Part 5: School...?

School...?
I suppose that, being part of a study abroad program, the time would come where I would actually... you know... study. Yet it seemed like I was still on vacation as I spent time in lecture halls listening to my instructors and screening films. Sure, I've been keeping up with the readings that are just as needlessly wordy as back in the states, and starting some outlining for the big essays I'll have due before I fly home in December, yet there's almost a subconscious refusal of a school year mentality when I'm so far away from the U of O.

All the same, I think it's high time I slow it all down and get some writing done. Going out most nights has been a blast, and a great way to bond with the flatmates, but I don't want to burn out on the fun or spend all my damn money so I better cool it. Just think of all the fun that I can studying Media Practices and writing thousands of words about it! Doesn't sound interesting? It.. isn't so far.

Birthdays...
These Freshers are young! One of the girls in my hall turned 20 on Thursday and so we all planned to head down to the Norwich city center to celebrate with an evening of yelling at one another to be heard over loud music followed by dancing. We settled on a club called Lola Lo's all tropical themed and dark. I couldn't decide if it the bamboo and tribal wallpaper was ultra tacky or awesome, but the lights were low and the music was good enough to have me on board. Imagine a restaurant at Disneyland by the Swiss Family Robinson mockup, entering a pair of glass doors and walking over a short wooden bridge into a nighttime jungle theme peppered with blacklight and a kind of sweet aroma emanating from the bar (also done in bamboo). It wasn't terribly busy at first, and we managed to get in without much of a wait (always a bonus) but soon filled up with various societies from the UEA having their social night out. We were shortly joined by the rest of our flat and some friends from Constable Terrace also arrived later in the evening to complete the set.

Nothing like hearing Get On The Good Foot to get me smiling and wiggling around at the table before hitting the dance floor. The DJ threw on a smattering of different genres, peppering a few big electronica anthems in between old school hip-hop, indie rock, Journey, Maroon 5 and more. It's obviously more fun when you know the words, and even better when no one can hear you belt them out thanks to the volume. Probably coming out of my shell a little bit and adjusting more to the club atmosphere after being severely deprived for years back home.

I think the most important part of the whole evening is that everyone seemed to have a good time, no one was too drunk or upset, and the taxi ride back provided enough cooldown time to return to the flat a little more subdued and ready to see if I couldn't skype with my girlfriend before heading off to dreamland.

Travel...
Finishing Week 2 marks the second time that I haven't done anything aside from kick back and relax on my weekends. Those of the Americans I've met who're here for an entire year have the right idea in taking it slow, working on school and saving their money for bigger trips. However, I don't have the luxury to bide my time and head off to Spain during winter break. Instead, I need to plan out all of my weekend trips so that I can achieve at least some of them before it's time to head back to Oregon. A rough idea would be:

Week 3 - Cambridge
Week 4 - The coast? The weather's rapidly getting worse but I can't just ignore how close the ocean is
Week 5 - Amsterdam ? Supposedly everyone studying abroad pays a visit to the Netherlands, I don't want to be left out!
Week 6 - Edinburgh? Will I run out of money after this?

There's also a Norwich City premier league game on the 29th that I'd absolutely love to go to and get my support on with loads of dedicated fans. The team supposedly has one of the most loyal crowds this side of London that have supported the club rain or shine. A friendly taxi driver described the atmosphere to me on the ride back from grocery shopping with the flatmates and it sounds pretty ideal.

In the meantime, I think it's time for some movie watching, novel writing, schoolwork completing (lower on the list? Don't tell!), and fun in the rain here in Norwich. Next post I'll discuss the quiet night in that ended in nudity (not me, of course) and how I learned to ice skate! See you sooner rather than later.