Busy first few days...

Whew. Student hosting is way more work than I thought. The yesterday started with me going to Buccleuch place where the SUISS office is. There was a pep in my step as I walked past the Meadows which were glistening in the morning sun. I let memory drive me, which has been perhaps one of the most exciting experiences, musing along the way about insignificant things, my feet pivoting at the right moments to guide the rest of me along the path. When I arrived at the office, I reunited with Nan, the administrator, and Julia and Konstantina, the directors (who were tutorial instructors three years ago). I soon found out some pretty bad news, however. The other member of the student host team was kept from entering the country by immigration. Apparently, the rules were changed, unbeknownst to the public at large, by the Home Office about 6 months ago, and the result is that she was not allowed to enter to do volunteer work for SUISS, which is designated as a charity organization. This explains some of the odd questions I received when I entered, and also makes me wonder at my own presence here. The long an the short of it is that SUISS may no longer be able to accept Non-EU residents as student-hosts anymore. Which stinks royally. I may be the last.

The result is that I have double the work to do. This will only be for two weeks hopefully. I was a little frustrated today, as what I really wanted to do was go out and see the other half of the city again, maybe even drop into Sandy Bells which is sure to have a live musician, but instead, I'll be showing a movie on "The Dead" by James Joyce. Ah.. the life I lead.

Karen commented recently and told me to leave no details out. Unfortunately, there are few details to share. Office work for the last two days, IT work at the library today because the staff bungled the registration process. I opted to skip the bus tour today since I've been on it already. Simon Greene was just as funny as ever, and refreshed me on a few historical details, but I figured having a few moments to myself would be a good thing.

This morning, I ran along Salisbury Crags at 6:30am. This, I hope, will be come my minimum daily routine. I promise, Rob, that I won't over exert. The elevation changes were a bit more than I was used to, but I paced myself. The cool crisp air was heavenly. In fact, a quote our lecturer shared summed up the weather exactly, though 95 years too early:

"The herbage was soaking with dew... It was a lovely morning, the sun still low, shining directly in our faces... a beautiful summer day, with promise of great heat... the sky above is clear blue, flecked with dazzling white islands of cloud" - Thurs, 3 July 1916

Speaking of the first lecture, it was fantastic. I can tell that these will be the highlights of my days here. Prof. Randall Stevenson gave a wonderful lecture outlining how the events of 1916, particularly those surrounding WWI, served to directly undermine and destabilize the medium of Language, creating out of it a more abstract understanding of the written word. It was a pretty compelling lecture, suggesting that the destabilization of language that we see in Modernism, the concentration on the inner experience as seen through stream of consciousness, is actually a result of "Picture Stories" (Film) as literature took refuge from a more powerful (and seemingly more trustworthy) storytelling medium (much as photography did to Modern Art). Modernists, by this argument, as a way of finding new territory to explore, intentionally detached meaning from language, founding the eventual move to deconstructionism, etc.

Pretty powerful stuff.

I'm experimenting with some new note taking software on my iPad. Soundnote is a pretty great app. I can record sound bites of lectures alongside actual digital notes. I'm hoping it will result in a much better method than the "random thoughts" note taking that I typically manage to accomplish.

The people in the program are great. The students are pretty interested in the coursework so far, and we have over 35+ countries represented by the total body of students. There is a really good mix of people. The Tutorial instructors are also very nice, and getting to know them over the next few weeks will be really nice.

Looking forward to tomorrow. I'm hoping that I'll get a little more free time, though.

Epic Fail: I tried to establish wireless access in my room with the router that I brought with me. After several thousand miles, the box fried after 5 min of use because I forgot to check the wattage allowances. Oops.