Last week, I spent an abnormally large number of hours in the library, my closest companions being my laptop, some chocolate, a few friends from class, and an ever-growing stack of books analyzing sympathy and individualism in Jane Eyre. My nights were spent taking Excedrin and eating meals with my flatmates in an attempt to rejuvenate my mind. Come to find out, dinners prepared haphazardly that consist of cold canned tuna, green beans, and raw carrot sticks may be healthy, but they're definitely not satisfying. Imagine that! Ah, but the laughter bellowing from within us over those disappointing meals, that was refreshing.
Last Friday was my first legitimately stressful day at the University of Aberdeen! I say that with an immense amount of joy in my heart, as I miss the stress and strain of a hard day's work. I will fill you in quickly. My paper was due at one o'clock, and I have a two-hour tutorial at one. I arrived at the library a few minutes past twelve. I went to the seventh floor to search for a computer--none open. I proceeded to check five more floors until I finally found an open one, opened my document, and it was all out of format. So I spent a while fixing it, sent it to the printer, and waited in line to print. I reached the printer, and I was out of print credit. I retreated, found the credit topper in my student portal, paid by card, topped up, and reprinted. This time, a student in front of me needed to copy a ton of papers. When it wasn't working the way he wanted, he started pushing a lot of buttons until the printer broke. A man came over, spent a few minutes fixing the printer, and, by the time I got to print, it was quarter past one. I then sprinted across campus, saw my professor walking from Taylor with the stack of papers, and flagged her down, out of breath.
"Dr. Hutchinson, I'm so sorry I'm late to turn this in. I swear I had it done, but the printer was broken, no computers, it doesn't matter, I'm sorry, and it's here. It's done. Am I late? Is it too late?"
She smiled. "Oh, no worries, as long as it's turned in online. We just say to turn it in at one to scare the students into turning it in that same day."
Well. Relief, I guess. Anyway, I ran into my tutorial half an hour late, the doors slamming behind me, embarrassment written all over my face. I was humbled, and it was good.
Friday nights are our family dinner nights, so we ate a hearty meal of homemade pizza and salad at Matt's flat. I finished the night off with one too many glasses of wine and a good movie with the boys. The weather during the weekend was wonderful (although not as good as Michigan's, I'm sorry to say), so all day Sunday was spent along the riverbank in the sunshine with Matt, Andrew, and way too many dogs. I came home muddy and rosy, a perfect way to begin the week.
This past week was one of intense stress and exhaustion. I had another large essay due on Sir Walter Scott's Redgauntlet, and way too many hours were spent poring through books about historical fiction and what it really means in regards to Scottish history and literature. I went to Andrew's flat a few times just to escape from myself and enjoyed great conversation with him and his English flatmate Robert. By Friday morning, the paper was done, and the weekend was ahead of me. Finally.
Yesterday, Erik and Simon rented a five-person car (though there were six of us...that's an entirely different story) and we headed to Dufftown to tour Glenfiddich Distillery. It was really interesting to see the process that it goes through, though I'm not a lover of whisky. We spent a couple of hours there, grabbed some lunch in town, and then hiked for a bit through the woods. Today, we tried out a new church, I ate a delicious lunch of homemade stew with my French flatmate Alice, and now it's time to get cracking on the reading for the last big project I have until exams! Things are moving too quickly.
This Friday, I leave for my three-and-a-half week journey across Europe. I will be heading from Aberdeen to London to Barcelona with Andrew and Erik. I will spend five days in Spain, then head to Dublin and spend a week trekking across Ireland with Kayla and Natalia. We will then head to Paris for two days, meet up with Andrew and Matt, and head to Italy for the last remaining week where we will visit Venice, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, and Rome. Prayers are appreciated!
Thanks for reading! Stay with me! Philippians 1:3
No comments:
Post a Comment