Wonders of My World

Well my second term is almost over. Just one more week of classes in fact (along with 3  papers to write). I then have most of April off to “study” for exams. Although I do plan on taking advantage of that time to study, I’m also looking forward to being able to enjoy London more fully and perhaps discover new places around London. I also have a very dear friend visiting me in April, which will be a great opportunity to rediscover some of the places I haven’t been to in awhile. 

It is quite strange to think that I am almost done with school, and will be starting a whole new journey quite soon (although the details are yet to be determined). It will be interesting to see where life leads me next, especially since I’ve come to learn these past few months that life is full of surprises, good and bad; you really can’t take anything for granted. While learning that lesson, I’ve realized how lucky I am to have a wonderful support system in my family and friends. They have definitely kept me sane these past few months and have helped me see that “the glass is half full” (rather than half empty). So for those of you reading this, thank you so much! 

First Snowfall! 

Only part of our Thanksgiving feast. 

I’m starting off my post once again with an apology to anyone who is still reading this blog. As you can tell, I’m very bad at keeping this updated. But as I am in the midst of paper writing, I thought this would be a good way to procrastinate. 

My first term is almost over, which is very hard to believe. I have only one more lecture/seminar for my Theories class and just two more weeks of my optional modules. However, within that time I have to give a presentation (its more like 3 presentations but 2 of them are informal so they don’t really count), decide on a dissertation topic, and complete two papers, and that is not even mentioning the piles of reading I should be doing. So, clearly, the next two weeks will be spent mostly in the library. But after that will be Christmas break in which I will have three friends visiting me-two for Christmas and one for New Year’s. I am beyond excited right now and that is definitely helping me get through all my work.

This past Thursday, as most of you are aware, was Thanksgiving. Sadly, the British don’t celebrate it (and many of my British friends assume its just an early Christmas dinner, which I guess they do have a point), but I was lucky enough to not have class that day. I went over to one of my American friend’s flat, who turns out lives down the street from me. We celebrated in true American fashion having way too much food for only 6 people. In all we had: roasted chicken, cranberry relish, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, glazed carrots, stuffing, bread, olives, cheese, pumpkin pie, apple pie, banoffee pie, and of course wine (lots of wine, including mulled wine for dessert). On top of all the food, we watched the Sound of Music and Pocahontas. All in all, it was a very good American Thanksgiving full of food, friends, and relaxation. 

Apologizes once again for never updating. Classes are now in full swing and are definitely keeping me busy. I’m taking a mandatory class on International Relations Theories, and then two optional modules entitled Diplomacy and Securing the States (which is basically about the US Intelligence Service). Next term, Securing the States will become US Foreign Policy. Choosing classes here at King’s was much different than what I (and most of my fellow classmates) am used to. Basically, we had to choose 12 optional modules that sounded interesting to us and then a computer program assigned us our classes. I was one of the lucky ones and got my 1, 2,and 3 choices. So far, the classes have been really interesting, but have kept me busy with reading and group presentations (oh, the joys of being a Masters student). 

As a Masters student, I also have to write a dissertation, which will be due at the end of August. Every masters student has a dissertation tutor who will help guide us through the process of writing. Fortunately, my dissertation tutor is really on top of everything. However, that means I need to tell him my topic/title by December, whereas one of my classmates does not need to tell his tutor until May. I know, not very fair. It looks like for the next month or so I will be in the library trying to figure out my topic and an interesting angle to take on it. 

Aside from the business of school, I have been trying to enjoy London. This past weekend, my flatmate and I went to see an old Irish play starring Robert Sheehan from Misfits. It was quite entertaining. Afterwards, we explored Bermondsey Street, which had several cute cocktail bars. All in all, it was a great evening. I am also trying to get into football (or what us Americans know as soccer). On Sunday, I went to my local pub with a friend to watch Manchester United v. Manchester City. Apparently it was big rivalry game, and all the people in the pub (who were mostly older men) were really into it. It was definitely how I pictured watching a game in a pub would be. Now, if anyone has any recommendations of what football team I should support, I will gladly take it into consideration ;)

Some long overdue pictures….

I’ve only been in London for a week and I’m already falling behind on updating tumblr. I don’t think I realized how much work it is to set up your life in a new country. Things that I thought would be easy, like buying hangers, turned out to be much more difficult  (apparently all of London is buying hangers at the moment). However, I have been blessed with great flatmates, who have been helping me out and taking me on adventures. I can now say I have been salsa dancing (although I need a few more lessons), had a “picnic” on St. Katherine’s Dock, and have met some really interesting people (like the lead guy in War Horse). I still can’t believe how lucky I am to be living in London. There is always something to do or see in London. Just yesterday I stumbled across a Banksy work (picture above) while on my way to Tower Bridge to watch a free movie and the day before that I saw Eddie Redmayne, from Pillars of the Earth, on Waterloo Bridge. I’m excited to see what other surprises London has in store for me. 

After some flight delays and a dash through Montreal Airport (that was not necessary after all), I have arrived in London. 

When I was booking my flight, I thought a 2 and a half hour layover in Montreal would be nice. I have always wanted to go to Canada and I love ketchup chips, which seem to only be available in Canada (Although they may sound weird, they are basically the best chips ever invented). However, my layover did not go as planned. My flight out of SFO was first delayed an hour, and then we had to wait another hour on the turmac in Montreal for a gate to open up. It turns out Montreal had experienced really bad thunderstorms right before my plane landed. Because of the thunderstorms, Montreal Airport was on red alert and thus grounded all flights and stopped the loading/unloading of backage and re-fueling planes. By the time I got off the plane, I had ten minutes to catch my connecting flight, according to one of the officials at the airport. It apparently was still on time. After rushing to my gate, checking in, and walking down the runway I thought I would get on the plane and it would take off. Well, I was definitely wrong. I walked down the runway and instead of the plane, there was a bus thing (the lady next to me referred to it as a ferry) that would take us to our plane. I guess after checking in, the airport decided to delay our flight in hopes that other people who had previously been delayed could make the flight. It was a nice thought by the airport, but it would have been a bit nicer if someone had told us this information. Every now and then, one of us would trudge back up to the checkin point to ask someone what was going on and how long until we got to the plane. The usual response was that we were waiting on a few passengers and would leave in a “few minutes.” After an hour of waiting on this bus/ferry thing, we finally arrived on the plane (and then waited some more on the turmac). With all the weather problems, only about 50-60 passengers were on the entire plane. Basically, the plane was empty and so the seat next to me was vacant so I got to stretch out and have a nice comfy ride. I ended up in London 2 hours later than I planned on, but at least I made it. 

In the past week, I have received my visa, booked my plane ticket, and have packed what seems like my life in two suitcases. Tuesday is the day I will be saying goodbye to the States (for now) and flying to London to start my life as a post-graduate student at King’s College London. This blog will hopefully help me share my experiences with friends and family while I try to figure out life in a new city (and continent!).