Forget work. Let's eat cake.

After the first week of (a few of my) classes, I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I'm going to do with myself here. The resources are here to learn a lot and do really good work, but I find it a little strange that, for example, no one cares whether I know or learn any Latin or Greek. Postgrad courses in ancient languages aren't even offered, and you can get away with working in translation in all the MA seminars. So, it's up to those of us who do think it's important to read things in the original to place ourselves in whatever undergrad courses are best suited to our needs. It's a bit of a shot in the dark coming from the American system, and this week I think I missed, at least with Greek: we only read about 15 lines in a 2-hour seminar, most of the problem being that the undergrads don't know or care to look up any Greek words. So, now I'm looking at jumping into a different course a week late and having a go at something else. It seems odd to have to fight so hard to learn anything.

That all sounds pretty negative, but all in all, there's still no doubt in my mind that I'm in the right place. Our MA seminars should all be quite good, if a little ancient language-less, and there are a ton of brilliant people here to help me do whatever it is I want to do. Once I figure out my essay and dissertation topics, things should really pick up.

The pleasant surprise of the week was German on Wednesday night. The teacher didn't speak a word of English until the last ten minutes of class! It was a little shocking at first, but we all caught on quickly, and she had us introducing ourselves, saying where we were from, and talking about the genders and professions of Claudia Schiffer, Karl Marx, and other notable Germans by the end of class. James from the house is in my class, and he already seems to know quite a bit, so I'll have someone to practice with at home.

We just finished our first week of the cooking rota at home, and I'm pleased to report that it's going to be a year of good eatin'. I'd better keep up the running, though -- I've had cake for dessert every night this week! Other than eating, we've all been doing a good bit of just vegging out together watching trashy TV and movies. It's not all EWTN in the chaplaincy, don't you worry.