The Pain of Being the Other

Okay so as most people know I had to renew my visa this year. Well due to lots of complications I will not be able to go home for the Christmas break. You have no idea how heart broken I am about this. It sucks that my mum has the money to fly me home but I can't leave the country because I don't have my passport. What a headache....
I have always gone home for Christmas no matter where I was. I was really looking forward to going home and seeing all my family and friends. Sleeping in a normal bed, driving on the correct side of the road, etc... Essentially being surrounded by all the comforts of home. Not that I'm not enjoying my time here in England. I love it here, I have some great friends and entertaining flatmates. Its just that I wanted to go home and see my loved ones. I think I'm the only one in my flat that is staying over the holiday break. Nearly all my friends as going home as well so it will be just me. I do know of one other that is staying here in England over the break so atleast I will have one person to talk to.
The next break isn't until April so I guess my plan will be to go home over that break. I'm really worried about getting my visa renewed as the British government has just started an entirely new scheme. I hope and pray that I will get my renewal and that all will go smoothly. Only thing I can do is make sure all my i's are dotted and t's are crossed.

All Hail Computer Guru

Sigh... What a relief, my computer is back and better than ever. After quite a scare as some of you know. I have lost all faith in Norton and am going to replace asap. I paid good money for an anti virus program thats absolute rubbish. I can only say thank you to the computer guru that was able to rid my computer of the terrible virus. Apparently (according to guru) it was a clever virus, knew where to hide what files to attack, etc... All I can say is beware Backdoor.Tidserv!inf if you should ever come in contact with above mentioned virus best of luck to you. I only hope that you can find a computer guru such as I did.
Lessons learned in this little adventure:
1. I need a mac more than ever now
2. Norton is not to be trusted
3. Never make fun of a computer guru as they may save your life and the life of your pc someday.

Later Days

In Mourning

For those that are used to seeing me online and have missed our random chats about various things I am sad to report that my best friend has contracted a virus and is therefore out of commission for the next few days, weeks, months, the length of time is unknown.  This is indeed a tragedy and I feel as if the rug has been pulled out from beneath my feet.  I paid good money for Norton 360 so that such a tragedy would never occur. I have been betrayed, a knife has been stabbed into my back.  How am I supposed to go on with out the companionship of such a dear friend.  I sit in my room staring at the black screen willing it to return to life, to hear the comforting whir of the fan as it starts up. Oh to hear my favourite ding signaling that I have mail or the jingle that signals I have an IM.

Sitting here in the computer lab surrounded by the others without their own computers feels strange, bizarre. I don't like it, I prefer sitting in the comfort of my own room, cup of tea to the left, music playing in the background. I can't concentrate here, the clicking of the hundreds of keyboards is driving me nuts.  I want the peace and sanctity I had when I was able to access the world from the comfort of my own home.  

Norton 360 you have betrayed me, how could you let something like this happen. You have one job and one job alone, to protect from harmful viruses. So what happened? Were you having a lie down when you should have been on alert protecting me?  I give you breaks, I don't make you work all the time. I let you sleep when I sleep, isn't that enough?  I have lost all faith in you and I'm afraid our relationship has come to an end.   If my faithful companion is able to be saved rest assured we will no longer be requiring your services.  I hope your happy with yourself.  How could you let this happen........

 

Slowly grinds the wheel of time

This week has seemed to go on forever, honestly it feels like it should be Sunday not Thursday. I got my essay back on Monday and spent about 2 hours near tears thinking I had failed and trying desperately not to have a nervous breakdown. A friend of mine finally explained to me that the mark I got was actually a good one and not a failing grade as I thought it was. I don't understand the British grading system, not sure if I ever will. As long as I pass everything and come out with an MA I think I'll be happy.
The visual anthro class was quite frustrating yesterday. We had technical difficulties with the computers and we are all at different learning levels (some have never seen final cut while others have been using it for years). So it was a bit like a circus there for a while, I'm just glad no clowns showed up as then I would have had to leave, haha. By the end of the afternoon I was more than ready to get out of that room and find something more relaxing to do. So I went to a friends house and then we went with her housemate to Keynes to watch a football match (proper not American). I found it amusing that the anthropologists in us took over and we started watching the crowds of people there more than the match itself. A friend of mine even decided to do her participant observation for our module. She took notes and everthing, very professional, haha. She asked the people around her questions about who they thought were going to win, what they thought of the match and the atmosphere, etc....
Today is thursday and I have no lectures, its nice to have a free day. I need to spend most of today working in the library doing research for my next essay. I have to do better on this essay than I did on the last even if it kills me. Well places to go people, books to read.
Later Days....

The First Day of Shooting

Just got back from my first day of filming. I have to say it went fairly well. Bertie the guy who agreed to be in my film was amazing. He was nervous about the camera being there which I found interesting considering he plays for all the people that walk by but I guess it is different to have a camera staring at you as well as the people that pass. He played brilliantly and I got loads of footage. He also agreed to do an interview, again he was a bit nervous about the camera pointed at him but he did really well. I loved spending the day with a camera in hand and listening to music, what can I say I got to combine my to favourite subjects. He even played one of my favourite songs, Tambourine Man. Haha, it was great. I can't wait to start editing the footage on wednesday. He also said I could come back on saturday if I needed anything else. I would really like to get more of the interaction between him and his audience. It was a rainy day so there weren't a lot of people out so saturday should be perfect. Highstreet is always packed on saturdays so I'm sure I can get even more great footage then. Overall I would say I had a pretty good day.

Adventures in Filming

Okay so I had a film topic all lined up, sounds like a good thing right? Well that couldn't be further from the truth. I had absolutely no interest what so ever in the topic. Here was the original idea, 2 fellow classmates and myself were going to go to Boho's a suave little cafe on highstreet and shoot a film. One was focusing on the family that ran it, another on one of the waitresses and I was supposed to focus my film on the regulars. Now I have nothing against coffee shops, I love hanging out in them, but I had no desire or inspiration for this film. I actually was to the point where I felt hostility towards the entire idea. So I get there for the filming early yesterday morning to start the shoot because I couldn't back out as the other two needed my help with camera, sound, etc... The lecturer was there as well to help us out. I wanted to talk to her right then and explain to her how I felt but with the others there I just couldn't do. So I put on my happy face and got to work.
We were going along working hard, etc... Well it came time that we needed the boom mic for some sound bites. So I grabbed the bag and started getting it set up for them. I grabbed the boom stick and went to screw on the mic but couldn't because the screw was missing. I told the lecturer and she was really upset about it as the stick costs about £200. Crazy huh. We were all in a bit of a panic because we needed to keep shooting and we needed to get the sound. So we decided to use the lapel mic and do interviewing rather than the other. I quickly got the lapel mic set up for them and then the lecturer suggested that one of us go back to uni with her and grab the other boom stick in case we needed it. I volunteered to go. So we left and as we were walking I finally got up the gumption to tell her how I felt about the film topic. I was afraid she would be upset. But actually she was really glad that I told her. She agreed that you have to have passion to make a film. If you don't like the topic its going to show in your work. It was probably the best 30 minute talk I've had with a professor in awhile. We talked about my previous films (she assumed I was a novice like the others, while I'm by no means an expert I do know a little bit) and what I should work on this time to give me a challenge. We worked over some possible ideas, now it up to me to see if I can make them work. After talking to her I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off me. We went to uni I grabbed the boom stick then caught a bus down to highstreet to get back to the shoot. Though it was no longer my film shoot I was not going to abandon my friends. Thats not cool. We had a full day of shooting and I think we got some pretty good stuff. They learned some of the issues of filming (peoples fear of the camera, etc...) I got to brush up on my skills. Over all it was a good day, stressful, but good. I still don't have a definite film topic and I'm stressing out about it, but I'll make it.
Had a really good talk with a friend of mine and if I get to do the film that I want (it depends on whether or not people are willing or not) to do we are going to do a collaborative project later on. Talking to her totally changed my out look on the situation. I'm excited to make this work. If we get to do a collaborate project later on with funding, etc.. what an opportunity that will be. Keep your fingers crossed!

London Calling

Just got back from an amazing trip to London. So the whole point of the trip was a film festival but when the group found out that another student and I had never been to London other than to the airport (which they say isn't the best bit of London) they decided to take us to see a few of the sights there. I got to see the London Eye (your going to have to pay me a large some of money to get me on it though, shiver), Parliment, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, so many things. Just that portion of the trip was amazing. Then we went to lunch and afterwards headed over to the Goldsmith for the film festival. There were some brilliant seminars/lectures, then 3 hours of film screening. The films were so amazing and inspirational, I can't wait to get out there and start making films of my own (I start filming tomorrow by the way). Over all, while it was a long day it was an amazing day. The trains, the London underground (its amazing how much easier it is to go through when you have people that know their way around, haha), the sights, the festival. Wow, definitely a day of days.

Essay 2

I got the list of possible topics for essay number 2 in lecture today. The topics are broad and it is up to us to narrow it down to what we want to write about specifically. The thesis statement and bibliography is due december 1st and the actual essay is due in January. We were also told today that our first essays have been graded (eek!), I'm not sure when we get our marks back. I'm pretty nervous but if I fail atleast I get a re-write so not all hope is lost. Out of the list of topics there are three that interest me, human rights, race and racism, and cultural heritage. I think I'm probably going to go with human rights I just need to figure out what aspect I want to look at. The essay is supposed to be about in what ways anthropological theory contributes to the understanding of contemporary discourse around the topic we choose. Sounds daunting doesn't it? I think it does. Oh well, I can do this. The key is to start now and not leave things to the last minute. As long as I have better luck finding sources this time I should be fine.

Could be a good week

I just learned some exciting news today, there is a film festival in London on wednesday. So I not only do I get to go on my first trip to London but I also get to go to a film festival. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. Just need to see if I can afford to go, someone said today if there are four or more of us going then we can get round trip train tickets for £11, which would be great. I also need to find out if there is an entry fee. What can I say I'm a poor uni student. Well, here's hoping......

Ponderances

As a new week dawns I wonder what challenges await me. I've made it through my first essay, huzzah! But another looms in the near future. As I have yet to receive my marks from the first how am I to know what to do differently this time. I am also concerned about my dissertation. I have yet to choose a definite topic let alone a geographical region. So many things to think about and ponder. There is also the next step to think about, do I stay on here and pursue an Mphil or Ph.D? So much to consider..... Oh well as its half past two in the morning this is a ponderance for another time. For now, I'll sleep on it.....

And so it begins

Had my first essay due on Monday, so stressful. This was my topic; Ethnographic Film in the 21st Century: Repacking Archival Film/Footage for Contemporary Presentation. Wow I know.....
How do you even begin the research for on a topic like this. I did what any other pg student would do, went to my advisor and said help! My advisor kindly gave me the title of a book as a jumping off point. I headed immediately to the library the snag the book before anyone else could and spent the remained of the day checking out the bibliography in the back to see if there was anything else I could use. I did manage to find several sources to use for my essay and then began the writing process. I worked all week long on the essay barely leaving my room except for trips to the library. I didn't even really eat that week to concerned with the essay to be bothered with cooking. Anyway sunday night I am nearly at the 2000 word count (which is the max. the essay can be) I decide to read through and see how it sounds. I read through and realize its not at all right, what to do? Yep I deleted it, all 1897 words. Started over again, by this time the stress level is so high I'm about the have a panic attack. I had several chats open as some classmates and I were keeping each other awake and sane and giving encouragement. Every little while we would ask eachother word counts, etc... Lynn gets online and I'm telling her my tragedy about not being able to find examples of what I need to support my arguement. Then she starts giving me examples to use and even does an interview. Shout out to Lynn, you are the most awesome person ever!!! I owe you big time. Thanks to her, I was able to pull the new essay together and get in done just in time. I even managed to have enough time to get someone to proof read it for me. Not only did I turn in my first essay, but I survived my first all nighter. One of many more to come I am sure.
Anyway, the essay is over, its turned in and out of my hands. The only thing I can do now is sit back and wait for the marks. I'm trying not to think about it to much. I have another essay due in a few weeks anyway so I'm getting ready to start working on that one.

White Cliffs of Dover and a Real English Castle!

One of the first things I think of when I think of England is the White Cliffs so what better way to spend a saturday then at the white cliffs and of course an English castle. I have to say I picked the most perfect day to go, sunshine (a rarity here) and warm. So here are few pics of what I saw that day.

The Flat

Okay so here are some pics of my flat an the view from my window. I have to admit I do have a pretty nice view if I ignore the parking lot. Nothing fancy, but I like it. Eventually I'll get pics of my flatmates so you can see them as well.

Pics of Campus

Begin at the Beginning

So it dawns on me the other day that I spend half of my free time trying to send out all these e-mails trying to keep everyone updated on whats going on in my life. Its frustrating, I forget to send it to half of those I should, I don't like sending out mass e-mails. I want to send pics, but then that takes up even more time. I do a lot of posting of facebook but not everyone has an account.....
Whats a PG student to do? Then the answer comes to me. Just add a blog that everyone can read. That way anyone who wants to can check it out and see what I've been up to. I'll be posting pics and all that so everyone can see whats going on.
So here you have it, the first of many more posts to come. Can't wait to see what I post next.
Cheers!