First day of classes, disturbing realizations, photos of campus, weekend trip...etc.

To begin with, I have figured out within the past several hours/weeks/months that I sometimes, occasionally, really deeply enjoy the following things:
-Postmodernism
-Deconstruction
-Certain strands of literary theory, such as postcolonialism

In the past, I have expressed a strong dislike of all of the above based on initial impressions, so it is very scary to discover that it is possible for me to like them. But I don't worry, I still do not like:
-Excessively "postmodern" contemporary art that tries to create discomfort and disgust in its audience for no apparent or interesting reason
-The fact that literary criticism can often summarize its point in 3 paragraphs but inexplicably opts to stretch it out over 3 volumes
-The many pretensions, self-contradictions, and annoyances found in academic writing in general

But who knows, the day could come when these do not bother me either, and I am not sure whether that would demonstrate open-mindedness and growth, or inevitable conformity to the "language" of literary studies. Probably both. Hmmmm.

I had two classes today, History of Modern English Language and Literary Theory. My professor for the linguistics class is apparently German, but he lives in Britain, and is married to American, so he has a German-British-American accent which is very easy to understand. He told us several times that since he is not a historian, he will not be able to tell us that much about history, yet since we are in a historical class, we will not dwell much on linguistic theory, leaving me a bit uncertain about what exactly we'll be doing. But I think that overall it will be a good class. :-) We look at words, and languages, and I am completely nuts about words and languages, so I will probably have fun.

Then I went to the literary theory lecture and took copious notes on several postcolonial theorists, all of whom sounded fascinating when the professor described their ideas, but who might not be as fascinating when one looks at their actual (very-difficult-to-read) writing - we'll see. I have started reading Mary Klages' introductory book to literary theory and she says, in the introduction to her introduction, that the purpose of the English department is to produce knowledge, or maybe to better English lit students and make them better people, or something like that. I don't think I agree with this. I was sitting in my literary theory class today thinking about how these writers all point out things that you probably already knew, you just didn't realize that it was anything interesting to know. For example, it is easy to figure out that "colonization is oppressive" or that "interaction between the colonizers & the colonized creates all kinds of new 'hybrid' things." So literature and literary theory do not create "knowledge," they just create interesting thought, and spark more thought. Are thought and knowledge the same thing? This really depends on your definitions of both, and definitions and connotations are an entire issue in themselves, but I personally don't think thought and knowledge are the same. I think thought is a worthy product of the English department, though. "What can your students do?" "They can think." "And what do they come up with?" "...Interesting thoughts?" "So why should we give them money just to think?" "Excellent question. I haven't the slightest idea."

In other news:
-I am going to EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND! with several friends THIS WEEKEND! I am going to arrive there Friday afternoon, find a few live music venues, stay overnight at a hostel (hopefully for around 9 pounds!), and explore all of the medieval castles and the like the next day. I would rather spend a little more money on this trip than feel like I haven't really seen the city and need to pay for another train ticket later on. I am really excited. :-)
-I think I might apply to change rooms. Last night I stayed up excessively late talking to friends online, and I was interrupted twice by some bored freshmen deciding to come into our flat, plug a vacuum into the wall and turn it on, and run away, so then I had to go unplug the vacuum. Then as soon as I actually went to bed, everyone else in the building apparently woke up and began running around talking loudly, and several girls were actually screaming for reasons I can't really fathom. This is not very conducive to sleep so I was rather annoyed. Then when I got up this morning and went into the kitchen to make myself cereal, there were various crumbs and pieces of food scattered all over the floor waiting to be stepped on (although someone swept it up later on, apparently, because it's not there anymore). The boys in my flat don't wash dishes either, so when the dishes do make it to the sink, they fill up the sink completely making it impossible to wash my own dishes after I cook. I guess this is what comes of living with all freshmen.
-Yesterday I went for a walk around campus and took the path into town a little ways. Here are some photos. There are a lot of sheep.