In a Strange and Rainy Place

Kathryn Finds Humanity in the Form of a Creature

2011-02-26T04:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the gap guys. We do still exist. So without further ado, I give you a blog entry:

One of my new favourite places in London is the National Theatre. It's right on the south bank of the Thames and is in a really cool building. It also puts on amazing productions like Frankenstein, which I am going to tell you about (WARNING there are a few minor spoilers but none, in my opinion, that would ruin it).

First off, if you are in London see it. Wake up ridiculously early, queue for three hours (like I did) and see it. You will not be disappointed. Secondly, if you are not in London, there is National Theatre Live which will broadcast in cinema's throughout the world. You can find out about it here.

The show stars Jonny Lee Miller (from the movie "Trainspotting") and Benedict Cumberbatch who, aside from having maybe the most awesome name ever, has done some amazing stuff like a movie called "Hawking" and BBC's Sherlock (which is also awesome). Both play Frankenstein and his Creature and swap roles each night. I've seen both casts, and they were both amazing but for me, Benedict Cumberbatch's creature was just so good that that's the cast I would chose if I had to. It's also directed by Danny Boyle (of Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours). The show was completely sold out even before the first performance. Thus, I had to queue very early in the morning but it was absolutely totally completely worth it.

They only open the house 15 minutes before the show because the Creature is in this circular frame womb-ish thing. While you're sitting there, watching it slowly rotate about the stage wondering "what the heck is this thing?" a bell goes off and scares the heck out of you. The chord for the bell is in the audience and people coming in either accidentally or on purpose set it off.

Then the show starts, Oh my goodness does the show start. The Creature is "born" onstage and spends the first 5-10 minutes of the show flailing about the stage as we see him learn to crawl, walk, and run. If you ever want a lesson in physical acting, here it is. There's no music, very little set and no one else on stage. It is absolutely breathtaking.

Now's also probably the time to say that he is completely naked for this whole opening bit. The day tickets (which is what I had) are in the front row from which you can literally touch the stage while still sitting in your seat. On the first night I saw it, with Benedict Cumberbatch as the creature, we made eye contact and I had no clue how to react. On the one hand, I didn't want to throw him or anything but on the other hand I was shocked amazed and pretty much any other word along those lines you can think of. Interestingly, most of the commentators say it is 20 minutes but I would question that. It certainly feels that long, but I think that it is our minds playing tricks on us.

The play is two hours straight, no intermission or anything. The poor man playing the Creature must be absolutely exhausted by the end of the show also mentally exhausted, I should think. It is a phenomenally demanding part.

Picture by Catherine Ashmore from the BBC

It's hard to put into words exactly how much this play has influenced me, as trite as it may seem. I was having a difficult time with homesickness and motivation and what not the first time I saw it. People often use the word "emotional" to describe being sad or upset. I was "emotional" in the sense that I had almost every emotion going through me at the same time. Thrilled that I was able to see something that good, saddened by the plot of the play, energized by the amazing work of the actors, motivated to work hard to be able to create something, anything, that might be able to move people like this and at the same time depressed knowing I probably never will.

The show also really hit home with me as I am now in the process of getting acceptances and rejections (mostly rejections, but a few acceptances) to PhD programmes for next year. The play brings up a lot of questions about science and academia that I think we should take heed of. Of course, there are the questions of what it means to be human, what responsibilities you have towards a life you create, and the nature of "evil". But there was one line that stands out for me. The Creature asks Frankenstein why he created him to which Frankenstein replies "to prove that I could". There is a belief in much of the academic world especially in the liberal arts that research should exist for its own sake and that trying to aim it towards policy or what not will make it impure. I think that it is important to remember the consequences of your work and what can happen if you produce something dangerous, even if you didn't mean it to be.


I shall be guarding this with my life.

Alright. Intellectual stuff over. Cue fan girling. Last night after seeing it I went to the stage door and got my program signed by Benedict Cumberbatch. I tried, and failed pretty miserably, to tell him how much I enjoyed the play and how much it helped me when I was having a rough time. He was very kind and I was a bit star struck, which made me feel like an idiot. Ah well. I put it in a note to the cast, which hopefully said it a bit better.

So anyways, now that I've got your expectations ridiculously high, I urge you as strongly as possible to go see it live or in the cinema. I'll also try to update the blog a bit more often.

Last but not least, here's a trailer for National Theatre Live.

Till Later,

Kathryn

What the Heck, Britain? Kathryn's List of British Peculiarities

2010-12-17T04:14:00.000-08:00

So. As much as it is awesome here, there are a few things that I find slightly odd, I thought I would share them with you here (in no particular order):

1) Snow
       Last week, London and the rest of the UK got one of the earliest snows it has ever had. And the country stopped. Gatwick airport closed, trains stopped running and people were forced to sleep in them, cars were abandoned on the highway, and the mail stopped being delivered. As someone who spent the last four winters in Michigan, I had very little sympathy. We figure out how to shovel and salt our own walks and the government figures out how to plow and salt the roads. Now. I know that it snows a lot less here so they are less prepared, and I know that outside London there was a lot more snow, and I know that London is really big and has a lot more roads and what not to take care of. But still. It's only snow. Also, it's snowing now and is forecast to tomorrow, when I am supposed to be flying home.Oh bother.

2) Taps
   For some strange reasons, a lot of the hand washing sinks, like those in public restrooms, have two faucets: one for hot, and one for cold. I can understand the value of these for baths or even sinks for washing dishes, but hand washing? It leaves you with two options: freezing cold or blisteringly hot.

3) Post Offices
   Oh. My. Gosh. The post office. Since I am applying for PhD programmes right now, which means many mind numbing things, like entering the exact same information thirteen times (Wainfan, Kathryn T., Undergradute: University of Michigan, etc etc), writing about how I'm awesome and smart and they should let me in and what not. But one of the most frustrating things is having to wait through the infinitely long ques at the Post Office which for some reason, has to do everything from mail letters and packages to passports to selling insurance and phone cards, to even having something resembling a bank account (called the post office card account, when I was interning in the House of Commons it was one of the things we got a ton of letters about). Since it's close to Christmas, I suppose they're busier than usual, but I still find them super annoying. Not to mention it costs way too much to mail a single piece of paper to the US with any sort of guarantee.

4) School sponsored alcohol
     Apparently, the London School of Economics gives their seminar leaders an "entertainment budget" roughly equal to one drink per student. So last week I had drinks with two of my seminar leaders, which the school paid for. Which was odd on many levels. First: it's talking to/ being with a teacher outside of class time. I realize that teachers are people too and have lives and what not but a part of me still hasn't gotten over that first grade astonishment when you see your teacher in the shops and realize they don't live at school. Second: the school is paying for it. At Michigan, they wouldn't reimburse alcohol, even if everyone was of age.

Anywho. Angelique is supposed to arrive shortly and will spend the night with me since she's flying home tomorrow as well. I am praying to the weather gods/ imps/ spirits/ powers that be that I can get out on time so I don't miss my connection.

Till Next Time,
Kathryn

A photographic tour of Kathryn's past two months

2010-11-28T06:57:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

It's been a while, no? Sorry about that we had papers and reading and moving and everything.
But! I have just turned in my last paper of the term and am enjoying a lovely afternoon at Noel and Nora's where Siodhbhra and I shall attempt to do something resembling a Thanksgiving dinner for them later.

There's no way I can catch you up on everything that's happened so instead I will give a photographic tour of the past month and a half:

First, a trip to Canterbury to visit Angelique, much fun was had including seeing sheep in a field next to campus (definitely not something you would find in London), sightseeing at Canterbury cathedral, and proper tea with scones and everything.

Next, my birthday rolled around. Siodhbhra had class all day so I spent it wondering around London until we could meet up. I went to the Tate Britain museum and wondered around Westminster.

There was a modern art exhibit with a huge concave mirror. It was really disorienting if you got close because it would take up your whole field of vision.

The next weekend Angelique came up to see me and we went around London doing geeky things like going to the British museum and trekking out across London to take our picture in front of the TARDIS (ok, it wasn't the real TARDIS, but a girl can dream.)

This clock tower is not Big Ben. Big Ben is one of the bells inside the clock tower

The closest we could get to 10 Downing St., where the Prime Minister lives

Woo Hoo! Guards in funny outfits near the Royal Cavalry Museum.

The actual real Rosetta Stone.

Last but not least, the Lord Mayor's show was two weeks ago. There is a big parade through the City of London (capital C, which means the one square mile old City of London) and fireworks. Ahh British ceremony, they certainly know how to do that right.

There we are. Hope you enjoyed all of my photos and what not. I will try to be more proactive with the updating in the future.

Until next time,
Kathryn

Weather: It Sucks Here

2010-10-18T12:34:00.000-07:00

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

One lecture down...

2010-10-04T06:11:00.000-07:00

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 came, I saw, I blogged about it

2010-09-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Internet,

The prodigal LSE Lass has at last returned. I would have written sooner, but the Chinese government has a bone or two to pick with freedom of expression, especially websites known to inspire bloody national revolution like Blogspot. So sorry for not returning your calls. I missed you, too.

So here I am in the midst of one of the most exciting cities in the world, about to embark on what are sure to be many a madcap adventure. The first of these involves navigating British postgraduate education, which in the humble opinion of this red-blooded American is truly baffling on a number of levels. As the Bard once said, "Let me count the ways":

1. Drinking. Appears to be mandatory. Can happen anywhere, at any time. Prepare appropriately. Professors at the LSE frequent the pub George IV; at all costs, it is to be avoided the day before an exam or a paper is due.

2. Course selection. Appears to be capped, but no one knows; appears to involve applications, but no one is really sure which ones or how to do it; appears to involve approval of the department, which is attained in an unknown fashion; and appears to be due. Soon. Panic ensues.

3. Student Help Office. Open regularly, Monday through Thursday, 2-3pm, only in weeks immediately preceding a partial lunar eclipse or immediately following the anniversary of the ascension of the fourth Vice-chancellor of Mauritania. Barely exaggerating.

4. Student Union. It says something about the school as a whole that one of the most prominent student grounds on campus is the Marxist Society. Words cannot express how excited I am to debate them while inebriated in a public place every time they try and give me a flyer. Margaret Thatcher will be proud.

5. Kidnapped penguins. Apparently, it happens here.

6. The Queen christens our buildings! How adorable!

On a slightly more serious note, it strikes me how much London is a city of immigrants, and how much this resonates with my own experience. My own mother lived here for years when she was young and still at school. My aunt and uncle came here during the Irish recession in the 1980s and never left. My great-aunt and her four daughters still call this place home decades later. Countless cousins have passed through here for every reason you can imagine: for education, finding work, finding a new place to live, visiting friends and family who have come before, and just for the sake of passing through. London attracts them all. And now here I sit, another immigrant in a line of immigrants. Who knows how long this city will be home?

Of Triangular Sandwiches and Lemonade

2010-09-23T07:32:00.001-07:00

One of the most overused quotes when describing the Anglo-American relationship is that the US and the UK are "two countries separated by a common language". While I thought it was amusing the first time I heard it, I must say that I am now getting rather sick of it. Aside from the fact that it gets old, I think that it implies that the only thing different between our two countries is language, while that is clearly not the case.

I have lived in London before, spending two months in 2008 interning in Parliament so I had some sense of what I was getting into before I came this time. There are a lot of things that people expect when coming to the UK. Most people know, for example, that they drive on the other side of the road, chips= fries, and colour and labour are spelled with an added u. But there are still some things, smaller things, that remind me that I am, to use another oft quoted phrase, not in Kansas anymore. Here are some, in no particular order:

Triangular sandwiches:

Pret is another one of the triangular sandwich shops

Britain has some strange obsession with pre-packaged sandwiches that are cut diagonally and put into triangle shaped boxes. There are at least three ubiquitous chains all over London that sell these along with sandwiches on baguettes, salads, fruit and what not. My favorite of these is "Eat" simply because of the name. I can just imagine the conversation:

"Hmm darling, what do you think we should name our store"

"I don't know, dear this is the millionth time you've asked me. People don't care what you call a place, all they want to do is eat"

"That's brilliant!"

Keyboards:

Mostly the set up is still the same but there a few things moved. The quotation marks are shift+2, where the @ symbol is and the @ symbol is where the quotation marks usually are. There also an extra key next to the enter where the # and ~ are. The £ (pound sign) is above the 3, there is a $ over the 4 and the ` and ¬ symbols are where the ~ usually is. Now, I know that this isn't all that different but, as a child of the 90s, I grew up learning to type, it is pretty much second nature to me. And it is driving me mad to try and get used to it. Especially since I am using my US keyboard on my laptop and a British one here on campus so I can't just convert completely. The number of times I typed @Eat@ instead of "Eat" earlier in this entry was quite annoying.

Lemonade:

In the US, Lemonade is a lovely summer drink made from lemons, water, and sugar. Occasionally, if people are feeling fancy it can be made of sparkling water and there might be some raspberry or strawberry flavor thrown in. Sprite, 7-UP, or Sierra Mist is a clear soda that they claim is lemon lime flavored but we all know is just Sprite (or 7-Up or Sierra Mist) flavored. Here, Lemonade is what we would call Sprite and Cloudy Lemonade is what we would call lemonade.

The Electric Kettle:

It's kind of one of the bet inventions in the world. It'll boil water really fast without you having to use the microwave or the stove and then you can make tea. Which is also awesome. The one at Siodhbra's Aunt and Uncle's house is almost constantly in use.

On a separate note, I had a meeting about US loans today. The guy who ran it was really very nice and was availing us of all of the tales of woe regarding the law changes that the US government made and how little time they had to actually figure things out. So, again in my life, it seems that I am a beta tester. That means they still are trying to figure stuff out, like how we can apply for additional loans if we need and what not.

Also, I am officially a registered student of The London School of Economics and Political Science. With a student ID card and everything. (Cue expressions of OooOoos). Like almost everything else, the EU students get to go through a quicker line while I had to stand with all of the non special people. Note to self: figure out how to get EU citizenship without giving up my US one.

Until later,

Kathryn

And So It Begins...

2010-09-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 20, 2010. The adventure begins.

2:00 pm: Siodhbhra, her mom, and her little sister pull up to my house. My mother feels compelled to take a "first day of school" picture in front of the Oleander plant. After that, we say goodbye and head off towards LAX.

2:45 pm: We arrive at LAX, Siodhbhra's family comes in with us and hold our (probably overweight) carry-ons, while we check in. Then we head off to security. At this point, things are starting to get rather real. We're getting closer and closer to the point of no return, where we are completely committed to heading off to London.

We also recorded this fun (and terrible) video:

5:20 pm: After a delay, we are finally allowed to board the plane. The seats are tighter than normal, but Siodhbhra and I are next to each other so its fine.

6:10 pm: The plane takes off and we both have a minor freak out. There's definitely no turning back now.

Nine and a half hours later, we land at London Heathrow Airport. With the exception of a rather annoying young girl behind us, the flight was relatively uneventful. We had to walk hither and yon from the plane to get into immigration where Siodhbhra and I had to separate because she's all special and has an Irish passport. The line for EU nationals (like Siodhbhra) was a lot longer than the line I had to go in so for a few seconds, I thought I had lucked out but it turns out that Siodhbhra's line went a lot faster than mine because all she had to do was give them her passport but I had to give them a passport and my fingerprints and what not. After we got our bags, we met up with Siodhbhra's uncle Noel who ever so kindly picked us up from the airport. His daughter, Ruth, also met us there so that we would have two cars to fit our bags and us. As someone who has had to drag her bags through the London Underground, I was infinitely grateful.

It was about a 45 minute drive to the house which is in Morden. As soon as we arrived, Noel made tea. This (the Noel making tea), I would soon learn happens a lot. It made me feel so much like I was in England. The combination of the flight and Noel meant I had something like five cups of tea since leaving the States. And also that my transformation into my father is nearly complete.

I have to say that I was a bit nervous about staying with Siodhbhra's family, being an outsider, as it were. But everyone I met was absolutely lovely. They are so nice to take us in, give us food, and beds to sleep in, and of course tea and are just very nice people. It has definitely set the trip off on a very good note.

Until Later!
Kathryn

And a Girl in Kent

2010-09-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

Our glorious and wonderful friend Angelique is heading off to England on Friday for a study abroad programme. We therefore have offered her a guest spot in our blogging adventure. So without further delay, we give you Angelique:

Katie and Siodhbhra have been gracious enough to offer me recurring guest spot on this lovely blog, as I too am bound for England this fall. So, you may ask, are you attending LSE? Are you also an international relations student or even at least into political science? Well, um, no. Unlike my esteemed colleagues, I am a biology student attending the University of Kent for a semester long study abroad. While they are writing theses and taking classes on game theory in London, I shall be cramming advanced immunology and forensic DNA analysis into my brain over in Canterbury.

So what can you expect from me on this blog? Obviously some geeking out over science, probably some tired rants about how stupid it was to take only bioscience modules and live in a dorm again, and some of the highlights of Canterbury and UKC campus. Also, look forward to the epic search for a good Indian restaurant somewhere in the university area so I can get my ethnic food fix. All in all, it’ll certainly be interesting to spend my last semester as an undergrad gallivanting in a country where words ending in 'ise' now end in 'ize' and pants are underwear.

At least I’m already used to thinking in metric and Celsius.

P.S. - If you care to read more of my individual adventures in Kent, in addition to other random and nerdtastic topics, I’ll be posting entries on my LiveJournal. I can found at http://foxp3.livejournal.com/

And Lo, An Agreement Was Made

2010-08-27T23:43:00.000-07:00

SIODHBHRA IS BACK!!! WHOO HOO!! The flatmates are reunited! Observe our awesome picture:

The incredulous Ms. Kathryn and Ms. Siodhbhra

We drew up a roommate contract and because we are lame/ were bored, we decided to try and make it funny. Note the important clauses about zombie invasions and meeting the Queen. Enjoy:

The Book of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates

And lo, in an effort to promote peace and unity between the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH, on this the six and twentieth sun of the eighth moon gathered and entered into a holy pact under punishment of the withholding of warm, baked chocolatey sustenance.

Of the lights of the room, thou shalt extinguish them after the four and twentieth hour of each day upon declaration of weariness by one of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH. Neither of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH shall cause the lights to shine upon the face of a Sister of the Order of the Flatmates until after the tenth hour of morning.

Of the waking bells, none of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH shall not cause them to sound more than twice prior to the rising of both of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH.

Of weary travelers seeking shelter in the American Sector of the House of ISH, none shall be granted entry without the permission of both of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH. No male may bed for the night, and any guest must depart before the rise of the fourth sun. Those not seeking repose in the American Tribe of the House if ISH shalt be banished before the third and twentieth hour.

Of the noise resounding from the electronic devices of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH, the Sisters shall don headphones unless granted pardon from another Sister of the Order of Flatemates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH.

Of the food within the walls of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH, the financial burden shall weigh evenly upon each of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH. If one of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH doth not pay up at the market of the island natives, she shall give native coin the other one of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH before the rising of the next sun. Unless received as tribute, all sustenance (most particularly of the warm baked chocolately variety) belongeth equally to each of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH. She who doth not cook shall be compelled to clean.

Of the maintenance of the lands of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH, burdens shall be borne equally. If the possessions of one of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH proveth to interfere with the rituals of another of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH, that Sister shall be compelled by the other to picketh up after herself.

Of the foot coverings worn in the land of the natives, the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH shall be removed when treading on the holy ground of the American Tribe of the House of ISH for longer than ten one-sixtieths of one hour (ten minutes). Travelers seeking passage or shelter shall also be compelled to removeth their unclean foot coverings.

Of the possessions of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH, a Sister shalt not use of another’s possessions without first humbly seeking permission. Tribute in the form of warm, baked cholatey goods or hot beverages shall cause the other one of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH to look favorably upon her Sister’s request.

Of invitation to be in presence of Her Highness the Queen or other leaders of the native land. Each of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH must give her most sincere effort to ensure the presence of the other.

Of the attack of the undead, it was nice knowingest thou and aimeth for the head.

And lo, peace and harmony in the land of the Sisters of the Order of the Flatmates of the American Tribe within the House of ISH was assured, but lest strife rend the two apart, both Sisters hereby pledge in all matters to remember their love and dedication to the other when abroad in a Strange and Rainy Place.

Kathryn and Siodhbhra

And there was much rejoicing

2010-08-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

With 32 days until we leave for London, two major hurdles have been overcome.

First, it appears I have a job. (Cue excited happy dance) This is awesome on many levels because 1) It means I will be able to eat the entire time I am in London. And that, my friends, is very important and 2) It is a job that is actually somewhat related to what I am studying. The firm is called Monitor Quest and they do risk management and security consulting, something that could be useful for an International Relations manager. We still have details to finalize and what not about what my position/ pay/ start date ect. is, but those are just minor things.

Secondly, the friendly UPS guy showed up at my door today (in California, where I am now) and after like, 5 minutes of trying to confine the dog, he gave me an overnight package which contained... drum roll please... THIS:

Woo Hoo! A student visa it's all shiny and pretty and lets me stay in the country until January 30, 2012. And it lets me work up to 20 hours a week (good because, see first part of the entry). And those little black marks don't exist on the visa, I just don't want to advertise my passport number to the world.

Siodhbhra doesn't have to have one of these because she was lucky enough to be born to Irish parents and is therefore a dual Irish and American citizen (technically a tri-citizen because every citizen from an EU country is a dual citizen with the EU). And is therefore aloud to study in any EU country without a visa. So she will just have to gaze at the shiny sticker from afar.

The last thing that needs finalizing is housing. We submitted our application and hopefully should be hearing back from the International Students House soon. And I have to move out of my room so my little sister can take it over. That should be fun. But things seem to be falling into place.

Kathryn

Issues to Ponder

2010-08-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

So, a couple of weeks back, I got a welcome letter from the International Relations people at LSE. It gave me some dates that are good to know, like when the programme starts, what courses I am going to have to take, a link to the course catalogue (which didn't work) and a link to the registration website (which also didn't work). I have to say, that I am not surprised about the whole not working website, because, quite frankly, the London School of Economics's website is the most labyrinthine, indecipherable thing on the face of the planet. Seriously. Siodhbhra and I are convinced that the step in the admissions screening process is seeing if you can navigate the website. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that they keep creating new pages, and don't get rid of the old ones or forget to change all of their links.

The sunglasses are there for scale.

But I digress. In the letter, they suggested we study one of three books to prepare for our international politics course in addition, they said we should read a "selection" of six other books. I don't really know what "selection" really means. I think it will mean, however many I have time for, probably one or two. And there would be a test in October to asses our knowledge of International Relations.

So I ordered two of the books on Amazon, and one of them, World Politics Since 1945, arrived yesterday. To use one of my favourite phrases, I was a bit disconcerted. It's bloody huge. And not only is it enormous, it is just straight text, with really long paragraphs, and almost no maps or figures or anything. I think the best way I can describe it is "dense." In every sense of the word. Now. I like to think that I am a hard working student. But I have to wonder what I am getting myself into, if this is the summer reading.

A page, chosen at random. Note all of the black lines of words. All the pages are like this.

Adding to my consternation is the fact that the British University system is one that relies heavily on reading, rather than the more lecture/ seminar based system in the US. And that is not my strong suit. Maybe I should have thought about that before I decided to go there. Whoops. Too late now. In reality, I wasn't coming in completely blind to that information, it's just starting to hit home that I am going to have to work hard this year.

Also, the workers and the major airports in the UK (including, of course, Heathrow) are talking about striking. Oh goody.

Kathryn

What's In a Name?

2010-08-10T09:22:00.000-07:00

While the people I am around all the time are probably sick of hearing me go on and on about how I am moving to London (in 41 days!) and going to London School of Economics, I get more excitement than I should from getting to say such things. However, I have had with rather alarming frequency, the following conversation:

Me: "Yeah, I'm going to get my masters degree"
Other person: "Oh? Where?"
Me: "London School of Economics"
Other person: "Oh. Where's that?"
Now. I know that in small town Wisconsin, where I am, LSE is not exactly the topic of daily conversation. And I know that I might say "London School of Economics" kind of fast. But still.

This conversation also puts me in a somewhat awkward situation because if I answer "In London" the person might feel like I am being condescending or they might feel like "well, duh." So I usually just say "In England."

The fact that this has happened at least half a dozen times has made me wonder why. There are several explanations that come to mind.

Wait. Which London is this?

First, they don't think that I would be going abroad for my Masters so the idea that it is in England doesn't occur to them. Second, maybe people think it was named after Mr. London or Dr. London or whatever. Or third, they are thinking it might be a different London.

So, as a public service, and because I was bored and wikipedia is awesome, I have decided to give you a little bit of information on all of the different Londons in the world.

London, England, United Kingdom

Area: 659 square miles
Population (2007 estimate): 7,556,900
Mayor: Boris Johnson

Capital of England. Home to the London Eye, the London Bridge, the Thames, the tube, tea, Parliament, rain, and soon, me (and Siodhbhra). Also those guys in funny bear skin hats.

This is Tower Bridge. London Bridge is boring looking.

It started as a Roman settlement in 43 A.D. and now has the largest city GDP in Europe. The "City of London" is actually a 1.12 square mile area within the heart of Greater London, home to a lot of large business and much of the country's financial industry. Greater London is made up of 32 different boroughs, each has its own local government. .

London, Ontario, Canada

Population (2006): 352,395
Area: 162.34 square miles
Province: Ontario
County: Middlesex County
Mayor: Anne Marie DeCicco-Best

Downtown London, Ontario

The area was home to several Native North American tribes before European settlement in the 18th century. The village was founded in 1826. During the Upper Canada Rebellion, it was a center of Tory (Crown favoring) support and so the British government located a garrison there, this greatly increased its population.

Today, the economy (according to Wikipedia) is based on medical research, locomotive production, insurance, and information technology. It also has a hockey team called the London Knights. Like the original London, it also has a Thames River.

Wrong Christmas.

London, Kiribati (aka Christmas Island)

Part of the Kirbati Atoll in the Pacific Islands, it is the 2nd largest city on the atoll of Kiritirmati and in whole Line Islands with a population of 1,829.

London, Ohio, USA
Population (2000): 8,771
Area: 8.5 square miles
County: Madison
Mayor: David G. Eades

Established in 1811to serve as the county seat. Notable residents include Richard A Harrison, US Representative from Ohio, Clyde Tingley, the former governor of New Mexico, and some guy who played at Ohio State (insert automatic Wolverine "Booo" here).

London, Kentucky, USA

Population (2000): 5,692

Hey! We're not to late!

Area: 7.7 square miles
County: Laurel
Mayor: Troy Rudder

The county seat of Laurel County, London, Kentucky is also home to the World Chicken Festival, which attracts 250,000 people annually. Also Kolb Aircraft, who are awesome people. Notable natives include Flem D. Sampson, the 42nd Governor of Kentucky, and Chera-Lyn Cook who was Miss Kentucky in 1998 and placed 4th runner up to Miss America 1999.

London, Arkansas, USA

Population (2000): 925
Area: 2.4 square miles
County: Pope

Whoever the mayor is, they are apparently not cool enough for the wikipedia author to include them. Notable natives include Brooks Hays, a deceased member of the US House of Representatives and Mccoy Heath, owner of one of the region's largest egg farms and chicken breeders (what is it with Londons and chickens?).

London, California, USA

Population (2000): 1,848
Area: .6 square miles
County: Tulare

They don't get a mayor because it's not a city or town or whatever. London, CA is a "Census-Designated Place". Wikipedia has no other information that you would care about.

Careful London, don't get all high and mighty.

London, Texas, USA

Population is estimated to be around 180. Even though it's unincorporated, it still has a post office.

London, West Virginia, USA

Another unincorporated community. The London Lock and Dam is located there.

There's also London Township, Minnesota and New Londons in Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin, and Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Hope you found this informative and/ or fun. The pictures with captions took me for bloody ever but I think I may have a system worked out now.

Till next time!
Kathryn

Updates!

2010-07-16T08:41:00.001-07:00

I know it's been a while but I thought I would update you on our progress.

It is 66 days until we leave for London! (Cue hyperventilation now)

We have navigated the labyrinth that is the LSE website to apply for housing, and get single rooms, which are far too expensive (plus, I will be denied the pleasure of annoying Siodhbhra at any hour of the day) so we are in the process of looking for other options. We have an idea, but fall back ideas are always welcome.

I found out that I have to take a test in the beginning of October regarding my "knowledge of international relations". This should be interesting, because I feel like I know basically nothing on international relations. ("But, Kathryn!" I hear you say "Why are you getting a Master's degree in it?" So that I can actually know something about it, that's why.) To this end, I got a letter recommending that I read one of two books and a "selection" of something like 8 books. What the heck does "selection" mean? Is it British for read all but one or read two or three?

I'm also looking for a job, which can be kind of difficult from 6,000 miles away. I am thinking I might be able to talk to some people during AirVenture, which is a HUGE airshow starting in a week and a half that I am working at.

This whole process is getting very interesting with me in Wisconsin, Siodhbhra in Beijing, trying to coordinate with people in London. Welcome to the globalized world!

Kathryn

Kathryn's Attempt at Levity

2010-05-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

So John Stewart did some hilarious stuff about the British Election so I will let him entertain you so I don't have to. Here they are in chronological order. Enjoy!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

United Kingdom General Election

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

For some reason, this isn't embedding, so I give you a link instead:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-april-29-2010/clustershag-to-10-downing

This one is also being frustrating:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-may-10-2010/clustershag-to-10-downing---hung-parliament

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Moment of Zen - Argument on Sky News

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Clustershag to 10 Downing - New Prime Minister

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

Kathryn's Thoughts on Gordon Brown

2010-05-11T18:38:00.000-07:00

There is this concept in a lot of Greek mythology and other literary works throughout history of a doomed hero. One who tries his hardest to fight against what the cards deal him and yet cannot. Often, it is this attempt in and of itself that leads to or accelerates their downfall. I feel that in many ways, this describes Gordon Brown, who today resigned as Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party. The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have formed a coalition and David Cameron took office as Prime Minister earlier tonight. This is not an attempt to defend or condemn Gordon Brown’s policies but instead my attempt to explain why I have and still do admire him.

To begin with, let me give you some details about James Gordon Brown that I feel are important to our story. He started the University of Edinburgh at the age of 16 (interestingly, he is one of only five Prime Ministers to not go to Cambridge or Oxford) and went on to get a PhD there as well. This man is very clearly not dumb.

During his first term in University, he suffered a retinal detachment in his left eye after a rugby game. Four surgeries later, it was removed. When he experienced similar symptoms in his right eye a year later it was only a highly experimental surgery that managed to save some of his sight, which has been apparently deteriorating in the past years and he still has to be concerned about further trauma that could cause the retina in his right eye to become fully attached. This means that he can only read very large print, something that can severely impact your ability to do something like read notes during debates in Parliament or Prime Minister’s Question or in attempts to write hand written letters to the families of each military member killed in service (which he did. Last year, there was controversy after he may have spelled a name James instead of Janes. The news did suggest this might have been due to a combination of his poor eyesight and naturally sloppy handwriting). I suspect this means he has to hold a lot more information in his head than a normal person would in order to prepare for things like debates or PMQs. I also admire that he doesn’t really bring it up. In fact, there were many British people who did not realize he had a glass eye until well after he became Prime Minister.

He lost his first race for Parliament (something that is not uncommon. It is relatively normal for candidates to be placed in unwinnable seats to sort of pay their dues before they can move to seats where they have more of a chance). In 1983 he won his seat in Dunfermline East (which would later become Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath). Labour was in opposition at the time, and had been since 1979. It was at the height of the Thatcher era and would take another 14 years for them to regain power. He served in the shadow cabinet (opposition leadership) until he became Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1997.

In 1994 the leader of the Labour party died unexpectedly. Even though he was perhaps the more qualified candidate, it is widely believed that, at a meeting in the Granita restaurant in London, Brown agreed that he would not stand for the leadership and would instead support Tony Blair who it was thought could help bring in new Labour voters. In exchange, Brown was allegedly given greater control over Labour’s economic policies and an understanding that Blair would step down if Labour won a second term when Brown would be next. Blair denies that this explicit agreement took place but it is clear that Brown agreed to delay (if not give up completely) one of his lifelong ambitions for the good of his party and what he believed to be the good of his country.

His wife Sarah had their first child Jennifer, who was born prematurely, on December 28, 2001. Jennifer died 10 days later. In response, they set up the Jennifer Brown Research Fund to sponsor research into new healthcare techniques for premature babies. (For more information, including how to donate go to http://piggybankkids.org/our-projects/jennifer-brown-research-fund ). Five years later, their third child, James, was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. David Cameron, the now Prime Minister of the UK, had a son Ohtahara syndrome—a combination of cerebral palsy and epilepsy. He died in 2009 at the age of 6. Gordon Brown canceled Prime Minister’s Questions that day and took the time to express his condolences. It was an interesting and intensely human moment, I thought, between two political opponents both affected by such a heartbreaking situation.

Within a month of him finally becoming Prime Minister in 2007, there was a terrorist attack in Glasgow airport, a new outbreak of foot and mouth disease, and a series of storms caused massive flooding in parts of the country. None of these could reasonably be construed to be his fault. He did face other problems where he was not necessarily blameless but also doesn’t deserve to be leveled with all of it for much of them either.

He was in many ways very opposite from Tony Blair, known for being dour and un-charismatic with an awkward smile and often being relatively frank in his speech. I for one do not mind. I would rather have someone who is smart than good looking or smooth talking –so focused on the sound bites and slogans that the message gets lost. Gordon Brown is by no means a perfect man—he is known to have a temper and there are definitely things he could have done better as Chancellor and then as Prime Minister—but he has many of the attributes I see to be important in a politician; brilliance, passion, and a genuine desire and drive to do what he believes to be best. I also greatly admire his perseverance despite all of the hardships and clearly bad luck he has suffered. These attributes are often forgotten or lost when people look at politics today but are amongst the reasons I choose to study it. I hope that Prime Minister Cameron will continue to uphold those values during his time in office. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

PS. Sorry this is so heavy. I'll try to do something funnier next.

(Note that information was taken from the BBC, the Labour Party, the Telegraph, Time Magazine)

Hey, United Kingdom: China's watching you!

2010-05-09T06:40:00.000-07:00

Been brushing up on your Mandarin lately, Britain?

Well, even if you haven't it may flatter/shock some of you to learn that there are currently more people in China leaning English than there are residents of England, Wales, and Scotland combined. Even more flattering/shocking, despite the decidedly anti-English bent present in China owing to a longer-than-average national memory surrounding that little issue of Hong Kong and the sacking of the Summer Palace in the 1840s, the demand for English teachers with a British accent is higher than it's ever been. Even in China, American English gets no love, despite our sensible spelling system and colorful colloquialisms! I blame the Queen - was there ever such an adorable national leader?

Anyway, in addition to hogging all of the ESL teachers with British accents, China also has an incredibly hilarious news website that features dual English/Chinese articles. For some reason, the people who write these articles (poorly, in the English case) have a weird fascination with the UK. Yesterday's headlines, for example, included: "Average UK child watches 4.5 Hours of TV," "British Prefer Light Beer," and a really very strange article I couldn't make heads of tails of at all - even in Mandarin - called "Britain's Pendulum Clan." Yeah. No clue on that one.

Of these and other truly amusing stories, I've chosen to focus in particular today on one rather confusingly called "The Dave and Nick Show as British Leaders Show Funny Side." Apparently, PM Cameron and the leader of the LibDems decided to turn their first joint press conference into the 'Dave and Nick Show,' which, as the article described, "was complete with a jovial, even matey atmosphere." Nick and Dave are, after all, very matey fellows.

The article proceeds to describe how the two men "let their hair down, even though there [sic] faces visibly reddened several times." That sounds a lot more interesting than the press conference I watched!

The link to the dual language news website is offered below, should a sudden urge to read the China Daily's take on the lives of the British ever strike you. It makes for some compelling (read: hysterical) reading.

The Chinese are coming, and they're speaking English with a British accent. Be warned.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/language_tips/

Siodhbhra's Guide to Election Propaganda

2010-05-08T17:37:00.000-07:00

Howdy, y'all.

So, I study Communist China. Katie studies the UK. This means that I know quite a lot about propaganda, and she knows quite a lot about the specifics of the ongoing saga that is the 2010 election in Britain (see her friendly guide to it below). In my attempt to contribute to the conversation, I have decided to go over some of the more amusing election advertising (read: hilarious propaganda) that has seen some use in the UK in the past few months. Some are more obviously Photoshopped than others. Highlights include:

Ooo. Ominous. But not as bad as:

Rather more to the point, but still pretty rude. Here comes a personal favorite (notice how "favorite" is spelled correctly, Britain):

While the one above, made by one of Britain's many irrelevant third parties, appealed to my cynicism, the Star Wars geek within jumped for joy with the next one:

Tory leader as Obi-Wan, with a side of Vader. And finally, to draw some useful comparisons to propaganda in the Chinese tradition, which is rather more fond of fat babies than political messages:

The banner reads, "Long Live Mao Zedong!"

I do not, of course, own any of these images. But I wish I did.

Signing off,
Siodhbhra

Kathryn's Guide to the British Election

2010-05-07T18:56:00.000-07:00

The Players

This is Gordon Brown.
He was (and technically still is, but we'll get there) the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Leader of the Labour Party. The Labour Party has been in power (had the most seats in the House of Commons) for the past 13 years.

This is David Cameron.
He wants to be (and probably will be, but we'll get there) Prime Minister. He is also the leader of the Conservative Party (AKA the Tories). The Tories have been the main opposition party for the past 13 years.

This is Nick Clegg.
He also wants (but never will be) to be the Prime Minister of the UK. He is the leader of the Liberal Democrats. The LibDems have been the largest of the small parties with something around 60 seats (out of 650) over the past 13 years.

There are various other parties with a few seats in the Commons. Typically nationalist parties in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. While cool and all, we don't really care about them for the purposes of this post.

The Issues

This is the economy.
In case you haven't heard, it's not doing all that well. This is particularly bad for Gordon Brown because before he became Prime Minister in 2007, he was the Chancellor of the Exchequer for 10 years. Which means he was in charge of the economy. Whoops. Bad luck there, Gordon.

This is the European Union.
The British aren't too sure how they feel about it. On the one hand, it does have some economic benefits. On the other, there are worries about immigration and giving too much control over people in Brussles.

This a moat.
A couple of years ago, one MP decided that the tax payers should pay to clean his, because the moat was in his "second home". There was also an MP who claimed reimbursement to build (and I am not kidding) a duck island. Various other MPs from all three parties were caught claiming for various other things they shouldn't have. Thus, an expenses scandal was born.

Other issues in the debate included the National Health Service, defense, terrorism concerns, and the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, which the UK is playing a large role in.

The Pitches

Gordon Brown argued that people should vote Labour because the Torry plan would be bad for the economy and that the cuts they wanted to make would be detrimental.

David Cameron emphasized change. He wanted to have the people take more control over things that were government run and take responsibility for them. He also pitched something called the "big society" which not a whole ton of people really knew what it meant.

Nick Clegg had some arguments too. Especially involving electoral reform. He wanted to change the winner takes all electoral system the UK has now and instead move towards a proportional representational system. In a proportional system each party is awarded seats based on the percentage of the vote they recieved overall. Many people feel this to be more fair but it can lead to issues like a hung parliament (stay tuned for more info) more often. However, many view the LibDems as the "not" party-- being neither the Tories or Labour.

Each party had other arguments as well, but those were the main ones.

The Background

The United Kingdom is constitutionally required to have an election for the House of Commons every five years, although they can do it earlier if the Prime Minister so chooses. Since Gordon Brown did not so choose, this meant that everyone knew about when the election would be before it was even called. So in April, when the Prime Minister announced the election would be on May 6, the campaigning had largely began already.

For the first time, the UK held American style televised leadership debates between Gordon Brown, David Cameron, and Nick Clegg. After the first of three, Nick Clegg was widely considered to have won and Liberal Democrat support went up considerably.

The Results

Of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, the parties won the following number of seats (from the BBC):

	Seats	Change	Vote %
Conservative	306	+97	36.1
Labour	258	-91	29.0
Liberal Democrat	57	-5	23.0

The other third parties we don't really care about won 28 seats.

Recall that there are 650 seats in the House of Commons so you need to have 326 seats to have a majority (although technically, you could have 321 because Sinn Fein, which won 5 seats in Northern Ireland refuse to actually take their seats). This means that no one party has a majority (a situation known as a "Hung Parliament"). This is a problem, as we shall now see.

So What's All the Fuss About?

There are a couple of things to note about these results:

1) Despite all of the fuss about Clegg and his popularity, the Liberal Democrats actually lost seats.

2) Labour lost a ton of seats and the Conservatives gained a ton, but not enough to give them a majority.

In order to understand why we care about this, a very short digression into the nature of the British political system.

Since the UK has a Parliamentary system, it means that the Chief Executive (Prime Minister, in this case) is appointed by and responsible to the Parliament-- in the UK's case, the House of Commons. Since the UK still has a winner takes all electoral system, there are usually only two major parties and one of them has a majority. The party that has a majority then gets to "form a government" and choose the Prime Minister and other cabinet Ministers.

OK. Digression over. Since no one party has a majority, the issue becomes very thorny. It means that in order to form a government that will have a majority, there has to be a coalition between various parties.

Constitutionally, Gordon Brown has the right to be the first to try and form a government (hence, he is technically still the Prime Minister). But since the Tories got both the plurality of votes and seats, Nick Clegg says they have the moral right to try first. This is important because it is Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats that either party would be trying to woo.

Another thorn in the mix is that of the Queen. Technically, she is the one who invites someone to form a government, as it is her country and all. However, she is supposed to remain neutral in the whole situation so she has to let the three leaders fight it out before she formally invites someone to the palace to direct them to form a government.

So Where Do We Go From Here?

On Friday night, David Cameron and Nick Clegg met to hash out a deal. Gordon Brown said that, should they fail. He would be willing to talk to Mr. Clegg. Nick Clegg now has to go talk to his party members to get their approval or disapproval. This means that there are a few possible outcomes:

1) The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats form a formal coalition. This means that David Cameron would be Prime Minister but there would likely be a few LibDems on the front benches (in the Cabinet). This is somewhat tricky because the two parties disagree with each other quite a lot.

2) The Conservatives form a minority government. This means that they basically go it alone and would have to make deals with various members of the Liberal Democrats or other third parties to have them vote their way or abstain from each specific vote.

3) Labour and the Liberal Democrats form a formal coalition. They might have to add a few of the other third parties as well, since the two parties together form a plurality but not a majority.

If you forced me to guess, I would waver for a long while and say that either option 1 or 2 were more likely and if option 3 occurred, I am not sure how long Gordon Brown would last as Prime Minister.

So it's all getting very interesting with many of the political pundits in Britain flailing about basically saying "We have no clue what's going on" and the politicians fighting it out amongst one another.

Hope you enjoyed my beginners guide to the British election (I told you I could go on forever). There may be some amusing anecdotes about it later on if I get bored. And feel free to ask any question you wish and I will find an answer somewhere.

Kathryn

Enter Siodhbhra

2010-05-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

Howdy, y'all.

Greetings from The Other Cambridge, just across the river from the fine city of Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to being named after a much nicer city in England, and having really quite a lot of brick architecture, Other Cambridge is also known as the home of America's oldest and most overrated university, Harvard. Barring some great tragedy on my way to my final exam, I will be graduating from here in a few weeks with a degree in contemporary Chinese studies.

Imagine, if you will, a very pale, very redheaded, very befreckled young woman of Irish descent wandering around Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Imagine her being followed by a gaggle of little Chinese children taking pictures. Imagine this very obviously non-Chinese person attempting to address this little flock of children in Mandarin with a heavy American accent, and imagine them laughing hysterically. This, in effect, was my undergraduate experience.

The next obvious step, of course, was to go to London School of Economics and Political Science and get a graduate degree in speaking poorly accented Mandarin and being laughed at by the fine citizens of the People's Republic of China. Since I am something of a glutton for punishment, I hope to go on to make a career of this, most likely by teaching other university students how to do the same thing. Naturally, I look forward to making very little money, but enjoying every minute of it.

This blog is my attempt to adjust to life in London, where I will be moving in September after completing a summer job in Beijing running Harvard Summer School's absolutely insane nine-week language program, followed by a luxurious weeklong vacation in a yurt in Inner Mongolia. It was totally Katie's idea (the blog, that is, not the yurt). I'm honestly just glad she's letting me sleep on the floor of her flat.

In short, stay tuned as this very locationally confused graduate student attempts to find decent Chinese takeout somewhere, anywhere, in the UK. It should be a fun trip.

Enter Kathryn

2010-05-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

Hello All. Well, no one yet, since no one is following us. But I digress...

Siodhbhra and I decided to write a blog to keep us amused and appease our friends and family so that they know we are still alive while we party it up in London. Oh yeah. We might want to study too. There will be some of that. And it should be noted that "partying it up" for lame geeks like us involve things like going to see Shakespeare plays and spending all Sunday listening to crazy people talk about random things at speaker's corner. Maybe I'm not selling this whole blog thing too well. But it should be fun. And Siodhbhra is a much better/ funnier writer than I so you should enjoy her posts.

We are not in London yet. But we will be sometime in the middle of September. We thought we would keep you updated about the process of moving to a foreign country and all of the great "fun" that entails. Also, there was a British election yesterday which went rather interestingly so I'll be talking about that later. When we do finally get to the UK, I will be getting my Master's in International Relations at the London School of Economics. And Siodhbhra will be studying... something involving China (see her post for further details).

One confession up front. I really like British politics. Not quite sure why. Except that it's awesome. I like it enough to spend a year and a half of my life studying and writing a senior honors thesis on it. If you don't want to waste a lot of time with me, don't bring it up because I can go on forever. If you ever have a spare half hour however go to this site: http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/prime-ministers-questions
and watch a session of Prime Minister's Questions. And then come talk to me.

I also tend to watch/ listen to more British TV/ radio than I do in the US. Especially Doctor Who and various political satire shows.

So how did the daughter of two engineers become obsessed with a political system in a country several thousand miles away? Well, I don't know. It is kind of a mystery where this Anglophilia stemmed from. Until I studied abroad in London in the summer of 2008, I had never even been there. (It should be noted that this was well after my obsession had taken hold). But, the heart wants what it wants and I seem to want an antiquated yet usually quite functional system full of weird hangovers form anywhere from the middle ages to modern times.

The plan for right now (and we'll see how well this holds up) is that we will each post blogs separately as we see fit. Feel free to leave us questions/ comments etc. And we might address them. It might be kind of sparse over the next few months, but should ramp up after that. So stay tuned.

Sitting at home in Long Beach, CA with nothing to do,

Kathryn