Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Pictures!

My lovely family realaxing at the beach!


Spotted dick

:is a classic desert... I so had to order it :) It wasent the best desert that I have ever had...but so worth the giggle!




Often times I have thought that it would be so nice if someone came into my room when I was at work/school, tiddied up, hovered, and brought me a nice fresh towel. Well here my dream has come true... everyday someone come in and cleans up by dorm room... But there seems to be a downside to this... there is no way to request that you room is not tiddied up and on Friday when I retured to my room after my exam I found some very strange things in my room. From this picture can you guess what they were....? A knife (that I had never seen before) and a bottle of cleaning solution..... hummmmmmmmmm




My cousin and I before we went out onto the beach and cut up our feet!




Me all dressed up in my cranaval get up






This is the float I rode on. The girls sitting inside are the town's queen and pricess. The guy sitting up front is named Skip, and he is a town crier. He has been honored by the queen for his service to the community. Thats me sitting in the back as the footman!


Another shoot of me and my family at the beach




Yet another beach picture. Dont those rocks look sharp. This is after me and my cousin cut our feet up!


Weekend Hilights

This weekend was wonderful! Last week was just killer, I really needed a break. I’m so glad that that course is over! I did learn a whole lot, but I have had next to no time to enjoy being in London or meet new people. I really hope that this next course will allow some time for me to actually see a bit more than the inside of my dorm room.
So on Friday as soon as I got out of my final exam I met up with my family and spent the whole weekend with them. We had a lot of fun and I got to see the lovely English beaches twice in one weekend.
Beaches here are not much like I am used to back home. They are very pretty but painful! There is not much nice smooth sand, instead one finds very sharp rocks. I think I learned my lesson about going to the beach barefoot! The coolest part (and most painful thing to steep on) was all the oysters! They were all over the beach just waiting to be eaten :).
Who would have thought that coming to England would allow me to be in not one, but two carnival parades. On Saturday I filled in as a footman on the float from my aunt’s town in a carnival for another town. I was all dressed up and got to wear a very fun hat. My aunt was very right when she said that I am defiantly not getting the usual tourist experience! It was a lot of fun to spend the day getting to know some really great people!
Friday afternoon I went with my family to Burrow Market. That place was so incredible! There was so much food and tons of samples. There was a lot of really good cheese and meats and fresh produce. We wandered around for a while eating! I bought some fabulous chili chocolates! I think I am going to have to go back and take some pictures and eat some more great food!

Monday, July 28, 2008

New Term

I know that I have not updated in a few days… about a week.
Well for that last week there is not really that much to say, it was very boring.
My final was on Friday…
I did nothing fun and sat in my room studying day and night!

I am a little bit sad, I know that I did all that I possibly could do and that there was no more studying that could be done and I know that I did my best…
Sadly, this time I don’t think that my best was enough.
I won’t know the score for another week so I will leave my thoughts until then.

I did have a very very very nice weekend and I will put up another post later tonight full of stories and pictures!

Well today is the first day of classes in the second term.
The morning was very hectic, but I was able to sleep in later than I have been, this class starts later than my class last term.
My professor came in and talked about the syllabus, all the usual beginning of term stuff, then immediately launched into lecture.
She did not lecture for long before I realized that I could not follow the math in the lecture.
This was very disappointing to me, I thought I had the necessary prerequisites for this course but I don’t think that I have. My 400 level linear algebra course at UAB does not measure up. The big lesson from today: I DON’T KNOW LINEAR ALGEBRA.
I’m very worried now that I will not be able to handle this course. I don’t think that I am a quitter, and that I’m just afraid of failure or anything but I really don’t know if 3 weeks is enough time for me to learn linear algebra AND econometrics.
So after lecture this morning I went to find out if there are any other good courses offered this semester…
I found one: Environmental Economics and Sustainable Development…
This course sounds fabulous and right up my alley
I’m going to the afternoon class session for the econometrics course today to see how it goes…
Tomorrow I may be in the other class.

So today I just find myself very stressed and anxious.
I don’t want to be a quitter, but I guess I do have to know my limits…

I guess I will post some more tonight with my thoughts about econometrics and pictures from this weekend :-)

Monday, July 21, 2008

Weekend (Pt. 3)

Concert in the park: Bath

Street Performer: Covenant Garden (yes... that is a real chainsaw in his hand...)

Tower Bridge comming down.

Weekend (Pt. 2)

(Sorry in advance)
The pics. are all out of order... I still can not figgure out how to make blogspot post photos in the order I want them posted!


The Roman Baths... in Bath...




More of the Roman bath... in Bath...





The bath as seen from outside... where strangely all the tourist have disappeared...




I'm not quite sure why, but there are pigs like this all over town (Bath)... all painted and decorated in different ways!





St. Paul's Cathedral










Me at the tippy top of St. Paul's Cathedral. If you look to the right you can see the London Eye!










St. Paul's again... but do you see that very very very large dome... and the little tinny thing on top of it... I totaly hiked all the way up there!










No idea what this was... they guys in the black suits said the information was classified... (but seriously... does anyone know of any movies involving spaceships crashing being filmed in London right now... I can't think of any other explanation)










View from the train as I was heading out to Bath.















Second Lecture in the lecture series. He is a very passionate speaker... and during the discussion afterwards person after person stood up and said that he was wrong and he offered no argument, only emotionally charged stories...


Graduation day at the LSE.









Me on the riverboat!










The O2 arena all lit up!










The London Eye as seen from the floating dance party!





Weekend (pt. 1)

I don’t know what it was, but I ate something on Friday that make me really sick! I had to miss class and office hours with my professor...
I started feeling better that evening after being sick for a bit and sleeping it off.
Friday night was the riverboat disco!
What is a riverboat disco you may ask...
Its exactly what it sounds like... a dance... on a riverboat...
I'm not much for dancing, tried to dance for a few min. but decided it was not my thing.
I spent most of the evening up on the decks watching the city go by. London is so pretty at night! I'll post some pictures in a little bit!

On Saturday I was a tourist all day and went sightseeing! I went with a girl I meet earlier this week, and we had a really nice time.

Our first stop was at St. Paul's cathedral. That place is amazing...
While I was there I climbed all the way to the tippy tippy top and had a fantastic view of the city! To get to the top you have to climb up some 500+ old old old stairs. At some points the stairway was only about 2 feet wide!

From there it was on to lunch and an attempt to go see the Tower of London (too expensive and too close to closing time for it to make any sense).

Next we headed to Tate Modern. I was really stocked about checking out the museum... but the girl I was with did not seem that into it. I think she only wanted to go so she could check it off of her "Things to do in London List" (I think she even said at one point she did not even like modern art..." I guess the whole time we were there I felt like I was holding her up...
I guess I just have to go back some other time... which I can totally do because I'm still in London for another month!

Sunday morning I did have plans to do anything...
I woke up, went down to breakfast (I don't know if I have mentioned the free breakfast we get here in the dorms but it is AWSOME! really good coffee too!)
and I started looking through my "Let's Go London" book and found the section full of day trips from London...
Opened it to the first page: "Bath"
So I decided to go... Why not?
Next thing I knew I was out of the door and on a train out there.

The weather was perfect... I really could not have asked for a nicer day... it was warm, the sun was shining and the sky was crystal clear and a deep blue

I went to the Roman Bath museum and that was really interesting... but full of tourist... I could hardly walk through the place.
There is a really really nice park in town and a band was playing down there, so I grabbed a sandwich and set in the park and had a picnic!
Next I went to the spa... The only place in town you can actually sit in the hot springs water. It was very expensive but TOTALY WORTH IT! They have this really great roof top pool where you can relax and look out over the city. They a lot have another pool and nice steam rooms.
After that I headed back into town... I didn't get in until after 10.
I was very surprised to find that when I got back nothing was open! I thought London was a 24 hour city! I guess not...

Well those are the weekend highlights... pics. and a few videos in the next post!

Midterms at the LSE

This last week has been pretty crazy. The midterm for my course was on Thursday, and I was terrified that I would not do well on it. I studied for most of the week, leaving little time to do anything fun .
The testing procedure here is very strict. We were told that if we were late to the exam we would be locked out and unable to take, or even make up the exam. We were instructed to leave any personal belongings along the wall and to silence our phones (if they rang we were told that would be considered CHEATING!). If we had to get up to go to the bathroom during the exam a proctor had to escort you to and from the bathroom. We were not allowed to write our names on the examination papers so that they could be graded anonymously. All of this just served to compound the usual pre-exam anxiety!
Another interesting thing…. The grading scale. Copied below is the grading scale that applies to the summer classes:
80+=A+
70-79=A
65-69=A-
60-64=B+
50-59=B
48-49=B-
42-47=C+
40-41=C
You have to score below a 40 to fail the course!
After seeing this I got a bit cocky… ohhh I only have to make a 65 to make an “A”…. no problem…
I still studied and did the best I could on the exam… I didn’t get that cocky…
When I walked out of the exam I was totally stocked! I was sure that I scored well enough to make an “A” by UAB standards…
I waited all weekend anxiously to see my score… sure it would be time to celebrate…
We were able to check out our scores today… and I got 32 points out of 50… aka about 64%! (B+ just one point off from an A!)
I’m a bit frustrated because I don’t know where I went wrong… and it is against policy to show us our exams!
Note: we were told the average was a little bit more than 30, and median was 31...
Before placing the list of scores out for the exam my professor spent aobut 10 min. lowering our expectations...
Ohh well... I figgure I will just kick ass on the final!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

sorry

I know that I have not posted in a while... I'm sorry...
but I did type up a whole nice new post...
it was interesting, insightfull, funny, and moving....
and then my computer crashed!

Seeing as it is now past 11 I must appologize and I promise that I will post tommrow.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Ghost Map pics.

This post is especially for anyone who has read "The Ghost Map"



This small plaque on the side of the John Snow pub marks the location of the original Broad Street Pump.
I know this may be a bit hard to see... but right next to the tire is a piece of the curb that is a little pink in color is the location of the original water pump. The replica pump is a block down the street.

Plaque at the replia pump
These are pictures of the replica pump with the John Snow pub in the background.

Me infront of the pub.

Experiment

I'm going to try to post a video and see how it works. This is a video shot from my window of the crowd when Hairspray gets out! Everyone crowds arround the back door after the show is over trying to see the cast.

pictures!


Do you know the muffin man...? I walk to classes every day down Drury Lane :)
To the left is a show down Drury Lane.
Below is a picture I took at the lecture given by Professor David Held lecture last week called: ‘Globalization: the Dangers and the Answers’


There are tons of very large pigeons in this city!
This is 1/3 of the world's largest bicycle that was in the Witham Carnaval parade this weekend
This is me and my uncle on the bike

My cousin and I having fun on all the rides at the carnaval
Hello to all!
I haven’t posted in a few days, so I have a lot to write about (and a lot of pics!)!
Let’s see…
I was able to get into the lecture the other night. They formed a queue (Audrey that’s for you :)) for all the people who didn’t have tickets. A lot of people who did have tickets did not show up so we were all able to get in. The lecture went really well and there were a lot of good questions at the end.
On Saturday I went out to my Aunt’s house. I haven’t really met that many people here to hang out with over the weekend so it seemed perfect to go out there. Witham was having their town carnival and as soon as I got there I went with my aunt and my cousin to help set up the floats for the parade. One of the “floats” was the world’s largest bicycle according to the Guinness Book of World Records. They only had one third of it out that day… The group that put the “bicycle” in the parade was looking for volunteers to help peddle the thing so my uncle and I jumped on! We rode the thing in the parade!
Shortly after the parade began it started raining. When this happened I assumed that the people standing in the street watching would head inside… but they didn’t. People here seem to have a very different attitude towards the weather. Everyone stayed right where they were and watched the parade, seemingly unfazed by the rain.
My aunt hurt her foot during the parade and my uncle took her to the hospital (she is ok, nothing too serious but it seems like her foot really hurts a lot!) My cousin and I hung out for the rest of the afternoon. It was really nice to get some good one on one time with her.
The rest of the evening was nice. We went out to eat with friends of my Aunt’s then came back and watched a movie. The movie was filmed in London and I actually recognized some of the areas in the movie (right down the street from my dorm :) ).
Today was a really nice. We spent most of the morning piddling around the house and then cooked a proper Sunday roast which was delicious!
I really enjoy spending time with them, and I don’t think that this experience would be quite the same without them right here. It’s so nice to actually be on the same continent that I really want to see them as much as I can (and as much as they will have me)! I do hope that being able to leave and go hang out with them doesn’t stop me from trying to meet people here to spend the weekends with. I hope it won’t be too tricky to balance.
Well I came back this afternoon on the train. The ride back to town was really nice and quick. After I got back to the dorm I decided to put off studying a bit more and went on an adventure!
I went down to Soho to the John Snow Pub. This is where the water pump responsible for the 1854 outbreak of cholera in London. We read a book called “The Ghost Map” in my Business Honors reading group all about the outbreak and how it was traced to this single water pump! It may be kind of morbid to want to see this place but actually seeing it for myself makes the history seem so much more vivid. The next post is all pictures and there are a few of this spot!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

I always forget that other countries use different key board lay-outs! Its just enough to throw me off when I sit down to type something and characters I do not anticipate appear on the screen! :)

I’m sitting the library after my afternoon class. This place is very impressive. On the lower ground floor there is what seems to be a never ending see of computer stations. There is this huge spiral stair case in the middle. And despite how many people are sitting around, working and talking the place still seems quiet. I think in a bit I’m going to go explore.

I do have to admit that I am procrastinating a bit. I’ve been in class or studying since about 9 this morning… I deserve a little bit of a break don’t I?

I wonder how much the LSE spends on software… every computer I have been on anywhere on campus or in the dorms has every statistical computing program I’ve ever heard of and many others I have not (but I’m willing to bet they aren’t cheep!).

I have noticed a huge number of women both in my lecture class and my smaller afternoon class. Actually, in the afternoon class women out number the men by about 5 times! I did expect this to be a much more male dominated class.

Despite having next to no time to spend socializing, I’m beginning to meet a few people. To tell the truth the last few days I’ve been a bit worried that I would have absolutely no time to meet other people with how much time I have been spending on my course. I have been a little bit jealous of the people in my dorm I see every night going out to the pubs and what not. I wonder if their classes are less intense than mine, or if they are just spending less time studying...

The first lecture in the lecture series is tonight. Even though the lectures are fee you must obtain a ticket for entry… I went to go get a ticket this morning but there were none left. They seem to go very quickly. For the next lecture I will do my best to go get the tickets as soon as they become avaliable. So I suppose I’m just going to show up and see if I can snag the set of someone who doesn’t show up :)

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

LUGGAGE!!

FINNALY my luggage has arrived!
Besides my luggage arriving this has been a pretty uneventful day. It has been raining all day long and a bit chilly. I’m beginning to think that the weather is only nice in London every other day for about 30 min! I was talking to someone that lives here and they said that the weather usually isn’t this bad... lol but with what I have experienced so far that may be a bit hard to believe! :)
Today during one of the breaks in my lecture class the professor called all the students who attend American universities to please come to the front of the room. After we all had assembled (a surprisingly large number of us) the professor lectured us urging us to not slack off in the course! I was a bit taken back by this! He continued to explain that American students usually start slacking off after midterms because at that time they can guarantee that they will make a grade good enough to pass and receive credit at their home universities... So I guess American students as a group have the reputation of being lazy, manipulative opportunist! I’m very offended by this, I do consider myself a very studious person, and I am now just assumed to be lazy.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

So hopefully this is the last entry concerning lost luggage... Im sure it is not that interesting to read about, because I know it is not that interesting to write about!

So the luggage drama continues... Long story short it will be yet another day before the luggage is delivered to me... they sent it to the wrong address and left it there! (Im sure that soon this will all be funny!:) )

Last night there was a reception for all the econ. folks in the summer school. There were lots of nice people and good conversations. But strangely enough I ran into someone I went to high school with! lol of all the places to run into an old classmate :) Its just another reminder that this really is a pretty small world!

The class is shaping up to be pretty intense. Today I realized that I do NOT have the necessary prerequisites for the course so I’m trying to teach myself what I’m missing. I don’t think that it will be too hard to play catch-up :) We had our first STATA day in the lab, and that went swimmingly! The first assignment was very very simple and I was able to get out in about 10 min! I’m very glad to have at least a little experience with the STATA stuff to make up for my lack of experience in the other areas of the class.

I went on an adventure to SOHO after class this afternoon. I had a really nice time wondering around and people watching. Hopefully this weekend I will have a lot of time to really explore!

Monday, July 7, 2008

PICTURES!

Below are a few pics I have taken so far...
there should be more to come!

These arent in any real order:


This is my dorm room... please dont judge me for the mess... i was in the process of rearranging and unpacking...
To the left is the view out of my dorm window




Below is what you see when you look down from my window... Thats the theatre where Hairspray plays!









This is my window with my beautiful view!









This is me and my cousin at our UK 4th of July celebration!






























This is the view from the plane as we flew into Heathrow... all the famous sights can be seen!

































































First days and impressions

I really like it here, but the weather has been miserable. For any of you reading this in Alabama, the peak of summer weather here is much like it is there in February! It is cold and it has been raining on an off (every hour or 2) since I've arrived. I’m very glad I brought a nice warm jacked CARRY ON! But, despite the weather it’s pretty cool here.
I had some time yesterday afternoon to go on a nice long walk and explore some of the area around my dorm and it is just lovely!

Now for the baggage update... As of yesterday all they could tell me is that maybe it could be that possibly my bag will be on a plane some time and maybe get to London sometime this week.... Not exactly what I wanted to hear... So I waited all day today... didn’t hear anything..... Called when I got back in from class... They said that they are optimistic.... Well while I was typing up this entry my aunt called and said that the baggage currier had called her and my bag is on its way! I should have it in the next hour or two!

Well that’s about it for now... I'm about to go to a department reception and schmooze for a bit. I will post some pictures later tonight!

Sunday, July 6, 2008

luggage and heading into London!

So today is the big day, I'm going to be checking into my dorm at school. My family is going to drive me into town, which saves me tons of struggling on the tubes and trains. I'm kind of nervous and scared about it. I guess I don't feel anything out of the ordinary... just: what if I have trouble meeting people, what if my classes are too hard etc. I guess the two things that really make me feel better are realizing that everyone else there will be in the same boat as me, and knowing my family is nearby just in case I need them.
After I check into my dorm this afternoon I go to an one hour orientation on campus (the dorm is not "on" campus but a 10 min. walk away from it) where i get my student id card and my class schedule. I guess there will be more to say about it after I get checked and settled in....

Now, onto tales of the missing luggage: day 6

There have been some interesting recent developments... as it turns out, Delta at some point felt it necessary to send my bags to...... COSTA RICA!!! So i suppose my luggage got to go on a tropical vacation! Looking back I can see how the mistake could be made... the airport code for London Heathrow is LHR and the airport code for Costa Rica is LIR...
The luggage should be delivered today some time... I hope...
I was told last night that it was on a flight from Costa Rica back to Huston where it should be turned around for the overnight into London... I guess I'll just wait until the plane lands to call and find out if it actually made the flight!

Carnival

Yesterday I got to experience an interesting town tradition, crowning of the carnival queen and princesses. Carnival is similar to a town fair, there is a parade, rides, and tons of food (their's isn't until next Saturday...) Each year there is a contest to select three girls to fill the post of queen, senior princess and junior princess. I'm not quite sure exactly what the age limits are on these post, but my cousin, who is 12 served the last year as the jr. princess. Yesterday, the old "court" and the new "court" gathered in the center of town for the crowning ceremony. The old court passed on the crows to the new court, then went out to all the shops on the high street asking them to post fliers for the carnival next weekend.

After I post this entry, I will try to figure out how to post photographs... the crowning was a sight to see!

Friday, July 4, 2008

Wimbledon

I have never been much of a tennis fan. Its not that I don't like it, I just have never watched it. Being over here while Wimbledon is going on has been very educational. I have been able to watch the matches... learn the rules of the game... and get to enjoy watching new sport!

Entry 1

Hi all who may read this. This is the first blog i have ever kept, so it may take a wile for me to get warmed up and good at this :)

Here, i intend to record all of my adventures traveling abroad this summer. I am spending the next six weeks in London attending the London School of Economics. I arrived safely in the UK a couple of days ago and am slowly getting over my jet lag :)

The last week before i left was crazy busy. I had tons of stuff to get together, and friends to see before i shipped off. I found it really hard to actually sit down and pack. in packing for this trip. I have discovered the most amazing packing aide... space saver bags!!!!! i was able to pack everything i wanted (admittedly too much...) in just two reasonably sized bag.

The flight over was uneventful but long. I had to fly from Birmingham to Atlanta then to Huston before flying to London. I don't understand why I had to fly east, then way back west before crossing the Atlantic... It was a long travel day. When i arrived here in the UK I discovered that they had managed to misplace ALL OF MY LUGGAGE!!!!!! After filing the appropriate forms I got on a series of trains and tubes to get to my Aunt's house.

Its very nice to have a few days before my classes start to spend time with my family. I don't know what I would do if my aunt wasn't here to help me deal with my luggage problem. Most of what was lost in my luggage is replaceable, but expensive to replace in pounds.
The most annoying issue presented by my missing bags was my missing contacts and glasses. without them I am pretty helpless, unable to see hardly anything. I went out and bought some replacement solution and a case for my contacts, but somehow picked up the wrong sort of solution, and after soaking my lenses in it overnight they were ruined. We had to find an eye doctor in town that would see me without and appointment so that I would be able to see!


lessons learned from loosing my luggage:
ALL WAYS CARRY ON YOUR ESSENTIAL EYE CARE ITEMS
All ways carry on a few changes of cloths
All ways carry on all of your expensive/valuable items (computer, camera,mp3 player etc..)
if you have any sentimental items you would just die if you lost.... yeah carry them on too!

Well all of that aside, I am really having a lot of fun here in England. My aunt, uncle and cousin live in a small town outside of London that is just lovely! You can walk everywhere in town, and there are lots of really nice walking paths that are also lovely.

Today is the great American holiday: the 4th of July :) and we are planing to celebrate later with a barbeque! I brought over some American hot dogs (according to my aunt they just are not as good over here...) which we are going to throw on the grill along with ribs and burgers. Its kinda strange celebrating in England, I don't feel very PC about it... oh well, I'm sure it will be loads of fun any way!

Well thats it for nøw, Ill be on soon with more stories (hopefully of found luggage!!!)