Video Production Work

So, things in England are a bit more different academically than I thought. We're working on a film for Video Production and I'm suppose to be the director. Well, the professor of the class keeps telling us that he doesn't like the ending b/c he says it's not a real ending. I try to get the writers to change the ending, but they basically told me that they don't care what the professor thinks and they are going to keep it. I really don't want to fail, but a British student heard our conversation and said, "The professor can't fail you if he doesn't like the film. What matters is if you did it correctly or not."

Totally different from what I'm used to. I've tried to back down, but they want the script to be British and since they're not natives of England they are using broken English. I tried to make it run smoother by editing it, but they got mad that I decided to edit their words. Sometimes it's hard to be the director, especially when the producer agrees with you but won't say anything. So, I had a conversation with the professor--who knows exactly what I'm going through since he's tried to talk to them--and he told me to just do my best and let them take over if they feel they can do a better job.

I really hope this doesn't reflect upon my grades since I really don't want to fail. But, what can you do when it's two against one (not counting the other person that agrees with you but wants to stay out of it)? I think I'll back out of it a little and let them run the show since they're so keen on doing it. We've talked and talked and talked, but I think if I can write a good paper about it in the end, I might be able to pass. I worry too much about grades and not enough about travel, LOL.

Edinburgh

Random Fact: "At 1 o' clock every single day, a cannon is fired from Edinburgh Castle."

I had a lot of fun in Scotland. We had to leave 3 hours early b/c of a stupid rugby tournament, but my friends and I did go to see Edinburgh castle. It's such a great place. I felt so comfortable there and I even saw men in kilts. I also got footage of a guy dressed as Braveheart. So awesome :).

Speaking about the kilts, the international students (minus the American group) and I went to Scotland for only $10 (5 Pound) each. When we saw a bunch of guys wearing kilts, my friend from HK began to freak out. I asked what was wrong and she said, "They're wearing my school uniform! Why are men wearing my school uniform?" I tried to explain to her that they were kilts and were part of the traditional clothing. No, most of the guys don't wear them anymore, but today was rugby day for Scotland since they were versing Italy.

The castle was so awesome! We saw a story teller that wore replica Scottish war gear and we walked throughout the entire castle. We ended up bumping into the American group who came here on their own. They ended up spending $36 each on their trip to Edinburgh and weren't exactly happy when we told them we were there for only $10 each.

Edinburgh is a big city, but it's not as crowded or as massive as Manchester or Newcastle. It's one of the few cities I have ever felt comfortable in. I would definitely love to visit this city again.

Chinese New Year!

Random Fact: "Hadrian's Wall was built around 122 AD by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. It runs through Northumbria."

Today, we were suppose to go to Hadrian's Wall. We've driven past it whenever we went to Newcastle, but we were going to see it today. However, it turns out the tours don't start until after April, so instead we went to Hexham and then to Colbridge (sp?) to see the Roman Battle Artillery site. It was pretty awesome to walk through that site and to know that you're standing on a piece of history. To see the area where the Romans planned their battles and then another area used as a town square type of place.

Afterwards, we went to a Chinese New Year's Festival where we watched some amazing performances by the international students. They were having a raffle, but I don't usually pay attention to raffles until I heard the numbers "231" being called. It was weird b/c I was talking about how strange that both the raffle ticket and my meal ticket had the same number..."231". So, I walked to the stage and I was presented with a free dinner for two at a Japanese restaurant (odd, I know).

I think I'll consider 231 to be my lucky number from now on. There's so much about England that still amazes me. How we can mix Roman culture with Chinese celebrations and throw in a free Japanese dinner voucher ;). Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

Spring Travel

Random Fact: "All Sunderland students, even international ones, are covered under Universal Health Care. So, if you need to see a doctor you just fill out a form proclaiming which doctor you want to see ahead of time. It takes only a few days to sign in with a doctor and if you're already a signed patient then you can make an appointment."

My travel buddy and I made the final plans to where we want to go. She has become very ambitious and wants to travel through 5 countries in 3 weeks. Yes, very stressful, but it would be cool to see Europe and I don't want her going alone. Here are the places we plan on visiting: Paris, France; Madrid, Valencia, & Barcelona, Spain; Venice, Rome, & Milan, Italy; Switzerland; Munich, Germany. Crazy, but I hope we can pull it off.

I am so glad that I can travel and have it not cost hundreds of dollars per flight. I was talking to the American Studies major today and he wants to go to a school in Boone, NC. I told him that we didn't have a good public transportation system (especially in the south) so he would either have to travel by plane, car, or by greyhound bus. He wants to visit NYC, LA, and all sorts of big cities, and I hope he is able to enjoy the U.S. when he gets the chance to visit.

We seriously need to have a company like EasyJet for the US. I mean, my Uncle was looking at ticket prices to fly round trip from VA to WA and back and it would cost over $600! I hope we can develop a better transportation system one day. Especially since I don't have my license.

The Language

Random Fact: "Until the 1990's, Hong Kong was part of the British Empire. Therefore, when they learn English they are taught British English rather than American English (like some of their nearby countries)."

Another awesome thing about England is the fact that we get three weeks off for spring break (or spring holiday as they call it). Everyone I talked to already had plans to travel home or they didn't feel like traveling b/c they had already traveled before. It is so cheap to travel from the UK into Europe, so they were not interested. However, my friend Eva wants to travel around Europe and we're talking about the cities we should see.

Speaking of which, her, a guy from Yorkshire, and I went to Gateshead so I can show them the Metro Centre. Yes, it's just a mall, but at one time it was the largest mall in all of Europe (and it has a theme park inside the mall). I tried to show them all the things they could do here, but it turns out that British and Hong Kong people don't hang out at the mall like people do in America. Hence the reason why there are few malls and mostly little stores in Britain.

I've been trying to help Eva with her English, but she's been studying British English and I know mostly American English (there is a difference). She asked Paul (Yorkshire) and I about what a really bad word meant. We had trouble trying to describe it to her b/c it was quite...bad. However, I think she managed to get what we tried to say.

I'm starting to pick up some of the language here, but not the accent. Acutally, I think my American accent is rubbing off on a couple of my British friends, LOL. I'm still pretty hesitant about using their slang too much b/c I'm not from there and I don't want it to seem like I'm mocking them. At the same time, I want to use it in order to explain things to them. Weird, huh?

Running Late

Random Fact: "It is illegal to take pictures of some of the buildings in Bishop Auckland. They don't tell you which ones you are allowed to photograph, so if you do take pictures, make it discrete just in case."

My mentor told me ahead of time that the van that drives students to their destinations on campus is not reliable, but a couple of my UK friends said they haven't had any trouble, so I have been using the van service since it's free. I got up super early and was waiting for the bus at 12:15. When 12:30 rolled around, the bus still wasn't there, but I figured it was a few minutes late. Then, around 12:37 I saw the bus pull into a nearby parking lot and had hope. So, when 12:40 rolled around, and this one guy comes up to me and says, "Miss, I saw the bus drive in the opposite direction. I don't think he's coming for us." I became frustrated.

I raced to the Metro station b/c I had a class at 1 p.m., but guess what happened. "Oh, we just barely missed the metro by a few minutes." So I asked when the next train comes and they said...1:05. Yeah, so guess who sat there until 1:10 waiting for the metro? Guess who was more than 20 minutes late to class today? Guess who had the professor demand she come in, say "I was asking everyone where the American went" and was luckily considered excused when I told him about the bus? By the way, it's a 5 minute walk from Metro stop (30 minutes to travel from my dorm to this campus by walking) to the campus I have my classes in, so it was indeed freezing today since it's the second time I've seen snow since being here.

We had a contest and my group tied in third on camera shots. We could have ended up pretty high, if not for the fact that the camera decided "Oh, we're outside, let's go grainy but not tell the shooters until they see us on screen!!!" However, the professor--who is indeed very, very hard--love the fact that we tried to tell a story and he loved my spy camera angle (if not for the fact that I cut the guy's feet off...hey, I thought that was what I was suppose to do, I just learned the camera shots TWO DAYS AGO). The spy camera angle I think is the best shot I've taken. It's a proud moment among the really bad karma I had.

I learned later on that professors are not as harsh on people arriving late. If you miss three classes then they can kick you out of the class, but they won't say anything if you just walk in. I'm still learning, but at least I'm taking the time to try and learn about how the system works.

Newcastle

Random Fact: "Newcastle is one of the largest cities in Northern England, and according to the Metro newspaper, one of the loudest."

Today, we went to Newcastle and at first I only wanted to go for one thing: to show my international buddies the greatness that is the Metro Centre. However, we ended up touring the town only to find that the Metro Centre was in Gateshead near Newcastle rather than in Newcastle. We still had fun touring the sights and sounds of such a large city.

The city wasn't as big as Newcastle, but there were a lot of chauvers and I became wary of them. I had to explain to my friends what a chauver was and why they need to make sure to avoid them, but I don't think they took me seriously. They have so many street acts in this town that it's almost like a crowded circus. We saw a contortionist who actually stood up to one of the little chauvers when they made a comment.

We visited an art museum, saw a few cathedrals, and even walked across the millennium bridge. At least, I think that's what it's called. We ate at an authentic fish and chips shop for the first time, but since one of the girls didn't like fish or chips I split a pizza with her. Yes, it's very weird to eat pizza instead of fish and chips in England.

Newcastle is a very beautiful city, but sadly it has one of the worst China Towns ever. The only Asian thing about the place were the restaurants. Other than that, they had regular British cinemas, a Becks beer pub, and most of it was just Chinese restaurants or British shops. Still, I would love to return to Newcastle again.

First week of classes

Random Fact: "Sunderland often hires visiting lecturers to teach their classes. These are people with experience in their field (outside of academics) and they teach for a semester or year at a time. Depending on how many semesters or years the school hires them."

When I asked Kay before I left about how hard or easy they grade over there, she just said, "It's different...It's, just different." I wasn't sure what she meant until I found out that 70-100% equaled an A. I thought that was great, until someone told me that very few people are able to do that well, which worried me. I mean, I know that I won't fail if I get above a 50%, but still the idea of seeing anything below a 70% causes me to cringe (though I shouldn't b/c 60's are actually B's).

My TV Station class was a lot of fun and I can't wait to direct my first news program (or programme). Video Production worries me the most b/c the professor...well, let's just say one of the first things he did was criticize Hollywood cinema and laughed at me when I asked what kind of writing style I should use. He actually said, "I'll be glad to read a paper without any spelling errors from any of you." Or something to that affect, but he talked to me during the break to assure me that structure wasn't as important as the content and he likes America, just not Hollywood, LOL. However, I redeemed myself by picking a cinematic film that he was impressed by, which was hard since he had a comment about most of the people's choices when they said a film from the US.

However, Radio was probably the best class ever! The professor had a past Berea student in her class so she was excited to see me. We played some "get to know each other" games and two people wrote down that I was a spy since my named sounded too fake, LOL.

Overall, I love how my classes are structured. Meeting once a week for 2 to 4 hours is a lot better than meeting 2 or 3 times a week. That way, I actually have time to travel and have fun rather than worry about when my next assignment is due. I'm still used to the idea of having to read or having something due, but I hope I can temporarily calm that part of my mind and save it for when I do return.