Mandy: Oh, I Have to Go to School Too??

Greetings from London! Today marks the end of my first week of classes! While all of my friends at home are starting midterms, I opened Word to do homework for the first time in months.

My classes are:

Museums of London: this is a study abroad Classics class where we study museums around the city. We will visit different exhibits with our professor during class and have discussions about how museums are designed, who “owns” the history within, etc.

Experiences of War: (lecture and seminar) this class is an intro class within King’s War Studies department. We have guest lectures each week to cover different aspects of war. This week was about the infantry pre-gunpowder. Yes, there was a clip from Braveheart involved.

Introduction to the Sociology of Religion: (lecture and seminar) I have extremely mixed feelings about this class. On one side, it is an interesting look at the effects of religion on society, culture, race, economics, and politics. But it is an extremely cynical approach at religion itself. The idea is to be “methodically agnostic”, or to remove your own beliefs out of the picture to study the human effects of religion. We are not debating the theology of religions, but are looking at the tangible effects that humans involved in religion have. Everyone is biased, and to be honest, it’s probably impossible for me to not be a bit defensive in this class, since my faith is so important to me…I’ll keep you posted with how this one goes.

The Evolution of Modern Business: (lecture and seminar) I have never taken a business class before, but after my internship this summer, I thought it was about time I did. This is a nice way to ease into Business, since it looks at the history and sociological aspects of business. Although the professor loves to hear himself talk for the sake of talking, which is a bit annoying, I feel like I will learn a lot in this class. 

Between all of that, I have succeeded in doing some touristy things: Free walking tour of London, the Museum of London (which is at the site of the original Roman wall around London), and had several meals of fish and chips around the area. Monday was also the end of the welcome freshmen events with the Gatsby themed Fresher’s Ball!

This week has had its ups and downs, but boy do I love this city: the history, the movement, the art, the people. I could take the Tube to class, but instead I walk over the Waterloo Bridge everyday. It’s a lengthy walk (30-40 min), but I can’t resist the view of the city (and saving money on Tube fare).

One morning this week, I just had to stop and look. And in that moment, standing above the water, with the wind blowing and the view of the London skyline before me, it was perfection.