Just Another Day in the Life

Life has returned to normal since school began again at the beginning of January. I am now going into my fourth week of classes in my spring term at Royal Holloway. I get quite a lot of questions about how my program works and so I thought that I would outline it briefly here.

My master's program includes three terms: fall, spring, and summer and each term is 11 weeks long (with a week off for midterms). This means that my terms are incredibly short and thus a lot of material is condensed into a very short amount of time. My spring term will reach the halfway point on February 10th (crazy that it is so soon!) and then I will finish this term at the end of March. Once I have finished in March classes are over for me, hopefully for good. April brings deadlines for all course essay work (4 in total) followed by a summer of dissertation writing, terminating September 10th. At that point (providing I pass) I will have my MA degree. My program is sort of a whirlwind course but I am happy to have avoided having to do two full years of work which is standard in American MA programs.

Two other questions that I commonly get are "when are you coming home" and "what's next?" both of which I have an answer for. To the first question, I plan to come home to Fargo somewhere around the beginning of October or late September. I have visitors coming in September and I plan on probably coming home with them or just after they leave. To the second question, it is slightly more cloudy. I plan on applying for PhD programs next fall, probably in November, and submitting mainly to schools in London and the surrounding area. PhD programs are three full years in the UK so I would be heading back for an even longer stint of time (though again, shorter than American PhDs usually take). I have been told that I can pick my start date to begin my doctorate and I am hoping to start somewhere between March-July of 2013 which gives me a nice little break in Fargo and the US to relax and have my first true break since I've begun college. What I'm hoping for during that break is to spend my time unwinding, taking a mental break, and visiting friends a family around the midwest and country. I guess I hope to do all of the things that I've so missed this year because I am not in America such as watching baseball, football, or basketball games, cross country skiing, snowboarding, driving, playing with my cat, and going to stores like Target and Hornbachers. These may sound like silly things to want to do, but let me tell you, it is the little things in life that one misses when away from her home country. I am hoping to be able to visit each and every one of you at your homes and make up for lost time. I am incredibly thrilled at the prospect and I have a Honda Element sitting in the garage in Fargo rearing to pack the miles on.

I hope that all is well for everyone in America and, if you have a free moment, send me an email updating me with your lives. Blogging is a wonderful way for me to keep in contact with all of you readers but it is, alas, somewhat one sided on my end.

A Visitor From Home

I was lucky enough to host my friend Rachel McLean for the last two weeks and after putting her on a plane for Fargo yesterday, I'm already feeling a bit lost without her. We spent a few days wandering the streets of Paris before returning to London and Egham for the remaining week of her trip. While we were in London we tried to visit places that neither of us had been to during our semesters living in the city and it was nice to get off the well-beaten tourist paths of Westminster, Notting Hill, or the West End.

Palais du Luxembourg- Paris

Parc Butte Chaumont

We visited areas such as Greenwich, Little Venice canals, and Old Street- Rachel's old stomping grounds. The trip was full of gorgeous views of London (and Paris) and we were lucky to have absolutely beautiful and warm weather. It is rare in London or Paris to have completely clear and blue skies but we had day after day of 50 degree weather with nothing but sunshine. After the disastrous weather that the two of us have experienced while travelling together in Dec/Jan in Europe we felt that good karma was finally coming our way. 

Maritime Museum of Greenwich

Gorgeous view of the Skyline from the Eastern Edge of London

Prime Meridian

Little Venice

There is nothing that I love more than strolling the streets of London but we had worked into our busy schedule a few days in Egham and so for the last 6 days of her trip Rachel stayed at my house in Cherrywood to recoup and relax after a hectic week of touring. It is always an adjustment to go from the busy bustle of the capital to the semi-lifeless streets of Egham but I think we both appreciated the down time. I did take her to see some of the local sights such as Egham high street, Windsor, and Staines. I also took her to my favorite local pub, the Happy Man, for a night out. 

We also took a day trip to Canterbury, a town in the south east which neither of us had been to. I always love a trip to Kent so off we went and three train connections later we were there wandering around the Norman and medieval streets. We visited the Canterbury Cathedral which dates all the way back to 597AD when Augustine came to England and established a monastery on the premises. The cathedral then became the last stop on the Canterbury pilgrimage route after the murder of Saint Thomas Becket in 1170, which should be familiar to everyone thanks to Chaucer. The Archbishop of Canterbury is considered the most important position in the Anglican church and he is integral in events such as coronation ceremonies for past and present kings and queens of Great Britain. The city is full of terribly old buildings at every turn and I could really feel the ancientness of the place, primarily because all of the buildings and doorways were built for people who were about 5 foot 5 or shorter; needless to say the past centuries were literally in my face every time I entered a building.

Canterbury high street

Canterbury Cathedral

The doors may be Rachel sized, but definitely not made for me

gorgeous canals in Canterbury

ruins of Canterbury Castle

Rachel and I ended our trip quietly back in Egham and now she is back home safe and sound while I begin my second term of my master's degree. It is really nice to see all of my uni friends again as everyone flocks back to campus but I am feeling the loss of my very best friend. It is funny how something can feel so right and effortless; the two weeks whizzed by and despite sleeping in very cramped quarters in my tiny room, it felt like Rachel was simply just always supposed to have been there. It is rare in life to have someone who has been such an influence in your life for as long as she has been in mine and this trip really opened my eyes as to how much I truly, truly miss her. Maybe someday we will both be in England studying together but for now I suppose visits once a year will have to be enough. The world is increasingly getting smaller and smaller with the advents of skype, facetime, or text messaging but nothing will ever beat one on one time for me. Her visit was perfect and no one got sick this time! I am so looking forward now to my future visitors to the UK and Europe, particularly my upcoming visits from my dad and Heidi; now all I have to do is wait. I so enjoy showing off my area of the world and hope that each and everyone of you will consider a visit; it is so worthwhile and gives me indescribable joy. England is a magical place and there is an air mattress and an extra comforter in Egham calling each and every one of your names.