First Two Weeks

Finally all settled here in England! My first couple of weeks (couple meaning two, Payuh, not seven) have been busy and full of newness.
New friends, new culture, new field adventuring.

Shown to the right and below are photos of the English Channel from a spot on Plymouth Hoe that is about a fifteen minute walk from my dorm.

Let's touch on a bit of the newness in terms of culture. For example, at the current moment I'm drinking "English" coffee: cheap, instant coffee that is making the Barista in me cringe with every sip & want to explore European farmland in search of organic, fair trade coffee roast existence. Then, though, the Barista in me remembers that I'm in fact the Barista who puts espresso shots into customers' Chai Lattes, & this humbling memory of my credibility (or lack there of) as a Barista allows me to drink this instant coffee with a bit of satisfaction.

And since we are on the topic of drinks, I will briefly touch on the food & drink culture in England that I've thus far been exposed to. First of all, my staple foods (being peanut butter, macaroni & cheese, and bagels) do not or in very small doses exist here in Plymouth. Dark beer (chiefly India Pale Ale varieties), my favorite form of alcohol, is sparse here as well. Maybe this is just because I am in a Uni town & students prefer cheap forms of hard liquor and beer to more sophisticated Ales and Lagers.

Nevertheless, the brands and staple foods in grocery stores here are far more different than those of America's than I expected. The whole sustainability/organic movement doesn't seem to be as prominent in the culture here as it is in America's. Bulk foods are a rarity here, so I am struggling to minimize my waste-per-capita when broccoli, apples, sweet potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, and even avocados can only be purchased along with their thick, individual plastic packaging. So, continuing my vegetarian lifestyle will be a challenge here, but one that I have accepted and will simply have to work a bit harder to find my own England flow with.

So anyway, moving on. Plymouth. A beautiful city. The student life is far more lively than the student life in Montana. Not only because of the fact that this school has over twice as many students as U. Montana, but also because of the educational curriculum, I believe. The role of a student is based far more on independent study here than it is in America. We don't have a couple hours of homework to do each night here that we must scramble to finish in time for our 8 AM lecture the next morning, but rather we have term papers due in December and term exams in May which equally together amount to our final mark in the class. So, this relaxed style of education seems to allow the students to have more free time themselves--thus the lively student life.

For example, above was taken this past Wednesday night at a concert. Although the next day was a Thursday, most of us didn't have lectures until 2 or 4 PM. Where as on a Wednesday night in Missoula, I would probably be asleep by midnight after having completed an hour or two worth of studying for my 8 AM class the next morning.

The building where I have my
Palaentology & Sedimentology class.
I guess I go to school at Hogwarts?

St. Andrews Tower; erected in the 1400's

The Barbican, about a 10 minute walk from my dorm.