Hello Internet,
I was walking down the street in London Town the day before yesterday when I looked up and saw what had to be the most depressingly funny billboard in the world, a British Airways advertisement that read: "Chin up, Britain. The sun is shining somewhere." Now, I have not been a Londoner for very long, but even I must admit that I have been somewhat deflated by the rather depressing weather over the course of the past.....since I have been here.
As a former Southern Californian, I'll be the first to admit that I don't really know what weather is, but if I did, I would know that it sucks here. The North Atlantic is just not as nice a place as Los Angeles, where a forecast of "sunny skies and seventy degrees" can pretty much be applied to 360 days out of every year, except for that weird five-day stretch in late December when these things called "clouds" appear and Southern Californians stop in their tracks and look upward at the cold wet stuff falling out of the sky. Still don't know what that stuff is called, but it's extremely common in this country. They've even invented ingenious devices called "umbrellers" that act as portable round ceilings to protect themselves from it. Katie keeps telling me to buy one, but I keep refusing to believe I'm going to need one ever again. And again. And again. And again.
So from this perspective, the BA ad really strikes a chord, especially given how close London is to everything European. Sunny Spain, refreshing France, illuminated Italy, and gorgeous Greece are only a few hundred miles away, and I must tell you, it's damn tempting from a weather perspective alone. Moving to Britain is a little bit like being transformed into a slightly wet, chilly vampire with a funny accent. The only nice thing about this arrangement is that all of the other slightly wet, chilly vampires around you are similarly distressed, so you're never very lonely.
And with that I am off to commiserate with my fellow vampires (and my lovely roommate) at the local pub, another charming British habit. I suspect that all of the bartenders here must supplement the local ale with Vitamin D, which explains why we're all in various pubs so very often. That, and with all that cold wet stuff falling out of the sky, it's too miserable to be outside.
Cheerio for now, Internet. Stay warm.
Siodhbrrrrra
Monday, October 18, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
One lecture down...
Hello All,
I just finished my first lecture as a graduate student and the London School of Economics. It was interesting. It was part of my International Politics course, which is compulsory for all IR MSc students. Today we talked about what led up to the modern international system in the world today.
I am, however, a tad bit concerned about the reading. The following is the "essential reading" for week 1:
Buzan, Barry and Richard Little, Parts II and IV of International Systems in World History, Oxford, Oxford University, 2000. JX1395 B99
Jones, E.L. The European Miracle: Environment, economies and geopolitics in the history of Europea and Asia (3rd edition), Cambridge, Cambridge University, 2003. HC240 J71
Mann, Michael, Ch. 1-16, The Sources of Social Power Vol. 1: A History of Power from the Beginning to AD 1760, Cambridge, Cambridge University, 1986. HN8 M28
Diamond, Jared, Guns Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, New York, W.W. Norton, 1997. HM206 D53
Gellner, Ernest, Ch. 1-9, Plough, Book and Sword: The Structure of Human History, London, Paladin, 1988. D20 G31
McNeill, William H., Ch. 1-10, The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community, Chicago, University of Chicago, 1963. D20 M16
Tilly, Charles, Coercion, Capital and European States AD 990-1990, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1990.
Note that each one of these is a book. For one class. For one week. Oh dear. Something tells me that, unless your are a freaky genius like Siodhbhra, not all of the reading gets done.
On a separate note, I went to visit my employers on Friday. It went well; I should be starting in the next couple of weeks. While I was at the bus stop near the house, an old man (who I would learn was 92 years old) came up and said that I was "the smartest dressed young person he'd seen in a while." I explained to him that I was going to work, and he asked me about it and where I was from. He told me that during World War II, he took over one of the bases from the Americans. He also told me that a private in the British Army earned 2 shillings (around 20 pence/ 35 cents) a day. Makes me seriously less inclined to complain about my shoes giving me blisters on the way to my much better paid than that job (although they did, and it hurt).
Until Next Time (if I ever get my reading done),
Kathryn
I just finished my first lecture as a graduate student and the London School of Economics. It was interesting. It was part of my International Politics course, which is compulsory for all IR MSc students. Today we talked about what led up to the modern international system in the world today.
I am, however, a tad bit concerned about the reading. The following is the "essential reading" for week 1:
Buzan, Barry and Richard Little, Parts II and IV of International Systems in World History, Oxford, Oxford University, 2000. JX1395 B99
Jones, E.L. The European Miracle: Environment, economies and geopolitics in the history of Europea and Asia (3rd edition), Cambridge, Cambridge University, 2003. HC240 J71
Mann, Michael, Ch. 1-16, The Sources of Social Power Vol. 1: A History of Power from the Beginning to AD 1760, Cambridge, Cambridge University, 1986. HN8 M28
Diamond, Jared, Guns Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, New York, W.W. Norton, 1997. HM206 D53
Gellner, Ernest, Ch. 1-9, Plough, Book and Sword: The Structure of Human History, London, Paladin, 1988. D20 G31
McNeill, William H., Ch. 1-10, The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community, Chicago, University of Chicago, 1963. D20 M16
Tilly, Charles, Coercion, Capital and European States AD 990-1990, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1990.
Note that each one of these is a book. For one class. For one week. Oh dear. Something tells me that, unless your are a freaky genius like Siodhbhra, not all of the reading gets done.
On a separate note, I went to visit my employers on Friday. It went well; I should be starting in the next couple of weeks. While I was at the bus stop near the house, an old man (who I would learn was 92 years old) came up and said that I was "the smartest dressed young person he'd seen in a while." I explained to him that I was going to work, and he asked me about it and where I was from. He told me that during World War II, he took over one of the bases from the Americans. He also told me that a private in the British Army earned 2 shillings (around 20 pence/ 35 cents) a day. Makes me seriously less inclined to complain about my shoes giving me blisters on the way to my much better paid than that job (although they did, and it hurt).
Until Next Time (if I ever get my reading done),
Kathryn
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