Skin...Identity...Bangers and Mash



First day of classes today; so far I've had IDIS 304 (British Studies), which is an examination of British identity and culture through history, geography and literature. Very excited about this course...is it wrong that I'm so much more motived by this topic than I am about system architectures and databases? Oh well.

Talked about what we (Canadians/North Americans) view as inherently British/part of British culture. I'm currently listening to the Amelie soundtrack, which is a study of Englishness in itself (damn those Frenchies!). We have three profs for the course, of varying degrees of Britishness. I kept on finding myself comparing British and Canadian cultures during class (my Canadian Lit prof from last year would be proud), like the ideas about British/otherness, London/everywhere else, immigration, etc. It's going to be very interesting.

Went exploring a little bit after class; the Castle is surprisingly difficult to navigate. Loads of wooden doors leading into corridors and staiwells that don't always lead to an unlocked door. Tiny doorways indicate the older parts of the building. Apparently only the Castle walls date from medieval times, the rest of the castle (interiors, panelling, etc) are from a 1920s restoration. Herstmonceux Castle used to be in ruins until that time. It's used as a backdrop for films and weddings and stuff: I think the old Narnia series was filmed here in part and it was transformed into Hogwarts for a Coke promotion a while back. COOL.

This is our room:




The food is yum. Lots of stodge (my favourite kind) and Malteser ice creamsicles for dessert everyday. Loads better than the Sodexho sludge from Ban Righ, but really fatty...I'll have to restrain from eating the sausages at breakfast (which are really good, not the wimpy skinny burnt ones from Ban Righ), or else I'll end up with no arteries.

Off to Art History.