its still T-shirt weather, and reading on the beach weather, (in my books anyway) so I spent a few hours on the beach today after finishing work this morning.
all in all things are going well. I had my first day school on Friday which was really interesting, but also it was like sitting through a marathon seminar. By the end of the day I was somewhat mentally exhausted. When our tutor passed out a short article for us to read I was having a lot of trouble using my brain so late in the day.
This fall I am taking two courses which alternate week to week. Last week was the course called Mass Observation which is collection linked to a group of anthropological surrealists who organized themselves in the 1930s to create an 'athropology of our own people' in britain. (read the link if you want more details). Basically it is a movement that died out post world war two, but was reintroduced by the University in the 1980s and now continues to operate today.
On Friday I got to look through a box of directives (questionairre type mail outs) that were filled out by various British citizens in June of 1939. The questions were relating to class and race and it was just really thrilling to read people from the lower to upper classes going on about their class conciousness (many of whom seemed in complete denial).
One of the questions was about the use of slang words like 'chum, mate, and pal' and my favourite response was from a wealthy man who called himself 'an admitted snob' who conceeded to using those words, but clarified that he only used those words in joking - the joke being that he was the type of person who would use such lower class words.
given that there are thousands of boxes like this, I'm really excited to learn more about the archive and get to steer some of my own research into the surveys, diaries, photos, and other bits included in the stalls.
this week I'm preparing for my course which is more generally focused on the use and interpretation of all life history research materials. but boy do I have a lot of reading to do....
more reading that I have ever done in my life! Two make it worse I bought two very expensive books (45 and 55 pounds each) for my course, so I feel even more obliged to read non-stop because I feel as though I have to get my money's worth out of my costly supply of reading materials. I think i've spent over $400 canadian in books so far - but the good news is that as a post-grad student I can basically hoard library materials, which has helped on the budget - so that's a definite bonus.
anyway, that about all I want to update for now. I'm a bit worn out from reading all day and I am working at the hotel again tomorrow so I need to get to bed in decent time.
I'm sorry about falling behind in the photos - I have taken lots, but now that I am working out better ways to get the photos posted I'm finding that its a really overwhelming task to try and catch up on two weeks worth of posting... so hopefully I will sort it out soon. But to leave you with something here is a quick shot I took today with my books on the beach!!!!!
did I mention how much I love the seaside?
(not a sponsored product placement by dr. pepper, just happened to be my drink of choice with the chips I bought on the beach, one of which is hidden among the pebbles).- C
2 comments:
I can See the chip.
Good to hear from you.
sweeeet
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