Returning From Spring Break

The first day back from spring break was good but also very long. I was very excited to be back in London and to be a student again. I actually did not realise how much I missed London and my friends until I got back. I was so happy to go to my British Life and Cultures class because I knew I was going to be able to see some of my friends. For this class, we met up at the British Museum. The museum was actually very interesting. I did enjoy being able to see all the artefacts that they held. What was most interesting was seeing pieces from the Acropolis in London. I thought it was a crazy coincidence that I had just gone to Athens and visited the Acropolis only to come back to London and see pieces of it here. Additionally, I found everything I got to see in the museum to be very interesting. One thing that did make it hard for me to enjoy was our tour guide. I did not realise how crucial it is to have a tour guide that is energetic about what they are presenting on. As much as I appreciated all of the information that our guide was giving us, it was hard to stay attentive to what he was saying. He spent about 10 to 20 minutes on each piece which meant we didn’t really get to see a lot. I was interested in what he was saying for a couple of minutes but began to zone out after the five minute mark. I did feel bad that I was struggling to pay attention to him but it was difficult to do so when his voice was so monotone. One thing we did discuss was whether the whole museum was ethical or not. The British museum was created to educate people about different parts of the world. This does however mean that it has things that were taken from other countries. I personally am conflicted on the whole thing. I understand that some of these pieces were taken in order to preserve them but I am not comfortable with the idea of taking thigns that may have cultural significance to others. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the pieces that we were able to see before I had to leave to get to another class.

After our visit to the museum I had my first internship class. This class is also once a week where we meet to discuss our internships and things that relate to it. I was a little nervous for this class just because I was not really sure what to expect and because I also did not know who my professor was. I was happy that this class was shorter than my other classes as it is only 90 minutes long. After attending the first session, I was happy to find out that my professor is actually very chill and cool. I had heard that this class was going to be hard but he made it very clear that he wanted to make it as smooth and easy as possible. That made me feel a lot more relaxed which I appreciated. The class was short and we mainly spoke about our anxieties that we had about beginning our new internships. I spoke about how I was nervous about getting to my job and figuring out what I was going to do for lunch. In my own experience, I have worked many different jobs that has allowed me to get used to meeting new people and learning new tasks. Because of those experiences I was not really nervous about having to meet new people. Unfortunately, one consistent anxiety that I have had for years is having to figure out where I am eating my lunch. I don’t know why but it is probably the one thing that I am always worried about. Fortunately and unfortunately for me I was not able to start my internship this week because they were not prepared for me to come in yet.

As I don’t think I have mentioned it before, I am interning at a charity called LGBT Hero. They are a charity that provide information and guides for LGBT people regarding mental and sexual health as well as information on sexuality. I am not sure what I am going to be doing yet but I wont find out till next week. Until then I am spending the week getting a head start on homework. At the end of the week, representatives from my university came to visit us and they took us on a day trip to Oxford. We arrived pretty early and got split up into groups and were given tours. I actually enjoyed it a lot. We walked through some of the schools there and were able to see what they looked like on the inside. We were able to visit bookstores and other locally owned shops. I wanted to get a momento and got myself a hat with the school name. Despite not being able to go into work this week, I still enjoyed what I got to do and am looking forward to starting next week!