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Published: March 16th 2011
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Birthday
Harry, Anna and Pete Upon reflection on the seventh months I have spent in England so far, I must say that each month seems to be filled with more exciting things, and more crazy antics. In that regard, I have to say that the group who has had the most impact on my time here is the Bristol Canoe Club. Here is my life update for January and February. Remember Shenanigans is in the title.
When I returned from the States after Christmas I was jetlagged, a little homesick, and not at all excited to be retuning to finish up the first term with exams and papers. I managed to work my way through the exams, and got to celebrate their end with my 21st birthday. It was a good night, but not a crazy; wow I am drinking alcohol for the first time ever night. My flat mates, Alissa and I made a Mexican feast, drank Corona and Margaritas and then ventured down to Syndicate (a club). We danced, drank, sent text messages to the club, and then finally made the walk back home at the early hour of 2 am. Upon returning I skyped with my family, who were watching a
Flowers
Spring is here Packer Playoff Game (GO PACK GO) and received a lovely rendition of Happy Birthday from across the pond. All in all it was a good birthday, although I did have to make my own cake.
***Warning: Literature Geek Out ***
Unfortunately for me there was still one piece of coursework left before I could truly dive into the second term. The dreaded 4000 word English assessment. Not going to lie, this project scared me. I hadn’t written anything longer than 2000 words since high school, and trust me my extended essay is not a work I want to talk about. I chose to tackle the idea of childhood development as it is shown through the split of agency and subjectivity in early 20th century literature. To do this I set up a background analysis of Rousseau’s Emile to demonstrate how children were viewed after the enlightenment. I then compared and contrasted this with Barrie’s Peter Pan and James’s What Maisie Knew. Both of these early 20th century novels do brilliant things with the splitting of agency from subjectivity. If you have survived reading this paragraph and are still interested in my essay please message me and I will
Polo
me in a boat gladly share it with you. The most dreaded assessment turned out to be hard work, but a fun endeavor.
***Literature Geek Out Over***
Finally, my “new” classes started. In reality I only have one new class this term, which is titled, Victorian Afterlives. The class is on the reshaping of the Victorian Era in modernist and post-modernist literature. I still wish it were focused on ghost tales in Victorian Lit, but oh well. Physics and Biochem remain the same as ever.
Now lets get to the fun part – Canoe Club. Each week has become a patterned existence. Monday and Tuesday are studying and lab days. However, on Wednesday if I am not frantically trying to finish a plethora of reading, the canoe part of my week starts with a trip to the docks. Now may of you might be wondering what I mean by the docks. So here is a Bristol City geography lesson. Bristol is situated at the end of the Bristol Channel and on the River Avon. The docks are a series of moorings that line the River Avon on the way to City Center. The water is dirty, gross, icky (please feel free
Social
yes it is a pink cowboy hat to continue to think of adjectives) and if you manage to swallow some it is highly advisable that you drink boatloads of Classic Coca-Cola. Despite these gross conditions, playing polo at the docks is probably the highlight of my Wednesdays.
Thursday is literature day, with the highly anticipated pool session for canoeing at night. Pool sessions, for those of you who don’t know are a great way to learn basic skills in kayaking without having to expose yourself to the elements. I have been trying desperately to learn how to roll at these sessions and still haven’t managed. Apparently my hips do lie. Despite being frustrated with my lack of progress rolling, the pool sessions remain fun. But the socials afterward are even better. The socials range from a quiet night at Bar 100 to Laser Quest to Foxes and Hounds Chases, to Epic Scavenger Hunts to whatever else Becky comes up with. All in all Thursday nights are amazing, spectacular, (again it is your turn to think up superlatives).
Fridays thankfully are only marred by one lecture. Luckily this gives me the chance to sleep in… Then the rest of my day is spent finishing homework, and
getting ready for the weekend. On a normal Friday night my school week finishes with another pool session. This one however is for canoe (kayak really) polo. In the pool the training that we did at the docks on Wednesday comes into play as we play scrimmage matches. This intense fast paced game is a perfect match of kayaking, competitive sport and teamwork. A lot of fun! After the pool session we – of course – head to Bar 100 for a cheeky pint before heading home to bed.
The weekends, oh the weekends. Consistently my weekends have been filled with a vast and varied amount of canoeing trips. When I am not out and about in a boat on a trip, I am inevitably desperately trying to catch up on sleep. Alas I am afraid that the stories of my weekends in Cheltenham, Woolacombe, and Wales will have to wait for another post, because I am tired and ready for bed.
Kind Regards,
Anna xx
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