Today was a class day. I had one hour of Perception & Memory, in which I discovered something that I'm a bit nervous about. From what I've gathered, at least in the Psychology Department, every year you get a handbook--first year handbook, second year, etc.-- and the handbook has things (I guess) like your course list and, most importantly, the dates for the various essays and assignments due for that class! I think the handbook is someone that everyone got so everyone assumes that everyone has it. I, however, have gotten no such thing. O.O I'm a bit paranoid now because I heard mention of an essay and I have no idea when it's due. In class, the teacher just assumed that we already knew about the essay even though there hadn't been any mention of it in class before that point. *sigh* I feel like I'm so lost sometimes.

Then I went on to Discrete Structures for 2 hours. That is, 2 boring hours. There's always that one teacher, right? This one mumbles, and says "umm" too much (word of warning: don't ever start try to notice when a person says "umm", because then you won't be able to ignore it for the next...two...hours...). It doesn't help that the subject itself is also dull. So far I've already learned all the material that we're learning, in a previous Computer Science class. Plus it's math. Abstract math (so no number). Ugh.

But things turned to a bright side when I went to my first meeting this evening for Minds, the Computer Science Club on campus. I was expecting about 8 to 10 people, like the club back at Austin College. I was very surprised when I walked in and there was more like 30 people. I think there were about 6 girls? It was very intimidating. I didn't know anyone and everyone was talking and mingling amongst themselves. I did talk to some people, though, and it was all very friendly. We had a raffle for a cool mini-computer board called a Raspberry Pi. Someone else won, of course, but then they drew a second person (to see who was the "runner up") and it was ME. How cruel is that? I was the SECOND person drawn. Grr!

One thing I definitely noticed today was how different this school system is from the one back home. I mean, every university runs a little differently, but now I know that the school system in two different countries is very different too. Things here are a lot more regimented--you say "I want to go into Computer Science" and the school presents you with all the classes you will take for the next four years. There is a little flexibility--you can take this class OR this class, for example--but it all seems to stay within the department. From what I've gathered, it's very unusual to take classes in different departments, so the fact that I'm taking classes in three different departments (Psychology, Computer Science, and Celtic Studies) appears very strange. Each department is like it's own little world, so I'm having to learn how to navigate through three worlds at once.

Anyways, so tomorrow I have the day off, and then tomorrow evening I'm being delivered (courtesy of Arcadia) to my homestay location for the weekend. I'm going to be staying with a family that has 3 little boys in Gorey, Ireland, about an hour and a half away. So THAT'S sure to be interesting. Cheers!

Irish Word of the Day: Computer -- Ríomhaire.