Firstly, allow me to apologizing for being completely awful at updating my blog! I still haven't figured out where all the time has gone. Though, I suppose it's become lost in reading articles, going to lectures, and having a life. So, let me say a few words about those different areas of my life at the moment, or really, during the last month...
So, getting work done. I feel absolutely behind. There's so much to do, and so much more to do past getting things done! If I complete more core readings, there are always optional readings (I've never actually gotten to those...). And now I have to start doing extra research and readings for my final assessments! Now, don't read this as me complaining. I'm fully aware that I signed on for this and knowingly will be in debt for who knows how long to pay off my decision to go back to school. But so far it's been worth it.
A few things I've learned:
*They don't punctuate enough here.
*For a pedestrian friendly city, they're not very friendly to pedestrians. (I would say here, "Watch out for the yellow ones; they don't stop!" but their taxis aren't yellow. They just don't stop.)
*Umbrellas are useless in the spring, which currently means nothing to me because I don't own an umbrella, and it's not spring.
*I love that I can walk everywhere.
*J.K. Rowling didn't actually write Harry Potter in the current Elephant House.
*Yes in Scottish is 'Aye'.
*They use spray-on deodorant a lot more here.
*They really do deep-fry everything...more so than the South, I think.
*There aren't enough hours in a day over here either.
Okay, so there are many other things that I've learned, but those are just a few for now.
My courses and lectures, for the most part, have been really interesting. There's so much to know; it's amazing. My Stats course is not so fun. So much information given in too many words is no fun. I feel like most of the concepts can be conveyed in half the text they're giving us...and we have an exam next week, which I'm really not excited about. Much more work I must do to prepare for that. Loving my Ethics in Education course. It's really interesting discussing all the different philosophies that have influenced education and different aims that we have for why we educate people. And my Childhood Theory course has opened my eyes to a vast array of ways to see a child. I've always known that there are so many influences in a child's life; it's now interesting to see how different observations I have made have been defined by experts in the field.
I've been a bit unnerved by the assessments for my courses. Basically, for 2 of them, I'm marked on a final 4000 word essay to be handed in at the end of the semester. And my other course (stats) is assessed by my multiple choice exam next week and a final take home exam at the end of the course. Now, being that I'm am American studying in the UK system, I'm unsure as to how my writing stacks up against they're requirements. Fortunately, the professor of my Theory course gave us the option of writing a trial essay to see how we'd be marked on our work, an example for how out final essay will be marked. Well, I was working on my trial essay, trying to complete it the night before it was due (procrastination still comes naturally to me...), and the computer I was using crashed! 'Surely,' I thought,'the computer will recover my work!'
No. That didn't happen. I lost most of my essay and had to hang my head, tuck my tail, and request an extension on a non-marked, trial essay, my first assessment of any kind to my Program Director in graduate school, the night before it was due. How embarrassing! But in the long run, I completed it, did okay, and got some good feedback which will be very helpful on my final essay. The areas I thought I'd need to most work on, and really the reasons I decided to write the essay, proved true, and it was good preparation for my work as I continue my degree. Granted, my final assessments will require much more work, as I wrote this past essay in about 3.5-4 hours...
I've been busy with fun things, too! Two weekends ago, I went with several friends up to Aviemore in the Highlands to a friends cottage for the weekend. It was such fun, and absolutely beautiful. I even drove a manual car on the left side of the road and didn't hurt anyone! If you'd like to see pictures (not sure if there's one of me driving, but I'll see what I can do about documentation), go to www.picasaweb.com/stephkruse, and click on Scotland. I'll be putting more of my photos up there since I know not everyone has Facebook. Speaking of Facebook, I went with some friends to see "The Social Network" on Friday. It was pretty good; I enjoyed it. Every week, I've also been going to the Postgraduate Society. Basically, it's where postgrads can go and hang out at a pub and undergrads are not allowed. It's our own little clubhouse on Tuesday evenings.
I guess perhaps I should also mention, since it's a part of my Scottish life, that I've been seeing a Scottish man named David. So for all of you out there who said this is why I'm in Scotland, here you go. He's given me a walking tour of Edinburgh, introduced me to people who aren't in Uni, which is nice, and this past weekend, we went to see "The Importance of Being Earnest" at the Lyceum Theatre. It was really good, and we had a wine reception during intermission, or what they can interval here. He's a really nice guy, and I'm having a lot of fun learning about Scotland from him. Sorry dad...
So perhaps that sums up a little bit of what I've been up to the last month? I'll really try to be better about updating. Maybe I should come up with a designated 'blog' time. I'm sure there's other fun stuff that I've been up to, so when I think about it, I'll add it to my next update.
But for now, it's time to study some stats...
