Assessments = No Fun

Yes, yes, I know I haven't been writing much this week. But to tell you the truth, not much is new, and it's about time I actually started working on my assessments. You heard me right, I have actually begun to do homework. And it's so hard. The work itself isn't actually that difficult (all paper writing, which I'm used to) it's simply the fact that I'm so out of practice of thinking critically and have lost all of my scholarly motivation and focus. It's horrible. I don't know how students here function.

I was reminded the other day that I never actually posted what classes I'm taking. Well, I'm going to go ahead and post not only what classes I'm taking, but my assessments as well, because I can. Enjoy.

HS 1004 - US History
A 2000 word essay (50% of my grade) due Friday Week 9 (2 May)
A Timed Essay (50%) to be held Friday Week 13 (30 May).

RT 1005 - Approaches to World Religions
A research project (50%) (2000 words) due 3:30 pm Thursday 17 April
(50%) An essay (2000 words) due 3:30 pm Thursday 29 May

FS 1163 - Film History
Folder of Work (50%) due Thursday 17 April
Formal Unseen Exam (50%), TBD

EL 1503 - Poetry
Critical Commentary (50%) 1500 words, due Tuesday 15 April
2000 word Essay (50%) due Tuesday 27 May

AM 2500 - America from the Perspective of Britain (the class all American students must take)
Account of experience (1500 words) due 14 April
Academic Essay (2000 words) due end of week 12

Well, there it is--all my classes and assignments for the term (well, almost all my work, I still get assigned weekly reading for most of my classes). What's frustrating is that since half of these assessments are due the week immediately following Easter Holiday, most professors assume we'll just have time to work on them over break and forget that us international students won't have a home to go to to work on these. One of my teachers hasn't even posted the details on the assignment yet, so I can't start it, but I still need to finish it by this Wednesday. Fun stuff. So that's what I've been up to. Actually, correction, that's what I should have been up to. But, like previously mentioned, focusing has been very difficult lately. My study skills are quite rusty. Instead of reading and writing like I should, I often find myself visiting Janie or Sam's room to talk, visiting the Yahoo Movies website, or finding some other way to procrastinate. I even had to make a sign for myself that hangs about my computer--"Danielle, NO movie trailers until your finish your assessments. GET TO WORK!"

And yes, you guessed it, writing this blog entry is, in a way, a method of stalling the actually process of accomplishing anything. But I should probably get back to reading about Indian national identity and Hinduism and Soviet montage cinema.

Random British Facts!
I've started to make a list of all the British words I hear that are either different from ours or simply used more often here, enjoy these first few (and I don't really know if I'm spelling them all correctly):

British Word - American meaning
stodgy - mushy/soggy
fit - sexy
cheers - thank you
ginger - anyone with red hair... they are also quite made fun of here
toilet roll - roll of toilet paper
mobile phone - cell phone
sweets - candy
canteen - cafeteria
jumper - jacket or sweatshirt
busker - street musician
placard - sign
purse - wallet or coin purse
handbag - purse
wallet - man's wallet
trainers - sneakers

I'll post more as I think of them. =)