The Differences Between Schools

            I know a lot of people who will read this post will be able to relate with the following statement.  When the school year gets busy, for the most part, the weekends are catch up days.  I know as a student I have spent countless of hours on the weekends doing massive amounts of homework or starting papers and projects early.  Sometimes, it feels like I do not even have a weekend. 

            The point of this story though is that in Russia, the weekends have a different atmosphere.  There does not feel like there is pressure to catch up on homework, or to devote extra time to studying on the weekends.  For instance, this weekend I finished classes and just went out with friends.  Saturday as well, a group of us simply spent hours together talking, cooking, and playing cards from about 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.  Homework does not seem as important here, which really leads me to the my bigger observation of the university system in Russia and Europe. 

            I have been noticing this frequently especially since I started my elective classes.  There is absolutely no homework in the elective classes.  The reading is optional, in fact buying the textbook seems optional as well.  I knew that Europe had a different school system than the United States.  I also had a sense of what the system was like when I took Professor Schmidt’s classes.  I think the differences of the systems were muted though since my other classes supplied enough homework.  Anyway, the system seems different and I am still trying to decide if I like this system or the United States’ system better.  On one hand I prefer the constant homework because I know my grades will not suffer greatly if I ever happened to fail a final.  However, I like the ability enjoy my time here in St. Petersburg and have the time to explore the city.  The free time is interesting and something I am learning to enjoy since I pour myself and my time into homework.  So sometimes I do not know what to do with my time.  I do not know how I feel about the European system of schooling but I am going to try to enjoy it and make the most of my time here.