The Queen and I

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all having as good a day as I had today!

What made my day so wonderful, you ask. Well.... I SAW THE QUEEN TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's right, the QUEEN OF ENGLAND AND A WHOLE LIST OF OTHER COUNTRIES!!!!!!!! (But it was no big deal, I'm not excited or anything...) Let me back up and tell you the whole story (it's a good one)...

So a few weeks ago I was walking past Trafalgar Square on my way to my house. From Trafalgar Square you can see down the Mall to Buckingham Palace and I saw that something was going on. However, it was about midday so I just thought, it's probably the changing of the guard. It was only later that I found out the Queen and the President of Indonesia (I think it was Indonesia) were parading through the streets and I had missed it! After that, I decided that I needed to be a bit more proactive if I was going to meet my goal of seeing the royals up close!

So...I went online! Turns out the Monarchy has a wonderful website and it is possible to find out the scheduled public appearances of various royals. So I was perusing the upcoming events and happened to see, much to my amazement (and excitement) that on 14 November (the day before my birthday, no less) the Queen was scheduled to visit the Royal Commonwealth Society. Now this wouldn't mean all that much to me except the website also stated the address and I realized this building is literally across the street from my house!! I was further excited to find out that 14 November was a Wednesday (meaning I have only one class, and every other week, no class at all) and that this particular Wednesday was one where I wouldn't have class! This meant that I could sit outside all day and just wait for the Queen.

And that is precisely what I did! I thought of it as "Operation Camp-out and Wait for the Queen" and it was a complete success. The only problem with my plan was that the website (presumably for security reasons) did not say what time the Queen was expected to visit. So I went out at 8 am this morning! Turns out that was entirely unnecessary but it was an adventure. As the hours passed, I watched people bringing in equipment to set up the room, the police dogs arrive to search the building, and police arrive to do some lengthy prep in the building. Finally, at about 12 I screwed up my courage and asked a police officer about the Queen's visit. He suggested I go inside for a few more hours. "No sense getting cold" he said as she wasn't not expected for a while (I didn't bother telling him that the advice about staying warm came about 4 hours too late). So I went inside for about an hour and then came back out and prepared.

They had set up only one set of barricades so I went to stand near them and when two ladies got behind the barricades, I figured I better do so as well or risk losing a prime spot! As it turned out this was a stroke of luck as these two ladies were great and we became friends as we waited. They discovered that this barricade was really for the press so we stood elsewhere (they finally put up barricades for us as well, but it didn't seem as though they were really prepared for as many people as showed up). The women were from Canada and were called Margaret and Maggie. Margaret apparently comes over multiple times a year for several weeks and sees the Queen as much as possible. She has camped out for several days for events and has been here for Will and Kate's wedding as well as the Diamond Jubilee and the Queen Mother's funeral. In short, I ended up with the experts and very nice company to boot!

Finally, we saw the police motorcycles and the Queen's car (it is a nice car, just FYI)! I was so excited!!  And then, there she was!! Turns out, she is really quite small. Anyway, she basically went straight into the building and as we found out she was coming out another door we all moved over there (again securing wonderful spots right up front, thanks in no small part to the expertise of Margaret and Maggie). I had gotten pictures when the Queen arrived, but had to do a bit more planning for her departure. Margaret said that the Queen can get quite put-off if there are cameras shoved in her face and while I wanted her to come close and wanted close up pictures, I did NOT want to upset the Queen! So I devised a plan (actually, I thought of it last night laying in bed). I would put my camera on video and hold it down low (just above my waist) so that it would be unobtrusive, but if the Queen came over, I would still get it on video (genius right?)!

The Queen came out of the building and Margaret and Maggie held out small bouquets of maple leaves (remember they are from Canada) that they had made to give to her. This was brilliant and the only reason why the Queen came over at all. While I didn't have anything to give the Queen, because the people around me did (including an odd woman on my left who tried to ask the Queen about politics while also handing her flowers), I ended up about a foot or two away from the Queen!!!! For the record, this is closer than I got to Nick Clegg last year! When she came over I said "Your Majesty" rather quietly and did this sort of half-curtsey/bow thing. Now, before you say it, I know, I'm American, but it just felt right!! I couldn't help it! And it would have been a better curtsey but I was kind of being squished by a lot of people (and as an American, I'm not very experienced in the curtsey department)! Then she got in her fancy car and drove away and I got the entire interaction on video (not that she interacted with me personally, but I spoke to her so that totally counts and again, is better than I did with Clegg)!!!

Anyway, it was a wonderful day and totally worth sitting outside and getting really cold!! I have posted all the pictures on Facebook as well as the video. If you don't have Facebook, I'm sorry, but it is the best and easiest way I have of posting photos, but I would be happy to send you some if you would like. I will also post several here and I'll try to post the video (but I'm not sure it will work). I'm sorry it ended up being such a long story, but I was so excited I just had to share it with you all!

The Queen arriving! This picture is not zoomed in or edited in any way so you get a sense of how close we were! 

This is the same picture as above, but cropped on the computer.

Margaret, Maggie, and I waiting for the Queen to come out after her visit.

Margaret and her Canadian bouquets that enticed the Queen to come over! 

The video I took of the Queen coming over! Hopefully it plays and sorry for the poor quality. Remember I was trying to be unobtrusive so I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing with the camera.

Well, I am exhausted after all that shivering in the cold! But as I said, soooo worth it. In other news (I know, amazing to think anything else could happen today), I applied for two more Parliamentary internships. So, we'll hope for the best with that (but I am comforted by the knowledge that if I had gotten that first internship, I probably wouldn't have had time to sit around today and wait for the Queen so I know things will work out). Going to take the rest of the evening off and go to bed early!

Love to all.
Cheers,
Abbey

My very British weekend

Hello all,

Happy Veterans Day to those in the States. I have to say that I have never been so moved by this day as I was today (but more on that shortly). To those of you who are veterans, thank you. Today, I found myself thinking a lot about my Papa (my grandfather) who was a awarded a Bronze Star in WWII.

Anyway, I am breaking tradition (in a good way) and updating my blog soon after my previous update because I wanted to share the events of this weekend with you. In short, I learned that London knows how to party/put on a show!

Yesterday, I went to the Lord Mayor's Show/Parade. This was quite a lucky break. I had read about the show and made a note that I wanted to see it, but I didn't realize it was going on yesterday until someone posted something on Facebook. Luckily I had time to rush out and didn't miss a thing! This event has been going on for almost 800 years. It takes place after the Lord Mayor of the City of London has been elected. By the way, the Lord Mayor is not to be confused with the Mayor of London who is, according to Wikipedia (to my professors, this is not my usual research method and I ask your forgiveness for using it now), the Mayor of Greater London rather than just the City. Anyway, after he (or presumably, she) is elected (but not the same day), there is a huge (this year it was over 3.5 miles long) parade from the mansion house, past St. Paul's, to the Royal Courts of Justice (which by the way, is just around the corner, literally, from LSE) where he swears allegiance to the Queen (or King as the case may be). After a break for lunch, they all march back by a different route. This was quite a procession! Reminded me a bit of the Thanksgiving Day Parade in the States with all the bands (yay; I even saw a marching bassoon), but there are more people in military uniforms than I remember at Thanksgiving and at the end, instead of Santa Clause, there is the Lord Mayor in an 800 year old gold, horse-drawn coach! Anyway, it was quite a good show and I'm very glad I went. (Below is a picture of the coach with the Lord Mayor sticking his head out.)

And then today...wow. I went to the Remembrance Day Ceremony at the cenotaph (that is what they call the war memorial) on Whitehall (literally, one street over from my house). This is the British version of Veterans Day and it was a sight to behold! The entire street was shut down (as were others nearby). The ceremony starts at 11 but I got there about 9:15 and was able to secure a spot right up against the barricade with a decent view (except for the sun in my eyes) and a great view of a big screen broadcasting the events at the cenotaph. First, at about 10:15 or 10:30 thousands of veterans started marching down the road in their battalions (this is probably the incorrect military term and I apologize, but they were organized in groups). I read afterwards that there were nearly 10,000 of them! That is in addition to the thousands of spectators along the road. Once they were all lined up in the road, it was nearly 11. Just before 11, an acolyte carring a cross with poppies attached led a procession of clergy out of the building by the cenotaph (they can do stuff like this in a country that doesn't separate church and state). After the clergy, came the Queen and Prince Philip and other assorted royals and government leaders including the leaders of the three main parties (for those I have not yet bored with my incessant talk about British Politics or who have blocked me out when I have, those are the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, and Labour Parties).

Then Big Ben rang 11 o'clock and two minutes of silence started. This was amazing. Maybe it was because I was near the middle of the crowd and the closed street, but it felt like the entire city or country or world was still for those two minutes! The only sound I heard was gulls. After two minutes the ceremony began. There were prayers lead by the Bishop of London and hymns that everyone sung accompanied by the amazing military band (I'm sure they have a more specific name, but you get the point). One of the most amazing feelings was standing in this group of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of people with (it felt like) everyone saying the Lord's Prayer together. The Queen laid a wreath, followed by Prince Philip, Prince William (sorry, I know, the Duke of Cambridge), and other assorted royals. Then David Cameron, Nick Clegg, and Ed Miliband laid wreaths one at a time (they are the leaders of the parties). Then a bunch of other people (I think representatives from the Commonwealth countries) laid wreaths. After that and some more of the service (some of the prayers and hymns were here, not before) everyone sang God Save the Queen and then the party at the cenotaph went inside and all of the veterans marched by and each group put down a wreath. It was simply amazing! And one of the most moving ceremonies of my entire life.

Now, I know that what I am about to say is not fitting with the solemn and respectful nature of the day. However, I really feel like I want to share these thoughts so please excuse me just for a minute. I WAS IN THE PRESENCE OF THE QUEEN AND THE ROYALS AND CAMERON AND CLEGG AND MILIBAND TODAY!! With the exception of Nick Clegg (good story for another time) I have never been in their presence and it was awesome! Granted, between the distance and all the veterans on the street, I couldn't see them in person, but I got great views on the screen (and pictures of said screen) and I think I saw some of their hats as they were walking. You have to understand, for me, this is my version of meeting/seeing rock stars or movie stars! And, I didn't think they would be there, but WILLIAM AND KATE WERE THERE TOO! I actually stood in a group of thousands of people and sang God Save the Queen TO THE QUEEN!! Yes, yes, I know Dad, I'm an anglophile, no sense trying to deny it now.

 

The veterans lined up on the street.

 

The Queen.

 

From left, Miliband (kind of hidden by tree branch), Clegg, and Cameron (the Prime Minister).

                                        Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge, third from left.

 

The Duke of Cambridge saluting.

Chelsea Pensioners.  

The Cenotaph after they let the crowds come forward.

In short, this weekend was amazing and I even managed to get some work done (but still have more to do). I will try to put some more pictures up some other time (and on Facebook), but I really ought to do some more work before bed.

Cheers,
Abbey

My life in London

Hello all!

Once again, I apologize for the long period between updates. However, in my defense, I have now been here for about a month and a half and am still giving updates which is much longer than I was successfully blogging when I was in Bath, so this is an improvement!

Things have been very busy, but also good here. I think I will do this post a bit differently and just give you what I think have been the highlights of the last few weeks. Hope you enjoy (and maybe this will be a bit less boring to read)!

-Since I have been here, I have been in Parliament (or Portcullis House where many MP offices are) three times! Since I joined the Labour, Conservative, and Liberal Democrat societies, I have been trying to make the best of these opportunities! The first time was on a Labour trip to meet Ed Balls (the Shadow Chancellor). Highlights of this trip included meeting in the old shadow cabinet room where a number of shadow cabinets met and walking past Ed Miliband's office. After that, I met (this time on campus) Baroness Royall at a Labour society meeting. She is the leader of Labour in the House of Lords. She thought she had campaigned with me, but alas, apparently someone else looks remarkably like me because I have never campaigned in the UK. Both of them were quite interesting! With the Conservative Society, I went to Parliament and met David Willetts. He is the Minister of State for Universities (after the tuition fee raise, we couldn't have him here to campus because he is such a polarizing figure among my age group). He was great and what I remember most was the way he respectfully talked about the other parties, especially their coalition partners, the Lib Dems. It would be easy to blame the Lib Dems rather than taking responsibility, but several times he gave them credit for good things the government had done. Finally, just this week I went with the Conservatives to meet Sir Malcolm Rifkind (he was a minister for 18 years under Thatcher and Major). He was fascinating and I realized as I left how cool it was that I had just met someone who knew Margaret Thatcher! Seeing as I won't meet her, I figure this is as close as I will ever get.  Next week, on my birthday, I will be going on a full tour of Parliament with some people from my program!

-Classes are good. I still really enjoy my comparative politics class! Oh, and since it is now more than half way through week 5 of term, I can say that I have made it through half of my first term of graduate school! This also means that I made it (although I don't yet know how successfully) through my first round of essays. I had two essays due last week. One each in the History and Theory of European Integration and Comparative Politics. Hopefully my instructors will think they are okay, but they are just formative essays meaning that the marks don't go into my final grade. I will have to brace myself though because I understand that grades are technically out of 100 but no one ever gets above an 80 which is amazing/genius and a 70 is really really good. So that is going to be a major shift from the US, regardless of my grade.

-Less a highlight, but nevertheless an update...I didn't get the Parliamentary Internship I applied for. This may not be all bad because I have more time to focus on my work and even tour around a bit, but I was disappointed. I am keeping an eye out for other opportunities though.

-I got my first care package from home and it had American creamy peanut butter in it!!! Definitely a highlight of my last few weeks! Thanks Mom and Dad!

-My friend Sam from F&M was here last week to visit her boyfriend at University College London and we got to see one another for lunch and a walk around campus. It was really great to see a friend from the states and my life back there!

-On Sunday night I went with some friends to see the new Bond movie, Skyfall. It was quite good! But most exciting was watching Bond race around London and to know exactly where he was! In fact, several times he was within two minutes walking time (which I figure is about 2 seconds, Bond time) of my house!

-Speaking of the states... exciting election! Rather than stay up all night to watch returns (remember we are five hours ahead of the east coast) I decided to get up at 5 am. This meant that I got up just after the election had been called for Obama by the news stations, but before Romney had conceded so I got to watch Romney's and Obama's speeches live. That was quite something.

-I should be careful not to get my hopes up too high, but my internet MAY be fixed!!! I have been meeting rather frequently with people from IT and they have finally started really taking an interest in my case and getting the people who actually can help on board. Yesterday, they tried something and it worked beautifully last night (evenings being usually the worst time of the day for internet for me) so I am quite hopeful it is fixed! Mostly this makes me ecstatic, but it is also a bit sad how simple the fix was and that it took 5.5 weeks to come up with.

-Perhaps most exciting of all... an essay I wrote has been accepted for publication!!!!! I really can't believe it! In fact, I almost didn't submit it at all, but aren't I glad that I did! It will be in the Journal of Undergraduate International Studies which is published at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (and edited by students). It is an essay on Duverger's Law and the Case of Britain, which means that most of you would probably find it incredibly boring, but in it, I argue that contrary to something really important in political science called Duverger's Law, Britain exhibits multiparty competition rather than two-party competition. It is more complicated than that, but that is the basic idea. I wrote the essay for my senior seminar at F&M with Professor Medvic. When it comes out, I will be sure to send you all a link to look at it online.

-Oh, I also wanted to share my address with you, just in case you feel like sending me a letter (I like mail, but don't worry, we can still be friends if you don't send me anything). My address is incredibly long, but oh well:

Abbey Heller Room 5.34
LSE Northumberland House
Edward VII Rooms
8A Northumberland Avenue
London
WC2N 5BY
United Kingdom

Well, I'm probably forgetting something, but those are the updates for now! I will try to keep up. I hope you are all well and that those of you who were affected by the hurricane are recovering! I have been keeping you in my thoughts! Regardless, love to all!

Cheers,
Abbey

So um...I'm a graduate student now!!

Hello all,

I am very sorry for not posting in so long! Life got in the way. :) But that is no excuse so I will attempt to make this a nice, informative, long (but not too long and boring) post for you all.

Well, tomorrow will be the end of two full weeks of graduate classes! Which, in case you were wondering, officially means that I am a graduate student (not the two weeks part, just going to classes in general)! I'm not sure that has really sunk in with me yet, but I'm working on it. It also means that I am closing in on three full weeks since I arrived in London! It has been quite an emotional roller-coaster of a few weeks! On the one hand, I love it here and I love my classes (for the most part, but more on this in a minute). On the other hand, I am still having trouble with my internet in my room (latest news is that is may be my computer not their network, but frankly, I doubt it), I have already gotten a cold (darn British germs!), and I have definitely suffered from some homesickness. Just to reassure you all, I have never considered giving up, but I do miss you all! Really, I don't want to go home exactly, but I want you all to come here and be with me!

So I know you all want to hear (okay, read) about my classes! So, I will try to give you some highlights. Lectures happen once a week for 1-2 hours and most lectures are accompanied by a seminar class that is a much smaller group that may or may not be taught by the same person who does the lectures. Also, each course has a course convener, who may not lecture every week, but is in charge of the general format of the course. I have three main, assessed courses this term, plus two compulsory, but non-assessed courses that don't meet every week and don't have seminars attached to them. Just so you know, reading assignments are divided into core and further readings and one should do all of the core by class time and most of the further readings at least by the time of the exam which are all in the summer.

The first graduate class I had was EU435 which is the core class for our program and is on the History and Theory of European Integration. This was rather a rough class for me! I hadn't found the spot online where the readings were posted so (just this once!) I wasn't prepared for the lecture and it was on theories of European integration which I have never studied/learned before. The result was I felt so confused and overwhelmed at the end of the class! As it turned out, the teacher (not everyone here is a professor even if they have their doctorates) may have been able to make things a little clearer than she did, but until I started hearing about others' perceptions, I felt like I was the only one who didn't get it. It was a stressful day (which of course, made me feel more homesick).

The next day, Tuesday, was sooo much better! I had my first class with Dr. Herzog who is great (P.s. I know I have heard his name, but I don't know where-if you know will you let me know?!) The class is European Politics: Comparative Analysis, which just helps me cement the idea that the area I am excited about is comparative politics! Dr. Herzog is a great teacher, and I love the topics of the class. For example, this week the topic is electoral systems! Yay!! Actually, I am so crazy that I volunteered to do the first seminar class presentation this week on electoral systems. So, please permit me a short tangent. Since I am presenting in the first seminar (some seminars such as this one start on week two), Dr. Herzog meet with me individually to go over his expectations. This was a great meeting! I somehow managed to convince him that I am an expert on electoral systems (which I do know a fair amount about, but I have never thought of myself as an expert)! :-) So I prepared a presentation (Powerpoint with an outline for me to refer to) and sent it to him to see if he approved. He told me it was exactly what he wanted and it was great! Further, he asked if he could use my presentation in the other seminar! I was so proud! Okay, end tangent. Back to classes.

The other main course I have is Introduction to Quantitative Analysis. This class takes place in the Peacock Theater and it is just the teacher, me, and roughly 400 of my closest friends! It shatters all previous records for largest class I have ever had and made me miss F&M so much!! BUT, while I was expecting this to be a terribly boring two hours, I was happily surprised that the teacher was amazingly engaging despite the class size and quite funny! One of my friends commented that she connected better with all of us than some teachers connect with much smaller groups! So that is actually quite an enjoyable two hours each week.

So, that is a short(ish) update on classes. Let me try to give you a few more highlights of the past two weeks:
1.) In the second lecture of my History and Theory class (i.e. this past Monday), the teacher called me by my name in class AND complimented me on my answer to a question! This was a big deal for me because I believe I was the first person she called by name and it was great to feel like they were starting to get to know me.
2.) I already told you about the meeting with Dr. Herzog and the feedback he gave me on my presentation (we'll see if he actually likes my delivery tomorrow), but they were such highlights they are worth mentioning again.

3.) I have changed rooms which meant that after two weeks, I finally unpacked completely!! I forgot I brought some of that stuff! Unfortunately, my internet was not miraculously fixed with the change and the shower presents me with the previously unknown problem of not enough water and yet what does come out is in painful streams (hopefully that will get fixed soon)! 

4.) I have made friends! Two in particular are great. Pooja from India and Anna from D.C. are very kind and I am enjoying getting to know them! 

5.) I applied for a Parliamentary Internship!! Given that the job is supposed to start soon, the fact that I haven't heard anything makes me nervous, but I can apply for more in future and the career service person was impressed with my CV and cover letter so I tried my best!

6.) Oh, I also submitted a paper for publication! It was the paper I wrote about Duverger's Law and Britain for Professor Medvic's seminar. I have no idea if it will be published, but I tried. Thank you to Jan for telling me about the call for submissions! 

7.) In my comparative class, I have noticed that there are several readings on the list that I have already done for either class or my own research and papers! I still reread them, but this makes me really proud of F&M! My professors who are reading this should be very proud that they prepare us well! Professor Medvic, we are doing some readings on cartel parties that look remarkably familiar, so thank you! And there are other familiar readings as well so thank you to Matt and Linda! And while I'm at it, having a basic knowledge of European 20th century history is great so thank you Professor Mitchell! Basically, thank you to anyone who had anything to do with my education at F&M (and I mean that sincerely)!


Okay. I know I have gone on for way too long and this is why I need to update you all more frequently! I'm working on it! But before I go, I want to leave you with some things I have learned either in the last two weeks or just generally in the course of my life...

Abbey's rules for life in London (and elsewhere):
1.) Facial tissue is not an area in which to attempt to skimp and save money! Go ahead, splurge on the name brand (for me that means Kleenex). Trust me, your nose will thank you (especially if you get a cold)!
2.) This is critical: make friends with people at reception desks (my new friend Caitlin is awesome), custodians, and food-handlers. These people are really great and can really help you out if you are kind to them. (Plus, you should just always try to be kind to others-it's a good rule on its own.)
3.) Always take your camera. I went towards Buckingham Palace to read and forgot about the Changing of the Guard. I ended up in a great place to watch one of the bands go by and I had my camera!
4.) Be patient, with others and with yourself. The transition to living here has been harder than I expected and my Dad gave me great advice to be patient with myself.

And one last Britishism before I go:
Quid: basically means Pound (as in the money). So instead of saying "10 Pounds" one might say "10 quid"

Well, that about covers it for me! I hope you enjoyed the update. And thanks for reading to the end! Love to all!

Cheers!

Oops...

I forgot the pictures! Here are some of my favorites, but I can't post them all!

The LSE (well, one of the places where there is a sign saying LSE)

What I think of as the main way into the campus

My accommodations: LSE Northumberland House, Edward VII Rooms

Trafalgar Square. About a 1-2 minute walk from my place.

The LSE library. So you can see where I've been spending some time and where I will be spending a ton more!

So perfect-the flag in front of the London Eye

Me and my London "happy place." Unfortunately, the wind and my hair conspired to make it a less than perfect photo-op. 

Getting settled

Hello again,

I wanted to post with a few updates about my life as I am settling in a bit more. First, and very importantly, I finally have some leads about fixing my internet connection problems in my room! Someone is going to be around Northumberland House (my house) tomorrow to help so I hope to get it worked out so I can do things like skype in my own room rather than sitting outside the library to get wifi! On the other hand, I am trying not to get my hopes up too much because I have no idea what will be involved in fixing this; it could take a while.

Yesterday, I took a "Local Area Tour" around LSE to see what is nearby. It was a cool tour and I think my favorite was going by the Royal Courts of Justice which are very near to LSE. After that I was assigned my academic advisor. As it turns out, I have two--one for this term (Michaelmas Term or MT) and one for the Lent and Summer Terms. The first is in the International Relations department and the second is in the Government Department. Which reminds me, I should take a minute to explain how my program works. All of my orientation events have been with the European Institute which is a department that only takes postgraduates (by the way, what American's call graduate studies are called postgraduate studies here so I am a postgrad). The European Institute or EI offers something like 6 master's programs of which mine, the Politics and Government in the European Union, is one. However, my program, unlike the other 5, is also under the IR and Gov departments so some of our classes are in those departments and in some cases (like mine) our advisors are in those departments. Anyway, back to the advisors. I looked them up. They don't seem to be interested in exactly what I am, but that is okay. Today I actually introduced myself to my advisor for the LT and ST and I look forward to meeting my MT advisor tomorrow.

Oh, before I forget, the other thing I did yesterday was take some pictures! I will try to post some of them here, but I would invite you to visit my Facebook page to see them all. There, I take you on a walking tour from my lodgings to LSE and then from my house to Parliament and back. It was my first trip down to Parliament since I've been here and it was as awe-inspiring as ever. I found myself wondering if I will ever lose that sense of awe when I look at the building...maybe if/when I have been working there for six months...but I kind of hope not. Which leads me to...

The Parliamentary Internship scheme! Today, I went to a talk about it, hopeful despite the fact that yesterday at a career services talk, they really scared me about the big time commitment this is (they said if you are struggling just to keep up with course work this isn't for you, but how will I know if I'm struggling until the term starts?!), but I still think I want to apply. So that you know, LSE had this scheme where they list a number of internships with MPs (Members of Parliament) and some Lords and then LSE students can apply. If LSE likes your application, they forward it to the MP who will conduct interviews and hire someone. It is a volunteer position and you have to commit "up to 15 hours per week" which is where the nerves about timing and time management come in! I still think it is a once in a lifetime kind of chance so I feel like I should go for it!

Speaking of opportunities at LSE, there is so much I want to do, but I am trying really hard not to get over committed!! One of the things I am thinking about right now is that they have an extracurricular language program so I could (for a fee) sign up to take a language for a two (I think) hours per week (plus homework time). I really feel like I want to take German,  mostly because it is a language I want to learn, but also because I feel like my lack of a solid second language (my spanish is pretty shaky) will shortly hold me back. Anyway, I can't decide if it is something I can afford (time-wise or money-wise) to commit to...

One other orientation event today...my program inductions. One thing I have learned, apparently the term "inductions" mean something very different here than they do in the States. Here, they are basically orientation presentations where you get info about the school, department, program, etc. In the States, at least in my experience, it is a ceremony of welcome. Similar, but definitely different.

So now I am in the library waiting until 5:30 when my program is meeting at the pub for a social event (don't worry, I plan to get a soft drink). :)

Britishisms (as promised):
Postgraduate= graduate student
Inductions= orientation presentations
GP= General Practitioner (i.e. a doctor)
I'm sure I'm forgetting some...

Hope you are all well! As Tigger would say (yep, I'm quoting Tigger), ttfn, ta-ta for now.

LONDON!

Hello from London!

Well, I think it is high time I update you on my new life in London and how things have been going so far! I hope it won't be too boring for you!

I arrived at Heathrow on Sunday at noon (almost exactly) and customs honestly could not have been easier. I had tons of documents prepared, just in case--specifically the documents I used to get my visa--but they never asked to see any of it. I gave them my passport with my visa inside and in a matter of a few enjoyable minutes (turned out the young man at the next station was also going to LSE and we all got a kick out of that) I was officially in Britain! I got my bags and this young man, Thomas, and I shared a cab to my house (we decided that the tube would be too much work with all of our bags).

Moving into my room was a bit of a confusing adventure. Unlike at F&M where you are bombarded with people who want to help you in any way they can, here they were more than willing to help if you ask, but you have to ask. For example, they gave me my room key and I had to ask how to get to my room. I'm sure these little details are second nature to people who are usually here and so they don't even think to mention them. When I got up there, I found that my roommate had already been in, but was out at the time so I tried to settle in. My room is more than adequate, but not amazing and has the smallest en suite bathroom I have ever seen in my entire life (the toilet and shower overlap a bit). Basically, think of an airplane restroom and put in a shower and that's my bathroom! BUT, I do have an en suite bathroom so I count my blessings. After a while, my roommate came in which sent me into a bit of a panic because after some introductions, she explained that her relative also lives in Northumberland House (my house) and they want to room together. In other words, they wanted me to move and they thought we should do it then before we all got settled. Given my sleep deprived state, this information and impending decision almost sent me over the edge. Turns out that we can't switch for two weeks so I will be in my current room for just a bit and then I will switch. My current--and actually my future roommate as well--are from China and they are both very nice.

Monday, I made my way to the LSE for the first time. I have to say, London is a bit overwhelming, but I'm getting used to it. I went to what they called inductions for the European Institute (my department) which was really sort of an info session. It was rather helpful and nice to see the teachers (technically I don't think they are all professors) and other students in my department. After that I took a marginally useful campus tour led by a young man who was clearly less than qualified to lead such a tour. Finally, I had to go to the Postgraduate School Orientation Presentation which was again, marginally helpful.

Today, the real fun began...I became an officially registered LSE student!! And it took all of about five minutes! Before I registered with my department a bit later, I went to a sort of club fair. They all bombard you with info and then, if you agree to join, they give you a sticker to take to another area and then pay for everything you have just joined. I was trying to be careful not to sign up for much because 1) I didn't want to pay for it and 2) I don't want to get over committed. However, I did join the music society (they have an orchestra, but it doesn't sound like they have an instrument for me to borrow). I also think I may have cheated a bit, but I joined the student groups of all three major political parties in Britain! They all have fun events and speakers and I want to learn more about all of them so I joined! :) I doubt they see too many people do that.

So those are the major things that have happened in my life the past few days. I'm still trying to adjust to the time change--I have been waking up at 4:30 am on the dot and have been wide awake for about two hours. I hope that ends shortly! The other major ongoing drama in my life is internet trouble. In our rooms we have to connect to the internet with an ethernet cord because there is no wifi there, but my ethernet occasionally and suddenly decides that it just doesn't feel like allowing me to access my email or skype with my parents or do anything whatsoever involving the internet. This bad-tempered behavior will last anywhere from 5 minutes to several hours and is really starting to annoy! Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be anyone who can help me. The house is supposed to have some one from IT in the building at least part of the time, but he hasn't shown up. The best advice I have gotten is to keep bugging IT about it until someone helps me. The most amusing advice I received, on the other hand, was to email someone about my internet connectivity issues--the person giving the advice evidently did not see the irony.

Well, I think I have bored you all quite enough. I hope this post wasn't too disjointed or hard to follow. I wanted to get all the important points in without dragging on forever (which I'm afraid I did anyway). I'll try to update again in a few days. If there is anything you particularly want to know more about, just let me know. I'm hoping to continue my list of "Britishisms" that I began in Bath.

Cheers,
Abbey