I brought back the lurgy from Venice and other stories

Featuring tales of holidays, kind people, museums, and deadlines.... why are there are always deadlines?

It's been almost a month since I posted here which is kinda weird considering how often I used to write but also to be expected considering the chaos that was last month. To give a very brief summary, and as you may be able to guess from the title, I managed to get ill quite literally the evening I got back from Venice and am only just about recovered. Did I mention that it's the last week of semester this week? Finals with flu. Yeah, that's been fun. So, as opposed to multiple detailed posts we're doing another of my favourite style smush posts but, this time, with pictures (yay!) and subheadings because I recon it's going to be a long 'un!

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So, we should probably start with Venice. It was an amazing trip. Truly.

Compulsory tourist shot.

I actually traded the week long Dutch summer for an overcast Italy so this was a major sacrifice, although it did warm up for the last couple of days, and still that city is quite magnificent. There are mazes of streets, so many bridges, beautiful churches. The other thing is - and it reminded me of Amsterdam in this sense - it's painfully busy in the touristy areas but you can go just a couple of streets along and be alone. It's a magical, magical place and you can kinda see why, if a film is set in Venice, it's either a romance or a horror.

The majority of my time was spent wondering these streets getting between different churches and the odd museum which is why I actually didn't take as many photos as one might have expected. Seriously, the museums I wasn't too impressed by,  generally, but the churches... we all know I'm a religious art nerd and I was so very much in my element. We, naturally, went into the St. Mark's Basilica and, when we went in, the doors to the basilica proper were closed so, instead of opening them, we, like sheep, followed each other up this uneven mountain of stairs. Anywho, this led up into the basilica's museum, something I hadn't really been too bothered with going round. After climbing those hellish stairs we were going round that museum whether we wanted to or not!! And, frankly, I would recommend it heartily, if only because you get to see the amazing mosaics up close. The song books were also a highlight for me. The other church that made a huge impression was Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. It's a bit more out of the way but it's worth making an effort to see. I wanted to go because the altarpiece is one of Titian's and, to be honest, I was unaware of just how much art is in this building. It's exquisite. There are also some rather impressive monuments that are quite striking, the most well known being a monument to the sculptor Canova.

Came out the church to be greeted by this - sat and watched for a while.
Couldn't have planned it but what a perfect moment.

Other than churches, it's got to be said, I ate quite a lot and also spent quite a lot of time sat outside restaurants having a drink and people watching. Both my mother and I really enjoy sitting down and watching the world go by. You learn so much that way.

I also ended up meeting up with quite a few people out there. Seriously, I had more of a social life in Venice than I do back home - what is this madness? It seems that half of my university had taken a trip to the city at the same time and also, against the odds, we bumped into each other on Murano one day. I was also lucky enough to meet up with the lovely Fietje for dinner which was delightful... although the food wasn't the best and the waiter was, quite seriously, the most miserable soul I've ever come across. I tried so hard to make him smile but I failed in my attempts!

And the other person I met up with was Jacopo who quite literally turned up in the city on the first evening I arrived even though he couldn't be sure I'd know he was there because I didn't have internet. Luckily, I did pick up his message and, unluckily for him, he had to socialise with an extremely tired from traveling me! He was also so kind and saw us off at the airport. Highlight of meeting up with him, other than the fact he's a lovely chap for sure, has to be that moment where he led us over a bridge that led to a block end accidentally and, in his annoyance/embarrassment/I don't know, threw sat himself down on said bridge. And this is where the stereotypes about those southern Europeans come from, you know! Yep, I know he'll read this and I am actively teasing him right now... should probably stop! But it's so much fun!! Anyway, you can read his version of events over on his blog here, scroll down for English.... he's probably been mean about me in the Italian part knowing I can't read that ;-)

With Jacopo on the first evening in the city, featuring tourists walking in sync

I am certainly going back to Venice in the not so distant future as there is so much I want to see there. I also want to go to a few of the other cities in the vicinity so it would be nice to book out a longer trip. Trying to talk Dania and Leonoor into going with me next year and, frankly, I don't think they need much convincing. If only it wasn't so expensive!

As a bit of an aside, I ended up having a paper on Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice due just after my return so I did bits on it while I was out in Venice. I was writing, mainly, about the significance of rings in the text. I left my own ring in my hotel room. You have no idea how much struggle it was to get that ring back but seriously, I had to laugh about it!

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So, as you may recall, upon my return, I was supposed to go to see the Bosch exhibition. Well, I got struck down with the flu and that was not going to happen so I missed out. I am seriously disappointed. However, there was some bright side in that the hotel I had booked for the night before due to having such an early slot at the museum cancelled the room without charging me despite my only being able to let them know on the day of arrival and them having a 'no free cancellation policy'. And, actually, kindness was the theme of this fluey time. Thijs went and got me food and juice because I had literally nothing. Fatiya dropped me round readings I'd missed and was a complete gem as we were supposed to be preparing to lead a class together and I was messing her around so much. Other people sent me through notes without my asking them. People sent me messages asking how I was. I felt so loved. And physically a wreck but, y'know, like a loved wreck. So thank you people for looking after me <3

I also had exams and papers due during that time and somehow managed to get them all in before the deadline. More surprisingly, those that have been graded actually have high marks - higher than usual despite the fact I was writing with a candyfloss brain. I genuinely would have expected to get lower grades considering I couldn't study or think straight. What is this backwardness? Anyway, I now only have three roundtables (one of which is a paper defense - eep!) and then this semester is done and onto German. The less said about that the better. I'm so nervous I cannot put it into words.

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However, the lightening of the work load has meant that I can socialise a bit more and that means my favourite thing: Museum exploration with Dania!

Sunday, we went to the Rijksmuseum to see their Catwalk exhibition which was closing that day. As the name may suggest, this was a fashion exhibition and we'd wanted to go for some time. I have to say, it was well worth getting up early for. There was a really nice range of pieces on display and, importantly, the curation was exceptional. My particular favourite was a room with a conveyor belt (think airport baggage collection just prettier) on which manikins wearing different costumes slowly rotated in a catwalk type fashion. There were chairs where you could sit and watch the 'show' and a book attached to each chair explaining the significance of each piece. There was a seriously snazzy pair of pyjamas made to look like an evening dress too... I might have got some ideas! The highlight of the exhibition was the widest mantua in the Netherlands (over two metres wide) and there was a cardboard cut out in the lobby so, you know.... Dania forced me ;-)

I seem to be missing a neck....

And then today we caught the Spanish Master's exhibition at The Hermitage. Again, we'd planned to see this one since before it opened and, again, we caught it just as it was closing (although it's there until Sunday so if you get a moment then it's worth popping to). I wasn't so interested in this one because I've never really go that into a lot of the Spanish artists. That said, I'm really pleased I went. I actually saw a few paintings, and a few styles, that really did catch my eye and my imagination. Perhaps I need to do a bit more research into the area's art history. The other thing that I really liked about this exhibition is the fact that it was set to music. As opposed to having information given over the audioguide you had a different song/tune play that was supposed to evoke the feelings of the pieces in that area. It made it a very special experience and I kinda want the CD (while I don't think there is a CD you can listen to the music here)

Post exhibition selfie, as always!

While I've had a great time at both museums, I don't think I'm going to go to any more for a while. I fell down stairs in the Rijksmuseum and broke the exit gate at the Hermitage. Am I clumsy, cursed, or is someone trying to tell me something? ;-)

Okay, okay, procrastination over. I will get back to working on my stuff for the next two days. On the bright side, I'm definitely going to Keltfest - there's a light at the end of the tunnel!

Oh look, another smush post!

Featuring: University blegh (as always), a bit about Venice and a touch of Bosch.

As you may well have garnered from the title, this is going to be one of those all over the place, rambling posts whereby I say vaguely what's been going on without the use of (m)any pictures... and we all know that's the interesting bit! Anyway, I'll try to keep it short!

The last few weeks have been completely and utterly insane in terms of workload. I've struggled quite a bit to keep on top of things and, so far, have managed. I'm also trying to get ahead - and managing thus far - because next week I'm going away and I refuse to do any work during that time! I submitted three essays in two days over the weekend and have another three to submit before the end of the week. It's a self imposed deadline but one I really want to stick to. Of course, I'm sat here typing instead of being all academic and stuff! Then, after spring break I have a few exam icks to get through but, other than that, I will just have to focus on reading the set texts for classes. Hopefully, this will give me a few weeks where I can obsessively study for the German intensive in June because, frankly, I am terrified about it. Emphasis there to show that I am in no way exaggerating my genuine feelings.

That said, before I go on to face the terrors that late May and June may hold I have the wonders of next week which is spring break. So excited.

So, for my vaguely significant birthday last year my mother decided to impulse book me a trip to Venice. Seriously. Anyway, almost a year after booking, the trip has finally rolled around and I'm going to be off there next week (with the mother, of course). I actually visited Venice a few years ago - okay, when I was about 12 so more than a few years ago - but, since starting to study art history, I've really wanted to return and see it all again 'knowing' what I'm seeing. And yes, I may well dig a few old photos out over the next couple of blog posts. My camera was really poor then so the photos are grainy but it's amazing how much of a "Muuuuuuum... do I really have to pose on this bridge/by this piece of architecture/with this food?" feeling I give off even at that tender age!! You also start to realise where I got my "You will pose for this photo" outlook from ;-)

Prizes to anyone who realises that I still own and wear that roll neck top!

Anyway, the past aside, I'm not going to upload photos to Facebook/write blog posts until I get back and, even then, I would expect some delay because of general life chaos. I'll try to upload a couple of decent shots to my Instagram while I'm out there and keep Snapchat updated with silly/food photos WiFi permitting. I'm aware that I'm going somewhere a few of my friends wanted to go so I have to rub it in keep them in the loop  ;-)

And then, when I get back to the Netherlands I am going to catch the amazing Bosch exhibition. Super excited because he is seriously one of my favourite artists and I really had to fight to get tickets - they kept selling out. Going to be exhausted by the end of the week but I am going to have so many amazing new memories so no complaints... and a lot of scrapbooking to do, no doubt!

So, until then!



If you are wanting to stalk me in Venice or just socialise generally through the visual medium then my username on both Snapchat and Instagram is oiahavanah

I didn't want a relaxing summer anyway!!

It's all getting a little too real now! The other night I finally sat down and booked all the flights for my teaching thing in the summer.

Other than insurance they're the only part of the course that I have to fund but trust me, they were still quite the investment. But investment is the right word because, not only am I getting to learn new skills, but I'm getting to travel.

Actually, I'm going to be joined by my mother for a fair bit of this summer's travels. I managed to talk her into coming to Budapest for a few days after my placement there ends. She's wanted to revisit but various factors have meant she couldn't so this time I worked extra hard at convincing her. I also managed to talk her into coming to Castlefest again - something she enjoys but was thinking about not doing. And then she wanted to visit Krakow, where I have my final placement, so we're going to do a bit of touristing beforehand. And that's without mentioning our trip to Venice in about a month which is my belated birthday celebration.

I am super pleased that I get to travel with my mother again because it's been way too long. However, to be honest, I'm also pleased for another reason. I was absolutely terrified about traveling alone. I've traveled since before I can remember but the idea of going to a brand new place all alone and exploring solo... I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet. 

So, the long and short of it is, this summer is going to be quite the adventure!

Also, if you're wanting to meet up with me when I'm in England you should probably write to me sooner rather than later because I'm only there for a couple of weeks this time.

Who says university holidays are for relaxing? ;-)

Not for facebook

Easter in England

It's been a while so, as you can imagine, this post is likely to be a bit of a mixed bundle. In short, I've been super busy with deadlines and, therefore, have been avoiding anything unrelated. I've actually been in England for the last week too so every moment that isn't university related has been spent with family or friends. Or sleeping. Or in the bath. I really hate showers. Anyway, that aside!

The other day I managed to go to another gig. I'd wanted to catch Tracer when they played in the Netherlands but, sadly, the venue was really tricky to get back from (and Thijs was boring and wouldn't go with me!) so I figured I'd have to give them a miss. Then I saw they were playing Exeter - the area I grew up in - on Good Friday when I would just so happen to be in the country. I somehow bullied my best friend into coming with me despite not knowing them.

I had planned on meeting up with Aimee a fair bit before hand and we had both planned individually (although we never discussed it!) to get cocktails before the show. Annoyingly, I spent the entire day stuck in traffic and was super, super late. Seriously, you fly over from Amsterdam and it's the journey through Bristol that causes issues! That aside, I think we had an awesome evening!

So, my usual ramblings about the music...

The first warm up was actually a band that I'd stumbled across a couple of weeks ago (max) and been pretty much chain listening to since, Everyday Circus. They're quite a new band from Germany and their music has a really beautiful rock sound. It's got that edge that makes it stand out. I found out that they were supporting Tracer early on Thursday morning - coincidences do happen! They didn't let down with their live performance either and I will certainly be keeping an eye on further concerts. I will talk more about them in a moment.

#Exeter! You guys were awesome ❤️now #offto #aufnach #southampton #talkingheads #wftdtour it's gonna be the last show of...
Posted by Everyday Circus on Saturday, 26 March 2016

The second warm up - the band that I thought was the only warm up until a couple of days before - was Federal Charm. I'd had a quick listen to their music before seeing them, as I always try to, and I'd liked it well enough but I was generally underwhelmed. There was nothing that really caught my attention. However, live... oh my goodness what a show! There was a great energy, the music was great the musicians super talented and it was generally good fun... I've yet to try re-listening to the CDs - maybe I just wasn't in the right mindset when I tried before. Either way, I loved their set and would see them again without a moment's doubt.

Exeter thanks for making our 3rd visit to your kind city amazing. You were unbelievable tonight. We hope to see all you...
Posted by Federal Charm on Friday, 25 March 2016

And then on to Tracer - the reason I went to the show. Unsurprisingly, they were quite wonderful. You know a band is high energy when the front row moves several feet back from the front of the stage during the first song in order to ensure they don't get hit over the head with a bass guitar neck! I'm pretty sure I've already commented on the fact that Tracer is made up of very talented musicians who also happen to be lovely people, from the little I've spoken to them, so I won't go into that here. It was, as I've mentioned, Aimee's first time seeing the band and she was singing along by the end so I think that went pretty well. 

http://www.bjwok.com

Posted by Tracer on Saturday, 26 March 2016

As you can probably tell from the above, I didn't take photos myself but if you go onto the band facebooks (links below) there are photos... I look bored in most of them which I assure you was not the case!!

Meeting Tracer after the Show

After the show I went to get my scrapbook paintings signed. To start with, as usual, I only did one for the band I had booked to see (i.e. Tracer) but, after finding out that they were doing warm up, I had stayed up late to do one for Everyday Circus. Lucky I realised they were playing before turning up really! Anyway, it was so worth it because they were so sweet about the painting and, aside from that, they were lovely to talk with, polite as well as great musicians. It was a bit overwhelming for me though because, as I seem to say quite a lot nowadays, my scrapbook paintings are just little things I do for myself and when they get attention it's bizarre (in a lovely way).

Meeting Everyday Circus after the show

Yesterday, I was supposed to be at the Glastonbury Medieval Fayre but, with the weather being blooming miserable, I gave it a miss. It's a shame because I go each year but oh well. Instead I went out for a super meal. If you happen to be in the Exeter area then try The Blue Ball Inn - their food is so good, locally sourced and fresh. It's also a very reasonably priced for the quality.

After that it was the long drive back to Birmingham (where my parents live). We decided to do a bit of a scenic route through Cheddar Gorge. Seriously, that place amazes me no matter how often I see it. It's a shame how commercial it is around there though. Burrington Combe is just a bit further along and seems a little less touristy, although it is still popular.

And today I'm at my parent's house in Birmingham. I've booked flights for my next trip - this time to Venice - and I've drunk a fair amount of mead. The latter will account for any strangeness in this post! I'm now waiting for what promises to be a glorious meal to cook! Sadly, tomorrow it's back to The Netherlands and back to work.... that is, if Storm Katie doesn't cause my flight to be canceled!

And before someone comments on the above: I do really like The Netherlands, I just like my family, friends, not having to work/cook etc too ;-)


Oh and, before I forget, Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it! And to those who don't, happy Sunday anyway <3



Information on the bands:
Everyday Circus: Website, Facebook, YouTube
Federal Charm: Website, Facebook, YouTube
Tracer: Website, Facebook, YouTube

A Very, Very Happy Havanah

featuring daytime drinking, talk of deadlines, and good news!

As I type I am curled up in my fluffiest dressing gown nursing a cup of tea. Yes, I have multiple dressing gowns and I save this one, as the newest and the cuddliest, for the specialist of occasions. Okay, now I've hyped things up a bit too much but there we go, I couldn't resist.

In town today: Dania chooses to take selfies the
second I put a spoon of ice-cream in my mouth

So, over the last few months I've been trying to find a volunteer project/internship that I can work on in order to fulfill one of my graduation requirements. It's been really difficult because, ideally, it should link with my major and finding a placement that is English and relates to literature in the Netherlands is tricky. Finding a placement in the UK that will take you for just a month but full time, even harder. Volunteer work is more flexible because it doesn't have to fit in with your major but rather benefit the local and global community. The problem is, I didn't want to do something that I wasn't passionate about. I don't want to volunteer for a cause I don't agree, more likely, with or with a charity that I feel doesn't really prioritise the needs of its target group.

Anyway, you might recall me saying that I thought I had something up my sleeve in the last few posts and, I'll be quite honest with you right away, it came to nothing. The placement would have been great and would have fitted my degree perfectly. The organisation, however, was awful. Having asked me to fill in loads of different application forms (because they asked for the wrong ones to start with), spoken with me on the phone, collected references from me etc, and after weeks of waiting on a reply... they told me the role wasn't actually a real role - the website was wrong. They wanted me to go back to square one so they could "start to process my application". We're talking about two months on from when they should have started. Anyway, I gave up on that. It's not worth the stress.

A little disheartened, I trawled the internet for something else and, while I didn't really find anything promising, I did find something.

Visits to Hard Rock Café's are more
than justified in these situations.

To cut a very long story short, I applied for a teacher training program and for a scholarship too and, much to my surprise, I actually got offered it the other day. So, as of a couple of days ago, alongside my degree, I have been starting the process of language teacher training. I will also spend a lot of the summer in various observed placements in central Europe where I will teach children between the age of 12 and 19. I have to fund my own travel to the placements (so there are a few flights to book) but other than that all training and accommodation/board is funded. I'm completely overwhelmed and completely over the moon too. I feel like this is a real opportunity to get some practical qualification alongside my, lets face it, academic to the useless degree but fascinating nevertheless degree. I'm terrified but so excited.

The only person, other than my parents, who knew that I was applying for this was Dania. Each time I mentioned it to her she kept saying: "You should do this!" Even when I was in the process of applying and had no control over whether I was going to be accepted or not, she acted like it was my indecisiveness that was stopping it from being a certainty!! Her faith in me made me feel so confident and valued though <3

Naturally, Dania and I decided that we had to go out and celebrate today so, for the second time in my life it was gin cocktails for lunch. In all fairness, it was also a rather large meal and, several hours later, I am still completely full. The ice-cream on the way back was probably not so sensible either!

Anyway, I have already rambled on long enough and I have a delightful (note sarcasm) deadline for my academic writing course tonight so I should probably go and attack it! I'm actually done but that final proof read has to be thorough!

Celtic Woman: Destiny World Tour

To say that I was looking forward to this evening is a bit of an understatement.  I've listened to Celtic Woman for some time now and have tried to see them live a few times. However, as you may be aware, I seem to be jinxed with regard to certain bands and never get to see them. One day I will manage to see Dikanda live but I digress! The point is, it's not all that surprising that my string of bad luck continued as I woke up this morning with the cold that had been pretty annoying all weekend much worse... seriously, how are sinuses capable of causing so much pain?

But nothing was going to stop Wendy and me from getting to the centre of town to see Celtic Woman perform in the rather stunning Carré!

Celtic Woman is an Irish music group who play a kind of fusion folk music. Their style really seems to change from album to album, the latest album Destiny, seems rather poppy compared to some of the earlier recordings and this transferred to the stage. They also have a rotating line up of vocalists who, despite being all female, don't really have anything in common with each other vocally meaning that you get quite a different sound depending on the current line up.

At the moment, the group consists of vocalists Máiréad Carlin, Susan McFadden and Éabha McMahon as well as fiddle player Máiréad Nesbitt who is the only one who has, I think, been with the group since it formed. They are, of course, joined on stage by a group of wonderful musicians, who I am unable to name, as well as, for this tour, a four voice male choir.

From what I've seen, admittedly only on DVD, Celtic Woman concerts are always a bit theatrical. In this case we had a projection screen which was used quite nicely with images of countryside or subtle effects. The staging was quite simple with multiple levels which was also quite nice. That said, I do have to question some of the choreography and there were moments, quite a few moment, when the dancing reminded me of a cheesy boy band or when the movements seemed completely random, without purpose or effect.

But the important bit was the music, of course. As I said, the album Destiny breaks from some of the more folk led albums and this did translate into the show. That's not a bad thing at all but was quite interesting. While there were a few songs off of different albums (Amazing Grace, Danny Boy etc.) these were the minority.

The three female vocalists have lovely voices and, they have been really carefully balanced so that each voice brings something different to the group (*). This leads to a great balance as well as a diversity of interesting tone. That said, I could write quite the tome about Éabha's voice, in particular. At times it was aspirate and gentle, certainly full of character. However, especially when she was singing solo pieces, we were treated to what may well be one of the most beautiful voices... I cannot find a way to describe it without using such clichés as "molten" and "haunting" but you know something's special when the cliché's are true!

And I really cannot forget the musicians who are not included in the "Celtic Woman" name... I always find it a bit strange that the name refers to the vocalists and Máiréad but not the others but anyway! The band in general are pretty awesome. Ray Fean deserves a special mention as a wonderful percussionist and a skilled showman as does Anthony Byrne for his bagpipe playing. Okay, I might be a bit partial to the sound of bagpipes!

So, after several years of attempting to see them I finally managed and, I think it's fair to say that it was worth the wait. Now hopefully I won't have as long a wait until next time!


(*) The male vocalists also had great voices and they sounded wonderful but as a backing choir they did get less chance to shine!

Welcome to your semesterly "this is what I'm doing" post!

Yes, yes, it's that time again. The second semester of my second year at university has just begun and I have had a week of my courses... time for me to write down what they are so that when I casually reference them later it doesn't cause such confusion.

First off is my compulsory course Advanced Research Writing or, as it used to be known and therefore how it's still called by basically everyone, Academic English II. Advanced Research Writing continues from my first semester course of Academic English I (now called Intro to Research Writing or something) and in this course we prepare to write our capstone (Bachelor's Thesis). Basically, in practice, we spend the next few months writing an article and, in groups, creating a journal in which to 'publish' the articles. Okay, it doesn't sound as soul-destroying as Academic English I and, you know, it might actually be useful this time.

I'll be honest, I felt that Academic English I was a complete waste of space so my hopes were really not high for Academic English II. I signed up for the teacher I thought would be best at teaching it and, turning up on the day, it turned out that the class was being taken by someone else. I resigned myself to months of frustration. And then I kicked myself for being so judgmental. I actually really like the teacher, probably aided by the fact that she's not simply teaching the dry course but giving it a personal spin and therefore making it feel interesting and worthwhile.

My second course is Literature and Science. As the title may well suggest, this course looks at the interaction between literature and science throughout history. Well, it starts in the early modern period but, you know, that's still a fair chunk. So far, we've mainly focused on the disciplinary conflict between the academic subjects but we should move on to look at how the two fields intermingled and inspired each other... perhaps limited too, who knows.

This course is taught by three of my favourite teachers and, as they said, with a class of around 15 (give or take as people join or drop out) what other university course would ever offer that kind of teacher student ratio! Each specialises in a different time period of literature, and I believe a different area within literary studies too, so there's a real breadth and depth of knowledge being offered. I think the reading load may be quite intense for this subject but I suppose that's one of the drawbacks of majoring in literature!

Then we have my accidental course History and Heritage of the Dutch Golden Age. I think the title of the course sums this one up. It's a study of the Dutch Golden Age (17th century) and the different things that were going on and related to it. The course covers aspects from the economy to literature, art to religion and, quite frankly, it looks fascinating. I love taking a period of time and a place and then attempting to learn about 'everything' - it's an exciting approach to history, I find.

However, I did not initially sign up for this course. One of my courses was cancelled due, I believe, to the teacher being ill and this was what replaced my art history course. So far, I feel it was a very happy mistake. The teacher of History and Heritage of the Dutch Golden Age - I really need to find a shorter title for that one - seems absolutely lovely. He's got a great sense of humour, is engaging, and seems to be genuinely interested in, and know, his stuff. He's also open to changing the course around in order to fit the desires and interests of the students and, I think, open to learning from his students. It's a wonderful attribute for a teacher to have. Oh, and another funny thing, at the moment I am the only non-exchange student in the class... not quite sure how that happened!

Finally, I am taking Political Shakespeare, something that won't be surprising to a lot of you. Again, this title is exceptionally self explanatory. The course mainly focuses on reading Shakespeare's works within the (political) context of their society. There is also an aspect of looking at how they have been used in later societies and the meanings that the works have been given or picked up and that should be interesting. It's taught by the wonderful Rebecca and, considering how much I have sung her praises in the past, I won't go into how awesome she is at teaching here but it's still the case.

Actually, I'm also taking three external modules through a distance learning program this semester. They are not counted towards my degree and I'm trying to keep it a bit quiet from the university but I'm really excited about them. Two of those are Shakespeare based and one is history based but I'll say more about those when they start, perhaps. Seriously, if I get through the next semester without wanting to chuck my Shakespeare books out of the window then I can be pretty sure I'm applying for the right courses post BA ;-)

I think including a picture of my nail art of this
week is pretty fitting at this point.

Add to this mix the fact that I've still not heard anything about my internship and this next semester is going to be a pivotal one, I think! Very, very excited!!