Here and There

Before I get into things... Happy birthday, Ross! Hopefully by later tonight I will have posted something lovely on your Facebook wall, which will explain all of my feelings in greater depth. But I think we should all enjoy getting older! Because that means we're normal. Getting younger should be reserved for Benjamin Button. Otherwise, the ageing process is a good sign.

Okay, so I've been doing the school thing for about six weeks now. I'm a week away from my short vacation, during which I will be in Tanzania. I'll probably spend the ten days telling everyone there about my time here, but I've come to understand that I'll be answering questions the rest of my life, so I might as well get used to it now.

Right. School.

So, as I said briefly last time, I'm doing courses in religion, history, philosophy, and media. I'm trying to fullly enjoy the fact that I'm not taking any math or science or anything like that. I like all of my courses. I like discussing things, and thinking about things, and writing about things. The thinking and writing I'm realizing (or "realising", I should say... Still getting used to being this British) are going to be thoroughly poured on top of me for this degree, so I probably won't think of them quite as fondly in a little while. But I'll try to remind myself that I liked that at some point.

My goal is to do well in school. Seems silly, but hear me out. Degrees in the Humanities get trashed a little bit amongst UCT students, except of course by the Humanities students. A Bachelor of Arts or Social Sciences is easier than a degree in Engineering, I'll be the first to admit. To pass in a BA program isn't too difficult. It will teach you to think critically and to put your thoughts into words, but it won't require all of your intellectual stamina to be on call. At least, not in my opinion. However, to do better than a pass, to do well, to excel, that's a little trickier. So, that's what I'm aiming for. A 52% is not going to be good enough. I'll let you know how that plays out. So far, I've had a huge range of marks from the little assignments I've handed in, and the future will tell how much work I'm going to need to put into this.

I've become a part of Church-on-Main. If you're concerned for my theological soundness or anything, their website is http://churchonmain.org.za/, check it out :). I've been adopted into the community, and I've actually been quite inspired in my travels at how the Church is seeking the same God. I feel like I haven't missed a beat in my walk with God, despite having jumped across the ocean. Cool stuff.

So I'm finding my rhythm. I'm starting to actually recognise people on campus, which is exciting. It's still a little weird. I feel like any day I'm going to go back to normal life, and this will have just been an interesting break. But I don't think that's the case. The adventure just won't stop. It gives me great joy, laughing in the face of the exchange students who will be returning home in a few weeks. Sucks to be them.

Granted, I do miss Canadian things. Actually, I'll give you a list of things I miss/missed about home:

SNOW, Tim Horton's, perogies, sour cream, BAGELS, pasta sauce, Kraft Dinner, a variety of McFlurry flavours, Dairy Queen, Canadian political references, country music, being able to walk around at night by myself and be safe, beavertails, POUTINE, good and not really expensive cheese!, mandarin oranges, frozen pizza, GOOD SUGARY CEREALS, the first sweet inhale of spring, unlimited bandwidth, free WiFi at random public places, Mr Clean, George Stroumboulopoulos, and A&W. Oh, and some of you people.