Tuesday, September 29, 2009

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!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

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."

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

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.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

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.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

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!

Saturday, September 19, 2009

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.

Friday, September 18, 2009

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.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

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.