It's a wonderful surprise to see your shoes and your spirits rise

First week of term 2 over! I think it will be alright. A bit overwhelming because this term is shorter than last. Our two-week placement was technically the first two weeks of term, so we have only 8 weeks of class, whereas last term there were 10 weeks plus one week of orientation. Also, we only have three weeks of class before "Reading Week" which is a nice custom of having a week's break in the middle of term to catch up (or go on vacation), a custom Americans should definitely embrace.

I only have three classes this term. Information Sources and Retrieval, a class which teaches me what sources are available for reference (or "enquiry" as they say here) work. Management, which is very dull and taught by the same incompetent woman who taught my Collection Development course. It is co-taught, however, by the woman who used to teach both of those classes, and I can safely say after one week with her that I might actually learn something. I'm just depressed that we've missed out on her being our full-time teacher. We're definitely lacking. Thirdly, is Manuscript Studies. This is taught at the Senate House library and I think will be very interesting. Already we've learned all about how parchment is made, how it differs from vellum, how papyrus is made, how we came to use the codex (book form) over the scroll, what ink is made of, and what chancery stitching is. I'm looking forward to learning about palaeography (learning to read old handwriting), especially so I can come back to the Newberry and abuse valuable scroll maps (inside joke).

Of course, we also had the talk this week about our upcoming exams, case study and dissertation. We have to have topics turned in for both the case study and dissertation before the end of this term, on top of all our other coursework. Thinking about this is all very overwhelming, and I'm trying not to think too hard about it. I just think I'm going to be a lot busier this term, and have a lot less time to do my favorite thing ever, which is sitting around and doing nothing.

The apartment is going wonderfully. It feels so nice to take a proper shower. I also can cook myself a proper meal, which is fantastic. I can make meals without wading through hallmates and trying to ignore them staring at me like I'm a lunatic because I'm making pasta and topping it with tomato sauce. I don't have to eat hid away in my bedroom. And I can wake up every morning and open my curtains and stare out at the expanse of northwest London. It's like a whole new year for Lauren. I no longer feel like I'm just riding this whole thing out.

Here's a few pictures of my already messy new room (check out the tiny closet!):

















My normal kitchen:


My normal bathroom:


Some of the views from the windows:


Something on fire!

Across the hall, there are views of the London skyline. It's hard to get good pictures of it, because the sun is in the south and it's too bright (like when these pics were taken, if you can believe it) or too cloudy and foggy. I've tried to label what you can (sort of) see.




So there you have it, folks. I never took pictures of the horrors that were my old kitchen and bathroom, but consider yourselves saved.

Next entry, all about Wakefield and Nostell Priory!