Stupid Cold

So I was all excited to blog about this past week, really was a fantastic and exciting one and I had lots of things to say.  Then I caught a cold in Paris and my head now feels like its about to explode.  However I promise to storytell later in the week, soon as I can think straight.  Talk to you all soon!

You should be writing.... oh wait, that's me

A week seems like a reasonable period to be blogging about, its also more interesting that working on my dissertation.  It's really hard to write with everything broken up into chunks like this but at the same time its not really feasible to do my usual writing strategy of sitting down close to the deadline and writing straight through - 8,000 word minimum sorta eliminates that option.

Happy belated thanksgiving to everyone!  The actual day was fairly uneventful here.  We did a holiday meal with the other people on the floor last weekend with turkey and all the fixins so there wasn't much enthusiasm or need to do it all over again on Thursday.  I however was bummed that cranberry sauce appeared to be nowhere to be found.  A tip from a co-worker had me back at the grocery store on thanksgiving through, turns out it comes in a jar vs a tin here, and is with the mustard and tarter sauce in the store.  Eventually I found it and that, along with some apples in cinnamon&sugar provided enough Thanksgiving for me.  Even so, it was definitely weird to not be with family this week.

Work continues per usual, little of interest there.  It is slightly shocking to realize that there are only 6 days left in my internship though.  The time is flow by and I haven't quite had time to figure out how I feel about it all coming to an end.  School is also winding down in terms of how many classes we have left.  Yet this means it's picking up in terms of other work.  Finals are fast approaching and with it the due date for the dissertation.   The amount of time spent on schoolwork has increased accordingly to essentially all the time one is not sleeping or at work.  It is a tad frustrating because I'd really like to be out enjoying London and the people here in the little time I have left and yet I'm constantly trying to write.  Also, for me this counts not only as a 'real' class when I get back to NU, but it goes towards my GPA.  This is not the case for everyone, some people need only complete the assignment to get a pass that doesn't count towards their GPA, and the levels of work to fun correspond accordingly.  That's it for now, although I'm sure I forgot some along the way, perhaps I'll be back later as another form of procrastination but if not, have a good week everyone!

I was blogging?

Hey folks!

Its been a month since I last wrote, for which there are no excuses but hopefully you'll all forgive me, or stop reading, your choice.  Anyway, it has been busy busy busy here in London with no signs of slowing down.  Here are some of the highlights.

Work continues to be something I generally look forward too, I'm learning a lot and enjoy where I'm working.  I feel like my opinions, views, and research is taken into serious account and is actually valued which is, aside from cool, rewarding.

As a program, we took a day trip to Oxford which was a cute uni-town not too far from London but I think I definitely prefer London.  In other school related news, work on dissertations is in full swing and although I don't see eye to eye with my adviser on much (read: anything) something that may resemble progress is being made.  Good thing too! it's due in less than a month!

I've continued to spend at least part of each weekend doing some sort of touristy thing.  Some times I just end up going on a walk through different parts of London but I love just exploring.  I spent a whole day wandering around the river and St. Paul's and the bridges and couldn't have been happier.  I've also been to 221b Baker Street and have resolved to re-read my Holmes over break.  Some friends and I took a day trip to Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Bath.  An awesome day and worth the early wake up call.  Stonehenge is beautiful even without the mystery.  Salisbury has a Magna Carta! they wouldn't let me take pictures but it was amazing to see a document that so shaped history (wiki it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Carta).

In frisbee news, I still go play every Saturday morning and almost always head home feeling tired but refreshed.  I got to play in a weekend tournament which was tons of fun (usually they play Wed. afternoons, when I work) and we even did reasonably well for never playing indoors before.  I'm still working on getting the hang of handling as some of you may have heard, but some days are better than other.  Sounds silly but the fact that I can usually see where the pass should go or know why something was a poor decision is a big step - now if only I could execute the throws.... The last bit of frisbee news is that I had my first callahan the other day (A defensive player intercepts a pass from an offensive player, in the endzone for a score) and then played with a stupidly large grin for a few points :)  Generally, I'm really glad to be playing because its helped me stay sane and take a break and meet some great people here in London, outside the program.

Alright, that's it for now and it's back to writing for me.  I promise it won't be another month until I write but I seriously doubt I'll go back to once a day or even once every other day simply because much of what happens these days is routine.  Regardless, talk at you later!

Time flies when there's work to be done

I'm finding this week has just flown by and it's already Thursday which means that I have homework to do in addition to the massive amounts of 'work-work.'  The solution to this is obviously to blog.  There's only minimal sarcasm there too since it's been a busy week I haven't talked to anyone who might read this still and I miss you guys!  Now that we've settled into a routine it seems odd to not be able to call people up at the end of the day and tell them how it went, or to have dinner with them and catch up on what's going on in our lives.  Instead I write everything down, to you guys on the blog, in emails, in gchats, etc. and use my precious MBs when the time differences line up for a phone call.  Anyway, enough lamenting for now, moving on to the 'here's what I did this week' part of the show.  Monday is class day which continues to be blissfully/boringly (choose your own adj) the same each week.  Headed down to class early to get some work done beforehand; I like to get my emails out of the way and have a plan for the day set out before it starts.  After policy class - which continues to be a challenge to my ability to stay engaged and invested in- I chatted with the professor for a bit since she's going to be my dissertation advisor.  The meeting did little to dissuade my trepidations about working with her but at least I got a little direction.  School work is tough this week since we have the dissertation outlines due at the end of the week and then two not-short essays next week.  After the meeting I grabbed my usual lunch and ate on the way to the library.  They're wicked strict on food here, none allowed in the building period.  If you get caught with any, in any part of the building they give you a 'disciplinary warning' and take & throw your food away.  The only beverages allowed is water in a resealable bottle.  The consequence of all this is that I eat on the way to the library and then finish sitting outside it.  To the hurried/stressed American deep inside, this seems like a colossal waste of time, I'm used to eating while I work and just being neat about it.  Later in the afternoon we had parliament class after which I headed home.  I was going to stay on campus and find a comfy chair to curl up and work in but no such luck, it was prime time for comfy chairs on campus.  The mood brightened upon returning home though.  This weekend a lot had begun to go wrong with our flat.  This list of repairs done or needed over the week include: an over that wouldn’t head up, a shorted out microwave, a bathroom floor that when switched on shorts the flat, a flooding shower, a lack of heat, and a chirping smoke alarm.  Needless to say, I was excited to see that some of the list had been taken care of (not everything had broken at this point).  Tuesday was a workday and all that entails.  Typically I head in about 8:30 which means I've started work by 9:30 after stopping to pick up the mail, papers, tea, etc on the way in.  this Tuesday had the usual work of going through briefings with a few extras thrown in.  There was a personal meeting that I was part of that was very interesting, and later a small briefing on the bill itself.  I'm quickly discovering that for all the touting of the Lords as a non-partisan or less-partisan chamber, this does not make it devoid of politics.  You can insult someone just as easily in a formal tone with a British accent.  Even in the short time I've been here I've begun to notice many of the tactics that plague my own political system back home.  Upon arriving back home I was saddened to discover that the fire alarm was once again chirping.  It had stopped so we hadn't written it on the maintenance board but it was back in full, annoying force.  Wednesday came bright and early because even though ipod headphones can help dull the random chirps, they cant block it out entirely so both my roommate and I were away long before we needed to be.  I headed off to work with a friend, a nice habit that’s developing, since we both leave around the same time every day.  Had the usual work day although I was bummed to be missing the first ultimate game of the season, the team plays on Wednesday afternoons for a few weeks.  Wednesday night I hit up the grocery store, another developing routine but this one's purely because it's when I run out of food now.  Finally, after attempting to get some work done, I feel asleep to the chirping of a fire alarm.  Today looks a lot like a combination of Tuesday and Wednesday.  I headed out with a friend about 8:30, went through the usual morning routine at the office.  Today I got my computer though so that means I don’t have to keep brining mine to work.  British keyboards are slightly different than American ones though, juuuussst enough that it looks like you can't type.  Little things, like the quotes, at symbol, and shift key are different, even if the qwerty basics are the same.  In the afternoon I continued to go through amendments, then went home and whipped up some dinner and now here we are. 

Random:

I did forget to mention I got some mail this week, a lovely halloween card featuring candy corn.  I'd forgotten about it for the most part, even though I love it and can eat about half a bag in a sitting.  I was momentarily excited to pick some up and then I remembered that the rules regulating gelatin are different here so they don’t have it.  Their loss I suppose, at least I had some before I left the States. 

This is a weather related note.  Fall appears to have skipped the UK, at least in the New England sense of the word.  After having a long stretch of unseasonably warm weather, I had to break out the peat coat this week because it's gotten chilly out.  It hasn't helped that the heating is just being turned on in most buildings.  Ours flipped on today both at work and at home.  One thing we haven't seen much of here is rain.  It rained a whole bunch while we were up in Scotland but not much down here in London.  Not that I'm complaining but I could probably count the number of times its precipitated on one hand

There's a bunch more random stuff I wanted to talk about but I'm fading fast and have more work to do so I guess I'll spread them out over the entries to come.  Thanks for reading and I'm sorry I've been so ramble-y tonight.

(See? That's not even a word)

The Story of a Neglectful Blogger

This is the story of one terrible, absent blogger and how she hasn't written in over a week and the 'reasons,' read excuses, as to why in the form of stories as to what she's been up to.  In her defense it has been a bit of a momentous week.  Monday was largely uneventful and followed the routine of a class day, met the gang in the morning to walk over to LSE.  It remains what I would consider unseasonably warm here, especially as we inch towards late October and November.  We had our public policy class, no real surprises there as it was its usual vague self, then a quick break before a great guest lecture from Lord Knight.  He was a very interactive and dynamic speaker who gave us lots of opportunities to ask questions as we went along.  Later we had Parliament class, learning about the Prime Minster and examining what makes on a good one and, more importantly an effective one.  Class takes pretty much all day, so afterwards we all dispurse for dinner, studying, and whatever else we have planned for our evenings.  My evening included a trip to the gym which, even though I never look forward to going to, I always feel better after; there's just something about a well-earned ache in your muscles.  After I got home, I got myself fed and ready for work on Tuesday.  It was my first day so I wanted to be super prepared.  This meant that clothes were ironed, purses packed, and an exact route mapped out for the directionally challenged; nothing was going to go wrong if I could help it.  Part of this meant a very early bedtime for yours truly so after catching up with a friend from home I turned in.  I was nervous for my first da y but it was more out of excitement than anything else.  I was excited about this new challenge (adventure if you will) and couldn't wait to get started.  It's also been a while since I had worked in an office setting, in government, and I was looking forward to getting back to it.

The next part of this story is Tuesday, aka Kimberly's First Day of Work!  Everyone had to be at offices at different times and were meeting people in different places but the flat was a bustle of activity as everyone got ready.  I headed out with a lot of extra time - I had to be through security at Westminster at 10am and was out the door at 8:30.  On the way I bumped into a couple friends headed there as well and we all took the tube together.  When we emerged down by the river, we all went our sepearate ways to our first day because even though we were all working in Parliament, it doesn't mean we're necessarily close.  I made it through security with no problems and then just sat and waited.  My Lord came down to meet me at 10 and gave me a mini tour of the place and helped get me situated with my pass.  This turned out to be a major accomplishment I would later learn, since I remain one of the few interns who has their full pass already.  The lords started sitting at 11 that day, to debate the 2nd Reading of the Health and Social Care bill.  The second reading is where the principle of a bill is theoretically debated.  Typically, this is a largely ceremonial vote for the House of Lords due to something called the Salsbury convention which is that the Lords don't opposed measures set forth in the government's manifesto on their principle, since it is an unelected chamber.  However, given that this is a coalition government (meaning there is no ruling party manifesto) and a highly contentious bill with several amendment's being offered regarding its consideration even at this early stage there were a lot of speeches made on the subject and there was talk that the division would be extraordinarily close.  Anyway, back to the story.  After I managed to get seated in the Southwest Gallery (my new perch, the view looks like this http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/184150_149601551788769_147821811966743_272751_7852188_n.jpg), I met Kirsten & Kritika who work in a different Lords office and who were to be my unofficial guides to finding my feet in this new job.  Listening to the speeches reminded me a lot of listening to CSPAN & Congress back home.  Apparently, healthcare politics sounds nearly the same in any system and accent.  Even though the UK and US healthcare systems are vastly different in principle and reality, many of the issues are strikingly similar.  For lunch, I went to the cafeteria style place in the basement of Westminster with the girls, so far it's become my lunch routine, before heading back up to listen to more speeches including one by my Lord.  The afternoon was primarily spent filing out various forms for email address, laptops, and the like.  Later, after my Lord went back to the chamber, and told me he didn't really need me anymore, I set about exploring.  Really, there wasn't a lot to do, I had to return some forms to IT and pick something up for the Lord at the printing office.  Yet, Westminster is a wee bit confusing directionally, even having a map is small help.  I managed to get myself positively lost a couple times before I figured it out and am probably better for it since I now know how things connect a bit better.  Afterwards, I dug into my massive stack of reading that I have to do.  There is one heck of a bill, its explanatory notes, various reports and impact statements on it, and anything else you can think of to help get me up to speed.  Monday night was spent chilling with other Scholars and comparing first day stories, it seems like the first day met or exceeded almost all expectations. 

Wednesday was day 2 of work and I had to find a new way into the building.  After getting lost on the way in, I managed to barely making to a committee meeting on pediatrics.  I ws there to take notes which I can totally do; reminds me a lot of… actually most of the other jobs I've had.  Afterwards, I headed back to the gallery to catch the end of the speeches, they'd gone until 11:30 the night before and still weren't done, there were over 100 speakers!  There were a couple divisions to be done so after the first one took 25 minutes (there's a timer in the chamber to keep track of how long speakers go for), I popped down for lunch before the next one.  Later in the afternoon, I began digging into the bill hardcore.  One of my major projects will be going through the bill and comparing it to briefings the Lord has received from groups looking to see amendments in the bill.  Unfortunately, the best way to do this seems to be paging through the paper copy of the bill which is slightly time consuming.  Even so, it was good to dig through the bill a bit, I felt like I was getting to understand it a lot better.  At the end of the day I was most definitely ready to head home.  A stop at the grocery store was all that stood between me and home.  After my arrival back at the flat and feeding myself, I promptly passed out.

Thursday makes for a boring story but was quite the productive day.  My boss wasn't in but I had a bunch of briefings to get through so I wasn't bored. Also, it's uncommon for Lords to have a staff which leads to a general lack of space for one; this is contributed to by the sheer number of Lords that could be seated.  The practical implications of which is that I have a shelf to put my things on and a chair but that’s it, no desk.  However, when my boss isn't there I get to use his, and Thursday it made it a lot easier to get my work done.  Thursday night, which is like our Friday since we don’t work Fridays was lots of fun; generally just hanging out with the gang.  We went up the road to see some music at a local pub before coming back to the flats and doing the same thing as we were before we left: shooting the breeze.  There may have even been a Red Sox conversation carrying on until past 3am which I thoroughly enjoyed.  It was just that kind of night and I hope they become weekly traditions.  Friday was equally boring since I spent it working in the library. There were interesting bright spots though.  For one, there was no need to get up in the morning so I had a lazy one.  Then, just as I was about to get up, one of our pipes burst, flooding our hallway.  Luckily maintenance was up to fix it immediately and I took advantage to not get up and do anything and instead finish my book.  When the hallway was dry, I made myself a delicious omelet and went off to the library.  That night a bunch of people went out to the clubs but I took the chill route of a local pub with a few friends.  Again the night ends with a group of friends sitting around chatting having fun.

Saturday morning I was off to ultimate.  I'm loving getting into the nitty gritty of the offense and defense here, it’s a ho stack and I'm handling half the time.  Every team runs things differently and it's always easier once you get the basics of it down.  It was absolutely beautiful out and a great way to spend a good chunk of a Saturday: good people, good frisbee, good fun.  After lunch at the pub with the ultimate crew, I hopped on the bus with another girl and headed home to work.  Sunday was spent working too, nothing to report except that there's a lot of schoolwork coming down the pipe and I am out of practice writing 'real' research papers on broad questions.  Alright, all caught up! Hopefully it won't be so long until I update again.

A Studying Sunday Post

I realize I left off rather abruptly last time but in my defense there was a family and a puppy looking for me.  Caramel's developed a habit of looking for me whenever she hears my voice coming out of the computer.  It's adorable and makes me miss my baby so much more than I already do, she looks so sad when she can't find me; she hasn't figured out that I'm in the computer yet, she just knows I'm not there.  After we'd sufficiently explored the grocery store, we'd packed our newfound foodstuffs into backpacks (apparently this is a city thing, relatively unknown to those who don't go to school in them, who'd've thunk it?), and made our way back to the flats.  I spent the rest of my evening making dinner and using the rest of my MBs on skype.  Yesterday was Ultimate Day.  Even though it wasn't technically as good a day out as last week, it was still loads of fun.  I'm loving being out on the field again and teaching new players the game.  Somehow, I've become one of the 'old' players.  I've been playing for about 5 or 6 years now, since sophomore year of high school but it's been so much fun that it doesn't feel like that long and I know there are so many better players out there than me.  Yet somehow, I'm realizing that to someone just starting out that I, Kimberly/Kim/Zolla, am the old, wise player schooled in the intricacies of the game; it’s a concept I'm still wrapping my head around.  I'm also discovering that there are downsides to this 'status' like that I now have to handle sometimes because I have passable throws, or that the cutting lane will be chock full of rooks for the time being.  There are major upsides though as well, teaching and helping people fall in love with a game I love is so rewarding.  There's something special about seeing a disc fly flat and straight for the first time and their face light up, knowing you had a role in putting it there, or watching someone score their first point, make their first real cut and catch.  I remember what that felt like for me and I'm really enjoying teaching new people the game.  After frisbee we grabbed some food and then the roommates and I had a bit of a chill night in, everyone curled up with a book or a movie.  Today I'm at the library all day so not much of interest to report except that for only having 2 traditional classes there sure is a lot of work to be done on other things!  I'm currently taking a break from the grownup world of figuring out how I'll be getting to my first day of work, working on grad school applications, and researching my dissertation to write this and clear up some random thought that have been on my mind.

Random Thoughts:

Yesterday was our 2 week anniversary as a program and it feels like it was so much longer ago than that.  The best way to describe a study abroad program may be as a crash course in social dynamics.  For the most part, it feels like I've known these people way longer than two weeks and yet others I'm still getting to know.  I think part of it may be due to the 24/7 mentality of the trip.  We arrived here in groups for the most part, so there were tran-Atlantic flights and arrival adventures to bond over.  We live together in flats of 4, and all the flats are in the same little hallway.  We go to school together and are the only pupils in our classes.  We essentially do everything together from work, to travel, shop and play.  Even though these past two weeks have been long, I have a sneaking suspicion that this trip will be flying by pretty soon, it's already October 9 which means there's less than 2.5 months left!

I'm back to reading the BBC regularly now that I'm here.  It's like having to read the Times for an American Politics class.  One of the things I noticed was that next to an article about a release from the British Treasury was accompanied with an interesting sidebar.  In a drop-box there was a massive list of banking terms, all linked to easy-to-understand definitions.  It struck me how widely the financial crisis has struck the world.  Some of the terms were simple but others delved into the complex financial world.  Somewhere in the past few years, it became necessary for everyday people to make sense of these terms in order to keep their daily lives in order.  Ten or twenty years ago, no one needed to know what these terms meant or how they worked, you simply mailed your check to the bank every month to pay your mortgage with little thought to how the macro machine functioned.  I can't tell if this new need for knowledge is the sign of a smarter investor and consumer or of a more dire financial situation but either way it is a definite departure from the old.  A lot to get from a drop-box but it just got me thinking!

Finally, the news of Steve Jobs' death made big headlines on this side of the pond as well as back home.  I'm a PC girl all the way, yet I can't deny the impact Jobs made.  As I type this I'm listening to music on my ipod which is an achievement unto itself, and this ipod is much smaller than the black and white click wheel I first bought myself years.  Jobs had a tremendous impact on the technological world and I have little doubt that it would look vastly different - and likely not in a good way- without him.  I'm intrigued to see what Apples first post-Jobs big idea will be and if it will possess the same innovation the world has come to expect from Apple.  Even beyond technology, the man seemed to be fascinating and the kind of thinker that will be sorely missed.  If you haven't seen his commencement speech at Stanford a few years back, I suggest you check it out either in print (http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html) or video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc)

Catching Up: Fri. October 7 aka Today

Train blogging again!  We are…. Actually I have no idea where we are at this point, only that we're more than halfway to London.  This morning we had as lazy a morning as possible, not bothering to hit up breakfast.  We did have to be out of our rooms by 10 but at least we could leave our stuff in the lobby for a few hours until it was time to go.  Somehow we got the idea into our heads that we wanted bagels for breakfast, since we knew we'd be hitting up a coffee shop for it.  On all our walks we'd seen a place called Elephant and Bagel which is a sister café to the J.K. Rowling one and that became our destination for the morning.  We however did not quite remember how far up it was, it was slightly further than we remembered.  However, the bagel was delicious and a welcome change to pastry.  Afterwards, we made use of our bus passes from yesterday to go on a tour of Edinburgh.  It was fun but nothing special at that point because a lot of the sights we'd discovered on our own.  If I were visiting again, I'd do it on the first day to provide almost a primer to the city that people could then explore more on their own.  At least it wasn't raining though, today is actually the best day we've had since we got here.  After grabbing our stuff back at the B&B we piled into cabs for the last time to the train station.  I had a sneaking suspicion that we'd get quite good at getting all of us into cabs, getting them paid for, doing it all efficiently, etc and it proved correct; all was done with no hassle in a way that seemed almost practiced.  I once again am riding backwards towards our destination but I'm on the coast side of the train again.  For a large part of the ride I've been kicking myself for packing my camera away in the overhead shelf.  It's much cleared out today and the views are even more spectacular if that’s possible.  The ocean definitely looks like the Atlantic and seeing it dotted with the occasional lighthouse is a comforting sight, I'd imagine the one in OOB looks similar this time of year.  With the clearer day we've been able to make out some more details along the coast, including some huge manor houses, tiny ancient abandoned ones, lots and lots of sheep, and cows (sorry, still no belted galloways).   Even now as I write this, I'm looking out the window as my fingers fly over the keys; I don't want to look away for a moment and will just fix the typos when I get back to the flat.  I think that's all for now, so I'm going to close the laptop and focus all my attention on the countryside flying by. 

=====================

The rest of the train ride passed painfully slowly but passed none the less.  By the end all of us were ready to get off and get home.  Personally my ipod died and I finished all the work I'd brought with me, making me a wee bit stir crazy.  All in all though, wasn't too bad.  A quick bus ride, thank you 214, got us to what has quickly become our new home.  I emptied my backpack (what I'd packed in this week) and headed off to the grocery store with a friend.  Since we were gone no one had any perishable food left. 

Catching Up: Thurs. October 6

This morning we made it over to breakfast in good time, with long enough for a sit down meal.  I ended up with the same food as yesterday but with a hot cup of tea and time to spare.  During breakfast it was pouring off and on, but mostly on, so we piled into cabs and headed into town.  Our first stop was Scottish Parliament where we met with a member of the Scottish Labour Party named Ken Macintosh.  He provided some insight to what it's like to be in opposition, as well as some specific policies he would change.  His party is actually in the process of electing new leadership and he is in the running for the position so it was very nice of him to take time out of his schedule to meet with us.  He also gave us a tour of the Parliament building and his office.  The building was designed with two themes in mind: openness and boats.  Consequently you see a lot of class and natural lighting, and a lot of features shaped like the bottom of a boat.  It's interesting to note that all the MP's offices are much smaller than those you'd see in the US.  Each MP, regardless of rank it seemed, had a cubicle where an assistant or receptionist could sit and it was open/glass on the side facing the hallway.  The member then had a slightly larger, but pretty much the same size, office right behind it.  The reasoning behind this design is that most of a SMPs (Scottish Member of Parliament) work is done in the constituency and they don’t need a lot in Edinburgh.  Also, most of the offices also have a little nook sticking out of the back wall and into the street.  These contemplative nooks were designed by the architect and could provide a place for the SMP to sit and think quietly; I love them and want one myself.  Afterwards, his office managed to secure some tickets to FMQs - First Minister's Questions - and I got one!  It was so cool to watch and appealed heavily to the geek in me.  Questions is when the government ministers of various departments and the first minister must answer questions from the other SMPs.  It is a lot more rowdy than at home, with members cheering, booing, and verbal jabing at each other in the questions.  I feel so lucky to have had this experience and now really want to try to get into the PMQs in London.  Afterwards, we headed to Pizza Express which is a chain here that we wanted to try.  Unfortunately the food didn't totally live up to expectations but it wasn't bad.  The last lecture of the day was from a member of the SNP (Scottish Nationalist Party whose big policy platform centers on, you guessed it, Scottish independence) which was interesting if not just for the huge amount of politics at play.  It was good to hear about the policies of the SNP (currently the majority party in the Scottish Parliament, the first party to hold a majority) from a member of the SNP because they are sometimes cast as 'nutters' by political opponents.  Even if this guy wasn’t nutters he was still most definitely a politician and someone I would've like to talk to more about just because I found myself in opposition to a number of his arguments from an academic standpoint and it's easier to cut through the politics one on one.  After this meeting we walked through the cold drizzle to get tickets for a bus tour.  Since they were goods for 24 hours we figured we could use it to get partially home.  Turns out, we were wrong but now we don’t have to go all the way back in tomorrow to get them.  I ended up taking the public bus back.  Did you know that even the bus seats are plaid in Scotland?  This amused me to no end.  I like taking public transport in a place because you really get a feel for the people and it gives you a sense of pride, you can fool yourself into thinking  your local if you get good enough at it.  Tonight we all went out for a group dinner on the Royal Mile which was a lot of fun.  We don't do a lot non-stressful group activities but they're fun when we do have them and this trip has been a good bonding experience for a lot of us.  Afterwards, we all went out to Whiski for a few drinks.  They had a great Scottish folk band playing and it was great to just sit there in the amazing atmosphere - good music, good drinks, good people.  Later we hit up the Edinburgh U Student Union for a little bit and overall had a good night.  

Catching Up: Wed. October 5

Despite getting the recommended about of sleep last night, the alarm seemed to go off as soon as I'd stopped tossing and turning.  Getting ready proved to be a slight challenge since there's once bathroom for 3 girls (a worse ratio than at the flat) and the mirror and hair dryer are located immediately outside the bathroom door in a way that makes it impossible to go in and out of the bathroom without running into someone.  My bed it also smack dab in the middle of what would ordinarily be a little free space.  Alls well that ends well though, and we made it to breakfast with relatively few issues.  Tomorrow we'll definitely be at breakfast earlier because for those who had more time, there was fresh made eggs to order, sausage, and the other fixings of a full English breakfast.  Personally I was perfectly content with my dry Shreddies (great discovery, they're like a wheat Chex with a little bit of sugar on them) and fresh scone.  The unpredictability of the weather here - the only predictable thing is that it's bound to start raining at any second - and the sizeable walk to our destination meant that we once again piled in cabs.  It was less hectic than yesterday for sure, I imagine we'll get quite good at it, and soon we found ourselves outside the Scottish Law Society on a very windy day.  A very nice man whose name I am currently blanking on (I'll look it up and add it to the bottom of the post) gave us an informative and interesting lecture on Scottish history.  It proved very useful only a few hours later and I'm sure this will continue to be the case.  Afterwards, we had an amazing talk by one Ian Dunkin about the Parliaments at play in Scotland.  Yes, that is plural on purpose, the Scottish Parliament, Westminster Parliament, and EU Parliament all play a role in Scotland's unique governing situation.  We went into detail about each body and how they impact and are impacted by Scotland.  The speaker's frankness in regards to the positions of several groups was refreshing and made it easier to get a handle on what is going on.  This was easily my favorite talk so far.  Afterwards we had time for a lunch break and another student and I found a nice little café with good, inexpensive food with a great atmosphere.  It was a great place to grab a bite and recharge since we had one more lecture later in the afternoon.  Although the morning had been windy but sunny, it had darkened considerably since then and on the way back from lunch it began to mist.  The final lecture was on economics in Scotland.  Probably my least favorite lecture but it was short.  It was very dense and heavy of data with less explanation as to why those figures matter.  Just as we were leaving, the skies opened and full on rain began.  Since we were almost immediately soaked in spite of our rain gear, we decided to just tough it out and keep exploring.  On tap for our afternoon was the Elephant House.  The tucked away café doesn’t appear to be anything special from the outside, that is until you notice the writing on one of the windows announcing that this is where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter.  Although I certainly am not as crazy a Harry Potter fan as some and I'm far from obsessive over it, I would be remiss to pass up the opportunity.  These books and characters are ones I grew up with, and who grew up with me; the series began when I was in Lane (elementary school) and spanned all the way through my high school career.  By the time we'd arrived at Elephant House we were soaked through, I was literally dripping as we sat down.  It was really coolly decorated on the inside, with elephants everywhere.  I'd gone with the girls I was staying with and we all relaxed with some tea to dry off a bit and soak up the atmosphere.  Afterwards, it had stopped raining so we did a little walking around and shopping before walking home.  We dried off and attempted to warm up hanging out in our room before once again heading out into the elements.  This time we were in search of dinner and found Mother's Kitchen, an Indian place a few blocks from us.  I was glad it wasn't too far a walk because it's decidedly cold out and I should've brought more warm clothes.  When we got back, our room became dubbed the Island of Misfit Toys.  Since we were right by the front door, we would let people into the building when their key got stuck (the lock was finicky) and they'd wind up chilling in our room.  There was also only one set of keys for each room so some people couldn't get into their rooms for a while.  It was a lot of fun though and our room was full with laughter for hours before people headed off to bed.  Now it's my turn to hit the sack too, hopefully the weather defies the forecast and it's dryer and or warmer tomorrow.

Note: Speakers were Mike Clancy from the Law Society of Scotland, Dr Ian Duncan Clerk to the European & External Relations Committee and European Officer, Scottish Parliament, and Lucy Proud & Graeme Kemlo, Office of the Chief Economic Officer for the Scottish Government

Catching Up: Tues. October 4

Blogging on the train to Edinburgh, who out there is surprised?  Go ahead, raise your hands, now look around and notice who else is as silly as you since it’s a definite noticeable trend for me to be blogging in transit.  Currently the English countryside is flying by, with its rolling hills (mostly flat still), quaint brick houses, cows (no belted Galloway so far), windmills, sheep, and everything else you'd expect to see on the English countryside.  So far the only major surprises were how quickly the city changed to country and the nuclear plant we drove by, it seemed a bit out of place with the idyllic setting all around us. 

Sunday ended up being a lot more fun and exciting than I initially thought it'd be.  A few of us headed over to Camden to check out the markets.  It was the same stop that I'd used on Saturday for Ultimate so it was wicked easy to get to even with rail construction.  For most of the time we're here, our line is closed on weekends for engineering work which leaves us relying on busses and our feet to get around.  Luckily the 214, among others, picks up right by our flat and goes right to Kings Cross and Camden (both semi-important places in life).  The market, or markets since it was technically a couple merged together, was HUGE, absolutely enormous, I lack the vocabulary to explain adequately just how many stalls there were.  The best I can do is say that we wandered around for a good 4 hours, not dilly dallying, and still didn't see quite all of them.  They sell all manner of goods, from household, to clothing's, to books, to food stalls, to jewelry, to bags, to everything in between.  Most of the stalls are permanent or semi-permanent and the market is open 7 days a week.  I will most definitely be back multiple times before I leave.  Unfortunately there was still schoolwork to be done so after the market it was back to the flat.  I grabbed my laptop and books and headed down to LSE.  The next hours were spent there, working until I was too hungry to put up with it anymore; that, and I wanted to get home before it got too late.  After dinner I kept reading until I felt ready enough for class Monday, thus quietly ending what had begun as an exciting day. 

Monday morning came way too fast but it was time for class.  I was going to go plenty early to keep reading before class started but after getting partway there, I realized that I'd forgotten my notebook so I had to runback to flat to get it.  This definitely made the morning a bit more hectic but all's well that ends well I suppose.  The day was largely uneventful for those back home.  We learned about policy making theory in the morning class and I'm already seeing them show up in the readings; I feel like I'll be learning accidentally in that class a lot.  Between classes we officially found out our internships (I knew mine before I left) and got some more logistical information about them.  After lunch at the Quad it was time for Parliament class and discussions about the House of Lords.  It was the last nice, 80 degree, day out we could expect for a while so we walked home from class.  We ended up breaking up in to a few groups looking to find the best way home and consequently all got lost.  We did make it home eventually and I enjoyed the walking.  Last night, the roommate and I got ourselves packed and did a little reading before I turned in early.  This morning we headed up to King's Cross around 8:45 to grab our 10am train and since then we've been whizzing towards Scotland. 

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Later that day....

The rest of the train ride went pretty well and we got to see some beautiful scenery; the train followed the coast for a while.  The folk songs about the Scottish coast make a lot more sense now, the place has a rugged beauty to it, harsh but homey.  After we got into Edinburgh we had to grab taxis to the hotel which sounds simpler than it was.  There are about 30 people on this little jaunt between the undergrads, researchers, and Luke so logistical issues sometimes crop up where one would least suspect it and this was one of those places.  Even so, we managed and soon arrived at Thrums, our little B&B home for the next few days.  I'm in a room with two of the other girls, one of my suitemates and a friend I've made on the trip.  Once everyone had dropped their stuff it was time to EXPLORE! always one of my favorite parts of arriving in a new place.  By circumstance and timing we all left in a massive blob and began walking up to the Royal Mile, or at least what we knew to be the general right direction of it, at this point we didn't even know what it looked like.  The group quickly splintered though, with some people hopping in a cab and others deciding to stop along the way.  By the time we'd reached the mile, we were almost all in our usual mini-groups off in search of food and adventure.  Our bit was hungry, very hungry, so we went to one of the first pubs we found on the Mile.  Possibly not our smartest decision ever in terms of cost effectiveness since things on the Royal Mile, especially in the center where we were are on the less cheap side but like I said, we were hungry.  Traditional fare was the theme of the meal for us.  The pub was called Whiski and the boys tried the whiskey, we are in Scotland after all.  It proved to be decidedly stronger than home and pretty good.  Personally, I had fish and chips for the first time since I've arrived in the UK with Innis & Gun, a local Scottish beer.  Overall I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would since I'm not usually a fish person; oh and of course I love chips.  After refueling at the pub, we headed up towards Edinburgh Castle exploring.  Unfortunately the castle itself was closed for the day but we got some cool pictures of the outside and checked out the gift shop.  I got myself a Scotland pencil to add to the collect, I can add it to the UK/England one I got at Camden Market this past weekend.  Delicious shortbread was also in order and we passed around the box as we continued to wander around.  Eventually we found ourselves on the other side of the bridge, on Princess Street in New Town (the Royal Mile, or High Street, is in Old Town).  We could see all these impressive looking buildings on cliffs and decided to walk up and explore one of them.  Turns out we were headed to Calton Hill, and it was a great choice.  There's a cool cemetery there, where Hume is buried and there's actually a statue of Lincoln on one of them, commemorating soldiers of Scottish decent who died in the Civil War.  When we made it up the hill there was an observatory tower, some more monuments, and some Roman looking ruins that were all really fun to wander around.  The best part though, by far, was the views.  They were incredible and you could see out over the entire city in all directions, including to Holyrood, the Queen's Scottish residence.  Even though it hadn't started raining again at this point, it had continued to get colder and colder and now it was quite cold out.  Reluctantly we headed down and homeward.  I noticed walking back that a number of 'cancer stores' lined the way.  They sell secondhand items of all kinds and the proceeds go to support cancer research.  It struck me as an interesting plan and potential business model - I wonder about its sustainability and successfulness.  Near home we stopped for supplies at a little convenience type store.  We'd eaten around 3 or 3:30 so we'd effectively skipped dinner and although it wasn't a dire issue, we could use a snack or something.  Once we got back we dug out some cards and learned a new game, 31, which kept us entertained for the remainder of the evening.  The fact that breakfast starts at 7:45 tomorrow and we're out the door at 9 means that we've all retreated to bed and now I tool will hopefully soon be asleep, g'night all!

Catching Up

I spent the last four days in Edinburgh, Scotland as part of my program.  I blogged while I was there but they didn't make it on the internet for various reasons.  For those of you who don't know, I usually write in a word doc and then post here when I get online.  I'm going to post them all now as Catching Up posts with the day they're from.  Enjoy! 

Ultimate Day!

I'm deliciously sore tonight from ultimate and definitely smiling from a day of disc under the sun but I'm getting ahead of myself.  Yesterday afternoon I finally got myself properly organized for school and did some cleaning.  Those of you who've seen me do this know that all the papers go in their specific folders, labeled of course, reading lists are made, etc, etc, etc.  Somehow I'd made it through the first week of class neglecting to do this and dealing with the fact that they use A4 paper here which is slightly larger than a regular 8.5x11 and does not fit in a regular folder.  Anyway, it felt nice to put my stuff back in order and I'm ready to dig into classes.  Last night we did end up heading down to the Thames for dinner and a movie.  The waterfront was beautiful at night, Tower Bridge and the Tower were all lit up with white lights.  I didn't bring my camera but I'll definitely be back there with it; there's just something about being on the water.  The movie was playing at the Scoop, an outdoor amphitheater which was packed full so it was hard to see.  Instead of battling along the rails for a seat, we sat nearby and enjoyed our sandwiches from EAT! while discussing how hard it is to find a 'normal' sandwich here - there's all sorts of things you wouldn’t normally put in them here.  Afterwards we found spots where we could mostly see and watched the rest of True Grit leaning up against metal barriers.  Even though it was chilly by the end, definitely a good night.  It ended by saying hi to the family, pup and all, before they sat down for dinner (by the way guys, you owe me a slice of pizza). 

Today was ULTIMATE DAY!!!!! I'd been sorely missing it and didn't even realize how much until I was on the field.  Tube construction meant that it took a half hr via bus to get there since my section is under construction but it was easy enough.  Practice was at 11 and I was so eager to lace up and get going that I only partially minded that right after we warmed up, we did sprints.  The rest of practice consisted of teaching people new to the sport how to toss, doing a couple of bullet drills (man am I out of practice breaking the mark on this, or just not used to defenders nearly a foot taller than me), on the hook (as winner I earned myself a free beer and possibly some cred?) and lots of scrimmaging.  Being out there playing was so much fun I barely took a sub even though it was hot out again today, 80s F or 20s C, and even spent a reasonable amount of time handling.  It's not my position back home and definitely somewhere I'm not totally comfortable yet but we'll see how it plays out.  I definitely need to work on my dump cuts though!  One of my favorite parts was just the people.  Players are one of the reasons I love Ultimate so much and this bunch was no different, they were all very welcoming and it felt like I just slipped in as one of the group pretty easily.  Afterwards, most of the group went to a nearby pub to relax for a bit before heading back towards campus and home.  Overall, it's been an excellent Saturday all around, so long as one ignores the pile of reading I've yet to do and believe I'll go start now.  Tomorrow's likely to be spent at the library so I wouldn't expect an update but then there's only one day left before our trip to Edinburgh!

Geeking Out, London Style

Turned out I was in for a little more 'adventure,' handyman style, after I signed off the other night.  Just as I was about to go to bed almost all the lights in our apartment went out.  After quickly deducing that a fuse had blown and finding the fuse box we then had to set about getting the power back on.  Unfortunately, whenever I flipped it back, the light flickered on for a moment and then went out again.  We ended up calling the building manager and he somehow got the fuse to stay on.  This time it stayed on until the next morning, which was nice since it meant we could go back to our evenings.  The only downside was that it insisted on turning off once again just as I was about to get in the shower.  So the barely established morning routine was thrown for a loop - showers in the dark, pulling the mirror next to the window to get some light, blow drying in the kitchen since those were the only outlets on - but soon I was out the door regardless.  Wednesday we had a tour of Parliamentary archives in the morning and there was no way I was going to be late!  Three of us left at 8:30 for a 9:45 tour just to make sure, its nice that there are some people with the same sense of punctuality here as me.  It worked out really well, we found the Sovereigns' Entrance where we were supposed to meet, and a coffee cart right by Westminster Abbey.  The weather in London continues to be gorgeous so we sat on a nearby wall to enjoy our tea and pastry.  The day had definitely taken a turn for the better at this point and would only continue to improve.  The tour of the Parliamentary archives was lots of fun and I definitely geeked out with a stupid grin on my face.  In the archives, they hold the Acts of Parliament in their final forms, all of them.  The room we got to see was filled from floor to ceiling and had ones going back past the Tutors including Henry VII, and his kids, Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth!  Not only that, but there was no glove rule, meaning we got to touch the documents.  Most of them are rolled up like a scroll, ranging from an inch to a foot in diameter, and they contained all sorts of Acts, from the simple to complex.  Sean and I unrolled one to look and still could not believe it was allowed.  After that, we went to another room to see some of the American documents on record, including the copy of the Declaration of Independence that was sent to the House of Lords.  Amazingly, it's in great condition and you could read it as you leafed through - literally touching history!  After the archives, I headed back to the flat to squeeze in a quick run before our afternoon lecture; trying to take advantage of the nice weather we've been having.  The guest lecture was by Professor The Lord Norton, Director of Studies for the Hansard Scholars Programme.  He spoke on the British Constitution and helped explain how constitutional issues are being played out today.  Due to the structure of British government, an active Parliament with a strong majority can easily make drastic constitutional change, very different from in the US.  The lecture helped us to start making the connections between the classroom and current events.  Afterwards, it was back to the flat once more to have a quick dinner and get ready for a night out.  We were doing our first group social activity, a night out at the theatre near Piccadilly Circus.  We saw 39 Steps, which I had never heard of before but turned out to be wicked funny; I'd recommend it.  Afterwards, six of us walked home since the nights have been warm and beautiful lately.  The lightheartedness and amusement of the play still hung in the air and the walk home was full of laughter.  All in all, it was a great end to a good day.

Yesterday (Thursday for those of you keeping score) morning we headed back to the sovereign's entrance for our tour of Parliament & the Jewel Tower.  Unfortunately there was no photos allowed so I can't share what I saw but it was awe inspiring.  Some of us were discussing the differences between Westminster and the Capitol and I stand by my assertion that I like the Capitol more; I find it more simply elegant.  Yet, Westminster is still quite impressive with its own sense of history.  It's also interesting to note how much the building changes from one end to the other.  The Sovereigns' Entrance and House of Lords is ornately decorated, lots of gold guild and opulence, while in contrast, the House of Commons end is much more demurely decorated.  Afterwards, we checked out the Jewel Tower which was one of the few parts not touched by the Great Fire.  A lot of what we see as London today is technically a rebuild from after the fire where something like 80% of London was destroyed.  Afterwards, I headed down to LSE to check out their Freshers Faire.  The line to get in was ungodly long, 3 blocks no exaggeration, but luckily the people I was standing near were nice and the time passed fairly quickly.  Once inside, I navigated through the mob to the Ultimate table and am now officially signed up for ultimate frisbee, I might even get to play Saturday!  I also checked out the gym while I was on campus.  I got a reasonably good workout in, I'm only reasonably sore today.  I was a bit nervous since it was my first real arm workout since I hurt my shoulder last fall.  It's going to take some time but hopefully I'll get back to where I was pre-injury with time.  When I got back to the flat afterwards, I decided to read on my bed for a while which quickly turned into a nap.  Finally woke up around 9pm but was still exhausted so I ate while I did a load of laundry and then promptly found myself back in bed for the night.  Turns out I needed the rest since I slept until nearly 9:30 this morning.  Today we've had mostly off except for a quick lecture about Hansard, which has been nice since its beautiful out, possibly even hot.  Tonight we may head down to the river for a free movie but whatever we do, it'll definitely involve being outside.  

Did you know it rained in England?

We are now, officially done with the first day of school.  Yesterday began a bit dreary and a bit early.  Class started at 10 but we were still out the door by 8:30 since we only sort of knew where we were going and needed to stop on the way.  It was a little chilly and misty at this point, even though the weather report promised it would clear up.  On the way we popped into a school supplies store to pick up those little things we'd forgotten from home, before grabbing more caffine and continuing on our way.  The first class of the day was Politics and Public Policy, interesting and just wat it sounds like. G to be discussing the formation of public policy and how they interrelate.  Class was about an hour and a half so we had some time to grab a quick bite to eat in an LSE café.  A yummy sandwich to go for £3, not too shabby.  In between the classes we had a mini tour of LSE from Luke, showing us where some of our classes would be, the cut-through to Hansard, etc.  It had cleared up and was a beautiful, warm day ot at this point too which made some free outdoors time very enjoyable.  Our second class is called Parliament and Politics.  Its simillar a little bit to a Politics in Western Europe class I took last fall at Northeastern but with a completely different perspective.  I think this class will be very interesting; I'm glad to have some base knowledge in the subject because it'll allow me to focus more on the intricacies of what goes on.  Post class everyone dispursed with a few of us heading up to Carphone Warehouse at Angel for phones.  That’s right folks, I now have a gen-u-ine international cell phone. It was a little tricky navigating throught the different pay as you go phones as s but we figured it out.  However we soon realized there was one tiny littleobstacle in our way.  While we were in the store it had begun to rain.  Not just oh hey there's water coming from the sky, man it stinks that I don’t have a coat/umbrella (a mistake I will not be repeating), we're talking buckets and buckets of it, sheets of rain falling from the sky.  We walked back as fast as we could, trying to dodge the massive puddles that had quickly formed but it was to no avail.  We were still soaked in an instant.  By the time we arrived back at the apartments I was wet all the way through and could literally wring water from my clothes.  Luckily my new phone and most of the stuff in my backpack escaped the deluge - there was only some minor water damage to books & papers.  A warm shower was deemed necessary to take out the chill and just enjoy the fact that our shower is now fixed.  The rain had stopped as suddenly - the storm actually resemble a summer storm in New England - as it started so I headed down to the mini grocery to pick up enough basic supplies that I could make dinner.  It was my first real dinner in the flat and it was fittingly delicious if slightly unbalanced.  The rest of the evening was uneventful except for chatting it up w/ the bro and meeting some of his two and four legged suite-mates. 

The early night last night was in part due to the fact that this morning was coming far too quickly.  Another early wake up, this time so I could sneak in a run before heading off to LSE.  A couple of us signed up for an LSE gym membership and had to be 'oriented' as to how to u se it before we were allowed to work out there.  Our orientation was at 9 but it takes a while to get there, especially when the tube is crowded in the mornings.  Orientation turned out to be walking us around the small room (gyms are very different here than in the US, since universities don't have the same funding levels, the facilities/services are often much more basic) and making sure we knew how to use all the equipment; it took all of 5-10 minutes.  Then, it was time for breakfast and shaking the last of the sleepiness out.  The nearby Costa was just the thing, with hot tea and a yummy lemon poppy seed muffin.   At 11 we had a meeting at Hansard to just go over more welcome stuff and it gave us a chance to ask questions about the grading, traveling, and really anything.  Afterwards we had lunch at Hansard and then headed off to class.  Today we had just the parliament class where we talked about the House of Commons.  It remains a fairly complex place despite the apparent simplicity in the system.  It feels good to be talking politics again in an academic setting and I'm looking forward to doing it more.  As a pretty quiet person I don’t usually volunteer my opinions or when I know the answer but I'm trying! Even so, it's refreshingly challenging to be puzzling out the 'problems' (for some they're problems, for others assets) in a system.   After class I headed back towards home.  After ditching my flats (still being broken in, ouch!) for some flip flops, losing the sweater - it was high 70s today - and plunking a sox cap on my head I headed up towards Angel.  I want to become as familiar as possible with my area as quickly as possible and I needed a hair dryer, a pan to cook in the over in, chicken to cook in the oven, as well as some other random goodies.  The walk proved to be a good finish to the afternoon and it didn’t rain on me this time.  Tonight's been an exercise in catch-up between writing and doing some reading, another fairly quiet evening because tomorrow's another early morning.  Now I'm off to finish some schoolwork of the grad and undergrad variety.  'Til next time!

Settling In

Picking up where I left off, napping was not quite successful and by not quite I mean I didn't sleep at all but the rest of the flight still passed pretty quickly.  After landing, the six of us in the program on the flight all headed through customs, no surprises there, and grabbed our stuff, still pretty easy.  Then, most of us headed off to the tube for the first time.  Buying tickets was the first obstacle, the card reader was a little funky but the big task was getting our heavy suitcases through tiny metal barriers that were before you even swiped your ticket.  We took the train on the Piccadilly line towards Cockfosters (giggles ensue, we were sleep deprived college kids) to Kings Cross.  From here we were supposed to take the Northern Line to Angel but the Northern line, as it turns out, is under construction this weekend and our part is closed.  This meant that me, and 3 of the others decided to hoof it to the towers.  I swear, it didn't look nearly as far as it felt on the map, once we'd located ourselves.  Besides, we had plenty of time since we couldn't get into the building until 10am.  Eventually we made it, none worse for the wear and still with plenty of time to spare.   As five of us camped out in the lobby, a few more students began to arrive as well.  Then, just past ten Luke, from Hansard, arrived to let us all into our apartments.  They are brand new and BEAUTIFUL.  There's four of us to a flat with plenty of storage space for everyone.  Also, the entire floor is all Hansard kids.  We even have our own washer/dryer and dishwasher, in addition to the regular appliances.  Most of Saturday afternoon was a flurry of unpacking, followed by some much needed food and a brief nap.  Then, after a floor meeting with the building manager, the original six of us headed off on a dinner exploration which ended with some pretty good Indian food.  The only thing left to do was to stop by our 24 hr grocery to pick up breakfast for today.

Today it was nice, relaxing way to start the week.  I woke up with just enough time to have a relaxing breakfast and a walk before heading out for the day.  I'd picked up real English tea (forgot the tea strainer thingy so that was a challenge) and some muffins which were both highly satisfying.  I'm still settling into the flat a little so it'll take some time to get morning routine down but it was definitely a good start.  I had just enough to time go for a quick walk before leaving for our afternoon tour.  I spent the next hour or so just wandering up towards Angel and enjoyed myself thoroughly.  It was mid-morning so people were sort of out for the day but the streets weren't crowded.  I may have mentioned it earlier but this is a great way to get to know an area in my opinion.  I love just wandering around either by myself or with a few good friends, really just soaking the place in.  Unfortunately it was time to leave for the tour all too soon.  It was a bit of a struggle getting there due to the construction on the Northern line but we made it.  Then we spent the afternoon seeing a lot of the major tourist sites in London (pictures may be included, or just email me!).  Afterwards we received our orientation packet from LSE with lots of great info about the details of our classes.  They both look challenging but interesting.  I'm a little nervous to see how different a LSE style class is from a NU one.  Our six went to dinner in a traditional British pub near school, took us a while to find one that was open on a Sunday evening but the food was worth it.  Then, back at the flats we dug into our packets.  Overall I'm excited for classes to start tomorrow and to get back into the academic swing of things.  It looks like the program will fly by and I can't wait to really get started tomorrow.


Ps. Please someone kick the Sox in the behind since I can't do it in person, this is getting ridiculous.  Just because I'm not there does not mean there shouldn't be baseball in Boston in October

London: The Next Adventure

Written on the 23rd, on the plane:

Another semester, another  adventure.  This semester takes us, well me, to London, England.  I'll be doing a part time internship and studying at LSE and for this adventure I've decided to resurrect this blog, at least for the time being.  I'm once again blogging when I should be doing something else.  That something else right now would be sleeping.  This is a trip that crept up on me for sure.  It seemed so far away in the beginning of September, probably because there was so much else to do.   There was the GRE to study for and take and a Valks season to kick off, then there were grad schools and old friends to visit, all the while trying to squeeze in as much time with friends, family, and my pup before heading out.  Then, all the sudden, there was only a few days to go.  On the 23rd I piled in the car with the parents and my couple bags (few enough I can carry them all, enough that I look like a pack mule) and drove up Rt. 3, crawled down 93, and wound our way to Logan.  It took longer than expected but I managed to get through security with enough time.  A pre-departure snack provided the last Dunkins I'll see in a while and then, we were off.  Currently, I'm about 2.5-3 hours into the flight and really should be sleeping - it is a red-eye after all- but since I'm having trouble I figured I'd updated you guys back home real quick.   Now off to nap! hopefully....

So long, and thanks for all the adventures

Turns out I had another blog entry in me and it is once again for the sake of procrastination on our final two papers due this week.  The trip home was largely uneventful and full of sad goodbyes so there’s not much to say there.  It’s been a bit weird being home and not in the Balkans and especially not with my little Balkans family.  Even as we were landing, as excited as we were to be almost home, it still didn’t feel quite real.  Aside from the goodbyes, it could have been just another day on the trip – breakfast in the morning, load the bus, off to the next destination – except that now everyone is scattered across Europe and the East Coast.  I just wanted to thank everyone involved for an amazing adventure.  It’s an experience I’ll never forget and this is in no small way thanks to the people involved on all levels, speakers, professors, fellow students, and everyone in between.  So thanks and I’ll hopefully see you all soon.

A Catching Up Post

Hello blog reading type people, I’m officially calling this one.  I’ve made it all the way to August 3^rd, just over one month since I started this blogging assignment and it has officially become work.  Lucky for me I only have a few more days of mandatory writing, a week at best and lucky for you I’ll soon be home to tell my stories in person and you won’t have to deal with sub-par summations of my days.  This morning we had another political meeting, yay! Given the location of our hotel in relation to the presidential offices (actually, in relation to everything), we piled into 6 taxis for the drive there.  Then, after being dropped off at the gate, secret service-esque SUVs/minivans came and drove us up to the main house for our meeting.  No, we weren’t meeting with the president but we were meeting with his foreign policy advisor.  The compound where our meeting was is located in a largely residential area because it was initially designed as an official residence for Tito even though he rarely ever used it as such.  I found the meeting extremely interesting, especially the connections and implications to East Germany.  The unification of Germany is usually viewed as a good thing but it also sent the precedent for a state being wiped off the map and the radical redrawing of borders.  Afterwards, it became clear why we couldn’t have taken public transportation all the way there.  To get back to the center we had to take a bus to a train and then later to get back to the hotel we’d need to take another bus.  The interesting thing to note is that Zagreb appears to be a quiet city – much quieter than any of the others and especially the other capitals.  It’s almost eerie.  We found what is likely to be our major food source here, it’s a chain of bakeries that also sells sandwiches and pizza – all our favorites.  During our down time we explored a little bit and got to see a really cool gothic style church. 

Our afternoon meeting was with a ‘language guy’ specializing in the languages in the region; Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian are all recognized and all can be understood by the others.  I was looking forward to an interesting discussion on the differences between the language and how they play into politics.  However it turned out to be more of a history lesson, a bit disappointing.  After the meeting, we were all dragging a bit so back to the hotel we went.  Later we headed back over to the mall for dinner again.  It’s really the only close place, there aren’t a lot of restaurants nearby.  Also, Wok & Roll is easily the best food court food I’ve had in a long time – so good.  It was a silly night for our family but so much fun, I hadn’t laughed that hard in a while.

The next day we took public transport into the city (bus 234 to tram 6 or 13) for our meetings.  First up was a tour of the Parliament building and a little bit of history on that.  I found it interesting to learn the members of the Croatian Diaspora are represented in the parliament.  It is not uncommon for there to be some sort of representation quotas in this region, especially in societies that are more multi-ethnic.  However it is odd/noteworthy that anyone with dual Croatian citizenship can not only vote but has a designated representative in the parliament, regardless of where they actually live.  Sessions at this parliament are broadcast on TV in the morning and available online with transcripts for all sessions.  It’s been interesting to see the steps taken by all the different legislatures to build the openness and legitimacy of their bodies as institutions.  A big part of that is making sure the public knows and understands what’s going on.  Broadcasting the sessions is a way to help prevent the story from being twisted too much.  In between meetings we had gelato and not just any gelato, the best of the trip.  My dark chocolate, aka brownie batter, and cappuccino was good enough to pass for lunch.  Next we met with members of the Serb community in Croatia.  The Q&A session was interesting because we got into discussing the identities of our presenters and how they viewed themselves in the broader context of the region.  This was our last official meeting and we had a lot of free time in the afternoon but since Zagreb is soooooo sleepy we headed back to the hotel to work on our projects (presentations were today).  Later we had our final group dinner with all of us, a sort of goodbye hurrah. 

Today is somewhat of a lazy day in the sense that I haven’t left the hotel.  We had presentations and discussions this morning and now we’ve spent the time getting tickets organized for tomorrow, writing last minute papers, and just chilling.  There’s a chance that this will be my last post, especially since it took me several days to finish this post so I just want to thank everyone who’s been reading throughout the trip.  I’ve had a blast and am already looking forward to coming back.  Bye!

A beautiful day at the lakes

                After my last post some of us went wandering in search of food into downtown Split.  Even though it hadn’t seemed like there was much around when we arrived at the hotel it turned out that if one walked for 15 minutes or so, they ran into an old town and then the water.  We meandered through and found this amazing electric rock cello player and listened to him for a while.  Further wanderings brought us closer to the water and to our dinner.  Afterwards, we walked along the promenade and enjoyed more views of the Adriatic before heading back to the hotel.  I actually got the rest of my postcards written and addressed so now all I need is a few more stamps and they’ll begin showing up at your doorsteps.  In the morning it was off to Plitvice where we would see the national park.  On the way we stopped in Knin, the former capital of the area for both Serbs and Croats, for some lunch and a chance to stretch our legs.  After some more time on the bus, we arrived at our Plitvice hotel.  It wasn’t really near anything, just off the side of the road but I actually really liked it.  It seemed very old school country in feel and décor.  We had our own balcony with a view of the countryside, fast internet, and cool air – we couldn’t ask for much more.  Since there wasn’t really anywhere we could go for dinner, we all ate together in the hotel restaurant.  It’s nice to have the whole group together like that, relaxing at individual tables; it’s less hectic than when we all sit down at one HUGE table for a meal.  The professors had pre-ordered for us and it was definitely all good choices; everyone was stuffed by the end of the meal.  I spent last night just doing work, we have another assignment due while we’re in Zagreb and I needed to read the article like a good kid. 

                Today we left our lovely little hotel and headed off to Plitvice Lakes National Park.  It’s one of the largest in Southeast Europe and the largest in Croatia; it contains 16 lakes and waterfalls.  After our last mad scramble for bus seats we were off.  Luckily, everyone ended up where they’re ‘supposed to be’ for our last day of bus travel.  I was pretty excited about today’s trip because even though it was definitely more touristy than academic, it sounded like lots of fun with a great chance for some exercise and nature.  To slight disappointment, the park was reasonably developed with pathways made of crushed stone in some areas while paved in others and actual stairs and ramps surrounding the falls but it was still a lot of fun.  Our little group successfully broke off from most of the tourists in order for some more quiet exploring time.  There was a catch though - we may have gotten ourselves lost in the process to find the big waterfall and some quiet.  After taking a ferry across the water for the first time, we set off.  There were two possible roads, the high road and the low road and we chose the high road for its great views of the whole park.  Only we missed one of the turns and ended up walking 2.5 km out of our way and 2.5 km back.  On the upside, the road was empty of people and most cars and we had a fun walk through nature.  The water in and of itself when we found it was incredible.  The water was a clear turquoise and undisturbed except for the falls which were cascading down throughout.  I’m adding some pictures so you can see for yourself.  After getting lots of great areal views we headed down a lot a lot of stairs to the water.  If anything, it looked even better up close.  We took a jaunt around the water and then climbed up a switchback of ramps to the top of the valley.  A tourist train later and we were back near the parking lot.  Here there was a place to refill both our water bottles and our stomachs – we’d worked up an appetite hiking around.  As we waiting for everyone in the group to come back, we played games in the parking lot.  I felt like a little kid, kicking around a soccer ball and tossing a disc while we dodged cars.  After the park, we headed to Zagreb where we’ve now checked into our last hotel which is unfortunately nowhere near the city center.  Pretty much the only thing near our hotel is an arena (not much use to us) and a mall which was home to our dinner and entertainment; we saw Captain America or Kaptan Amerika as it’s called here.  It’s a bit odd that we’ve said goodbye to Driver Dragan and Tour Guide Dragan and that on Saturday I’ll be bound for Boston.  I plan to make the most of these last couple days before heading home.  

Beach Lovers Be Jealous!

Back after a few days without internet so it’s time to catch everyone up.  We left Mostar in the relatively early morning to start our drive to Dubrovnik.  I’ve noticed that as we moved from Bosnia to Croatia you still see these great mountain ranges but they get rockier and rockier as you move west.  Also, they’re less covered and when they are, it’s not with tall trees but with low bushes and grass – it seems like there are less places for things to put down roots.  There were three important things to note about the drive over.  First, the rain had stopped by the time we arrived at our final destination but not necessarily the intermediate ones.  Second, there is a tiny strip of Bosnian coast that separates Croatia.  Third, most of at least the second half of this drive had us winding along the coast.  On our way from Mostar to Dubrovnik we made two of our three scheduled stops.  First, we stopped at a Catholic church.  This church was built on the site of an miracle unrecognized by the Church.  Apparently, it has become a sort of pilgrimage site for Catholics all over Europe.  Unfortunately it was raining while we were there and very crowded so after taking a look at the church we took shelter in a nearby café for some hot chocolate and snack/lunch before piling back in the bus to the go see our next site.  It turned out that this one was an Orthodox monastery.  Although it was really pretty on the inside (and out) I was disappointed that the Muslim site we were also supposed to see with this one was closed for reconstruction.  After this it was just a hop, skip, and a thirty minute drive to the border.  This went smoothly, especially since we’re all pretty practiced with it at this point; the only news here is that I have a Croatian stamp in my passport too now.  Dubrovnik is in the part of Croatia that is separated from the rest by a strip of Bosnian coast.  This meant that there were two more technical crossings we had to go through, one to get back into Bosnia and another to get back into Croatia.  These turned out to be easy though, more like checkpoints than official crossings.  I suppose this makes sense since tons of cars must pass through all the time.  The drive up to and Dubrovnik itself are both beautiful – I can see why the tourists come here.  The water is more blue than the tropical blue green we’ve see and possibly even more breathtaking.  The view of the Adriatic Sea stretched out before us was amazing.  I’ll add some pictures so those beach lovers back home can be extra jealous.  Oh and did I mention that our hotel had a private beach?  So needless to say, with no meetings on our schedule we spent almost the entire time down at the water.  It was amazingly clear and warm, at least as warm as any pool back home and way warmer than the frigid New England Atlantic, and salty.  After extremely scientific testing – aka just holding our breath, not treading, and seeing what happened – we determined that you don’t float but you don’t sink either.  You do however bob along with your head half in and half out of the water in a way not conducive to breathing.  We were only in Dubrovnik for the weekend but I still got to spend plenty of time floating on the waves and enjoying the sun.  On one of our nights there it was a friend’s birthday so we went out to a nice dinner by the water and celebrated her and the other we went into Old Town and explored.  Almost every place here has an ‘old town’ and they’re all pretty.  This one was part of an old fort on the sea that used to protect the city.  This morning we once again piled in the bus this time bound for Split, Croatia.  The drive took a while so we arrived in late afternoon.  Some people headed into town or to the local beach (we’ve still been following the coast) but I’ve been using the time to catch up on some writing and attempting to upload pictures.  Hopefully this posts!