A Well Good Time

This past week has been well fun, as my flatmate Ez would say. (She would also say, "It's well sunny today," or, "This pasta I made tastes well bad." Or, if she felt like really confusing people, she might even say, "I like my steak well rare.")

Anyway! A fun week. My classes started on Tuesday, and I already have a lot of reading and writing to do, but most of it seems pretty fun. By next Friday I have to make up a synopsis of the screenplay or stage play I want to write for my final drama project, which is a little daunting. I'm really looking forward to that class a lot, though; it seems like it's going to be a real challenge. Plus we get to see our final projects performed in class by our classmates! So that'll be tight.

And I've been up to more fun than just going to classes, if you can believe it. Almost all of my nights here so far have involved sitting around the table drinking (mmm...cider...) and chatting and meeting really cool new people, either in the Union Pub on campus or in the kitchen with my flatmates and other friends. Last night my flat did a poker night, which was really fun. The drinking age in the UK is 18, so you'd think the university would be overrun with wasted first-years who are away from home and able to buy booze for the first time. But actually most people I've met have been pretty casual about drinking.

I'm guessing that's probably for a couple of reasons. First of all, American freshmen have to sneak around in order to drink, but that fun element of secrecy and stealth doesn't exist here in England. Also, the alcohol laws aren't really as simple as "legal at 18." You can't buy alcohol until you're 18, but you can have it in a restaurant with your parents when you're 16, and you can be served it in a private home as early as age 5. As far as I can tell this takes some of the excitement out of drinking: when you've been allowed to do it with your parents for a while, it's not such a huge deal when you can buy it on your own. Finally, the "normal" age of a first-year is 18, which is just barely legal, but in actuality a good number of first-years are a year or two older than that. Of the 8 first-years in my flat, I think only four are 18: two are 19, one is 20 and one is 21; and they're all starting as first-years for various reasons: a few took a gap year, and one changed his degree so he's starting university over. So these guys, having been able to buy booze for a while, are pretty mellow.

We've also had some really fun parties since I've been here. The best was the first International Students' Society party of the year, on Wednesday. The ISS rented out a club in Norwich for the night, and I had a lot of fun dancing and meeting loads of students, both international and domestic. (The ISS has a reputation for throwing great parties, so they attract people from abroad and home.) There's also a Quiz Night every week, and my friends and I went to the first one of the year. It was a special event for international students because we were the only ones on campus, and my team tied for first place, with 27 1/2 points. I won a killer tat of a flaming skull, so I put it on my hand and impressed people with it all week.

Anyway, tonight I'm hanging out with my friends in my flat again, and then tomorrow I'm going on a walking tour of Norwich, so I'll put up some pictures when I get back. And speaking of pictures, check out the photo slideshow on the left! Clicking on a picture will bring you to the gallery where you can see all of them. Night! : )