Today I had my first clash of classes - with Penal Systems and International Nature Conservation law. So I went to the morning class for Penal Systems and then skipped the afternoon session so I could attend Nature Conservation. I'm really glad I stuck to my guns and kept the paper as so far it is really interesting and I think I can really get my teeth into it. Also, I was very glad to finally meet some native english speakers - an Irish girl and a Scottish girl! The Scottish girl Louisa has been here since last year so she's not a new exchange student (hence we haven't met yet) and the Irish girl Catherine didn't stay long at the welcome day so that's why I havent met her either! The Nature Conservation class is a series of lectures every thursday, with a 25% assessment being a presentation on a specific topic (which is group work, with the Irish and Scottish girls) and then 75% on the final oral exam! The lecturer seems nice though, so I am not too worried, and I have a major advantage because English is my first language, whereas for a lot of the students it is their 2nd or 3rd!
We had lunch at the student restaurant again today as it was freeeeezing cold! That's right, it is now -5 degrees here!!!! No wonder my nose got so cold on the bike home!!!!
After the Nature Conservation class, Catherine and Louisa took me to a cafe to get a hot chocolate (as it was way to cold to be outside) and then they came with me to Low Countries Studies. That was interesting, we learnt the history of the flanders area (the northern half of Belgium that speak Dutch). Flanders is really quite separate from the south (Wallonia) which is a french-speaking area. So there is a bit of unrest between the 2 areas. It was also good to learn a bit about the history of the people who settled in Belgium and also in Europe (like the difference between Celtic and Germanic tribes, religions etc). Ok so the 'story' of how Belgium got its name; back in the time of the Roman empire (like 400 AD?) Caesar was campaigning for leadership of Rome, and on his 'CV' for this, he described how the bravest of all the people he had fought and conquered were the Belgians. Apparently the Belgians were a Celtic tribe. Later when Germanic people settled in Belgium, they decided to call their settlement Belgium as they felt they were the bravest people of all. Nice! And we also learnt that for all the similarities Flanders has with the Netherlands, Belgium was settled in by Catholics, whereas the Netherlands was settled by Protestants who were forced there by the King of Spain (who was actually born in Gent, did you know!) So that was some interesting history....
So I spent Valentines Day evening watching a bit of a gory movie - Sweeney Todd. It's about a barber who cuts people's throats and a lady in the meat pie shop underneath who makes the victims into meat pies... ewww.... but it was also a musical! Possibly one of the weirder movies I've seen, but also interesting...
Anyway I hope the weather here gets warmer and the weather in NZ gets cooler!
xxx Renelle
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