April 27, 2012, by Mark

The End is Nigh…

The end is nigh, after the most intense semester of my studying to date I am almost on the home straight. The intensity took its toll last week as the gap in my posting shows, I was buried under my vast amount of work and my health seemed to hit a wall. Usually back in Nottingham I would currently be enjoying my Easter holidays around now, but due to the term structure here consisting of two long semesters, here its full steam ahead.

I have recently been working on multiple assignments that don’t have word limits but rather page limits, many of which have been around the twenties. This is not to mention the amount of research I have had to undertake to construct my papers. I have also been busy in my classes with workshops and portfolio creation whereby the aim is to improve, revise and edit previous pieces of work I have done throughout the semester. I now have one week of classes remaining before ‘finals’, which means final exams, which will be somewhat of a challenge coming from a degree that doesn’t require exams to be sat back in Nottingham.

As well as work I did manage to squeeze in a short trip away this past weekend to nearby Lake Ana. At my previous wine tasting day trip I met some of the nicest old folk I’ve ever come across and they offered to host a friend and me if we could make it before I left the country. So, not being one to miss an opportunity, ventured off on Saturday to one of their houses that sat right on the lake. We had a lovely time exploring the lake and having dinner at an old railroad station that had been around a lot longer than me to say the least! Staying with these people reminded of one thing I will take away from studying abroad in the United States, Americans are some of the most friendly and generous people I have ever met. There I was at the weekend staying with a bunch of people I had met only once and yet they treated me like family and provided me with anything I needed.

 

– Mark J Richardson

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