Thursday, May 21, 2015

Studying in England

Darling Readers,

I am sorry to have neglected you. I know how much you depend on reading my blog. The truth is that I have started school again! Yes. I am going to study abroad in England. Can you believe it?! I am so excited. I have already been twice for about a week or two each time, but I was pretty young. I was 12 the first time and 14 the second.

So far I am still at school doing an intensive two weeks of classes before departure. Let me paste a bit from a letter I wrote to my parents describing the program to give you a sense of what I am doing.

Dear Parents,

I just wanted to give you an update on how Wheaton in England is going so far, because I know that you have have a vested interest in the way this great sum of money is being used. Also I am your daughter and you care about me. 

It is amazing. I love it. We haven't even gotten to England yet, but I am already loving this program. Image this: 
Every morning you wake up at around 7 and bicycle for 15 minutes to get to breakfast in the Wheaton cafeteria (that in itself is pretty great...number one college dining hall in the United States...). After this you have a couple hours in which to finish up homework before the first class starts at 10:10. This class is either a reflection based chapel time or a class which focuses on the literature of the places we will be visiting in England. 

After that class is Romanticism. This class is great because Dr. Colón is a good teacher and the subject matter is interesting. It is hard to sit through an hour and a half, however, without thinking of lunch. Lunch eventually arrives and you reenter the dining hall and sit at the long table which is occupied by a collection of the other England students. You chat and eat good food (cheese and crackers are new in the cafeteria and you have been obsessed). Then you use the rest of the hour to do some quick finishing up of the homework.

The Austen class is next. This class is a joy. You sit in a room full of fellow Austenians. You all share a deep affection for the divine Jane, but you get to talk about her in academic terms. This is no "chick-lit" appreciation club, but real scholarly examination of her as an author. This is the class you have longed to take your entire life. It is full of good will and humour. We can make jokes about Mr. Hearst and Lady Catherine with great success. 

Travel Writing is next and this class is just fun, because you already tend to do travel writing in your notebook and the professor thinks your drawings are great. 

After this class you are done for the day. You work out in the gym and then have dinner with the England people again. You visit Sheldon or Joanna's apartments to do homework and chat and then cycle back to the empty town house where the cats will try to sit on your bed when you want to go to sleep. 

This is my life here. It is a beautiful thing. I am taking classes that I love about things I love with people who are all a lot like me in their interests and temperaments. A bunch of English majors!

So far this experience has felt like a wonderful use of our ----$. I can't wait till we get to London in a week and a half. 

Thank you for helping me to do this. 

Love,
Lucy Rose

So now you know what I have been up to. I hope to do some serious blogging about my travels. Hopefully lots of pictures! 

I'll stop in soon to keep you posted. 

God Bless! 

Lucy Rose

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