Week 7 & 8

Hi ya!

Sorry, it's been so long since my last blog, but school has really been catching up with me! Here, we finish classes before spring break and then once we come back all we have is exams. Spring break, or Easter holiday as many refer to it here, begins at the end of March so as classes are coming to a close, essays are due and it seems like things are getting more frantic school wise. I got my History paper back last week and I got a B, which is considered really good here since A's are passed out pretty sparingly. I was very excited to see my grade since I really didn't know what to expect. We have another short assignment due next Thursday so I'm hoping the outcome of that will be just as good! This past week I spent a lot of time working on my English essay which was due today. I was writing about the relationship between genre and gender in the early period of the novel. I spent a lot of time reading different criticism and then finally got it written this past weekend and turned in today. Already I feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Therefore, since school has been kind of hectic, I don't have any exciting sight seeing to report for these past couple weeks, but between homework I have managed some time to plan some exciting things for the near future!

First, on Wednesday morning I'll be jetting down to London for 5 days through Sunday night! I was going back and forth between whether or not to go since I have assignments due the next week but I decided to just go for it. I figured if I didn't go now, I wouldn't have the chance till May and I didn't really want to put it off. Besides I haven't left Edinburgh since I went to Glasgow and that was a month ago already! Time is flying by so quickly! But anyways, I'm really looking forward to going! I've been to lots of other major European cities but this will be my first time in London and I've heard so many great things about it. I'll be staying in a hostel in South Kensington near Hyde Park and Imperial College and within walking distance of a Tube station which should make it easy to get to other parts of the city. I'll be traveling by myself but with so much to see I don't think it will be an issue. If anything, it should be nice because that way, I can make sure I see everything I want to see. Also, I have some friends I used to work at camp with who live around London so I'm hoping to meet up with them at some point. It should be a lot of fun to get out and explore new territory.

Second, I've begun making plans for my 3 week spring break which starts March 27. Claire will be coming for part of the trip. I'm looking forward to traveling with her because I know we have similar tastes in what we like to see so it should be easy to compromise. Where exactly we're going to meet is still up in the air but if our original plan works out, we'll be meeting in Amsterdam and spending 2 days there. From there, we'll head to Prague, Krakow, and Budapest for 3 days each and then head over to Paris. We'll spend some time there before Claire fliesback to the States. There, I'll meet up with my friend Katie who is studying at the Sorbonne this semester. We haven't really decided where we'll go the last week, but we've talked about Belgium or Germany. The trip will involve a lot of long overnight train rides but I think if everything works out, we'll get to see a lot of really cool stuff! Plans aren't set in stone yet, but with luck this is what will be happening.

Third, the University finally announced final exam times. Mine will be on May 13,15, & 22. I was hoping to get done earlier, but I think I'll still have some time to travel in between studying. And it will be nice not to have to hit the books right when I get back from spring break.

So yeah, even though nothing too exciting has been happening lately here in Edinburgh, I've got a lot of exciting plans lined up which I'm really looking forward to! Expect another blog (with loads of pictures I'm sure) some time next week when I get back from London.

Hope all is well with everyone!