class with Snooki

Yesterday was the first day of classes and it was quite interesting to say the least. From the beginning USC warned us that American and British universities (they call them “unis”) differ in many ways, but it wasn’t until I got here that I fully realized what that meant.

They do paper registration. Even though half the information needed to register is online, we still had to write down the courses we wanted to be in and get it approved in person. It took us a full day of orientation to get everyone’s classes sorted out when it could have taken 15 minutes online. And after all that I still don’t have my confirmed schedule.

People also talk [loudly] during class. A girl with a massive Snooki poof sat behind me with another girl and a guy who would not stop talking. This was slightly ironic because when we broke up into small group discussion he didn’t say anything. It was also weird that the professor just kept on lecturing without calling the whole blabbing bunch out.

There are some other subtle differences I am not going to note because my explanation would make me seem more arrogant and snobbish than I already sound. And although this laidback attitude might be a welcome change for some American college students, I thrive on order. When things get chaotic I get stressed, but maybe I should just do as the Brits do this semester and adopt a laissez faire attitude. I'm half way there because I've accepted that how and when things happen are out of my control and there is no point wasting energy on it, but I have no problem putting energy into sending fiery death-glares to eradicate this talking during class thing.