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.
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