Learning, London, Library

First off, I am really embarrassed that people might actually be reading this blog.  I mean, that’s the point right, but anyways please excuse my horrible grammar and language.  I am usually writing this after long days, so thank you for bearing with it.  You should probably just look at the images to save yourself.

I was sitting here tonight and I realized that I have not talked about school yet.  I think that everyone assumes that “studying abroad” is much more about the traveling than the actually studying.  I think in some aspects, that holds true for my own program, but there is definitely still an academic emphasis. 

So, I am studying at Cambridge University at Pembroke College.  It is very small (I think only a couple hundred students go here).  It is also very old.  Pembroke was established sometime in the 1300’s, which is crazy!   But after saying that, I don’t think that I am really experiencing the same level of academic rigor as a normal Cambridge student would and there are pros and cons to that. 

I am taking two courses.  The first is called England United and Disunited.  It covers the Tudors up until the English Civil War.  So far it has been super interesting and fun.  The professor is actually taking us on a walk around the town of Cambridge tomorrow instead of lecturing.  Its crazy to learn about Henry VIII, and then see the school he established right down the street, a statue of him up on a building, or see the tutor rose embellishments on the buildings around town. 

The second class I am taking, International Relations of the Two World Wars, is very intense.  I don’t think I have ever taken a class that has required me to focus so much in lectures.  These classes are so much different than Irvine course.  Because this IR class is probably one of the hardest courses they are offering, half of the original class has switched out - that leaves six of us in the class.  We engage in a lot of debates and have a lot of discussion and interaction with the professor.   I am used to having 100 plus people in my courses, and with those kind of numbers, the dynamic of a class change incredibly.  But being challenged is really rewarding.  I know that my brain is not soaking it all in, but it is amazing to just learn something totally new.  At times, history can be frustrating for me.  It leaves me with so many questions that just aren’t answered most of the time.  I feel like the international relations aspect of the class at least begins to ask those questions, even if the answers aren’t quite so clear.   For example in a seminar, the professor asked us whether we thought WWI was inevitable or whether we thought that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was a catalyst within a specific moment in history.  That question is pretty crazy you know?  Could decades of catastrophic wars have been avoided had the archduke’s car turned when it was suppose to?  Or yesterday, we discussed the real pressures behind the policymakers of the Treaty of Versailles, such as the rapidly spreading Bolshevism through out Russia and Europe.   I never understood the fear of communism before, but yesterday I was able to see how Wilson and other leaders saw revolution and chaos through out Europe.  They read Lenin and Trotsky’s works that stressed the importance of a fast moving revolution.

So that is school.  I have one hour and fifteen minutes a day of lecture for each course, and I usually prepare for international relations during my break. 

Amidst some worries, we are still going to London tomorrow.  The school has laid down some pretty strict guidelines for us.  We have a 11pm curfew every night and after dinner I think that we are suppose to stay within the Left Bank area of London, where are hostel is located.  Unlike Scotland, I think we are following an itinerary pretty close.  I think they want to make sure we are all safe and know of our were about in case anything more breaks out during the weekend.  A lot of the other kids seemed unhappy about the curfew, but I would probably be back before 11 anyways haha. 

Here are some pictures from around Cambridge... again.  

Here is the upstairs floor of the library on campus.  It's one of my favorite places.  During the first week of school, the professor for IR was super intense on the reading, so I spent several hours here.  The program directors asked him to tone it down a little.  He was expecting us to get through over 100 pages of articles within 24 hours, but that was happening every day, so everyone, especially me, freaked out a little, because it was almost impossible to do.  Luckily, he was like, ohh, I think the students misunderstood me, they don't need to do all of it.  But he also said he was trying to weed out the lazy students, so who knows.  I was virtually having panic attacks though.   Anyways, I love this library.  It has a great atmosphere.  Kevin would love the tables.  Plus, you go and look through books and their publishing date is like in the `1800's!  

These are just some other buildings around campus.  I think that they also date back to around the 1800's.  The building on the left house some of the UC program kids.