First Day of Class

September 29th

I woke up at 7:45 to allow plenty of time before my 9:00 class.  Heiko, my apartment mate, had the same class as me so together we walked the 15 minutes to the political science college.  Our first class was "Relaciones Internacionales" a third year course taught by a young and motivated professor.  Her accent was very Andalucían and a little difficult to follow, but I felt that I kept up with the class and was even able to participate by answering a few of her questions.  She made it clear that she would not treat the foreign students any different from the Spanish students and rather encouraged us to become engaged with the material so as to improve our language comprehension.  

I went to try and find my second class and discovered that my schedule that I had registered with through the University of California was completely different from the one that was on display in the facultad.  The majority of my classes were in different rooms at different times.  I found my next class on the official schedule and ran back up stairs so I wouldn't be late.  This class was a "primer curso" or first year class, so all of the students were brand new to college.  

I supposedly had a break according to my incorrect schedule, so I went straight to the UC study center that is thankfully on the same street as the poli sci college.  There had been a mishap with the list of classes and those students who had registered in poli sci had used a schedule of classes from the previous semester.   I had to reregister for all of my classes but luckily I was able to still receive many of the ones I wanted.  Also, I was still able to secure Fridays off, something I weighed as important as I want an extra day for homework and travel.

My classes in the afternoon were also good.  Its interesting to see how large of an influence the United States and the English language have on all of the classes that I am taking.  The United States truly is a superpower and even on the first day, I was intrigued by how we are perceived by the rest of the world.  I've read, heard, and been exposed to a little of the "love-hate" relationship between Europe and the US, but this first day really opened my eyes to how much influence the United States has and how our actions and policies directly affect the rest of the world.

L'shana Tovah.  Tonight was Rosh Hashanah and I went over to my friend Elliot's house for a potluck dinner.  The other Jewish kids from my program came over and we ate a lot of apples and honey.