Merry Christmas to everyone!

I have finished one of my 2 essays for this break and its Christmas! Ellie and I are at her mom's house, basking in the free warmth and filling ourselves with delicious tea and food. Today I think I may be eating a lot. Yesterday I helped Ellie's mom to start making some of the food. We also decorated the tree (its quite small and in a pot).

I got some brilliant presents from ellie's family - her brother brought me some peanut butter filled pretzels and pancake mix from trader joe's, as well as tickets to see a pantomime. Quite a British experience! Ellie got me this lovely gift indoor plant grower, it doesn't use soil. Its hard to explain, but I'm very excited about it. I will post a picture soon, and make updates about all the delicious plants I grow (I plan to grow only food).

I made the most of my first week of vacation (I have a month)! I went ice skating for the first time, which went very well. I didn't fall once, I think my rollerskating background helped me.

Ok, I am tuckered out, so I am off to bed. Hope everyone is well!

Michaelmas term down, Christmas on its way

I am so relieved the term is over. I now have to face writing my 2 papers to hand in for 11 January. The term was tiring and intense. But it was really good as well. I think I have learned a lot about how research is done, how to keep up with enormous amounts of reading, and how to make new friends. I have a nice group of friends forming. Today I went to the pub after a meeting with a bunch of them. It feels nice to have people to hang out with.

One thing I love about LSE is that there is *always* something going on to do. There are several public lectures every week, not just academic ones, but also fun ones. For example, the guy who wrote "Stuff White People Like" came to speak about his book. I've gotten exposed to a lot of different people and ideas. I think that while it is no where near as radical as I am used to in academia, I am learning a lot about just how many view points one idea can illicit.

Today I went to a board meeting review of the sociology department. Apparently the Gender Institute is a part of the department. You wouldn't have any idea, we never do anything with sociology or talk about it. The meeting was about whether or not the Gender Institute should have autonomy from sociology. A bunch of the students were asked to come and tell the board their views. A group of us from Gender went in and argued for a break from sociology. And we got it! Its a really big deal, as I learned when all the profs in the Institute were squealing when we found out. They busted out the champagne, and we celebrated.

I'm going ice skating for the first time tomorrow!

a little update

I know it has been awhile! School picked up and got really busy. I have been working on facilitation, research proposals, and keeping up with massive amounts of reading. The term is over on 11th December, when I will try to write a longer post about how everything is going.

Tonight was the holiday party for the GI. There was some amazing mulled wine, mince pies, and other treats. It was held in the GI space, lots of students, and all of the faculty attended. I've made a nice little group of friends, and so I spent the evening mostly socializing with them. I like the general feel of the GI, and the professors are so nice to socialize with.

Ellie is working until 1:30am every night for the rest of the week, and all next week! So I am home alone in the evenings. Its a bit lonely at home alone, but I am trying to get work for school done. She is still looking for runner jobs and currently working for an events staffing company.

I am going to turn in early I think, I have been sick on and off, so I am trying to sleep as much as I can. Tomorrow I am facilitating in my "Cultural Constructions of the Body" class. The topic is "Precarious Bodies" - the assigned readings are about how perpetrators/enemies/terrorists are embodied in terms of racialized masculinity, heteronormativity, etc. I've been reading a lot about violence, prisons, terrorism, and Abu Ghraib this week and it has been quite difficult. The lecturer for this week showed a few pictures from the Abu Ghraib scandal, which caused quite an uproar from students. I felt it was inappropriate and kind of traumatizing, even though I understood the learning objectives. The pictures bear a striking resemblance to pictures taken during the slavery era in the US as well as pictures of racial violence against African Americans in general (gatherings when people were hung, etc).

If you are looking for something to read about prisoners rights, I would recommend "Are Prisons Obsolete?" by Angela Davis - not if you're looking for a light read though!

Some recent events in my life:

1) I pretended to be interested in an event about Jesus in order to get free coffee from the Christian Union. I bought a conservative paper for £0.40 because they were giving away free chocolate bars with it. These chocolate bars cost over £1 in a store.

2) I signed up for a Spanish certification class! I start next Tuesday.

3) I talked to a professor at the GI about a PhD there, she is going to help me with the proposal.

4) Confirmed my RSVP to my friend's wedding in Bilbao! Gay wedding in Spain, best thing ever! Ellie and I are going to book the plane tickets soon.

5) Patrick gets here tomorrow!

Also, here are some pictures from the vigil I went to.

Feels like Saturday...

Last night Ellie and I went to an event held at Imperial College to launch Stonewall UK's job recruitment guide. The event launched the guide and was also a networking event for students and other job-seekers to meet with queer-friendly employers. They had free wine and canape. I did some networking! I met this American man who works for Stonewall, he moved to the UK to be with his partner, he got his master's at the GI! We have a lot in common. He gave me his card, so I am going to make sure to keep in touch. He also said he would connect me with one of his colleagues who works with LGB youth, as that is where a lot of my experience lies. Ellie talked with someone from the Arts Council and has a possible internship! All very exciting.

Today I have not done very much! It is nice to relax. I have been sick with a cold, but today started feeling a lot better. Tonight we're going to a vigil against hate crimes in Trafalgar Square.

Chelsea and Kensington - shoes that pass in Soho do not pass here

What a strange night. Ellie and I went out to Chelsea because of her friend's birthday. She wore these converse, along with a collared shirt, sweatervest and jeans - quite smart I think. When we got to the club and informed the bouncer we were on the guest list, he looked her up and down and said that she wasn't aloud to come in with those shoes on. "Sporting shoes of any kind" are not allowed in this club. Who would wear those shoes for any sport?!? He actually said "you would come out on a Saturday night and go to a club wearing those shoes?" It was so rude and elitist. I basically can't believe it happened. Bastards! We were in a posh neighborhood I guess.

It took us an hour to get there because there are partial closures on some tube lines in our area. The whole night felt like a bit of a waste as we didn't even get to see her friend. There was no use arguing with the bouncer person about the issue, he was basically a brick wall of bitchery. I think some homophobia/sexism was involved in this encounter, because if some famous footballer man came to the club after a game at Chelsea stadium, he probably would have been let in. The bouncer actually checked Ellie out before saying anything and was incredibly judgmental. Ellie is planning on writing a letter to the management of the club talking about how rude the bouncer was. Yes, weird situation. We ended up going to Ealing Broadway, getting chips, and walking home. Quite an exciting Saturday night, I hear you say. Yep.

Beginning of Week 3

My brain is exhausted! The things I am reading at the moment are intense and there is a lot of philosophy-type concepts I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around. I am enjoying my classes in general and getting into the groove of reading, even though it is quite difficult.

Things are rolling along, I am making friends! I had a friend, Alex, over last night for dinner! I met her at the LGBT bar hopping thing. I went out for some drinks for her birthday last week, we went with a few others we met at the bar hopping event. Apparently, in Italian culture you buy people drinks on your birthday. So she bought a round of 5 drinks! It made me feel slightly uncomfortable, as I felt I should be buying her drinks. I must save up for my birthday! Alex likes Buffy! We have some important things in common.

In addition to the study group for my Gender Theories class, I have just started a study group with 2 others for my Gender Research and Knowledge Practice class. We are basing this study group on baked goods. Each week, one of us will bake something for the group. I am the first up, I don't have time to bake something for tomorrow, so I am just going to bring some biscuits. I think they will go over well. The two fellow classmates in this study group are really nice, I think we are becoming friends.

I have had a few headache moments with the banking system and bureaucracy here. I deposited my financial aid checks in the bank a few weeks ago. The checks are in $'s instead of £'s (no idea why). Because they are in $'s, the checks have to be sent to the US and back. Anyway, I was originally told this would take 2-3 weeks. I received a letter last week saying it would take 6-8 weeks!! If it does take 8 weeks, I won't have money until December! I immediately emailed the LSE fees office and explained - they gave me an extension to pay me fees. The fees are due on the 28th of October. I am currently living out of my US bank account. This is super frustrating. I am going to go into my new bank and talk to them about how they mislead me. Had I known it would take so long, I would have gone with a different bank. Part of this process is probably complicated by the postal strike, but come on people! The strike was announced! Many businesses that have time-sensitive mail are using other carriers like DHL.

Ok, off to watch Glee with Ellie!

I survived the 1st week

After the first week I have a lot of feelings about my program. I have an incredible amount of reading. I am working on keeping up. Today it took me 3 hours to read one article - it was about 50 pages and boring. I don't feel like I have been intellectually challenged yet. I am sure that will come. The only challenge I have felt is keeping up with the volume of work. I think I started this program at a higher level than some of my fellow students. Feminist theory is not new to me at all. I am keeping an open mind, as the director of the GI mentioned that some of us who have come with a lot of prior knowledge may have things to "unlearn" about what a gender studies perspective means.

I have been looking at the PhD program for the GI, and I think I am very qualified. I am planning on applying. I tend to do ok with independent study as long as I make a schedule for myself and have deadlines.

I am making friends! I met this person from Italy at the LGBT event I went to last week. We went for lunch this week and it was fun. I think we might be friends. Also, I feel like I am beginning to mesh more with my fellow students. In my last class on Thursday, there is a very frustrating man - he calls himself a "men's rights activist." While I respect his right to opinions, he says really offensive things and makes generalizations about things he knows nothing about. Anyway, a lot of people in my class have bonded over feeling frustrated and alienated by this man. I have also bonded with people in general (not involving frustration about another student). After class on Tuesday, a bunch of us went out for a drink at a pub on campus. From this outing, I got to hear about how others have felt like making friends is hard as well. It is nice to commiserate with others about these feelings and to know you're not alone. I am excited to see where I end up with this year!

Tomorrow I am going to work on more reading for my classes. Ellie and I are going to go for brunch somewhere as well.

Small world!

Today I ran into someone I used to go to school with in Guadalajara! He is from Canada and is in his second year of his PhD at the LSE! I used to hang out with him 3-4 times a week. And we hung out for a whole weekend at the beach right before I left Mexico. It was quite strange to run into him. I think we are going to go out for a pint at some point.

I have had a frustrating day. I went to my bank to deposit my financial aid checks and was told that I wouldn't be able to deposit them because they were made out to me and LSE. The man behind the counter said I would have to have it just made out to me. But this is how everyone's financial aid checks are! After he denied me (a bit rudely I might add), I talked to another person walking around the bank and finally had it resolved. It was stressful for awhile though! The same man who refused to take my checks was the one who had to enter them. He was just uninformed. I really need that money, I am living off of my money in my American account.

Speaking of money, I took £100 out of my American account today and I am left with £10! I spent £80 on course readers for 3 classes. I was not happy to find out that total. I also bought lunch, coffee, and allergy medicine - and thus the £10 left. I can't wait until my financial aid checks clear.

I spent the rest of the day working on reading for tomorrow's class. I am only about 1/2 way through the reading. I plan to go to campus early tomorrow to finish the readings. So much reading! I really have to keep on top of it or there is no way I can keep up.

I have joined a study group for my "Gender Theories" class. I am optimistic about keeping up with the course work this year!

Overwhelmed, Excited, Nervous

Sorry its been so long since my last update, I have been quite busy! I just got home from my first day of class. The class is called "Gender Theories in the Modern World: An Interdisciplinary Approach." I have an hour and a half of lecture and an hour and a half of seminar (like a section, its for student facilitation and discussion). I am very excited about the whole thing. The class is team taught by all the faculty of the gender institute. Tomorrow I have "Gender, Knowledge, and Research Practice." On Thursday I have "Cultural Constructions of the Body."

Here is what I have been up to since my last entry:

Wednesday 30 September:
I attended a public lecture by Amina Mama on "Militarism and Underdevelopment." The Gender Institute (GI) has a public lecture series and this was the first one. Amina Mama is a quite famous woman as a pioneering academic for gender studies in South Africa. After the lecture was a reception at the GI. I met a bunch of my fellow students. And there was free wine. Very nice night!

Thursday 1 October:
3 hour orientation to the GI. The faculty introduced themselves, their research interests, and what they teach. The director of the GI started by saying that we probably all feel overwhelmed, excited, and nervous - and that she feels that way all of the time, such is the life of a gender theorist. After the large orientation with all of the MSc students, we broke off to our individual tracks. I am doing the Gender track (there are others like Gender, Development, and Globalisation and Gender, Media, and Culture). I met with my cohort and the convener of the course.

A few hours after the orientation, I stayed on campus to go to the LGBT society's bar hopping night. It was really fun! I was nervous at first going alone, but I ended up talking with people all night. I only went to the 1st three bars. I met some people who were really nice and will maybe hang out with them again.

Friday 2 October:
On this day I had an all day induction for the GI. This was lead by a PhD student. We learned the ins and outs of the GI - how courses and course work actually work, what is expected of you, how to be involved, etc. I found it really helpful, the whole thing felt scary after that. We had ample time to ask any questions we had at all. After the induction, there was a reception with free champagne and snacks. I talked with a bunch of people in my program. They like social receptions at the GI! I didn't stay late at this, as I went to Ellie's friend's house for dinner.

Saturday and Sunday:
Ellie and I finished Buffy. She loved it. I worked on my reading for my first day of class. Pretty nice weekend!

Other than that, I am working on making friends. I am having lunch with someone from my course tomorrow. I am also working on keeping up with my studies. There is an incredible amount of reading every week. They say probably about 40 hours a week worth of reading. This is my new full time job after all!

1 orientation down, 2 to go

I went to the school orientation for postgraduates today. The director of the school (what Americans would call the president), Howard Davies, addressed us for the first part. He started the orientation by congratulating us on navigating the intense game the British government has set up to obtain a visa. A lot of people laughed - I am not the only one who had a stressful time getting my visa! He asked everyone who was from outside of the UK to raise their hands - it felt like almost everyone. At least 80% from where I was sitting. This is truly an international environment.

I learned some good facts about LSE. 70% of the school comes from outside the UK! There are 9000 students, half of which are postgraduates. LSE has the largest social science library in the world.

I was only gone for a few hours but I am very tired! After my school orientation, I opened a bank account with HSBC and I joined the LGBT society at the societies/freshers fair. You have to pay dues to join a society, it was only £1 to join the LGBT one. I want join the Mexican society and the feminist society at some point. There were 7 floors of a building dedicated to the societies fair! It was a lot to take in and I didn't see the Mexican society or the feminist society. I saw so many other societies, and it started to feel like a lot to go through. There were a lot of people signing up for societies - every floor was packed to the brim.

Ellie and I are going to make sushi tonight. It will be a nice way to unwind!

Fighting Beavers!

I have registered for LSE! I have a student card and can officially get into the library. I am quite excited. The mascot of LSE is the beaver. Next week I have a school orientation, recommended public lecture, and 2 all day gender institute orientations. Class officially starts on the 5th of October.

On Friday I went on a campus tour with some people from my course. We went out to lunch and coffee to get to know each other. I didn't immediately click with anyone, but everyone seems nice. I think there are only 3 guys in the course (none of them came around for the tour). This is par for the course in my gender studies experience. I am excited to meet everyone, I hope I can make some friends! I learned that some Hare Krishna people come to the quad of LSE everyday and give out free food - but only for 30 min, so you have to queue early. I have also learned that one of the buildings is rumored to be haunted by a dolphin.

I have also obtained my phone. If I haven't sent you the number and you are interested, send me a message! It is a rudimentary phone, but will do the job. I can check facebook for free with my £10 top up. Which is not actually that fun because it takes so damn long to type everything in. But it is nice to have none the less!

I am opening a bank account next week. I went to a banking fair and almost signed up with HSBC, but didn't have the proper paperwork. Once I have this, I can pay my course fees and rent and all will good!

The student guide given to me at registration has some very funny bits. They recommend things like sneaking on the back of buses to get away with not paying and squatting if you have no where to live. They put a disclaimer that "the students' union does not condone" these things.

Possibly my favorite part of the whole guide is the section on etiquette. "The Brits love to talk about the weather. If you are ever stuck for something to say, a polite comment about how rainy or sunny it is often goes down well." "The Brits love to queue." "At very formal occasions, it is common to start the meal with a toast to the Queen."

Fall is in the air

I have been here for a week now and am starting to get stuff together. I ordered a phone online! It only cost £10 and as a result is a bit of a dinosaur. It will get here tomorrow, although I may be out when it comes. Tomorrow I have registration, I think I will be getting my student card. I am not sure what to expect. I am quite excited to have access to LSE's library.

Today, I went for a walk around Ealing Common. It is cloudy and there is a slight wind - fall is in the air! The leaves are turning colors and falling off the trees in the Common. Fall is great, and I think London in the fall will be beautiful. I can't wait to start school and really get into the swing of life.

Phone adventures

Finding a phone plan in the UK is different than the US. I know that I am doing a pay-as-you-go plan, which is always going to be different than a contract, but I am still having problems with the differences.

For one, all phones here operate on SIM cards. Some phones in the US do, but Verizon definitely does not (so I am not too familiar with it). Here you can send away for different SIM cards that have deals attached to them. For example, a company named O2 has a SIM card that gives you unlimited texts and internet if you top up £15 a month. I'm looking for a phone to buy, but that will come with a SIM card as well. I am unclear if you have to switch out your SIM card if you want a different deal.

If you get your phone unlocked, you can put a SIM card from any company in your phone, no matter where you buy it from. In the US, my samsung phone has been claimed by Verizon- you can tell because Verizon has stamped itself on the phone.

I am supposed to walk up to Ealing Broadway today and go talk to the people at Orange, I think I have picked them for my phone plan. They have a samsung phone that looks just like the phone I had in the US, although I might not buy it because it is a bit expensive. I could do all of this online, but I will probably understand the whole thing better if I talk to someone.

I messaged someone on my course and on Friday we are going on a campus tour together with some other people on the course. I am excited and nervous. It will be good to get out and meet people before school starts.

End of the First Weekend

Today Ellie and I took it slow- she starts work tomorrow and I must begin my life tasks. My interest in Julia Child has been renewed since seeing "Julie and Julia" and so I have been watching clips of her programs. Ellie and I watched this one about omelets. Ellie actually made this omelet this morning! It was awesome. The egg is too runny for me (I need my eggs overcooked), but it looked delicious and Ellie enjoyed it. Julia Child's method makes the egg very fluffy and light.

In the afternoon, we went to the National Portrait Gallery to see the "Gay Icons" exhibit. It was very interesting. The exhibit featured pictures of people who are considered gay icons as "selectors" - and those people picked 5 others who are inspirations to them. It is a special exhibition, so we had to pay £5 to get in, I think it was worth it. After the exhibition, we went to First Out for coffee and cheesecake. All in all a low key day. Not much to report at the moment, these posts will become more interesting as I start school!

Busy Saturday

I broke the shower today. Yep, less than a week in and I managed to charm it up enough to actually break the shower. In reality, the shower was possibly not that far from breaking because the lever was increasingly hard to turn. But why did I have to be the one to break it?! We will be without a shower for a week (there is a bathtub we can use) until we get a plumber in to fix it.

Ellie and I spent the better part of today finding shoes for Ellie's first day at the BBC. We went to Kingston to do this shopping. In the evening Ellie, her 2 brothers, her brother's girlfriend, mom, and I had dinner together. We had a turkish dish called "turlu turlu." Ellie and I did a lot of the cooking for this, as her mom was preoccupied with a cleaning task. This was a really fun night - her mom and brother talked about me as part of the family! I think I am starting to fit in well there.

Tomorrow will be a rest day and then I will fill my week with tasks - phone, bank account, and other things I have needed to do.

Anthropological Film Screenings and 3rd day in London

I think I have overcome my jet lag. Today I spent the day at the Shortwave Cinema in Bermondsey. All of the people on Ellie's MA in Visual Anthropology showed their films in a proper theater. Ellie was 3rd to last, but we went for the whole day, starting at 10am. The film subjects varied, in subject and quality. And the room was uncomfortably hot. However, it was a good experience- Ellie's film was quite good and I got to meet some of Ellie's friends and spend time with her family after.

On an unrelated note, I am astounded at how fast the £10 I put on my oyster card goes away. I took 2 trips on the tube today and over half of the money is gone. I am going to get a student oyster card soon, which will help reduce the pain of £'s rushing out of my possession.

Fall/winter is in the air and I am excited for the premiere of Strictly Come Dancing.

2nd day in London

I got here on Wednesday and Thursday has now passed. Today I spent the morning and afternoon on Regent Street helping Ellie pick out clothes for her first day at the BBC (!). I am excited for the winter time when you get a glass of mulled wine upon walking into the Gap on Regent Street.

Oxford Circus is obscenely full of people, I forgot how overwhelming it can be. Seattle, while a large city, cannot measure up to the normal number of people in Oxford Circus in a day. I am sure I will soon become jaded to this fact, but at the moment I am still in awe.

Ellie and I went to see Julie and Julia tonight. I liked it a lot, but the ending disappointed me. I think the story ended up being a bit incongruous.

I have quite a few tasks to complete to actually feel like I live here - bank account, phone, start school. I am nervous about school, but excited to meet new people. I haven't had to do this in about 5 years - go out and make friends. I think that once I get into the swing of school, I will start feeling more normal. At the moment, everything feels strange, like a dream. I think I still can't believe I don't live in Seattle anymore. I don't even know how to react.