Week 1

Rachel [finally] attends "regular" classes.

After the end of the early start class, there was a one week break for English majors; literally, no regular classes were held. We had a session on Wednesday for visiting students in literature to learn more about finalizing our enrollment, and that was it. Which meant, naturally, that Monday classes were the stuff of typical first days: Here is a syllabus. I'll read it out loud to you. Now you can go.

I have never had a literature class taught in a lecture format before. I have had profs who lectured the entire class period even though they told us we would be discussing, but none of us liked them and we tried not to have class with them in any future semester. Now, I'm expected to be silent and absorb every word of a fifty-minute lecture when I'm accustomed to a little classroom chemistry interrupting the monotone of notes read aloud from an outline.

This basic difference aside, I found the material interesting. My classes are as follows: 18th Century Literature (Robinson Crusoe; The Female Quixote), Contemporary Irish Writing (Not sure yet, but so far just poetry), Traditional Irish Music, and Irish History for Visiting Students. Not a heavy load, by any means, but my month-long early start class will transfer back as two separate classes, leaving me with the equivalent of a 15 hour semester. I have my two literature classes Mondays and Tuesdays, and the music class and history class on Monday evening and Tuesday evening, respectively.

What have I done with my free time while patiently waiting classes to begin making demands upon me? Baked (soda bread and banana muffins), wandered (found a local coffeemaker, cozy coffee shops, more hole-in-the-wall pubs), read (found a great used book store AND got a library card), read (checked out the maximum six books from the library and am already on my second set of six), read (what can I say? I have all this time and when it's windy AND rainy I have to stay inside), read more (okay, so there are probably things unique to Ireland I could be doing. I can read books the rest of my life. I'm only here once. I'll work on it).

Those critical of my activities in the past two weeks will be pleased to know the Cork Folk Music Festival is this weekend, so I plan to get out and experience that, in part because I'm required to by my music class. My music class is incredibly low key. We show up and learn about how there is no sheet music in traditional music, and no distinct "songwriters," only set tunes that are "dressed up" by the individual performers. Randomly she will brandish an instrument to demonstrate (the Irish Flute and Irish Pipes so far; who knows what else she has in her arsenal). On my agenda for today: errand running to the four-corners of Cork, figuring out the Irish post office once and for all. Tomorrow: locate and figure out the stable the equestrian club uses for lessons and figure out whether I need my own equipment to ride there, and read Robinson Crusoe, also, at some point.

My next post will be a comparison of the attributes of European and American candy bars. We'd heard there was a distinct difference in quality, but is it true...?