My routine during weekdays is very repetitive, it has been like this for the past two months and very probably will not change until I leave. My first class every day starts at 8:30am and since my dorm is very far from the university–not within walking distance–I need to take the 8:00am shuttle. There is a shuttle that also leaves at 8:15am but I prefer to get to classes with some time in advance to get a coffee and organize myself before the class starts. On Mondays and Wednesdays my first class ends at 9:20am so just after they end I have a light breakfast at one of the university’s dining halls and then go to the other morning classes. On Tuesdays and Thursdays since I basically have classes the entire morning I just eat some cereal in the dorm before leaving. Fortunately before starting the semester I was able to organize my schedule so that I would not have any classes on Friday.
Classes can be for 1, 2 or 3 hours long and they are interestingly quiet. The professor is the only one that talks and in a very few classes he gets interrupted by a student asking a question. All classes have what they call here ‘tutorials’ that basically is a Q&A with the professor of the class. So if any student has a question during the class he or she is encouraged to write it down and ask it to the professor during the tutorial. I have lunch every day at the university after my morning classes are over and only on Tuesdays I have classes on the afternoon. After having lunch I go every day to the library–except Tuesdays that I go to my other class–and do all the readings required for the next day classes. If there is nothing to do, I read a book or the news to make some time, but I always stay at the library for at least 3 hours a day and it is actually hard to have a day that does not require doing any readings for any of the four classes.
Once is 6pm I go to the university’s gym and do some exercise until 7pm. At 7pm I have dinner at the university and after diner, which I tend to finish around 7:45pm I go to the dorm in a public bus. At the dorm depending on the day I sometimes stay at my room talking to people from back home or doing anything non-school related, or I just go to the common area of the dorm where there is a PS4 and a TV to relax for a while. It seems like there is a lot of free time but there actually is not. The school requires a lot of readings to do for every class and they take a lot of time. Also I had to go through the process of finding a Co-op from abroad, which required at least 30 minutes a day and on interviews days even more. Fortunately I got a Co-op already so I do not have that pressure any more.
On Fridays since I do not have classes I sleep until late–usually 10am–and go to the university around 11am to a coffee place–Starbucks most of the times–to get a coffee, have brunch and do some school or non-school related activities. For example last Friday since I got my next Co-op in New York, I spent around 2 hours doing some research to find my new apartment. Once I get all done at the coffee place I have lunch at the university and then I just enjoy my weekend until Sunday night that the routine starts over again.
