjects. Two literature courses and a creative writing course will be challenging to get through (especially reading/writing!), but it'll be so worth it. My Creative Writing B course is a blend of poetry and...basically everything else (creative nonfiction, short fiction, screenwriting), so I'll be largely challenged in genres I haven't really been quite as exposed to in the past (admittedly, this is kind of my own fault...I'm kind of a poetry dork. Hah.). Challenge? Yes. Intimidating? Yes. Needed? Muchly -- my writing will grow and vastly improve as a result, and for that I'm excited. :)

My lit courses are pretty sweet, too -- and I FINALLY got them worked out in my timetable (trans. "schedule")! Nineteenth Century Writing kicked off with Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (technically pre-Victorian era, but still in an arguably Victorian style), and my Writing the Caribbean class has already changed my perspective of the Caribbean itself and of the writing which we're about to encounter. I've read a little bit of French Caribbean literature for my French classes at Hope, but then again...it was in French, so there was little hope of me reeeeally comprehending the deeper messages of the authors. Hah. :P Our tutor (trans. "professor") for the module (trans. "class") took out a bunch of travel magazines and cruise line catalogues/brochures and had us say basically what we could infer about the Caribbean just from looking at the travel paraphernalia...Jennifer and I had a whole two pages about the Caribbean in our 100+ page brochure, and all we could infer was that there were beaches (with shells) and sunsets. Oh, and scuba diving sometimes. There was literally more about the ship itself than the places where the ship was going..."in case you want to get out and see the world, but not touch it or get cooties from it or be in any way changed by it, this is the vacation for you!" It really is a culture of extremes: extremely nice weather vs. extremely hurricane-blasted weather, extreme riches vs. extreme poverty, etc. etc. And that was only the first class! :P

But don't think it's just all work and no play...I get out! I promise! In fact, Bea, Sam, Mark and I participated in a pub quiz (trivia contest between teams at a pub), to which I was able to contribute some answers! It didn't help a whole lot, seeing as how we tied for last...but hey, we tried! ;P A couple of nights later we went out to Lendal Cellars for Mark's 21st birthday (we tried the Old White Swan first, but alas...no room), which was pretty fun. :) I also got to go with Bea to the Christian Union (where I saw a couple of people I already knew and met a ton of people I didn't), and really liked it. :) After that, we went to the Student Union for a bit and caught the end of a hypnotist show...almost like Frederick Winters back at Hope (haha!), but I didn't know as many people up on stage this time. It was still entertaining, though. :) As for the rest of this weekend...who knows? I'm going to go to church at the Minster tomorrow (OH MY CRAP I'M SO EXCITED) and probably sit in a coffee shop or cafe again for the rest of the afternoon reading my life away (ah, the gregarious and outgoing life of the English major), but it's not a bad way to spend a day...in fact, that's what I did today! I got a window seat in Starbucks (yeah, yeah...I'll try to find something a little more local/less American next time, promise) and was able to look up from my muffin/hot chocolate/assigned reading every now and then to watch the world and the inhabitants of York go by. Very relaxing. :) Hopefully tomorrow will be as productive as today...I've got a fair bit of reading to do.

Oy.

(I love my major...I love my major...I love my major...)