Edinburgh Exchanges

I still can't get over the fact I started lectures in August, whereas my Edinburgh friends still have another 3 weeks before they're back into George Square. I finally managed to enroll myself on 3 courses: kinship theory in honour of levi strauss, anthropology of religion, and Finnish (in the hope that I'll be fluent by the time I leave... ha!). The 'lectures' here are more like tutorial sessions, with around 12 students in the class in a small room. Everyone frantically sits scribbling notes, and EVERYONE has done the reading for that day. Sadly it seems my days of winging it at Edinburgh are over, as it will clearly be noticed if I don't read the set 60 or so pages each class. In each of my classes I am the only native English speaker, and yet again, for the 1 millionth time in the last fortnight, I am amazed by the fluency of everyone else. The group is a mixture of Finns and exchange students, and all of them can chatter away and discuss the readings better than I can!

So, thats the academic side of things.

On the social side, I have somehow managed to befriend all of the native English speakers here, including the other guy from Edinburgh who I'd never met before arriving in Helsinki. We continue to be a source of amusment to all of the Europeans with our different style of English. I've met possibly every citizen of Germany and Austria (every other person is a German speaker) and drunkenly chatted in French to my French friend. She is going to teach me Arabic and wants me to dance on tables with her! Being the true Finn that I am, I have taught everyone else a Finnish game that I learnt last week which is kind of like bowls and involves drunkenly knocking a wooden stick into pegs and scoring points.
Yesterday we went to Ikea (again) and on a whim we all bought plants. I am now the proud mother of a cactus and a pink, red and yellow plant thing. Their names will be decided in due course.

I have established that everyone in Europe other than the Brits consider themselves to be European. I would never describe myself as that- I'm English (or Scottish this year!) and then I am British. So us Brits are finding ourselves constantly explaining why the UK doesn't have the Euro and why we see ourselves as different to the Europeans. I think the sea between us has something to do with it!

The Finnish way of dealing with age restricted products is becoming a constant source of confusment. Here, you can buy beer and cider at 18, and these can be bought in the supermarket. However, you can't get spirits or wines until you are 20 and these can only be bought from an 'alco store' which is state controlled and looks remarkably like it should be a sex store in Amsterdam. Think big red lights and windows which are redded out so that innocent children don't experience the autrocity which is vodka. Except if you go to a club, anyone can buy spirits.

Being 20, I'm not really affected by this, only inconvinienced by having to go to two shops for alcohol. However, there are also age restictions on other things which do concern me. It turns out that to go on the ferry to Talinn, Estonia, you have to be over 21. If you're under 21 you need to be: a) accompanied by your parent, or b) accompanied by a 'guardian' who is over 30 years of age and has written permission from your parents. And this guardian can not accompany more than 2 'children' per trip. So to summarise, until I turn 21 in March, I am unable to travel for half an hour on a ferry without my mother to hold my hand. Yes, I have made it literally around the world and back, but travelling on a ferry is beyond my capabilities. I told my mum about it and she thinks its hilarious. She reckons the reason we get two beds in our rooms is because the government expects us to bring our parents with us!

Speaking of my bedroom, I will hopefully get some photos to put up next week. Basically, its very grey and white with two beds that are currently a huuuuuge double bed, a kitchen, and way more storage space than anyone who arrived with just a suitcase to their name will ever need. I look out onto a building site and live opposite a grave yard and 'Pub Pete' (classy). Handily, my en suite bathroom has the letters 'WC/S' on the door to tell me what it is, and I am the proud owner of not one, but two layers of curtains. The coolest gadget in my room however is the thing I have no idea what it is- my sink has a little shower attached to it. Yes, I have an actual shower less than 1 metre away, but the Finns appear to need two. And its not only in my bathroom as they are also in public toilets too. The only explaination I've been given thus far is that it is for 'private things'. Hmmm...

Aims for the next week:
* buy jeans suitable for wearing with boots
* buy the actual boots
* buy wellies
* read too much levi strauss and try to enjoy him
* take photos
* use the gym membership which cost me 70 euros
* register with the police to get my perminant residency in Finland

This week has seen more parties than classes – although everyone assures me this will change soon enough. But right now, I seem to be in a semi-permanent hangover haze which makes navigating American bureaucracy an even more frustrating experience than it may otherwise have been.

The current dream-like quality of my American existence is not helped by the fact that the weather is disgustingly hot and humid, with even the Moroccan girl next door complaining about it. Moving between buildings becomes an exercise in skipping between patches of shade, and much of the day is spent in front of fans or lolling around in rooms where the very air somehow seems soggy. Most of Haverford is not air-conditioned, and no one seems to care any longer about how much they smell; we all cram our drinks with ice and enjoy speculating about when the weather will break.

But, back to the parties. Monday night was First Drinker – Drinker being the house that hosted the party, the name obviously having nothing to do with alcohol consumption. The party was an impressive event – it was hosted by the baseball team, held outside under fairy-lights, had an awesome live band, and was populated by hundreds of very friendly students (I have discovered that being British gets you a lot of attention, attracts a lot of stupid questions, and guarantees you seeming more interesting and intelligent than you may be). A lot of people at Haverford do not drink alcohol either out of personal choice or because of religious proscriptions, and these people provide a calming influence on those who do prefer to do keg stands or drink red cups filled with gin and ice (a surprisingly popular combo, apparently).

The second party – Lloyd Around the World – is another Haverford tradition and is where all the different houses within the Lloyd dorm make a different alcoholic beverage to serve whilst everyone dances to international music. It is much like a pub-crawl without pubs, and takes place in a picturesque and historic part of the campus, lending gravitas to the proceedings.

The sports teams have also been hosting parties this week – and sweaty basements filled with awkwardly dancing students are the place to be seen. At Haverford, there don’t seem to be the pronounced cool/uncool social divisions that are present elsewhere, and parties contain people from across the social and academic spectrums. This lends a more relaxed atmosphere to social situations, and the campus layout ensures that no group is segregated to any particular area.

My first proper week at Haverford, therefore, can be deemed a success. I have attended all-American parties, gone to class, and battled with the unyielding ladies of the Social Security Office in downtown Philadelphia. And I’ve also eaten my first vegan cookies – and they were good. This week has been another of new experiences and new friends, and, as always, I look forward to what the coming weeks hold for me.