class and such...

I have officially had all of my classes now. The one I had today, Kingship in Early Medieval Britain and Europe, seems OK, but a bit intimidating. Actually, it's not so much that it's intimidating as, like my others, it's just different from home. The syllabus, if you can even call it that, is so vague. Rather than assigning books and giving particular readings to do, I think it is assumed that you will look at the listed topic for the upcoming lecture/seminar, and basically read every book even remotely relevant so that you will know everything on the given topic. Perhaps it's not that intense, but we'll see. We are definitely spoon-fed in this regard at UMass, so this should be an interesting experience. All of the classes here are definitely strongly based upon independent research. We don't have as many assignments (often just some form of course work, i.e. essay or project, and then a final examination) yet the complexity of it and expectations seem very high. Though it may be difficult, I hope that I will learn a lot both about the information covered in the classes as well as how to go about acquiring it.

Aside from school, it has been great meeting and getting to know new students, both British and international. Last night I went to a meeting of the Christian Union and found it to be very much like Navigators, the Christian fellowship group I am a part of at UMass. The people I talked to were all friendly and it is encouraging to know that there is a similar organization here at UEA. Tonight there is a party being held downtown for all of the international students and those who are part of the International Students Society so it will be nice to see some of the same faces again that we've saw at orientation and around campus.