Happy Halloween!

Today I made the excellent decision to not drink with the rugby girls. Instead, I got to witness the debauchery sober, though I did skip the Tuns, so I'm missing the really good stuff. The girls and I went to Brick Lane for curry, which was good fun. As I was stone sober, I had the chance to take some pictures. Oh, and yes. Those are bin bags they are wearing...Captain Katy leading the charge Kerstin leading us in the Canadian national anthem Cheers!
All I can say is Ricki threw up in her food by 9:15pm. That's what you get for telling your rugby team in team-wide banterous emails that "I haven't been properly drunk in London." So, if any of you were wondering what AU night means... this is before AU night even started.

I'm looking forward to waking up on Thursday morning and being productive! A pretty day on my walk to school:

Other news that is significantly less exciting, but still of note

The Sox deserved their own post, clearly. And they actually probably deserve another. Because the RED SOX ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS. Anyway, I digress from this "other news." Yesterday I went with Andy, Rich and Anna to the NFL in London where the Giants played the Dolphins (who really are terrible this year). The game was at the new Wembley which is a pretty nice stadium. They at least had the presence of mind to shield the stands from the rain (which poured in its London fashion). We had good seats, and the Giants won 13-10. It was a bizarre multi-cultural experience, watching football and eating a pie (that's what they eat at sporting events here!). Also, I thoroughly enjoyed being one of the most knowledgable people at a football game because we all know that that would never happen at home! The game was mediocre at best, but it was good to have a nice dose of Americana (anthem and all) over here.
Me outside Wembley before the game
The game

Me and my first pie at a sporting event!

Other news:

THE RED SOX WON (and swept) THE WORLD SERIES!

Today marks my one month anniversary of arriving in London. So far, so good (except maybe my alcohol consumption). I really am happy here, though I must admit, I haven't missed home so much as I did yesterday for the football and at about 4:10 this morning when, you know, the RED SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES. I think things are only going to get better around here.

Don't Blame Us If We Ever Doubt You...

You know we couldn't live without you: RED SOX, YOU ARE THE ONLY, ONLY, ONLY... WORLD CHAMPIONS!!! While I admit being in London while we SWEPT THE WORLD SERIES isn't the most ideal location, I am wearing my Red Sox gear out today with pride. This has been a MAGIC season. Anyone else think it's ironic that the members of the 1967 Impossible Dream team through out the first pitch at opening day this year? Set us up nicely for the most incredible season...

I love that dirty water


Boston, you're my home

This week

A little bird (or a certain pilot) told me that longer posts are preferred to the short ones about what didn't happen (if you don't remember, it didn't happen) on AU Wednesdays. So I will oblige!

Thursday was mostly a recover-from-Wednesday day. Went to UGM (I think it stands for Uni General Meeting), which was amusing. Student politicians really take themselves far too seriously. Apparently members of the AU have agreed with me on that count for a long time and have a habit of tossing newspapers down at the speakers when things get boring or someone does something stupid. It's a good place to socialize, and it forced me to get out of bed, so that was good. After that, I went to statistics - what an incredible waste of time. Please, spend another hour describing to me what the "mean" is, and then mathematically explaining how one gets the "average" (which is just another word for "mean" if you happened to miss that in 2nd grade math class). Andy took me out for pizza (would probably starve without Andy) and then we went to see Rendition - good flick, I liked it, but then again, I'm no critic.

Friday I had two classes in the morning. I don't like my TA for MC408 - I didn't find him very helpful in the conversation. After that was SPSS class (need I say again? waste of my time). Went to lunch with Charlie and Cait, which was definitely good fun. Went to the library, then came back and SAT IN MY ROOM. Which was GLORIOUS. I met up with Andy for dinner (there's a theme here); we had Greek. It was good. I, again, did not starve. Then we watched Fever Pitch to relive the magic and prepare for the impending magic! ;)

Today's walk wasn't too exciting. I walked down to Borough Market, got free food and paid for a gyro. I love how I live so close by! It's hard to get good pictures because it's packed with people, but here's one so you get the general idea:
I walked over London Bridge and sort of did a really long swing around back to St. Paul's. One interesting picture I took was an ardent and obvious show of patriotism. See, the English don't (can't?) rally around their flag like we do in the US because the flag was co-opted by a very conservative political party, so if one were to fly the flag one could be understood to be a racist (or a variety of other -ists). So, here's a dramatic display:

From St Paul's I walked down to Blackfriar's, then down Embankment, blah blah, not that exciting. I got a new cell phone! The pay-as-you-go was giving me trouble, and overall, it's a lot cheaper to get a plan, so I did. I'm now on Orange and have a different mobile number. If you want it, it's on facebook. If you aren't on facebook and need it, email me. The phone is shiny and purple and lovely (and free!). And I got a 150 quid discount for turning in the last phone, so all in all, it worked out quite well (despite waiting at the store for 45 minutes to get everything sorted). After that, I just came home; it was drizzly and I just need to decompress from a lot of socializing and nonwork.

Tonight I'm meeting a couple of people at The Sports Cafe for Game 3! After the game, I'm coming home to sleep. Then getting up, meeting Rich&girl and Andy for brunch, then onto the American Football game, and then Game 4. In otherwords, it's going to be a ROUGH 36 hours, but awesome... especially if we win! GO SOX!

The view from Waterloo Bridge on my way home...

Rugby Pics

Here are some pictures from our rugby match vs. Sussex on Wednesday! There's me kicking a conversion, Rachel and I lifting Kerstin on a line-out, and the most talented WRFC ever. FACT.

Few things...

1. My first LSE paper (although it is unassessed) is finished and turned in. A few days early.

2. AU Wednesdays = just say NO to walkabout.

3. No, really. No to walkabout.

Sorry for the proliferation of posts, but...

RED SOX ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!


GO SOX!

My new pretend boyfriend

Fantastic.

Five hours and twelve miles of procrastination later...

So I finally got up and going at around 10am today. I had been awoken at about 1:30am with a score inquiry from some drunk guy in Paris, so I got up to watch the game. No joke, I turned it on as Manny was stepping up to bat with the bases loaded. Then Drew... grand slam... and the rest is history. So, yes, I got up late. Went to breakfast (mmm fry bread), and then came back up here to sit at my computer and berate myself for not having 1,500 words to say about Fiske's Television Culture (I still don't have that much to say, btw). So, at about 11:30 I looked outside and realized there was NOT A SINGLE CLOUD IN THE SKY. And, it's London. So, I had to go outside. The paper would wait!

This 'walk' which was more like a 'half marathon' was a fabulous way to spend the afternoon. (AND, by telling you all about it, I can continue to procrastinate on this bloody essay). I walked over the Millenium Bridge to check out St. Paul's. Inconveniently, it's Sunday. So I didn't go inside. I walked down Fleet St, and up to school. I realized that I hadn't show pictures of LSE so I just took a couple: The first one is of Houghton St and the next one is just on the side of a building.


After that I went over to Covent Garden. I LOVE Covent Garden. And I found a necklace that I'm absolutely in love with, but it cost 43 pounds! So that seemed a little steep, despite the fact that it is unbelievable! Then I walked over to Leicester Square, which, by all accounts, is kind of lame. EXCEPT for my wonderful discovery:
THE LONDON HIPPODROME! If only they had bowling...

I walked down to the National Gallery, which I walked around for 45 minutes or so. I mostly looked at the paintings from 1700-1900, because everything before that is mostly Jesus. And while Jesus is cool, it was a bit too much for me today. I'd been through the gallery before, but it's nice to be able to walk in, stay for awhile, and leave, without having to worry about money (or missing anything, because i LIVE HERE NOW!). Out front there was this hilarious kid who was seriously attempting to rugby tackle the pigeons. It was sheer dedication.
After that, I walked through St. James Park, which I'm not sure I had ever done before. It's beautiful, though. Took some pictures, they are park-like. And a lot of them have the London Eye in the background. Mark mentioned that it is the most photographed thing in London. Well, if it wasn't so big and in EVERY SINGLE VIEW, perhaps people wouldn't take so many pictures of it! Anyway, there's one from St. James.
After St James I walked around Buckingham Palace. I had intended to go off in another direction, but not having a map, I figured I would leave that for another day. So I went through Hyde Park, which is still my absolute favorite park. Not only because there is a Peter Pan memorial (I won't grow up! We have a lot in common). But mostly. ;) Oh! And I had my first Sunday afternoon experiene at Speaker's Corner, which is where people just rant about things. Yay freedom of speech!

After Hyde Park, I walked down Oxford St, but there are so many people there, I cut off down a side street, and this is where things get a little hazy. I headed in the direction of Picadilly, but took a couple of weird turns. Found some cool shopping, though! And I eventually found my way back to Trafalgar, so no harm done! By that time I was absolutely exhausted and considered taking the bus or the tube home. But I was determined not to waste a quid just getting home, so I walked back via Embankment. View from that side of the river (note presence of London Eye again):

Anyway, there were a few more stops along the way, but those were the highlights. I did something new (St. James), something old (Covent Garden), something cultural (National Gallery). And I definitely succeeded in procrastinating.

Otherwise, not too much to report. Not commenting on the rugby (see previous post). One funny thing, I was carded last night at the bar. Seriously! And now to the paper (for all those, ahem, Mom, who don't think I do work).

Swing low...

That was a fucking try.

Just a taster

Rugby girls



Why was she born so beautiful?
Why was she born at all?
She's no fucking use to anyone
She's no fucking use at all
She ought to be properly shat on
She ought to be properly shot (bang bang!)

... and it continues.

AU Wednesday

I am impressed.

Very. Impressed.

And, to be fair... a little bit scared. Pictures (or, dear God no) to follow.

On a more cultural note, I would like to inform everyone that the English college experience is just like the American college experience, except they don't have frats and the drinking is legal. And they have drinking songs! What more can you need (other than a really good hangover cure)?

A good day

Had my first real seminar today... some very smart, some very dumb people, as to be expected. I'm psyched to get to know some people better. Some people are just totally over-participative.

Probably had too much wine today...

Rugby against Kings tomorrow... followed by the Tuns... trouble!

Other comments...
- British men are much more affectionate with each other than American men. Nice, though culturally weird at first.
- People who think they know more than they do are incredibly irritating, especially when they use their own multiculturalism as a way to demonstate multicultural awareness and knowledge. Trust me, one doesn't necessarily lead to the other.
- Men are amazingly predictable, it's good I've sworn them off... I mean, until tomorrow, when I hang out with the rugby players and footballers.
- The smell of fall, even in the middle of a dirty, smelly city, is unbeatable.

London definitely feels like home.

Rugby!

This will be short because I have finally decided to listen to my body and stay in bed. All day. Because my body is mad, mad, mad at me for all the abuse I put it through this week (read: little sleep, lots of exercise and alcohol). That, and I have a lot of reading to do. Actually, I've done most of it, but whatever. I can still sleep if I want to.

Yesterday was my first true introduction to rugby! The LSE team played against Queen Mary's yesterday, so I have now officially played in a game. I have been given the position of second row forward which, according to Mark and Russell, deserves a knowing and forboding exclamation of "aha!" followed by a snide giggle. Essentially, it seems, I am one of the workhorses of the team. While watching the English match last night (more on this to follow), Russell would exlaim, gleefully, "there's you! under that pile with your head in the mud!" The girls said I played well and I think for my first game, I would have to agree wtih them! Anyway, I think I will enjoy it greatly once I understand the flow of the game better, and the rules. In addition to my excitement at doing something new (and very English!), I am very happy to be back on a team. The girls seem really nice and it will be a lot of fun.

ENGLAND IS IN THE RUGBY WORLD CUP FINAL!!! Last night they played France (haha!) and won. While I don't pretend to understand the game well, I definitely enjoyed watching it. And I'm sorry to say, the English are right about one thing: American footballers really are pussies in comparison. Rugby players play harder, longer, more continuously and rougher than American footballers, and they don't need a helmet and pads to get them through the game. I'm very excited to learn more about the game. As a side note, Johnny Wilkinson is hot.



I went to a party for Russell and Chrissy's birthday last night. It was fancy dress, but I didn't dress up because I didn't know how far (or not) to take the dressing up. I met some really cool people, and a few who know Mark, which was fun. A few were very interested in my American-ness, and what "things are like in America." I was more than happy to oblige until someone threatened the credibility of the World Series, pointing out that no one else in the world cares, so... it shouldn't be the World Series (fair point, but still!). I actually talked politics with one guy named John and he commented that Americans really seem to care and be informed of their political systems. I was a little surprised because that's not exactly my experience with my fellow countrymen, but he points out that there is a true convergence of parties here and that leads to public apathy. Recurring theme of mockery and inquisition were America's fatness, the ridiculousness of American football and why American girls love English guys (an answer I refuse to reveal, no need to give them a leg up on us). Twas a fun night.

Classes pick up this week, and I am very much looking forward to it. Other things on the agenda are an Arsenal game this weekend (I haven't told anyone that I root for the Spurs), a rugby game against Kings College on Wednesday, an AU fancy dress party on Wednesday night, and the Rugby World Cup Final on Saturday night.

A wander

Yesterday my day was pretty open so I went for a bit of a wander down the river. It wasn't too long, just down to Tower Bridge and back up on the north side of the river. I'd never crossed Tower Bridge, before, though, so that was a new addition to my London experiences. I took some cool pictures. Something that is interesting about London is the blend of medieval architecture with new and interesting buildings. While some are of questionable taste (need we say Gherkin), I love how it is a literal example of how London is both full of history and a thriving, modern global center.




A view of the Tower of London with the Gherkin in the background







A view of Tower Bridge from right next to the Tower








Other amusing things from my journey, a playground in the old moat. Let's play childhood games in the shadows of a building that represents torture and death! Yay!




Some fabulous pub names in the past few days:
The Famous Cock (I'm not known for my maturity)
Hung, Drawn and Quartered

And a very cool picture:

I have no words...

In fact, I have one.

"Gob-smacked."

I THINK it means "shocked"... but don't quote me on it.



















That's my view. Well, sort of. My view is really of the Tate Modern (http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/), but if I walk around the Tate, this is what I get. I win!

I started rugby. I am going to be so good at it. Some of the girls are predictably scary, but I think once I get the rules (pass backwards, what?) it should be good fun. I bought boots and shorts and a gum shield today so I feel adequately prepared for my first "game" on Saturday (which is more of a scrimmage against another team, really).

This weekend promises to be busy, and good.











Go Sox!!

School is not out for summer OR forever, after all.

So, yes. The reality has finally struck me that I have indeed begun yet another master's program. While I think London is undoubtedly an excellent idea, I'm yet to be sold on more school. Yesterday was my first day of class. I started out with Citizenship and the Media which is going to be, without a doubt, f-ing awesome. The prof seems very cool and the topic is great. I'm very excited about it. After that we had Research Methods. I will spare you the ten minutes of swearing that comes to mind whenever I remember that I have to take a THIRD methods class in as many years.

Today I had Democracy and the Media, which is a required course for PolComms. It's impossible to tell whether the class will be good. The prof is very nice, but we didn't cover any course material today. Later I had MC408 which is the basic theories course - it's a huge lecture class with all the Media kids plus some sociology stragglers. It has a variety of professors and promises to be... thorough.

Every other week we have to attend a Media Seminar where various speakers come in and talk about... various things. Today we had the editor of the Times. He was interesting, but as a) I'm a liberal and therefore don't read the Times and b) I'm not heavy into the journalism side of my field, I wasn't totally riveted. He had some interesting things to say about the effects of competition and enlightened me to some of the differences between Brit and American media systems.

In other news, I'm sick. Fever, congestion, muscle aches. You name it, I got it. Maybe drinking last night wasn't the best plan, but... when in Rome...

Cultural hilarity

So... I must admit some American colloqualisms get lost a bit in translation here in the UK:

In reference to playing baseball: "Well, we'd have to shag our own balls."
Well, when shagging is fucking... you can only imagine.

In reference to acting like Marky: "You pulled a Mark right there."
Well, pulling is making out on this side of the pond, so when you say that to Marky's buddy... hehehe.

When wicked means "awesome" for them and it means "really" for the native New Englander, I must admit... I sound a bit redundant. "Wicked wicked"... I'm not givin' it up though. New England elitism will not die!

It is amazing the way the same language evolves so differently. Kind of loving it though.

London Markets

This weekend I spent exploring a couple London markets with Sherry. On Saturday we went to Portobello Market, which has clothes (both new and vintage), antiques, food and housewares. It was HUGE! I tried on a bunch of clothes, lusted after some old cameras and had some falafel. Overall, it was a day AND I managed to get away without buying anything. There's a victory if I ever heard one. I also saw the S&M Cafe, which I have heard about from Mark from literally Day 1. He made Melissa and me sausages and mash at Melissa's apartment and he proceeded (in his long winded fashion) to tell us all about this great place and (this is where my eyes glaze over and I stop listening) I should go. I've now promised to wait to go there until he gets here. However, if he takes too long, I might have to go on my own anyway.

Today Sherry took me to the markets at Camden Lock. On the way there we walked over Primrose Hill and there was an incredible view. While it was a bit cloudy (this is London), you could see most everything. I plan on going back on a bright sunny day (so, next spring!) to see the view properly. When we arrived at the markets, I swear, my inner 15 year old was just jumping for joy. Vintage clothes, colorful clothes, all very much my kind of thing. Stores and carts and stalls full of wonderful things. While there were many a thing I wanted to buy, I managed to get away with only a jean skirt for 10 pounds. Not too bad!

Other things I did this weekend included going to see the play that Sherry's theater is putting on right now, called "Life After Scandal." It was about the lives of politicians after a huge media frenzy scandal, taken verbatim from interviews done with the writer. All the stories were interwoven and it was incredibly interesting. Ties in well with media and politics, I'll say - a good way to break my mind into the course!

And lastly, London is now officially home as I finally went for a run. Only about 5 miles but it was up and down the river and it was perfect. It's about 55 degrees and a clear night.

Now, one more inning...ALCS, here we come.

Adventures, and a few pictures

So! I have had my first few London and LSE adventures in the last few days. Yesterday I went down to campus which was crazy. It's Fresher's Week and there's a fair for all the societies. It was crazy! I joined the dance society, the American Democrats, and I may play rugby. And I explored the library a bit - they don't have the Dewey Decimal system, what's a girl to do...

At 3 I had the PolComms induction. There are about 35 people in my program and they're from all over the place. US, UK, Canada, Australia, Italy, Monaco, Germany, Switzerland, India to name a few. We got some of the admin stuff done, and I have three compulsory classes this fall. I have the option of taking an extra course, but I think I will audit it and then take my two optional courses in Lent Term. After induction there was a welcome party for Media postgrads. I hung out with a few people from my program, and I think we'll get along great. They're really nice and everyone has interesting and different backgrounds. I look forward to getting to know people! Everyone broke off around 6, so I headed back to Bankside. At 8:30 I met up with Andy for drinks - the poor boy has to deal with me until I get a more stable social life.

Today I got up, went to the gym, picked up my debit card - YAY for money! Not that it'll last long. Things here are insanely expensive. Twice (or more) as expensive as the states. Oh, and I dropped by Borough Market and picked up some dried apples covered in cinnamon! They taste just like apple pie! So I had those to snack on all day.

I took the tube over to the V&A and spent a couple hours there. There's a fashion exhibit which is amusing - it will make all of you laugh to know that a Juicy track suit is actually featured in the exhibit as an example of the influence of athletic apparel on fashion. I'm not sure we should encourage the track suit... I also walked through the architecture, some of the sculpture, iron works and musical instruemnts area. The V&A can take days to go through so after about an hour and a half I figured I shouldn't miss the year's last sunshine for a museum that I need to come back to anyway.



The garden at the V&A
















Some beloved dogs memorialized at the V&A


After the V&A I walked over to Hyde Park, which was one of my favorite bits of London from when I was here last year. It was about 65 and sunny so I sat around for awhile and watched the geese wander around. There was one point where they were all queued up and it made me think of Make Way for Ducklings. :) I wandered around, then through Green Park, past Buckingham Palace and through St. James Park. One thing I had never seen was the memorial for the Canadian's contribution to the world wars - there's a picture below that doesn't quite do it justice. It's a simple water feature with bronze maple leafs in it. After all that walking my feet were killing me so I came back here for a nap.



Prince Albert Memorial - I hope I like my husband as much as Queen Victoria did. Though perhaps not in such an outlandish fashion.
























Geese in Hyde Park
















Part of the Canadian war memorial with the colors of Green Park in the background.

Settling In

The last few days have been spent settling into Bankside and getting the feel of the geography of London. LOTS of walking! I have a gym, bank account and I have registered at LSE. I haven't had too many adventures yet but I will fill you in, with pictures, just as soon as I do.