I accidentally showed up to class an hour early today, so I guess I'll update my blog.
Yesterday, Thursday, was my free day! I don't have enough homework yet to keep myself occupied all day long as I am sure I will in the future, so I was at a loss as to what to do. Maia was going to Primark in the morning, so I woke up early to go with her and see what the big deal is all about. I'm glad that we got there when the store opened, because by the time we left it was jam packed! No more shopping on Bond Street for me! The clothes were pretty inexpensive though, and most of them didn't look like horrible quality! I got some jeans for £7, whoo. It was difficult trying to guess European / English sizes, but I think I know my shoe size, pants size, and possibly shirt size now. Haha.
In the afternoon I decided to go on an adventure somewhere. I hadn't gone to the Tower of London, etc, since I've been here, so I grabbed a Circle Line train and popped out right across the street! Here is a picture of a cool wall. I would assume it is one of the original foundations of a Roman such and such, but they were doing preservation work all around its base and there was no placard up.
In the afternoon I decided to go on an adventure somewhere. I hadn't gone to the Tower of London, etc, since I've been here, so I grabbed a Circle Line train and popped out right across the street! Here is a picture of a cool wall. I would assume it is one of the original foundations of a Roman such and such, but they were doing preservation work all around its base and there was no placard up.
WWI Memorial
The Tower of London. I was tempted to go inside but tickets were £20 or something crazy...
This is a church. There would be many more in my travels so I have since forgotten their names.
Another church.
Some tombstones I found while I was creeping about behind a church.
This might be my favorite street in London so far!
A monument to the 1666 fire
I need to find a pub like this one that appears to have charm to try out. The ones around campus typically seem more like sports bars or something.
Oh hey, it's another church!
...and another.
This one claims to be the oldest Gothic church!
I found the Imperial War Museum! They were charging a couple pounds to get into that too or else I would have tried it out.
The HMS Belfast. Note the clouds moving in. I figured I had around five minutes left and I was correct...
The Tower Bridge
Another view of the Tower of London
A little street running along just off of the Thames. A placard outside the "Engine Museum" explained that back in the day people with carts would walk back and forth from the docks using the catwalks, but now this is the only street that still has them.
After a while it was cold and rainy so I wanted to call it a day. I walked up Jamaica Street towards a tube stop that I could see on my map. It turned out to be pretty far (but not further than retracing my steps back across the river, etc), though pleasant other than the cold. I started noticing that the majority of people on the streets seemed to be of African descent, wearing cloth wrapped around their heads, long robes, etc. So perhaps Jamaica Street was named after immigrants to that particular region? I tried to decide what language they were speaking but I have no idea.
We had a big meeting about internet, party planning, etc last night. After my big rant last night, the same guy who keeps derailing my plans told me to wait one more day while he talked to ANOTHER company about getting service. Meanwhile, I investigated a bit further and it turns out that three people on the first floor got their own internet but there are not enough people to use them. So I shifted the Chinese girls who had planned on signing up with my network onto one of the first floor networks, told the guy who kept changing things that he could figure it out himself, and signed up with a person on the first floor myself. So now I will have internet in around a week, I hope. Maybe this makes me a bad person, but I didn't want 02 and the hassle that goes along with paying for lines brought in, etc, and the guy who kept fighting me does want it. So if he doesn't order it, it's not my problem. There are plenty of people still on the second floor who need internet.
We had a big meeting about internet, party planning, etc last night. After my big rant last night, the same guy who keeps derailing my plans told me to wait one more day while he talked to ANOTHER company about getting service. Meanwhile, I investigated a bit further and it turns out that three people on the first floor got their own internet but there are not enough people to use them. So I shifted the Chinese girls who had planned on signing up with my network onto one of the first floor networks, told the guy who kept changing things that he could figure it out himself, and signed up with a person on the first floor myself. So now I will have internet in around a week, I hope. Maybe this makes me a bad person, but I didn't want 02 and the hassle that goes along with paying for lines brought in, etc, and the guy who kept fighting me does want it. So if he doesn't order it, it's not my problem. There are plenty of people still on the second floor who need internet.
Also, I'm now the Events Coordinator of my residence hall, so that's pretty special, I guess. It means that I actually have to figure out what is going on for Saturday!
I've had some questions about how my courses operate in terms of the workload, grading, etc, so I will address some of them quickly. I have five classes this term, plus a sixth that is only running for the first couple weeks. My classes are all three hours long and meet once a week (with the exception of Architecture, which is six hours a week). Most of my classes don't have assessments until the very end or PAST the end of the term.
E - Publishing: Grade based on a group project
I've had some questions about how my courses operate in terms of the workload, grading, etc, so I will address some of them quickly. I have five classes this term, plus a sixth that is only running for the first couple weeks. My classes are all three hours long and meet once a week (with the exception of Architecture, which is six hours a week). Most of my classes don't have assessments until the very end or PAST the end of the term.
E - Publishing: Grade based on a group project
Architecture: ??? Don't know yet, he didn't pass out a syllabus!
Internet Tech: One essay exam, three hours, during the final week of class
Internet Tech: One essay exam, three hours, during the final week of class
Digital Resources: A solo project comparing an analog resource to its digital counterpart
Arch GIS: 4 project assignments and one essay due in January.
Our grade is based on nothing else besides these few projects / papers, so that is kind of scary. Also, the grading system here is much different than in the US. Here, a 70% or above is considered spectacular. I need a 40% in all of my classes to graduate. So I might die a little when I find my first grades, but I will just have to work harder to make sure I get above a 70%! I will have to check, but I think if the majority of my grades are above 60% and my work placement gets good reviews, then I will graduate with distinction. Hmmm.
I have had quite a bit of homework so far, but it is all self-policed. For example, my internet technologies teacher told us that for next week we need to go online, find XHTML tags, and be prepared to use them all. There is quite a bit of "required" reading for my courses as well, but once again, other than discussions and building knowledge towards a final project, the professor isn't checking to make sure we are doing them.
Arch GIS: 4 project assignments and one essay due in January.
Our grade is based on nothing else besides these few projects / papers, so that is kind of scary. Also, the grading system here is much different than in the US. Here, a 70% or above is considered spectacular. I need a 40% in all of my classes to graduate. So I might die a little when I find my first grades, but I will just have to work harder to make sure I get above a 70%! I will have to check, but I think if the majority of my grades are above 60% and my work placement gets good reviews, then I will graduate with distinction. Hmmm.
I have had quite a bit of homework so far, but it is all self-policed. For example, my internet technologies teacher told us that for next week we need to go online, find XHTML tags, and be prepared to use them all. There is quite a bit of "required" reading for my courses as well, but once again, other than discussions and building knowledge towards a final project, the professor isn't checking to make sure we are doing them.
Tonight: dodgeball club! I hope I can make it in time, but my class ends at 5:00 and dodgeball starts at 6:00 in a different part of town!
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