Another week of school.

The problem of getting into a routine is how it consumes everything. I'm worried I won't be able to travel anymore now that school has gained momentum!

School has been going well, although there are times when I feel completely lost. Sometimes the reading requirements are not entirely clear; for instance, in one class we have to write a short essay at the end of each class on the assigned readings, but sometimes the essay topics are based on different readings! Did I read the wrong article? Luckily, I always read ahead, so if I guessed correctly I have almost finished the next two weeks of readings. Still, a strange situation.

So far in my classes I've discussed problems queer youth face while growing up, how to reconcile violence faced by political movements (my quick answer: we must make the distinction between violence and self-defence and ask ourselves if self-defence could be called violence), the history of leftist political movements in Europe and now, I'm thinking about my Literary Journalism class: we have to conduct an interview and write a feature story. I have a subject for the interview, a journalist student I met at my home university, but I have yet to find a topic for my feature. I was thinking of writing a piece on Metelkova, a squatted art space with multiple bars inside that has become a popular space for youth. There is an underlining tension between Metelkova and the city of Ljubljana: since Metelkova is a squat and attracts "rowdy" youth, city authorities have threatened to tear down the buildings multiple times. The locals protested, and the city backed off. Apparently, this has happened a few times. Why the cycle? What are the socio-political subtexts at work here? Now I'm getting all excited about this project.

I think I'll pitch the article first and see where it takes me rather than blindly post it in the internet.

Lisa discovered Club.UK, a resource center at the British Council here in Ljubljana. For a fee we can take out books in English, magazines and board games. They also host events now and then. Since I'm considering working on my Ph.D. in England (Cambridge, most likely) I will have to check it out. Also, paperbacks in English are very expensive in Slovenia - taking out books from the Britsh Council library will relieve the wallet. This is awesome.