Mid-October Already!

So, it's mid-October already! Well, I suppose it's late October, but whatever. The last week hasn't been very exciting. Mostly I've been reading, which is not surprising considering academic history is pretty much only reading (even when doing research).

I do have to pick topics for my formative assessments (aka midterm essays that aren't graded). I've been thinking about a couple topics. For my public history class, I've been considering contested pasts, commemoration/memorials, and the role of historical narratives in the US. It would be kind of interesting, but I have to think about it a bit more first. As for my essay for my evolution and society class... I'm not sure. This week we are talking about evolution and religion, specifically the idea of a war between the two (side note: the "war" is imposed on history making the differences seem more rigid than they are). I'm kind of fascinated by the religiosity of early evolutionary (transitional) biology. This one wouldn't focus on the US. We'll see.

In other news: I've met/hung out with more people and am trying to be sociable. I'm still figuring out my banking situation... it's more complicated than I thought it would be... considering the amount of technology in the world and the general fluidity of capital. But whatevs... it'll get sorted eventually.

In other non-personal news: there is going to be (pretty sure) a strike on the 31st of October by the three unions associated with higher education (aka the university tutors and such). I won't really be affected because it's possible not all tutors are going to participate in the strike and, even if my tutors do participate, I don't have class on Thursday. The cool (is that the right sentiment?) part about this is that it is actually happening. I googled it and some of the "Oxford dons" are going to participate. Would this happen in the US? I don't know... I'm not sure it would. Does anybody know? But a national strike (including Wales) is... not unheard of in the US... but odd... at least for me to think about (in a current events context... historical strikes I know all about).

And lastly, the birds sign. I've seen a few black swans and they are terrifying. Like the birds of death or something... terrifying. But, every time I hear a duck quack, which is quite often, it makes me laugh because they sound like they are laughing.

If this picture is repeated I don't care.

Week 2

This week went really fast! It's incredible how quickly its gone.

Last Sunday, after church and lunch, I went to town again and met one of my friends. We walked around and then had... well, I suppose you could call it tea... except I had a decaf latte and cheesecake.

It was super delicious and like half my dinner.

On the way back to campus, we saw a hot air balloon. The colors were amazing and amazingly vivid.

Then on Monday, I went on a tour of the Minster with some people from my Public History class (for class). It was basically a field trip, before we really had started class.

So, yes another picture of Constantine. But, hey, it's cool. Also, there's a museum under the Minster (the Undercroft Museum) and you can pretty much stand where Constantine's soldiers decided he was emperor (I kinda freaked out... it was cool).

 This is the inside of the Minster, where people sit.

I took more pictures but they aren't very good. I'm probably going to go back at some point because I get in free.

Wednesday was my first day of actual class. It went really well. My first class only has four students so there's a lot of discussion time per person. I think I did well. Luckily Augie prepared me really well for that sort of environment. I'm not saying I was a rockstar, but I didn't sound stupid and I gave opinions. My second class went alright as well. It was interesting. At one point we touched on history in America and it was weird hearing ideas about American history from people decidedly not from America. The closest were the three Canadians. I think it will be interesting to see how this trend develops.

I spent most of the rest of my week reading. I've been to the library twice and it's a pretty long walk so I think I might try to find some other places to study (not that there's a shortage).

Thursday I walked to the King's Manor campus in town and then back by way of a bank and a grocery store, but I forgot my camera. So, here are some other random pictures!

This is part of the pond on campus and a building (I'm not sure which one).

This is the first building the university had, Heslington Hall. It's named after the village nearby. Its an old manor house.

 This is Wentworth College D block, where I live. It's a great view. This is from the bridge I can see from my room.

 This is a gate thing next to the Minster.

 This is a plaza-y type area behind the Minster. I'm not entirely sure how old the buildings are because they all look different even though they are connected.

And another picture of the Minster with Constantine. Just for fun!

Pictures and Update

I've got some pictures (as promised) and more stories from my first week.

So, first, a correction. There are not two kinds of geese here... there are four (yes, four... I didn't know there were even four kinds of geese).

Sunday night I went to church on campus and met the Catholic chaplain, who ministers to the Uni (one priest for the University, apparently the bishop thinks students are important), and afterwards went to pizza at the chaplaincy where I met another woman doing a MA in history (modern, fyi). I also learned they had free lunch all last week, which was nice.

Monday I had the official postgraduate (PG) induction. So that was... fun. I also did some other, relatively boring, stuff. That evening I went on a pub/bar crawl. It was OK. I went with 2 of my new friends. It would have been more fun but it was a Graduate Student Association event so there were a ton of people.

Tuesday was when my stuff actually started. I had an induction for all history taught masters students and then an induction for my program. Inductions are kind of like official welcomes. That evening There was a welcome to the Humanities Research Centre. Its like a PG base in the middle of campus.

Wednesday I started my classes. We are on a 10 week term. This week was what I would call "syllabus day"-- we just went over how the class will work, the type of readings, and such. Wednesday evening I went on a Ghost Walk in town. It was fun and really entertaining. Plus I got to see the Minster, although it was dark.

Thursday I had my other briefing, although my class will be on Wednesday. There was reception for the Humanities Research Centre in the evening. Then I had a block meeting (where I live).

Yesterday (Friday) I read then went to a reception for history PGs. Yes, read as in homework.

Today I went into town with one of my new friends. So the rest will be pictures, some from last weekend, some from today.

 

This is my stuff in MSP, before I had to transfer flights.

This is my stuff as I wait for the bus at the Manchester airport.

 They have at least four of these signs around campus. I have yet to see most of them.

This is Wentworth College Block D, where I live. I'm on the ground floor facing the lake.

This is the church where Guy Fawkes was baptized. It is literally feet from the Minster.

York Minster. It is huge, so I have multiple pictures of parts of it.

The front of the Minster.

This is a pothole in cobblestones.

The statue of Constantine in front of the Minster.

 Constantine and me-- my friend told me not to look so excited... I was like, um no, this is sweet.

Another picture of Constantine lounging.

I do have more pictures, but they are pretty much of the same stuff. As time goes on, I'll have more!

There you have it folks! One week down... somewhere around 49 to go!

York: Travel and Day 1

I made it to York! Woohoo! but not without some difficulties.

I left home the morning of the 27th. Everything was going well until my flight to Chicago was delayed. Luckily, the American Airlines people were helpful and they transferred me to a Delta flight that actually left before the flight I was supposed to be on (and Delta goes to Chicago from MSP like twice an hour). I had to go practically across the whole airport but I got there with like 15 minutes to spare. That flight tied for shortest flight I've had--47 minutes. Then, in Chicago, because the airport is HUGE, I got to walk through like half of it. I got there with plenty of time to spare... and then we were delayed. When we were supposed to start boarding, the plane wasn't even a the gate; it was just coming from the hangar (yes, it was late from the HANGAR). And when it eventually got to the gate, there was a mechanical problem. We boarded and left the gate an hour after we were supposed to be gone, and we took off and hour and a half late.

After all that, I made it to Manchester. From the airport, I got on a bus provided by the university. That bus dropped me (and others) off in a parking lot to catch a van to Wentworth College. I got checked in and all that. Finally, I was in my room.

After I unpacked a bit and figured out my internet, I went to the "free store" to get some dishes and hangers. I unpacked some more and then went on a campus tour (which didn't make a whole lot of sense). Last night the Graduate Student Association (GSA) did a karaoke event. I went by myself but after a while, a girl sat down at my table and we discovered we are in the same program (YAY). We were joined by a woman doing a Phd in politics and then later by a guy from Germany I had met earlier on the tour (he's only here for a semester).

This morning I walked around to see if I could figure out were stuff is, which I can. I also saw a ton of geese... like I'm pretty sure there are two kinds of geese here. I took some pictures too, which I will put up later.

Reflections on the Navy Yard

As most of you know, when I was in DC, I worked at the Navy Yard in the History and Heritage Command with the Photo Curator. Yesterday, the news of a shooting at the base where I worked was strange. I walked right where all the reporters were and I know most of the buildings (kinda) that they were talking about.

In my 7 hours of CNN, everything was familiar. Given, I was in Building 44/108 and the shooting was in Building 197. But, there's only four blocks between the two. They were talking about base police: the people who checked my ID. Even the front of the Department of Transportation was familiar.

Sadly, tragedies like this one have become too much a part of life in this country (even this was not the first mass shooting at a military installation). But, this is the first one in a place I have been--and not for an insignificant amount of time. Like many people, I suppose, I felt safe there. The security was good (I needed a pass that was checked everyday) but it wasn't the most secure place. As occurred yesterday, anyone with a pass is pretty much let into the Yard. I fear one fall out is going to be increased security at the Yard. While that would be, I suppose, a good thing, I cannot help but think that will not solve the overall problem.

What I see as the root of the problem is societal, and isn't even one problem. I'm not sure about the individual who did the shooting, and I don't want to speculate about him. But, one of the problems is the access to guns in this country. That the rifle he used (and that has been used in numerous mass shootings in the past few years) was even available to civilians, seems crazy to me. Why would anyone need that kind of gun? I don't buy the argument that only people with guns can stop other people with guns. The "Right to Bear Arms" in the 2nd Amendment... also confuses me.

(I am now going to slip into historian mode. Sorry, not sorry.)

The 2nd Amendment reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." (from http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html)

Obviously, the meaning is not clear... considering there are 3 commas... BUT in looking at the historical context of this sentence (aka what a "Militia" was, what was meant by "a free State," and what "Arms" were), I think we can clear the confusion, at least a little.

First: "A well regulated Militia": A Militia is composed of, basically, civilians to supplement the army in an emergency (paraphrased from my desktop dictionary). Militias were very important during the Revolutionary War, before the colonies could actually form an army. Militias are volunteers... what I would now consider the National Guard. (I looked up the National Guard on Wikipedia... sue me). (Another quick side note: until World War I, the entire armed forces in the US was voluntary but state Militias and the National Reserves existed.) So, we still have "a well regulated Militia"... at least how I understand it.

So, if we substitute "a National Guard" for "A well regulated Militia", we get "A National Guard, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Moving next to "a free State."

"A free State"... uh... I would think that would be obvious... but lets just say a "free State" is one that upholds the Constitution, or, you know, the one we have.

Now for the "Arms" concept. The American Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791. I think we can all agree "Arms" have undergone massive shifts in the last 222 years. I'm not an arms expert, something I am proud of, so I won't try to go into details. I will clear up my ideas in a second, promise.

 Now, I've already put National Guard in for Militia. The phrase "being necessary to the security of a free State" now refers to the Militia. So, to ensure the future of the State, a Militia is required. OK, so we need volunteers who will be civilians except for during emergencies. Now we get "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms." The militiamen of the late 18th century had muskets and, as I understand, access to additional weapons at a local armory. I am not entirely sure what this means in the current context, but I think I am making progress in understanding what it meant in 1790.

So, if we say that "the people" of the "bear Arms" section are the people of the Militia, then the 2nd Amendment affirms the need for a voluntary military force (that will only be a military force in an emergency), the need for that force to be armed, and the importance of that force to the continuation of the State.

This has been a long explanation for something, I see as, relatively simple. If you hadn't guessed by now, I'm for regulation of guns. But not just because I think it's stupid for regular people to have assault rifles, also because I understand the context in which the 2nd Amendment was written.

[Three things:
One: when I started, I was just going to quickly say how tragic it is that another mass shooting has occurred and how strange it is to actually know the place it happened.

Two: I am sorry this was long. But I am not sorry if you don't care about history. Like anything, this is my opinion, so I also don't particularly care if you disagree with my interpretation of the history or my conclusions. I am sorry if this sounded preachy... I am simply tired of people making arguments based on simple readings of history or disregarding history in general. Something I believe in, and am trying to be better at, is seeing things complexly--ideas, situations, people... nouns.

Three: I will probably do an actual update soon]

Travel Book Humor

So, I have an actual update as well... which I suppose I'll put at the end. But first, something amusing.

One night last week, I couldn't sleep. The only book I had in my room (that I wanted to read... obviously I have more than one book in my room... haha I have like a hundred) was Rick Steves' Great Britain 2013. So, I read that... well, parts of it... mostly the history sections. While, I was reading, I noticed some funny... sections.

In no particular order:
The "British-Yankee Vocabulary" section:
           "Bob's your uncle--there you go (with a shrug), naturally" um... really? Why do I feel like that is like saying "yeah, sure, you bet'cha"?
         "Joe Bloggs- John Q. Public" John Smith?
          "Scouser- a person from Liverpool" sure, why not?
           There are other ones... and some I know... but yeah... I hope to see if people actually use the stuff that's in here.

The "Great Britain: Past and Present" section: (yay history)
         Right away, at the end of the first paragraph (in a parenthetical): "Generally speaking, the nice and bad stories guides tell are not true...and the boring ones are." I don't really believe this... some of the true stories are boring... but occasionally history hands you a story so outrageous you think it's made up but it's not, which is why I love history.
        Another parenthetical, in relation to Henry VIII: "To keep track of each one's fate, British kids learn this rhyme: "Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived."
         The next amusing bit is in a picture... in a diagram of "Typical Castle Architecture," there is a labeled picture of a dragon.

The "Wales" section contains some gems... mostly in the pronunciation of Welsh places.
          There is a "Speaking Welsh" section, including "Good-bye:" in Welsh is "Hwyl" pronounced "hoo-il." Yes. I know, what? But, seeing as I will not actually be in Wales, unless I visit, I'm not going to be worried about actually making sense of this.
          There is a place in Beaumaris nicknamed: Llanfairpwll. Real name "(no kidding)": Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch and it is "the second-longest place name in the world"... which begs the question, what's the longest?

The "Scotland" section points out that Scotland has weather similar to MN: "four seasons in one day."
         Also that Scottish Gaelic is pronounced "gallic" instead of "gaylic" as they pronounce it in Ireland... because.

Lastly, the York section.
        Fun fact: the Vikings controlled the city from the 9th century until the 11th century and was "a Danish trading center called Jorvik."
        By the time of Henry VIII (and the inception of the Anglican Church), York was "England's second city." Now, the Archbishop of York is "second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury" (The York bishop is "Primate of England" and the Canterbury bishop is "Primate of All England"... to which, I asked, how different are those?)
        "During World War II, Hitler chose to bomb York by picking the city out of a travel guidebook (not this one)." Note to self: when bombing countries in an attempt to dominate the world, pick targets out of a guidebook.
         "(In York, a 'bar' is a gate and a 'gate' is a street. Blame the Vikings.)" Oh parenthetical... how I love you.
         Apparently, the Kit Kat was created in York.

So, that's it for guidebook entertainment. Now for an update.

I know what classes I am taking. My two mandatory courses are "Meanings and Values in Public History" and "Research Dissertation" (skills and stuff). My optional course is "Evolution and Society, c. 1800-1945," the one I wanted. I'm sure I'll be posting more about what each of those things are, but in the mean time, if you want to know what I know, just ask!

I know some other scheduling stuff--mostly stuff the Graduate Student Association (GSA) is doing, which is nice. Also when/where my visa registration is, when campus tours are, when there is a bus to a grocery store, and activities put on by the GSA/ International Student Association.

From the GSA Facebook page, I know one of the people living in my same block/flat (know of... wissen in German, not kennen). I also know some other helpful stuff.

Ok, this is long enough. Just under three weeks!

Logistics

Since my last post, I have finished a lot of logistical stuff.

I got the paperwork on my loan-- actual mail from England.

I got my visa! And uploaded a copy to York. Once I get there, I have to present it to them (so they can photocopy it I presume). That was pretty exciting :)

Yesterday, I booked my plane ticket. So now I am actually leaving. Like I have a time and stuff. I'm leaving 27 September from MSP around 3. After a stop in Chicago, I will get to Manchester, England, around 8am on 28 September. Yay! After that, I have booked a spot on a shuttle thingy from Manchester to York.

I also sent a form to the postgraduate history department adviser for what classes I would like to take for my optional modules in fall and spring. He is out of the office until 2 September so I won't know really what class I'm taking until after that. Two of my three are mandatory, the third is optional.

Now all I need is luggage, to pack, figure out a cell phone, money, and all the little things  that never seem like you need to pay attention to until... well, now.

Just over a month till I leave!