Waaaaay Overdue Post

I apologize for my serious lack of blogging recently. I would blame it on being too busy, but with only two classes, that's a bit of lie. Lazy maybe, but busy, not so much. At this point, its almost overwhelming because it's been so long that I don't know where to start. Since I am actually here to take classes (I know, shocking), I suppose I could start there.

As i said, I'm only taking two classes. Now, before you start thinking that I'm a complete slacker, know that this is not unusual. The system of classes and credits is completely different here. A full couse load is 60 credits, which has no relation to credit hours in the States. First and second year classes are 20 credits, so you take three a semester. In third and fourth year, each class is 30 credits, so taking two classes is a full load. I'm technically taking one second year and one third year class, so it's only 50 credits, but it's close enough. Elon will only give me credit towards my religious studies monir for two classes anyway, so it seemed silly to add another one.

Since it's practically impossible to take Human Services classes outside Elon, I decided to take religious studies courses for my minor. That means that here, I'm in St. Mary's College, the school of Divinity. My two classes are Christian Ethics: God, Sex and Money, and Theological Explorations. The scheduling here is very different from Elon. The Christian Ethics class has lectures on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 2:00-3:00. There's also a tutorial on Tuesday mornings at 9:00 taught by a post-grad with about 10 students. Theological Explorations has just one lecture on Tuesdays at 4:00. But, we have a 2 hour seminar on Thursday mornings. It's led by the lecturer, and its not much fun. Even so, I definitely can't complain. If you didn;t notice, I don't have class on Monday or Wednesday. Tough life, huh? Only problem is that once I get used to this, going back to Elon's going to be a big shock.

The Christian Ethics class is by far my favorite. The lectures are usually pretty interesting. And if there not, I don't have to pay attention because my lecturer posts his notes online. But, of course I always pay attention. Also, I truly enjoy going the tutorials. We discuss a chapter of a book that we're reading each week. While most of us disagree with the author and don't like the book much, it sparks great discussions. Typically, by the end we can't believe that the hour is over and we haven't even covered everything we were supposed to.

So then there's my Theological Explorations class. I typically try to follow "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all," but then it would be a very short post. Okay, it's not that bad. It's just incredibly dull. The only redeeming quality is that it only meets twice a week. In all honesty, the topics aren't that bad. I'm just not a big fan of the lecturer's teaching style. He's one of those nutty professor types- very scatter-brained. I'm all for ADHD, but this guy is ridiculous. He definitely knows a lot about early Christianity. But he just rambles for an hour. I try to write down everything he says, but there never seems to be any organization in his lectures. Occasionally he writes on the board. But that's only helpful until he runs out of room, at which point he switches colors and begins writing over what's there. I'm not kidding. Fortunately, this lecturer only does the ancient part. After next week, we get a new lecturer. I've never been so excited for medieval theology.

That's about it on the classes. My workload is definitely managable, especially since I don't have practice or meetings or anything. It's actually quite strange to have this much free time. Not bad, just different. I was pretty busy this past week working on an essay that was due Friday. Fortunately, my next essay isn't due for another two weeks. Some people (my mom) might think this means I have work to do this week. No, no. It means I have lots of work not this Thursday but next. (Mom, you will be very proud. I did get started on my last essay over a week before it was due. I didn't actually start writing it until Thursday morning. But I got a full night's sleep and finished it by 9:45. It wasn't due until 1:00. That's 3 whole hours. Impressive, no?)

I'm sure there's lots of things I'm forgetting. I may post again tomorrow with some stories from the past few weeks.

I have made my travel plans for Reading Week. They are absolutely amazing. But I'm not telling yet. (I need to tell the parents first, and I'm not Skyping with them until tomorrow afternoon. Then I will share.) But when you hear them, I can promise you'll be jealous. I'm soooo excited. Hehe, I love secrets. Anyway's check back to see where I'm going. Promise I won't disappear for another four weeks!