I don't think we're in undergrad anymore....

So, it's a giraffe.  Other than that, yeah, I don't know either....

Now that today is finished I have attended all of my classes for the first time.  I had all sorts of moments ranging from "This is going to be fine" to "Oh s*!#"

So here's a rundown of my classes this term (not semester, I need to keep reminding myself - this is only 10 weeks....)

Formative Debates in Criminology:
Monday 1 pm-3 pm
So far it sounds like it will be an into crim class, which is good.  Even though I took Crime & Deviance with Carla, a course to get into Masters level work makes me feel good.  Also, the topics outlined in the syllabus look interesting.  We are covering everything from Positivism to Marxism to Globalisation in Crime.  The professor is great.  He is also my course coordinator and, going from first impressions, I like him a lot.  We have a lot of the same interests (terrorism, surveillance, theory - hear that, someone else besides me who likes THEORY!!!!).  He cracked a bunch of jokes during the first lecture and it was not a boring two hours.

Sociological Research Design:
Tuesday 9 am-10 am; 5 pm-6 pm (I know, late, right?)
Ugh, research methods.  I hate methods and statistics, but oh well, I can't get an education without them.  I'm just hoping and praying that I got enough out of Dr. Brown's classes to make this not an absolutely horrible experience.  The professor seems very nice.  She is kind of bubbly and very enthusiastic, even after teaching 5 different modules today.  The 9 am part of class is straight lecture.  The 4 pm part of class is seminar.  There are 10 students in that class and 8 of them are international.  I sort of feel bad for the English kids.  They probably feel cheated and outnumbered.  Also, I can foresee one kid in that class getting on my nerves.  He is from Greece, and once again, going off first impressions, he seems like a pompous a$$hole.  It might be hard to handle him after all my other classes on Tuesday without throttling him.

Organised Crime: Global and Local
Tuesday 2 pm-4 pm
I'm interested in the topic.  The books are freaking expensive.  The professor wrote one of the texts.  He is from Australia.  He is terrifying (Although that might have been jet lag.  I'm really hoping it was jet lag.).  We are expected to academically argue in this course.  I've never had to site references during an argument, so I'm petrified.  I can read until the cows come home, and I can talk about what I've read, but this class is really scaring me.  At least I 'know' some of the people in the class.  And by know, I mean that I either have other classes with them, or I met them at the introductory conference.  I'm predicting that this class is going to be the one that sort of kills me this term...although research methods might also take that title....

Besides my classes, life in England has been going well.  I'm going to volunteer in the sociology resource room every Monday morning for two hours.  I started up a bank account and can pick up my card tomorrow.  I finally got myself a phone so I have a local number.  The food situation still isn't great, but it'll get there, eventually.

Tomorrow I think I'm going to explore town a bit.  I don't have anything until an informational session about the resource center at 5 pm, so it would be a good day to just take a few hours and explore.

That's all for now

-RJ