Itchy Feet: 10/01/13

What’s black and white and red all over?

An embarrassed American student wearing black skinny jeans and a white scarf…

Yeah, not my best, but that’s basically what happened today on the first day of my Ethnic American Literature class. Up until this point, all of my classes have involved other Americans from my group (North Central College, Cazenovia College in NY, and Illinois State). But today I walked into a lecture hall full of British students, found a seat near the back, and tried desperately to blend in. When I finally did speak up during the class discussion, literally everyone turned around in the lecture hall to look at me. ~~I felt so cool and awesome. Go America!~~ I felt so awkward and weird.

Later, in the seminar portion of our class (FYI: “seminar” is when the class is broken down into smaller groups for more intimate discussion) the tutor was briefly giving some background info on the period of literature we will start studying this week. She wrote “the American Civil War” on the board and asked us what year it started. I swear I felt everyone’s eyes on me. The tutor must have noticed this because she said, “Now, don’t make Kristin answer this one all by herself.” Dear God when did the civil war happen oh man crap when did that even happen was it like 1822 or something shoooooot.

Thankfully, this moment of panic was relieved when the tutor said she actually didn’t know the exact date either, but she guessed around 1840. She kind of looked at me, as if to say “Is that right?” so I just sort of smiled confidently, like “You got it, sister.” That’s my go-to face. I make that face whenever I have no clue what someone is talking about (hopefully no one went home and googled the exact date). Hey, we were only twenty years off, okay? No biggie. I’m not an American History major, people.

In all seriousness, this class is going to be a good way for me to break out of my comfort zone and (hopefully) make some more British friends. Most of the students in this class are nineteen because this is a level 5 module – that’s the American equivalent of the 300-level course. There are a few older students, too, because some British students take a gap year. As I understand it, the gap year is essentially a year off (for work or independent study) in between A-levels and Uni.

I should also mention that this course lasts an entire year. Because of this, I will have to take the assessment before I leave, which means I will be missing out on a lot of material. On the plus side, my tutor seems super chill and she already knows me by name because I’m in another class with her. Aaaaaand we get to watch The Godfather for two days during lecture. I’m pretty okay with this.

All things considered, I think this is going to be a sweet term. Although I will say that I sometimes feel less important or less valuable because I’m only here for three months. Whenever tutors, friends, or fellow students ask me, “So, are you staying for the year, then?” I have to tell them that, unfortunately, I’m here for just three months. They usually respond by saying “Really? Only three months?” And then tutors will give me special instructions regarding assignments and say “Since you’re only here for three months anyway, you do this…” BUT GUYS I’M STILL HERE. Sounds childish of me to be picking up on this, I know. Yet I can’t help but feel slightly excluded. Oh, well. I would gladly stay longer if I had a say in the matter.