Well the past week has been fairly normal. I finally feel like things are settling down, and I am getting into the the daily grind of school work and chores. I have been loving my courses so far and I think I prefer the university system over here compared to back home. Get ready for a culture lesson here!

First off, the education system is different starting from the very beginning. First there is reception, which I suppose we would call kindergarten, and that starts at the age of four of five. From there you have 6 years of primary, what we would call elementary school. When you leave elementary you are eleven or twelve, and here you begin high school, which is 5 years. This means you leave high school at 16 and start college, a two year school between high school and university. This has been one of the most confusing things for both the American and U.K students, because to the Americans College and University are pretty much interchangeable terms, but in the U.k they are totally different  levels of schooling.

Another interesting difference is that in year 10 (age 14) the students here begin to take more specialized courses, dropping the ones that they don’t believe they want to work with as a future career. By the time students reach Uni, they courses are highly specialized and one only takes courses in their field of study. This is part of the reason why Uni here is only three years- there is no such thing as general education courses. Personally I like this idea, although I am not sure how I feel about starting to make people as young as 14 decide what they are going to do with their lives. I’m 20 and frankly still unsure!
Whew, that was a lot to get through,and hopefully I explained it clear enough though. I still don’t quite understand some of the terms in education that people through around (like A-levels and GCSE’s?) but I am slowly learning just how different everything really is in regards to the education system. I knew there would be differences, but there seem to be many more then I previously thought. I am having a blast in my classes though, and now that I have finished that  complicated explanation I’ll add some photos from the photography class I am taking  to make it easier on the eyes!

Messing with light and exposure during class.

A photo I took representing depth of focus

Another one I took representing the rule of thirds as well as depth of focus

As far as the rest of my week not much has happened. Mostly just a relaxing week of chores, sleep, and coursework. I have several trips in the works though, starting with a trip home with a friend to Birmingham this weekend. I will be sure to take photos and let everyone know how it goes!

Hope you are well,

Summer