Only here is it possible to hold the very last seminar of the term in a pub, discussing ideas of Victorian femininity as your tutor buys you a round of drinks.

The teacher-student barrier is really much easier to break down here than back home. I don't know know what the NUS lecturers are like, but here they're really approachable, and your own tutors are always willing to discuss something with you outside class. Of course there are exceptions, but I've been extremely lucky. Last term I had an old tutor that was very matronly and was exactly what I expected lecturers to be like. Very knowledgeable, loved playing Devil's advocate in discussions. During seminars she'd just watch us like the proverbial tennis match with this small smile on her face, occasionally chipping in to tell us anecdotes or steering us back to the issue at hand. Her husband watched the opening night of the very first season of Waiting For Godot when it was performed in English, can you believe that? And he's an English lecturer as well.

And then this term I got a younger tutor, fresh from completing her doctorate, and the barrier got knocked down even more. She wasn't particularly inspirational, but again, knows her stuff, and seminars and tutorials had a more conversational tone. I felt like I was in some advanced book club rather than in class.

I can't stress how refreshing it is to come to a place where everyone knows their stuff. Even if we haven't finished reading the book we're discussing, everyone does at least some cursory research to at least find out what the bare bones of the plot are. I've been guilty of that too many a time this term, but I still managed to bullshit my way through, and I can honestly say that I've learned something from every seminar, no matter how boring the text. (*coughCommunistManifestocough*)

I can only hope that I do better next term, since everything's going to start counting towards my degree already.