A Space of My Own

This is the view from my window. Though beautiful when the sun sets, the noise my fellow students make while I am trying to sleep is enough to make anyone go mad.
My backdrop for skype conversations.


I have finished decorating my room, and it definitely feels more like home. England is not what I expected. I think people did what they could to prepare me for the worst. My expectations were fairly low coming into this, but I was optimistic. The optimism has paid off (as I'm learning it usually does), and I am glad to be exactly where I am.

UEA Women's Football Club Debut

This is the pitch where we played, it was beautiful out, though a bit warm in our long sleeved "kit." We won 9-0. I scored two with my head and one with my foot and had an assist, all in the first half. I sat out the second because I've been nursing a cold. I really like the girls I play with, they are all so supportive and encouraging. I look forward to training on Tuesday.

I have chicken soup on the stove.

I have ventured to the Norwich City Center a few times, and each time I am amazed by its beauty. Norwich has a lot of history. The library built down about ten years ago, and they built a really modern new one. Directly across from the library is an old church. The original city wall still stands in pieces.

This morning I had my Gender and Development lecture. It was really interesting. So far we've only learned about the different feminist theories, but I think the class is going to be a little like the Contemporary Sexuality class I took at State, which focused a lot on gender, and a bit like the Developmental Play Processes course I took, where we learned about the developmental differences in children, among other things.

After that I found the mail room and got a letter from my mom. It made me cry instantly. After getting my mail I came home and cleaned my room. It is very tidy and a pleasant place to be. I don't know what prompted me to do so (intuition?) but I decided to look in my day book. That's when I realized I had a meeting scheduled with my adviser in 10 minutes! I had totally forgotten about it, so I rushed down there, wasn't late, and had a very nice (and brief) chat with her. She is very lovely, and it is nice to know that there is an adult out here who genuinely cares about my well being. She said, "well, it sounds like you don't need any help with anything!" And she's right. I am feeling on top of things. I still have to register with the medical center and get a meningitis vaccination, which I might to later on today. At 6 I have a tennis match, and at 7:30 there is a social event/meet and greet for the Women's Football Club at the pub on campus. So after tennis I'll get all pretty and head on down.

I fully had the intention of getting a job while I am here, I even updated my "CV" (resume). But now I'm thinking that it might be nice to have the extra time to exercise, socialize, and do homework, not that there will be all that much extra time. I think I can live here quite cheaply. We'll see. If I start feeling pressed for funds, I might look into it a bit more. But as of now, I want school and soccer to be my priorities.

I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep last night. My room is directly above the entrance to our flat and flat 2, and everyone stood outside socializing till after 1 last night. I didn't want to be the jerk who calls and complains, or even the person who yells from out the window. But I do need my sleep. It's "Fresher's week" so all of the first year students go out and are up late every night this week. Also, we were supposed to get our flat cleaned today, but if the surfaces aren't cleaned in the kitchen, they won't get wiped down and we get written up. The boys have some trouble cleaning up after themselves. They leave out wrappers, empty beer cans, cereal boxes, drink glasses with rings around the bottom....so after the cleaning lady came and left and didn't clean our kitchen, I cleared the surfaces and wiped up. I think I'll have to have a little chat with them...

The weather changed today. There's more of a cold breeze and it's overcast.

Week one in Norwich

Today was amazing. I signed up for tennis and soccer, went to Poetry in the Dark Times: Rilke, Holderlin, Celan. It's a seminar, so there's only about 15 of us and we sit in a circle. So far both of my classes are like that (Poetry Writing is the second). Tomorrow I have my Gender and Development "module" which has an hour lecture, then a two hour video viewing on Friday. Tomorrow after lecture I have some time off for me, then a mixed doubles game of tennis with my flatmate and a couple we met at a club last night.

But soccer practice. That was after my dark times class, and I thought I would be late, because my class was set to end at 5, which is when practice started. But class ended an hour early and arrived at practice early. So I sat in the middle of an enormous field (see photo) and watched the sky. It was so beautiful. There is a lot of sky here. And the clouds moved and there were a whole bunch of swallows, and it was the first time since I arrived that I had a solitary, motionless moment outside. It was so beautiful. And then I went to practice and all the girls were really nice. I found out that they play competitively, traveling to all the schools, you know, in England (in their division). Ridiculous. I had no idea. None of this info was available on UEA's website. It was just practice, they practice twice a week (Tues, Fri) and compete with other schools on Wednesdays, and local women's teams on Sundays (recreationally). 4 days a week. All of which fit into my schedule. So then our coach arrived, and he's a student here, and he made us run. And run, and run. And then run some more. Apparently he's really into fitness. I have never ran so much in my life. Or if I can it was 3+ years ago and I forgot what it felt like. But it hurt. And then it felt really good. After running for a couple hours, we kicked the ball around. And I have never played with such skilled girls before. And then we took some shots and all mine went in. I just hope my quadricep will hold up. So far so good. I am really excited about the potential for this team. When I was running, I was thinking "I don't even know if I want to push myself this hard. Is it even worth it?" And I have decided, yes, it's worth it. I want to be in the best shape of my life. I want to travel with these girls around England. So, I'm going to keep pushing myself. It is so nice to finally have something I want to work really hard for. I haven't had that....ever? I feel the same way about my classes.

In class today, I realized I have never taken a European History class. Ever. And I don't know anything, and I feel like an idiot. I wish I had read European history over the summer. But I didn't. But I still can. After practice I was so exhausted (I haven't felt rested since I arrived) that I just wanted to cry. And I did. But I'm really happy and excited about the future. I successfully cooked myself another meal. I showered. I met some really cool people today. Things are going to be really good.