BANKSIDE, LONDON, UK -- No, those pictures are not from London. They're from Rio! Just wanted to add a couple to give you an idea of how picturesque the city is. The top picture is of me on Ipanema Beach, the bottom one is from the top of Sugar Loaf looking back at the city.
I am getting things done! It's probably the first true lousy day weather-wise since I've been here. No, not raining, but London lousy (my new form of "Glenwood Gray") - cloudy, windy, 50s. So as much as I can get done inside I am.
I managed to file a maintenance report (light bulb burnt out in one of the lamps), checked my snail-mail (nothing yet, but at least I know how to do it now), took out the trash. Online, I registered for two of my three seminars (the window for the third one opens on Monday), and so I now have an actual schedule for Oct 5-Dec 11:
Mondays:
12:00pm-1:00pm - Public Policy and Administration Lecture
2:00pm-3:30pm OR 4:00pm-5:30pm - Public Policy and Administration Seminar
Tuesdays:
12:30pm-2:00pm - Global Environmental Governance Lecture
Wednesdays:
Zilch zip nada nothing zero
Thursdays:
2:00pm-4:00pm - Quantitative Analysis Lecture
4:00pm-5:00pm - Quantitative Analysis Computer Seminar
Fridays:
1:00pm-2:00pm - Global Environmental Governance Seminar
There you have it! Two classes on Mondays and Thursdays, one on Tuesdays and Fridays, and nothing on Wednesdays. I would say that it sounds "easy" except that I know all three of these classes are going to completely kick my ass, so I'll let you know a month from now. I found out that in general, Wednesdays are usually left as "public days" at UK universities, meaning that there are many lectures, career services meetings, and things of that nature. Some people have class on Wednesday, but most do not. There was an option to take that Global Environmental Governance Seminar on Thursday evening, but I figured three in one day might be a little too much and at least for this first term, I would rather spread it around. I'm very excited for the Public Policy and Administration class as well as the Global Environmental Governance class... both of them are exactly what I'm interested in and part of my program. Quantitative Analysis, on the other hand, is a mandatory LSE thing (you aren't allowed to get an LSE degree without being able to understand numbers, since with an LSE degree you're pretty much expected around the world to be able to do just that), and I'm approaching it much more cautiously.
I also found a doctor to go register with for the National Health Service (mandatory for all non-UK citizens), they're open Monday afternoon after my lecture. I was expecting a phone call from HSBC yesterday, but never received one, so I'll also be stopping at a branch on Monday (there is one right by campus on my way to/from).
Get this - I also scored a ticket to a lecture by the Prime Minister of Hungary, Gordon Bajnai, about how in Hungary his approach to exit the economic recession is by turning to sustainable environmental production. The ticket requests are made online and are granted based on status at LSE. The lecture is on Friday next week, I will be sure to post about it.
That's all for now - hoping for a Blackhawks win and a Badgers win, both games start in about an hour. Bears and Blues (Chelsea) tomorrow.
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