Being back

It was agoraphobic for the first day in St Andrews--so many people, cars, and the mass of city life pressed into the Nile valley left me somewhat disconcerted by the wider spaces and open roads of the small town.

I've been doing a lot of catch-up with people, getting to know the JSA's (junior semester abroad students), reading and watching movies. Exam results came out, so the final marks for the classes are up. 17 in Philosophy, 14.9 in IR, and 14.1 in Psychology, which is the exam I think I bombed. Not too shabby, considering I needed a 5 to continue and a 12.5 next year to do honors in any one. I know how to prepare better for psych now, and I'm planning on going to some Sustainable Development/Econ/Social Anthropology lectures next week to figure out if I want to stay in IR or transfer.

Finished Murakami's "Kafka on the Shore". Not one of his best works, sadly, I don't think. Fun, fable-licious and fantastical, but the bizarreness felt almost common, as if it were a typical fantasy story rather than magical realism. Still a quick and fun read, but aside from an awesome title and moments where Murakami closes the net of his world around the reader and you realize how finely crafted it is, nothing too special.

Also, in Egypt I finished "Trainspotting", the book the film is based off of. Anyone attempting to learn a Scottish accent need only read this book aloud. It's hard going until you get used to the lingo and a bit inconsistent (the movie's climax/ending are far more effective than the book's), but a really good read in the sort of "Fightclub" vein. In a lot of ways its a plea against modern Western society and how its efficiency and plenty has killed off anything human in us--a perspective emphasized by reading it in Egypt, where close families, neighborhoods, sexes and religions in the midst of chaos provided a glimpse at an alternative.

I've also watched a few movies from the library since I've been back. Two versions of ""Jekyll and Hyde", one from 1931, another from 1942. The '31 is cheesy as hell, but in the end leaves you in that 20s movie way, where something more representational than realistic seems frighteningly close and pertinent. The 40s one was just slow and dull, by this time really trying to be a period piece and as a result missing the human core. Also watched "Philadelphia" (I'd read about it somewhere in relation to Tom Hanks and the start of gay characters being depicted in film) and thought it was really good, ra-ra motivational, perhaps, but about a subject that could use it. It was powerful and reminded me of "Brokeback Mountain" in some strange way...not because of they were gay, but because the two I felt dealt in common themes of separation and death. Yennow, the good stuff.