I realized that I haven't actually written about my day-to-day life in Bath since my classes started. Sure, adventuring is fun, but equally fun is hanging around at home.
That's right, home. I've actually taken to calling Bath "home" for the semester, the same word I used for Rochester for the last 2 and a half years, and the same word I used for Kibbutz Tzuba for a summer in my teens. I know that this is only temporary, but there's something very special about calling it "home." Even 3.5 years later, there is a part of me that feels like Kibbutz Tzuba is exactly where I should be, a part of me that knows I would still feel comfortable there. Even though I love being in Bath, I'm feeling a little homesick for Rochester.
"Home" has meant something different in each case. Some things, however have been constant. One of those has been my academics. Right now, I'm taking three courses. My Monday mornings start with "Education in England," which is definitely my favorite class I'm taking. We spend our time reading and talking about the various nuances of the English education system, which inevitably brings us back to the US education system. Our discussion this week centered on the National Curriculum and the new Core Curriculum. Because the National Curriculum was implemented 20 years ago, England has already been through many of the debates currently going on in the USA. Very interesting, at least to someone like me who's a big fan of policy talks.
After my education class, I go straight to "Mythologising Shakespeare," where my tutor has memorized most of Shakespeare's works. We know this because he will literally spout off quotes in the middle of class. My third and final academic class for the week is on Wednesdays around midday, when I have "Tudor and Stuart England." This tutor is also quite knowledgeable, but he doesn't intimidate us as much, which is a big plus. Tuesdays and Thursdays are dedicated to my education placement, since we go into our schools on Tuesdays and then we spend Thursday mornings in tutorials with the wonderful Andrew Butterworth discussing what happened that week and getting ready for what's to come.
If it wasn't already clear, we only meet with our classes once a week, which means that class is 2 hours and then it's time to hit the library! The library at Nelson house is small and cozy, which is perfect since any of the books that we didn't get personal copies of aren't allowed to leave the building. Generally, I've been spending 1-2 hours in the library on class days to get my reading done.
Classes, however, do not make a home, which is why I've been trying hard to explore the city while I'm here. I decided to join two groups within the community while I'm here. The first is called the GASP choir at Bath University. It's very relaxed, which makes it a lot of fun to be in. The name stands for the main genres of music they sing - Gospel, Acapella, Soul and Pop - but they certainly branch out beyond those. The members are all students, and everyone has been incredibly welcoming, so I'm looking forward to socializing with them in the coming weeks and months. The second activity I chose is the local knitting circle, affectionately known as "Stitch and Bitch," so definitely look for a few knitting-centered blog posts in the coming weeks as well.
It's getting late, so look out for part two of this post soon!
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