Term 2, away we go.

I really did mean to write an update sooner, but this term has already started to get heavy. For my readers who are humanities majors thinking about studying in England, I hope you like to read, actually, scratch, I hope you LOVE to read, because you will be doing plenty of that here. You better be good at it too, because the way the 'modules' are constructed here, you can't hide from anyone. As before mentioned awhile back, the classes here are split into three sections, lectures (what American students traditionally expect), seminars (talking labs essentially, where there is a smaller group of about 8 talking about the work being done in and out of the classroom), and practicals (more conventional lab type classes, normally lasting about 4 hours). Philosophy courses normally follow a one lecture and one seminar per week. Multiply that by three, and add in research methods practical and advanced Cognitive Psychology, and you have the formula for homework overload. I'm not being a whimp either. Reading 100-150 pages of David Hume out-loud each week so that you can understand it, is time consuming.

OK, so maybe I don't have it as bad as hard science majors...

In other business, the snow has long since melted, and we are now sharing a season with Maine. Mud. Haven't seen the sun in weeks now it seems, and the ground just seems to be getting soggier. Spring is definitely in the air though, and all of the clubs and societies are getting ready for it. Personally, I am looking forward to the cycling club's reawakening. Can't wait to get back on the bike.
Travel wise, I've booked tickets for me and Amy to travel to Dublin in the last week of March for our birthdays. If you are looking for some cheap airfare, Ryan Air is the way to go. You may have to sit on the floor (kidding), but you get there for under £10. No, that is not a typo. Hotels are also a fair bit cheaper than you might expect, but make sure you do your homework as far as places to go. Tourist traps abide everywhere in European cites and you will fall prey to them if you aren't on a plan. After Dublin, we are going to be off again, this time, to Stonehenge. I've been before a while ago, but Amy has never been and despite the fact that it is one of the most visited destinations by tourists, it is for a reason. It's just cool. Finally, at least for the moment, we'll be off to Manchester for a bit of wandering with a good friend that we met here (who will actually be traveling to UMaine for a direct exchange next semester!).

Another reminder about financial aid, make sure you are following it up when you get here. We are dwindling on the last of the funds from the fall and it's going to be tight for a few days before we get a new infusion of cash. Trust me, it's no fun denying a night out after a long day in the classroom.

Right, that's about it for this post. I'll make sure to write another sooner than this one. Cheers!

Holiday? What's that?

Right, back to the mines we go. Arrived back in Lancaster last night after a month on tour of the world and what was supposed to be some much needed down time. Funny, I thought down time was supposed to be relaxing... Here's my report.

Left for Maine after pulling an all nighter in town with a visiting friend from UMaine. I don't recommend it for anyone else. It always seems like a good idea, but trust me, you want that sleep before you get on a transatlantic flight. No matter how tired you are, you are not going to get the sleep that you need on that plane, especially on U.S. Airways.

We had a lovely welcome back from everyone on the home front, big shout out to Evan Miliano for picking us up, and the sweet 'welcome back' sign that he made for us while in the airport! I could say plenty about out time in the Pine Tree state, but one thing I can't say about it was that we got recovery time. 10 days home and plenty of friends and family does not equal time to self. Overall though, it was great to see everyone and have a nice, close Christmas back. Even if my brother made the turkey gravy explode...

Moving on now back across the ocean to the Channel Islands. For those of you who don't know where/what they are, here's some basic info:

1. They are kind of owned by the the English, but not really. They have their own currency, government, and laws. Kind of like what Puerto Rico is to the USA.

2. They are closer to France than they are to England. About 50 miles closer actually.

3. I lived on the smallest one, Sark, for 6 years. It has no cars, no street lights, only 650 yearly residents, and you'll be torturing yourself to try and find it on a map. As you will see in the pictures though, it's one of the most uniquely beautiful places in the world and I encourage everyone I meet to visit it.

It had been two and-a-half years since the last time I had the privilege to set foot on those islands, so it was truly a nostalgic experience for me. I was graced with immeasurable luck while I was there in that so many of my friends and acquaintances where on the islands and I had the opportunity to see most of them. Lots of fun, reminiscence, and new lifelong memories were made over the New Year period. Thanks to my lovely girlfriend, Amy, we both made the journey to where I used to live in Sark, where we were able to stay for a night as well as have a whirlwind tour of the island.

Unfortunately though, as it always seems, you never have enough time to be where you want to, so it was with a tear in my eye that had to pack up and leave there so soon with so much more left to do. We've picked it as our destination to live when we leave Lancaster in July before we have to head back to the states though, so that eased the sad feelings.

What kind of traveling would this have been though without some drama from the airports though? Thanks to the ass clown who tried to light his underwear on fire on Christmas, airports all over the world were experiencing delays and compounded with the heaviest snow that England has seen in almost 30 years, it was hell on earth sometimes to say the least. What matters though is that we made it back to Lancashire safely, albeit severely exhausted, ravenous, and mostly broke (make sure you keep up with financial aid kids).

Anyway, it's back to work now. I have a full load of philosophy courses this term and I have already been assigned reading (classes don't start until next week!). Updates will continue as usual as soon as the workload is such that I need a break...

Happy New Year everyone!