Classes have officially started this week, which means I have officially begun to panic and stress. I think I hinted in my last entry that everything here at Coventry is pretty much as dysfunctional and disorganized as it can be, but I really need to give you folks at home a better idea of just how crazy the system is.
So in England, the classes are called "modules," and you must take 6 in order to be considered a full time student. Before I left to come here, I was told I would only need to take 4. So it was a little bit of a scramble to pick out two extra classes (mind you, the dean of the English department back home only gave me a list of 7 possible classes that I could take here that would count as transferrable units, so basically I just eliminated the one class out of the list that I really didn't want to take and BAM- there was my schedule). Then you're given a timetable according to what department you belong to (English for me), and this timetable contains all the class times and classroom numbers of each of your modules. Given the chance, I'd like to strangle whoever came up with the timetable idea. There is one allotted time slot for each module. That means you don't get to go online and see all the available times that the classes you need are offered. Nope- they're offered at one time, and one time only. And if that time coincides with the time of another class you need to take, well my friend.... you're screwed.
The biggest reason why this doesn't work is because there are a lot of English majors, who are all trying to take the same classes at the same time. So what the module tutors (who we normally call "professors") do is tell students to sign up for different seminar times, and then you only end up going to classes alternate weeks. My Short Story Workshop, for example, was so large that the module tutor had to break us up into four different groups: two that meet on Mondays, and two that meet on Fridays. This means that I only have to go to class on Monday every other week. And when you break that down and do the math, it means that I'm only going to be attending this class five times before I go back home. I already went to the first class, so now there's just four left. Can you imagine trying to pass a class and only showing up five times the whole semester? Thank God there's no exam, we just have to turn in two pieces of flash fiction with a commentary attached.
I don't blame the teachers for this at all, because they seem just as frustrated as the students. But then shouldn't they start complaining to the higher-ups? I mean, what maniac came up with this demented system???
I got a chance to chat with a third year student on Tuesday when I went in to my Shakespeare Today class (which technically meets on Wednesdays, but the first class was on a Tuesday.... yet another example of their stupid timetable system). Her name was Sam, and she was very kind and assured me that everyone here is confused all the time. She asked if the system back in California is any better, and I told her that it is-- it's infinitely better. Cal State Long Beach couldn't look more appealing at this point.
Am I complaining too much? I should be appreciating all the amazing things that I get to do and see while I'm here, and instead I'm complaining! Shame on me.
Alright, so let me focus on the good things, like the fact that I get to read Hamlet again this semester! Hamlet has always been my favorite Shakespeare play. Whenever I think of it, I'm transported back to 12th grade when my best friend Sarah and I started composing our own version of Hamlet, set to the awesome music of Queen. I miss those days.
Another cool thing is that I get to wake up every morning and see a beautiful Cathedral outside my window. Not many people can say they have that kind of view!
Well, I think that's it for now. I need to finish getting ready for my Contemporary Novel class at 2, and I think I might grab some lunch before I go. The food at the Hub sucks most nights, but the other little restaurants and pubs around here are great! Still miss my dad's cooking, though :(
Cheers!
P.S. If you'd like to send me a nice hand-written (or typed) letter, please do! My address is: Priory Hall J Block Room 03.50, Priory Street, Coventry, West Midlands CV1 5FB
P.P.S. If you'd rather send a little care package or something bigger than a letter, you can still use that same address.
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