BANKSIDE, LONDON, UK -- Just a quick update on the phone front:
If you are calling from the United States, you need to dial:
011-44-751-780-7076
Sorry for any confusion!
On a totally unrelated note, the International Olympic Committee picks which of the four finalist cities will host the 2016 games: Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, or Tokyo. Crossing my fingers!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Move to Bankside, New Cell Phone
BANKSIDE, LONDON, UK -- Hello again! I am now writing from my new apartment building, Bankside House, still in central London but on the other side of downtown from Trafalgar Square. I am in room 629, and have an awesome view of St. Paul's Cathedral and a little section of the River Thames!
I started to move my things in on Sunday with the help of my parents, we did some shopping and additional moving in yesterday and this morning, and then they left this morning to head back home as I left for LSE to start orientation. Orientation went well, and after I finished I registered with three student groups at the fair they were hosting: LSE United Nations, Ultimate Frisbee, and Israel. It'll be interesting to see what they say when they contact me and whatnot in the next few days.
After leaving campus I got a cell phone on my way back! And get this - unlike the United States, all incoming calls and texts are completely 100% free! That means that if you want to call or text me, you can now get in touch with me at this number:
+1 (US outbound) - 44 (UK country code) - 0-75-1780-7076
That's +144-075-1780-7076. If you are trying to call me from outside the US, you'll need to drop that first '1' and add whatever external prefix your country uses (and from the UK, well, no country code at all obviously). Obviously if you call me, make sure you know your international rates so you don't get charged through the roof, and also bear in mind the time change (London is 6 hours ahead of Chicago/Central time, so figure it out from there).
Also, my current address is:
Brandon Perlow
LSE Bankside House
24 Sumner Street
Flat 629
London, England, UK
SE1 9JA
If you use a blackberry, feel free to message me on my old US phone through bbm. I also still have internet on that phone (so I am usually in reach by email/twitter/facebook throughout the day).
If you have Skype, I am online every night from my room (which is during the early afternoon in the US) so you can video chat me on there.
I suppose that is all for now. Tonight is the first of many social events at LSE this week, and then tomorrow I need to continue to organize my room and prepare for classes next week. Thursday and Friday I have inductions, Saturday and Sunday I buy books, and Monday we begin!
I started to move my things in on Sunday with the help of my parents, we did some shopping and additional moving in yesterday and this morning, and then they left this morning to head back home as I left for LSE to start orientation. Orientation went well, and after I finished I registered with three student groups at the fair they were hosting: LSE United Nations, Ultimate Frisbee, and Israel. It'll be interesting to see what they say when they contact me and whatnot in the next few days.
After leaving campus I got a cell phone on my way back! And get this - unlike the United States, all incoming calls and texts are completely 100% free! That means that if you want to call or text me, you can now get in touch with me at this number:
+1 (US outbound) - 44 (UK country code) - 0-75-1780-7076
That's +144-075-1780-7076. If you are trying to call me from outside the US, you'll need to drop that first '1' and add whatever external prefix your country uses (and from the UK, well, no country code at all obviously). Obviously if you call me, make sure you know your international rates so you don't get charged through the roof, and also bear in mind the time change (London is 6 hours ahead of Chicago/Central time, so figure it out from there).
Also, my current address is:
Brandon Perlow
LSE Bankside House
24 Sumner Street
Flat 629
London, England, UK
SE1 9JA
If you use a blackberry, feel free to message me on my old US phone through bbm. I also still have internet on that phone (so I am usually in reach by email/twitter/facebook throughout the day).
If you have Skype, I am online every night from my room (which is during the early afternoon in the US) so you can video chat me on there.
I suppose that is all for now. Tonight is the first of many social events at LSE this week, and then tomorrow I need to continue to organize my room and prepare for classes next week. Thursday and Friday I have inductions, Saturday and Sunday I buy books, and Monday we begin!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Busy day/weekend/week/month
TRAFALGAR SQUARE, LONDON, UK -- I have come upon the sudden realization that I am a very busy guy for the foreseeable future. Today was a great jam-packed day... we went to Leeds Castle, saw the chalk white cliffs of Dover overlooking the English Channel and France, explored the Canterbury Cathedral (one of the oldest, biggest, and most important cathedrals in Europe), saw Greenwich University, and took a scenic River Thames cruise at sunset from The City back to Westminister.
Tomorrow is move-in day for me at Bankside House! After I'm moved in, my only real plans are to go shopping for any things it is clear that I need (microwave, some food, maybe a cell phone... that type of thing). If we have time after all of that, we're thinking of going to Kensington Palace in the late-afternoon just to see the gardens that are all around it, but it will be a game-time decision. Monday I have a meeting at LSE, and we want to do St. Paul's Cathedral here in London. Tuesday morning I say goodbye to the parents, and then have orientation at LSE, as well as the start of a few weeks of LSE social events for grad students. Besides a cell phone, I still need to activate my LSE email account and internet in my apartment, pick classes, buy my books, and get organized all by next Monday when I start classes.
That is the update for now - I am constantly posting pictures from my cell phone on facebook. If you want to see them, add me as a friend on there. If you don't have facebook, comment or send me an email and I can send them to you.
Tomorrow is move-in day for me at Bankside House! After I'm moved in, my only real plans are to go shopping for any things it is clear that I need (microwave, some food, maybe a cell phone... that type of thing). If we have time after all of that, we're thinking of going to Kensington Palace in the late-afternoon just to see the gardens that are all around it, but it will be a game-time decision. Monday I have a meeting at LSE, and we want to do St. Paul's Cathedral here in London. Tuesday morning I say goodbye to the parents, and then have orientation at LSE, as well as the start of a few weeks of LSE social events for grad students. Besides a cell phone, I still need to activate my LSE email account and internet in my apartment, pick classes, buy my books, and get organized all by next Monday when I start classes.
That is the update for now - I am constantly posting pictures from my cell phone on facebook. If you want to see them, add me as a friend on there. If you don't have facebook, comment or send me an email and I can send them to you.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Officially a Student Again!
TRAFALGAR SQUARE, LONDON, UK -- It's official! I just registered at LSE and I am a student again! I got my LSE student ID card, they scanned my offer letter and passport with my visa, and I am good to go! After that I wandered around campus, met a dozen people from a dozen different countries, opened a British bank account, got two free SIM cards with 10 pounds pre-loaded onto each one, and exchanged money at the best rate I have seen since I got here 3 days ago (60.74 pounds per $100... yesterday the best I saw was 59 and the day before 58, so we're trending!).
More later, I'm off to grab some food.
More later, I'm off to grab some food.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Welcome to London!
LONDON, UK -- I'm here! Let me catch you up on my last 48 hours...
Our flight from Chicago to Philadelphia was smooth as can be, but after that the enjoyment factor took a steady decline. We had about four hours at PHL, which was rather uneventful, but then US Airways decided to split our seats up, even though we hand-picked the seats for our flight. Yeah, so much for my prized window seat... are you kidding? 160,000 miles and $300 and you move me out of my window seat and offer nothing in return? Just pathetic...
Anyway the flight itself was fine, not a lot of turbulence, and we landed at Heathrow about 30 minutes early which is always nice (hey, if you can cut the time down from a transatlantic flight, you take it!). When we got into the airport the immigration line was ridiculously long, but the officer was really friendly. She gave me a bit of a hard time asking me if I enjoyed having to apply for my visa twice (a long and frustrating experience that I will share with you if you ask, but otherwise I don't want to get into it). She was clearly kidding around, stamped my visa, and I am now officially a resident of the UK!
We checked into our hotel, "The Grand Hotel at Trafalgar Square," and nice of them our room was ready almost two full hours early. After we set our bags down we took to a cafe on the Thames for lunch, walked around by the river, came back to the room, napped (to start to set my internal clock), and then had dinner at a Mozzarella Bar... the high quality cheese is produced on the Southwest coast of Italy, and you can tell! Soon after, I returned to the hotel and passed out cold...
Today I woke up and was ready to start the day! I had breakfast down near the Thames - just some fruit and a muffin. Then we headed to the Benjamin Franklin house here in London, where he lived from 1757-1775. The house served as the first American Embassy, and Franklin (born in Boston) was charged with negotiating with the British to repeal the Stamp Act and other forms of taxation. It was a really good deal overall - only 7 pounds per person, and there was a combination of media and live presentations to explain the exhibits/rooms.
After leaving we had lunch - a fresh avocado and chicken sandwich - followed by the "Classic Rock and Beatles Tour" of London. Get this - the tour guide was an American. And continue... he was from Deerfield, and graduated from Stevenson in 1983. Chicago Mike, with the mic, was a great guide who turned our 3 hour tour into a 5 hour tour that included a Stones bar, Abbey Road, EMI Records, the Apple Store (Beatles), and the site of the 1969 rooftop concert that was the final show by The Beatles. We saw where Jimi Hendrix died, the original Hard Rock Restaurant, and much much more - it was literally nonstop for 5 hours, all afternoon.
For dinner we tried another restaurant, this time I had a Kiev Chicken meal that was breaded white chicken breast sauteed on chips.
Tomorrow I am off to LSE for registration to officially become a student... will update once we pass that milestone!
Brandon
Our flight from Chicago to Philadelphia was smooth as can be, but after that the enjoyment factor took a steady decline. We had about four hours at PHL, which was rather uneventful, but then US Airways decided to split our seats up, even though we hand-picked the seats for our flight. Yeah, so much for my prized window seat... are you kidding? 160,000 miles and $300 and you move me out of my window seat and offer nothing in return? Just pathetic...
Anyway the flight itself was fine, not a lot of turbulence, and we landed at Heathrow about 30 minutes early which is always nice (hey, if you can cut the time down from a transatlantic flight, you take it!). When we got into the airport the immigration line was ridiculously long, but the officer was really friendly. She gave me a bit of a hard time asking me if I enjoyed having to apply for my visa twice (a long and frustrating experience that I will share with you if you ask, but otherwise I don't want to get into it). She was clearly kidding around, stamped my visa, and I am now officially a resident of the UK!
We checked into our hotel, "The Grand Hotel at Trafalgar Square," and nice of them our room was ready almost two full hours early. After we set our bags down we took to a cafe on the Thames for lunch, walked around by the river, came back to the room, napped (to start to set my internal clock), and then had dinner at a Mozzarella Bar... the high quality cheese is produced on the Southwest coast of Italy, and you can tell! Soon after, I returned to the hotel and passed out cold...
Today I woke up and was ready to start the day! I had breakfast down near the Thames - just some fruit and a muffin. Then we headed to the Benjamin Franklin house here in London, where he lived from 1757-1775. The house served as the first American Embassy, and Franklin (born in Boston) was charged with negotiating with the British to repeal the Stamp Act and other forms of taxation. It was a really good deal overall - only 7 pounds per person, and there was a combination of media and live presentations to explain the exhibits/rooms.
After leaving we had lunch - a fresh avocado and chicken sandwich - followed by the "Classic Rock and Beatles Tour" of London. Get this - the tour guide was an American. And continue... he was from Deerfield, and graduated from Stevenson in 1983. Chicago Mike, with the mic, was a great guide who turned our 3 hour tour into a 5 hour tour that included a Stones bar, Abbey Road, EMI Records, the Apple Store (Beatles), and the site of the 1969 rooftop concert that was the final show by The Beatles. We saw where Jimi Hendrix died, the original Hard Rock Restaurant, and much much more - it was literally nonstop for 5 hours, all afternoon.
For dinner we tried another restaurant, this time I had a Kiev Chicken meal that was breaded white chicken breast sauteed on chips.
Tomorrow I am off to LSE for registration to officially become a student... will update once we pass that milestone!
Brandon
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Walking out the door...
CHICAGO, IL -- Just finished packing and with about 5 minutes to spare! Wanted to give a quick update...
4 suitcases, 2 carry-ons, and 1 camera bag later, to London we go! 24 hours from now I should be eating dinner on the Thames! :)
For now, we're off to O'Hare, flying US Airways to Philadelphia 4PMCT to 7:12PMET, then Philly to London leaving at 10:42PMET, arriving at 11:05AM GMT!
Catch you on the flip side!
-Brandon
4 suitcases, 2 carry-ons, and 1 camera bag later, to London we go! 24 hours from now I should be eating dinner on the Thames! :)
For now, we're off to O'Hare, flying US Airways to Philadelphia 4PMCT to 7:12PMET, then Philly to London leaving at 10:42PMET, arriving at 11:05AM GMT!
Catch you on the flip side!
-Brandon
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Under 48 hours!
CHICAGO, IL -- Well, the weekend is over, Rosh Hashanah is over, and now it is time to get serious. 48 hours from now I should be in Philadelphia on my layover, so it is time to crack open the suitcases and start filling them up!
So far I have packed 1 and 1/2 suitcases out of the 4 I need to pack. I realized I own a total of 7 pairs of shoes, and I need them all (two pairs of dress shoes, two pairs of goretex shoes, one pair of gym shoes, one pair of sandals, and one pair of flip flops). I still need to pack all of my linens and a printer, but the rest of it now is just clothes. Winter clothes are all in, now it's just a matter of formal wear, button-downs, and a few polos. The weather for the next week is 60s and sun in London, and it doesn't figure to get much warmer, so a couple of pairs of shorts (in case I fly off to Israel or Morocco or who knows where) should do.
In sports news, Chelsea won 3-0 yesterday, and are at the top of the table in the Premier League! They are 6-0-0 on the season overall, could not ask for a better start! Also, the UW football team beat the pants off of Wofford, 44-14, and now sit at 3-0 to start the season as conference play begins next Saturday. The Bears, who stunk it up last weekend while I was in Honolulu, actually showed up today and took down the defending Super Bowl champs 17-14 with a last-second field goal. Finally, the NHL preseason has started, and my boy Jack Skille (who is fighting for his life for a roster spot) scored an AWESOME goal last night - wicked-wrister, down low, bad angle, top shelf, off the inside of the crossbar.
A belated L'Shanah Tovah to you all!
I hope to have another update before leaving on Tuesday, it's down to the wire!
So far I have packed 1 and 1/2 suitcases out of the 4 I need to pack. I realized I own a total of 7 pairs of shoes, and I need them all (two pairs of dress shoes, two pairs of goretex shoes, one pair of gym shoes, one pair of sandals, and one pair of flip flops). I still need to pack all of my linens and a printer, but the rest of it now is just clothes. Winter clothes are all in, now it's just a matter of formal wear, button-downs, and a few polos. The weather for the next week is 60s and sun in London, and it doesn't figure to get much warmer, so a couple of pairs of shorts (in case I fly off to Israel or Morocco or who knows where) should do.
In sports news, Chelsea won 3-0 yesterday, and are at the top of the table in the Premier League! They are 6-0-0 on the season overall, could not ask for a better start! Also, the UW football team beat the pants off of Wofford, 44-14, and now sit at 3-0 to start the season as conference play begins next Saturday. The Bears, who stunk it up last weekend while I was in Honolulu, actually showed up today and took down the defending Super Bowl champs 17-14 with a last-second field goal. Finally, the NHL preseason has started, and my boy Jack Skille (who is fighting for his life for a roster spot) scored an AWESOME goal last night - wicked-wrister, down low, bad angle, top shelf, off the inside of the crossbar.
A belated L'Shanah Tovah to you all!
I hope to have another update before leaving on Tuesday, it's down to the wire!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Packing
CHICAGO, IL -- The countdown is officially on... 5 days till I leave for London! With that, it is increasingly important that I actually start packing. One of the toughest things about packing for London for over a year is the mixed psychology of wanting to be prepared for anything that comes my way, as compared to the idea that I can bring what I want and buy what I need as situations arise. For example: snow boots are really heavy and take up a lot of space in a suitcase, BUT, to buy a good pair over there will set me back minimum $150. Thus, they go in. But what about gloves? Snow pants? I'm thinking yes to the former, no to the latter. In any case, I have four suitcases to fill, and I have to pack all of my linens in addition to my multi-seasonal clothes. Should I even try and fit a printer in there? Hmmmmm...
Good news: I just received my specific program induction schedule. We have an evening induction with our professors for our mandatory courses, and an afternoon one at the library. The LSE library is the largest social sciences library in the world, so knowing there is a formal introduction really calms me down from the prospect of having to navigate it solo.
More good news: Just found out that a People to People friend needs to be in London for work at the end of October, and we now have dinner plans and she's trying to get tickets to a show in the West End! :)
Even more good news: Chelsea won again the other night, and is now 5-0-0 to start the season (4-0-0 Premier League, 1-0-0 Champions League)! It is illegal to arrive in London without having picked a football team to root for, and thus about a month ago I settled on Chelsea for a variety of reasons (I know more about them than most teams, they play a quality style game, good colors). In Vegas I put some money on them to win the Premier League, and so far so good!
That is all for now - one suitcase down, three to go!
Good news: I just received my specific program induction schedule. We have an evening induction with our professors for our mandatory courses, and an afternoon one at the library. The LSE library is the largest social sciences library in the world, so knowing there is a formal introduction really calms me down from the prospect of having to navigate it solo.
More good news: Just found out that a People to People friend needs to be in London for work at the end of October, and we now have dinner plans and she's trying to get tickets to a show in the West End! :)
Even more good news: Chelsea won again the other night, and is now 5-0-0 to start the season (4-0-0 Premier League, 1-0-0 Champions League)! It is illegal to arrive in London without having picked a football team to root for, and thus about a month ago I settled on Chelsea for a variety of reasons (I know more about them than most teams, they play a quality style game, good colors). In Vegas I put some money on them to win the Premier League, and so far so good!
That is all for now - one suitcase down, three to go!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Welcome to my new blog!
CHICAGO, IL -- Welcome to my new blog, "London and the School of Economics." First, for the sake of clarity, I have imported all of my old posts from a previous blog of mine. This, however, is the first official post directly onto my new blog. To explain, a bit of the back story...
In mid-February I found out that I was accepted into the London School of Economics for my MSc in Public Policy and Administration! After a week trip to London in March, I officially accepted the offer. Some 14,000 GBP in tuition and a three month visa process later, and I am less than one week away from my flight to London! It is my goal, with this blog, to keep you updated on life in London, at LSE, and any of my adventures around Britain as well as Europe and beyond.
Finally, I must grant credit to my good friend Adam Slavens for inspiring me to get back into the blogosphere after getting quite into the Twitterverse. He is spending a year in Seoul, Korea teaching English, and uses a blog regularly to update everyone on his whereabouts and explorations. London may not be the 14 hour time difference that Seoul is from Chicago, but 6 is still enough to pose an inconvenience, and phone calls still are quite expensive. In that spirit, I invite you to read, comment, and enjoy!
In mid-February I found out that I was accepted into the London School of Economics for my MSc in Public Policy and Administration! After a week trip to London in March, I officially accepted the offer. Some 14,000 GBP in tuition and a three month visa process later, and I am less than one week away from my flight to London! It is my goal, with this blog, to keep you updated on life in London, at LSE, and any of my adventures around Britain as well as Europe and beyond.
Finally, I must grant credit to my good friend Adam Slavens for inspiring me to get back into the blogosphere after getting quite into the Twitterverse. He is spending a year in Seoul, Korea teaching English, and uses a blog regularly to update everyone on his whereabouts and explorations. London may not be the 14 hour time difference that Seoul is from Chicago, but 6 is still enough to pose an inconvenience, and phone calls still are quite expensive. In that spirit, I invite you to read, comment, and enjoy!
Starting up again/new blog
CHICAGO, IL -- Hello to any of you who may stumble upon this...
I wanted to inform you that for numerous reasons I am ending this blog and creating a new one. First and foremost, this blog was linked to my University of Wisconsin email account, and blogger/google will not let me simply delete the account and add my gmail account to it. Instead, I need to create a new one off of my gmail account, and so that is what I'm going to do.
Second, 2009 has been an incredible year on so many levels. In the shortest of possible details, since returning to Chicago from Arizona on December 31, 2008 for the Winter Classic on January 1, 2009, I have been to, in the following order:
New York
Montreal
New York
Washington D.C. - Obama Inauguration
St. Louis
New Orleans - Mardi Gras
Memphis
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
London, UK
Paris, France
Washington D.C.
New York
Philadelphia
Boston
Providence
San Francisco
Las Vegas
Honolulu/Waikiki/Oahu
To say the least, I live an exciting and truly wonderful and privileged life that always has me reaching out for more. As I have returned from Hawaii this morning and begin a week of transformation, I invite you to read my new blog that will explain some of these past trips in more detail, but stay updated on the next year that I will be living in London.
Thank you for reading,
Brandon
I wanted to inform you that for numerous reasons I am ending this blog and creating a new one. First and foremost, this blog was linked to my University of Wisconsin email account, and blogger/google will not let me simply delete the account and add my gmail account to it. Instead, I need to create a new one off of my gmail account, and so that is what I'm going to do.
Second, 2009 has been an incredible year on so many levels. In the shortest of possible details, since returning to Chicago from Arizona on December 31, 2008 for the Winter Classic on January 1, 2009, I have been to, in the following order:
New York
Montreal
New York
Washington D.C. - Obama Inauguration
St. Louis
New Orleans - Mardi Gras
Memphis
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
London, UK
Paris, France
Washington D.C.
New York
Philadelphia
Boston
Providence
San Francisco
Las Vegas
Honolulu/Waikiki/Oahu
To say the least, I live an exciting and truly wonderful and privileged life that always has me reaching out for more. As I have returned from Hawaii this morning and begin a week of transformation, I invite you to read my new blog that will explain some of these past trips in more detail, but stay updated on the next year that I will be living in London.
Thank you for reading,
Brandon
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