Blogs from United Kingdom, Europe - page 2965

I finally met my department yesterday. Okay, it's history, so I imagined that everyone would be a little eccentric. We're not the most socially capable bunch in the world. Yesterday's History Postgraduate reception involved a lot of nervous speeches from faculty members who all seemed a bit scared of us, and a lot of professors pushing students to "finish the wine before they kick us out of here." Okay, so I guess I not in the States anymore. The first and only time I shared a drink with any of my professors was when I gave my senior presentation on my absolutely fascinating thesis entitled "Intellectual Origins of Nazi Doctrine." I was nervous, drank a bit too much before my presentation, thought I bombed it, and wound up getting an A. In general, when presenting papers ... read more

Today we had a continental breakfast (a very good one with great variety) at LSE High Holborn and then went over to the study centre for more info about our year abroad. They fed us a lunch of sandwiches which were very tasty. After lunch they took us to Westminster where we were given a tour by a London Walking Tour Guide named Peter. He was fantastic! We saw Westminster Palace (The Houses of Parliament), the Jewel Tower, Westminster Abbey, St. Margaret’s Church, and the Georgian back streets with their political salons and bomb shelter signs from WWII. I’m sure we saw lots more but trying to recount all of it is quite near impossible. Oh….and it rained. New info: Big Ben is not the tower as is commonly referred to but the bell that chimes ... read more

I arrived a week ago today and have already decided that I'm going o try to move out of my NHS accommodations. Not because I don't like only being able to take a bath or the beautiful paper thin, dark brown carpet, but because I'll have to be out within 3 months anyway so I might as well go ahead and do it now. I signed my contract with the housing people yesterday and they informed me that it was in fact NOT sorted that I remain there for the year like Sheila, my recruiter lady, told me it was. Argh!!!!!! I am going to look for a room in a place called Bush Hill Park. (The borough of Enfield is made up of many neighborhoods: Enfield Town, Winchmore Hill, Freezywater, Ponder's End, Hadley Wood, Southgate, ... read more

So, tomorrow I go to my actual dorm room, THANK THE LORD!! I'm so tired of living in such a small hotel room with two other poeple! Tonight we went to see the play Chicago, which we would think (being a US citizen) would be a huge production...NO the stage was about as big as the stage in a small Highschool auditorium. Dad, by the way, I'm not really sure what a wanker is, but I'm going to guess it's similar to our version of an asshole..but don't quote me on that. Today wasn't that exciting but there will be more exciting news later, I promise. P.S. I don't know if it posted it earlier but I said I went to the House of wars but it was really the House of LORDS, i miss interpreted ... read more

Well I arrived in Glasgow yesterday. I had to catch the train into Edinburgh... but I decided to first see Glasgow. I walked around for a while... its quite industrial. Of course I ventured into a local pub... ... ended up meeting this guy Steven... real friendly fella. Anyway he started talking to me about some Scottish history, some stuff about Bill Gates, and George Bush... and I just kept listening. He told me about some great local bands and to go visit The River Clyde (which I did). Before I left he did something that was really nice... and it really left with me a lasting impression. He went to the bar and exchanged one british pound for a scottish pound (made by the bank of scotland). Apparently they are hard to come by. ... read more