Today is my weekly day off, but I'm already awake to go to the library to study. Yesterday i had my first seminar. Before going there I went to the library to read. Later on I sat outside in front of the library together with Alice and
Clément. The seminar started at 2 pm. I found it to be very different from seminars or 'wergroepen' a the UvA. At the UvA we have just tables and chairs.
The tables together form a circle so everyone sits next to each other which makes it easy to discuss. Here at Kent however there are only chairs and every chair has a wooden board, a little piece of wood that can be used as a table is stuck to the side of the chair and put in front of your chair so you can write. The chairs also stand in a circle, but because there are no big tables there's a big gap in the middle of the room, which feels kind of weird and make you feel even more distant to the people sitting across of you. Our professor, Elizabeth, isn't I think really bad, but her classes could be much better. For instance, she started with a clip from a movie, which title she spoke so fast that i'm still not sure which film it was that she spoke of. Also she didn't really mention why she showed the clip and what we should look at in particular. Also she jumped from old movie clips to clips that are very recent and then afterwards she went back to Coalface, a very old little documentary film. So it's all a bit confusing. She's still trying to teach us the various definitions that can be ascribed to the term 'documentary'. But overall it was pretty interesting, but I didnt have the feeling afterwards that I learned a lot of new things. During the afternoon I went back home. I just ate some bread and spent some time in front of the computer. Then it was already time to leave. There was a first introduction meeting of the Kent Film Society I wanted to attend and Sandra wanted to go as well so the two of us met up at the reception. While we were walking to the lecture building we met Hanna. She just came back from the seminar, the same as I had at 2, but she's in group 2 which starts at 4 pm. But she felt very down. She was the only Erasmus student and when asked what she thought documentary is, she only said a very short sentence, while all the other students with their great English, gave great definitions. So I guess it was all a bit intimidating, especially for the first time. She also could not
understand everything Elizabeth said. We met C
lément at the lecture building and Alice came walking towards us just seconds after Sandra and I had arrived. We all went to the Film Society, but there was one small problem. Me and C
lément also were interested in the Drama society and the problem was that the two meetings were both at 6, so we couldn't go to both. Eventually I decided to go to the Drama society while the others stayed at the film society meeting. They showed an introduction film (that's why i couldn't pick up my phone). Besides all the goofing around, they also have three plays that they produce themselves and for which you can audition. Those are the more serious works, while some other things they organise are more for fun and to have a good time. i take the whole thing very serious, so I'm not planning on just joining the society. I will audition and when i get in then I will be part of the society, but else i don't think i want to. It would be a waste of time. The others told me that the Film soceity is pretty interesting. Every Tuesday there's a free viewing and they have their own 'library' with a list of films you can borrow from them. Also you can work on making your own film and they give reductions for things like the London Film Festival. Sounds pretty good to me, so I will definitely join. Together with Alice I went back tp Parkwood. First i bought some fruit at the store, which i ate while we walked and then C
lément cooked me some dinner. It was really nice. Just eggs with red cabbage and we ate some bread with it. It was really nice. Then his neighbours came by to drink some wine. One of them is Simone, a Dutch girl, also from the UvA, but to who they also said there was noone else coming to Kent, which is a bit strange. But i had a really good
time. i also spoke to Masa from Japan. He told me about Japan and we talked about Hayao Miyazaki. His English wasn't so good, but once he understood what i was saying, I noticed his English was better than I at first expected. But it's still difficult for him to speak English, especially when having a long conversation. Later on Marion joined us and at the end only Marion,
Clément and me were left. We just talked and then eventually went to bed. But now I have to go, else I'm late and I don't want to be late cause else
Clément has reason to make jokes about me being late, since he won't be the only one anymore. And we can't have that. He's the one who's late not me!
The tables together form a circle so everyone sits next to each other which makes it easy to discuss. Here at Kent however there are only chairs and every chair has a wooden board, a little piece of wood that can be used as a table is stuck to the side of the chair and put in front of your chair so you can write. The chairs also stand in a circle, but because there are no big tables there's a big gap in the middle of the room, which feels kind of weird and make you feel even more distant to the people sitting across of you. Our professor, Elizabeth, isn't I think really bad, but her classes could be much better. For instance, she started with a clip from a movie, which title she spoke so fast that i'm still not sure which film it was that she spoke of. Also she didn't really mention why she showed the clip and what we should look at in particular. Also she jumped from old movie clips to clips that are very recent and then afterwards she went back to Coalface, a very old little documentary film. So it's all a bit confusing. She's still trying to teach us the various definitions that can be ascribed to the term 'documentary'. But overall it was pretty interesting, but I didnt have the feeling afterwards that I learned a lot of new things. During the afternoon I went back home. I just ate some bread and spent some time in front of the computer. Then it was already time to leave. There was a first introduction meeting of the Kent Film Society I wanted to attend and Sandra wanted to go as well so the two of us met up at the reception. While we were walking to the lecture building we met Hanna. She just came back from the seminar, the same as I had at 2, but she's in group 2 which starts at 4 pm. But she felt very down. She was the only Erasmus student and when asked what she thought documentary is, she only said a very short sentence, while all the other students with their great English, gave great definitions. So I guess it was all a bit intimidating, especially for the first time. She also could not 
understand everything Elizabeth said. We met Clément at the lecture building and Alice came walking towards us just seconds after Sandra and I had arrived. We all went to the Film Society, but there was one small problem. Me and Clément also were interested in the Drama society and the problem was that the two meetings were both at 6, so we couldn't go to both. Eventually I decided to go to the Drama society while the others stayed at the film society meeting. They showed an introduction film (that's why i couldn't pick up my phone). Besides all the goofing around, they also have three plays that they produce themselves and for which you can audition. Those are the more serious works, while some other things they organise are more for fun and to have a good time. i take the whole thing very serious, so I'm not planning on just joining the society. I will audition and when i get in then I will be part of the society, but else i don't think i want to. It would be a waste of time. The others told me that the Film soceity is pretty interesting. Every Tuesday there's a free viewing and they have their own 'library' with a list of films you can borrow from them. Also you can work on making your own film and they give reductions for things like the London Film Festival. Sounds pretty good to me, so I will definitely join. Together with Alice I went back tp Parkwood. First i bought some fruit at the store, which i ate while we walked and then Clément cooked me some dinner. It was really nice. Just eggs with red cabbage and we ate some bread with it. It was really nice. Then his neighbours came by to drink some wine. One of them is Simone, a Dutch girl, also from the UvA, but to who they also said there was noone else coming to Kent, which is a bit strange. But i had a really good
time. i also spoke to Masa from Japan. He told me about Japan and we talked about Hayao Miyazaki. His English wasn't so good, but once he understood what i was saying, I noticed his English was better than I at first expected. But it's still difficult for him to speak English, especially when having a long conversation. Later on Marion joined us and at the end only Marion, Clément and me were left. We just talked and then eventually went to bed. But now I have to go, else I'm late and I don't want to be late cause else Clément has reason to make jokes about me being late, since he won't be the only one anymore. And we can't have that. He's the one who's late not me!
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