Late to the First Day of Gothic Literature…oops.

Today was actually the first day of enrollment and classes. Pretty exciting stuff! Unfortunately, study abroad students did not have the option to enroll online so we had to enroll on paper and in person. As expected, there was a line queue in front of registration and we were all impatiently waiting in line. While I waited in line for about an hour, I met three very nice girls from France, Italy, and Turkey. Talk about diversity on the first day! They were all fascinated about American culture and in particular, Texan culture. I explained to them that Texas, the 2nd largest state in the U.S., is extremely different depending on what region you live in – the climate, the food, the people, you name it. I told them that Dallas is in one-word awesome and felt a slight pang of homesickness just for a moment…

Anyway, after receiving my student ID card, I looked at my watch and realized I had only 5 minutes before my first class. I entered Bancroft Building and walked into an empty classroom. This was just weird. I thought the Brits were known to be punctual?

It turns out that I was actually supposed to go to the Bancroft ROAD Teaching Building. This was all incredibly confusing because the supposedly handy map had labeled the building I was supposed to go to simply as Bancroft Building. Like a confused and teary-eyed freshman (not really) on a new college campus, I asked for directions from a kind stranger. I finally found the place and walked in 25 minutes late to my first class. The class I was especially excited to take. GOTHIC LITERATURE. Well, the entire title is “Terror, Transgression and Astonishment: the Gothic in the Long Nineteenth Century.” Please tell me that the title alone does not tickle your brain.

The lecturer discussed Henry Fuseli’s The Nightmare and pointed out the strange placement of the night mare (see creepy horse in top left corner) peering over the woman who is clearly experiencing a nightmare. Funny pun, no? Haha.

Henry Fuseli’s The Nightmare

All in all, the first day of lecture and seminar went fairly well. I can tell I am going to LOVE this Gothic Lit. class. I checked out the reading list and I can’t wait to start reading. I’m a proud nerd and not afraid to admit it!

After all that craziness, I went on a lovely boat tour of London. I tried taking lots of pictures of Big Ben, the Tower Bridge, and that bridge that collapsed in Harry Potter aka the Millennium Bridge. That being said, the boat was a bit rocky and so some of the photos were not ideal. I’ll post up a few so you can see a glimpse of the beautiful London night scene.