I realize I haven't posted recently & I can explain why. I've been really busy! I had a paper due last Wednesday; I've started working in the evenings; I'm working on the dissertation; I was in London last weekend; and I've been dealing with other things.
So, the first update I should give you is on the housemate, Ravi. It took almost 2 weeks to figure out what we had to do to file a formal complaint. The administration over here is very inconsistent & don't seem to talk to one another! I go to one person who sends me to another who sends me to another & I feel like I had just wasted 3 hours of time. Finally we found someone who had an idea as to what we needed to do. It was really simple - write a letter explaining why everyone was upset with this housemate & have all the housemates sign it. Simple enough! It took 6 people to figure that out & even then, the last person I talked to "thought" that was what we had to do. So we wrote a 2 page letter explaining all that has been happening since September. Now we have to sit here & wait, which is my least favourite thing to do, until we hear something.
Since Ayan moved out, we recently acquired a new housemate in her room, illegally. Apparently the Chinese student who sublet the apartment to her to doing the same with another Chinese student, Emily. So the university is trying to contact this girl while Emily stays in our house. It's all a huge mess filled with way too much drama. Freddy & I just want things to settle down since we are the only two, & Emily if you count her, here over break. And since we are the only 2 here, I plan on completely cleaning this disgusting place. My floor needs to be vacuumed pretty badly, but not as badly as the rest of the house needing to be swept, mopped, & vacuumed. You would think we lived like pigs if you saw our floors. So this weekend I may sweep & mop the kitchen as it is the most vile looking & then do the bathrooms. I will have to wait until Monday to get a vacuum from the super's office. I also need to laundry ... though I figured out last night that I can go a week & a half more without needing to. But after a week & a half, I'll be desparate for socks & underwear!
I've started working in the evenings as well at a hotel that has just opened. One of the other MA English students, Lucy, got a job there, so I put in my application. I was hired about 2 weeks ago to waitress in the restaurant. Lucy & I haven't worked together :-(, but I think we'll see each other Easter Sunday as we are both scheduled to work. So I typically work 5-11pm, but have to leave at 4 to get there on time because of the buses & then don't get home 'til midnight because of the buses. Wish they could pay me for my travel time. Oh, and I have also figured out that I don't want to be a waitress for life. I don't think I could hack it!
What else? Oh, my paper. I had a paper to write for my Communication & Persuasion class. We had to analyze a Welsh political speech - now the problem. I don't like politics. I don't understand politics. And I'm not Welsh. So it was a little difficult to understand the context of everything, but once I figured that out, I was golden! I think I did really well on the essay (watch me jinx it now). Helen, the professor, gave us our other paper topic, but I wasn't really feeling any of the questions we could answer, so I'm waiting to hear back from her on my idea for a paper. I want to analyze MLK's "I Have a Dream" along side a speech by Malcolm X or JFK on the civil rights movement. I think it would be very interesting. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she will approve it.
I've also kinda sorta but not really started work on my Myth & Fairytale essay. Basically, I know what I want to write about. We have to use 2 of the novels we read in class & compare them the myths & fairytales we read. So I am using Bronte's Jane Eyre & du Maurier's Rebecca. Now the hard part - I'm looking at the use of dreams. I will definitely use the British Robber Bridegroom version called Mr. Fox. And I may find some ways to pull in Beauty & the Beast & Cinderella. I'm looking for some myths that deal with dreams as well, so if anyone knows of any, do let me know!!! I'm going to try to find some way to pull in the Disney movies as well since Sleeping Beauty & Cinderella both sing about dreams - "I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream" & "A dream is a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep." So we'll see what comes out of that.
I've also been working on my dissertation, though not as much as I would have liked (hence why I am up so early today). I'm still reading The Moonstone which is quite lengthy but an easy read because it has a good pace to it. The only problem is that I have had to read other novels for classes, write papers, & do everything else. So I just haven't devoted as much time on TMS as I would have liked so far. The biggest problem is that I have to send my dissertation superviser a chapter on Sunday!!! I have 3000 words, but it's crap.
Oh! I went to London last weekend. Two of my sorority sisters were there, so I went to hang out with them. Marci Cornett is studying at Regent's College & Amanda Arnett who graduated with me came over to visit Marci. Since London was only a few hours away, I planned a weekend away to visit. We had a lot of fun though I only have 3 pictures & a video of Amanda dancing to document it.
Zoe & I saw Great Expectations on stage last night. Surprisingly good, especially with the few actors, costumes, & props they had. Very well put together & easy to follow without having read the book, though I want to go back & re-read it.
That's about everything in my life. I leave for London on Friday & then Paris on Saturday. Can't wait to get out of here. I'm hoping it will be slightly warmer on the continent than on the island. Freddy is going with me to "chaperone" the students, though I told Mom I was just a glorified chaperone because it was my spring break as well. Zoe & 2 of her friends will also be in Paris at the same time, so we're going to get together some nights & go out. I can't wait. It'll be fun! Then Freddy & I go to Ireland with 2 of his German friends at the end of the month. We're renting a car so we will have more flexibility. That will certainly be an adventure.
Hope all is well in the US & everyone has been enjoying the first few days of spring!
No comments:
Post a Comment