Winter Olympics 2

LONDON, UK -- Just a quick update from Vancouver...

All of the sports have heated up. Did you see the men's Ski Cross? "Carnage on the course" was the way the BBC described it, and that was accurate. Shaun White won a gold medal for the US in the men's Snowboard halfpipe, with a 1260 MacTwist. Don't know what that is? Basically a double-backflip combined with three full rotations (plus an extra half rotation, but you get that automatically on a halfpipe). The curling has been intense (I'm not kidding), even though the US teams have been awful. The British on the other hand are much better at this and much more entertaining. Speaking of which, Amy Williams won a gold medal for Great Britain, their first and only medal so far at the games, in the women's Skeleton. Lindsey Vonn in the downhill. Bode Miller in the combined. Ice dancing, cross-country, luge. I could watch the Winter Olympics all day!

BUT, much more than all of the sports above, for most Canadians, and for most of the hardcore fans in the US as well, the Winter Olympics is about the ice hockey. The vast majority of Canadians will tell you that a gold medal in the ice hockey is more important than having the greatest number of golds, and for the US, I feel the same way. Sure, it's nice to have the most golds overall, but gold in ice hockey just seems to mean so much more, given my interest in the game and as anybody who knows me, I've been going to Blackhawks games, Badger men's and Badger women's, Chicago Wolves, Rockford IceHogs, plenty of other NHL games in Montreal, Phoenix, LA, NCAA championships, and I'm sure a whole host of games I've somehow forgotten about (Winter Classic) for the past 8 years or so now.

And so, the USA men, which as noted in my previous blog entry, needed to win against Switzerland and Norway, did just that. They beat Switzerland 3-1 and then Norway 5-1 last week. However, the reason why they were "must win" games proved to be unfounded. Last night, in the biggest US Olympic ice hockey upset since the 1980 Miracle on Ice, and for the first time since the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics of 1960, Team USA beat Canada. Except this time it was IN CANADA! Sure, it wasn't for a medal, but the game was one of the most exciting hockey games I have ever seen, and the 5-3 win was well-earned and very satisfying. Neither team is guaranteed anything yet (well, the US did earn itself a bye to the quarterfinal round with the win), and every game from here on out is a must-win. Canada plays Germany tomorrow, and the winner of that gets to play Russia (widely considered to be the second-best team in the world, only after the Canadians themselves). Team USA, on the other hand, will play in the quarterfinals on Wednesday against either Switzerland or Belarus (they play each other tomorrow night). Win on Wednesday, and you're in the semifinals.

In the women's tournament, the action has been incredibly one-sided. Canada and Team USA have been destroying all opponents. In the preliminary round, USA beat China, Russia, and Finland by a combined 31-1. Canada beat Sweden, Switzerland, and Slovakia by a combined 41-2. You can't really argue with that. The women's semifinals were tonight, and Team USA beat Sweden 9-1 to ensure at least a Silver medal, and barring the biggest upset in the history of women's hockey, Canada will beat Finland later tonight and it will be USA vs. Canada for the gold on Thursday.

That's about all for now! GO USA!

Enjoy the games!

Winter Olympics

BANKSIDE, LONDON, UK -- Well it's day 5 of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and in about 6 hours the USA men's hockey team takes the ice for the first time, facing off against Switzerland. The qualifying round is only 3 games, and the USA got seeded in the same group as Canada. Given that we stand very little chance of taking Canada down in the preliminary round, this first game against Switzerland and Thursday's game against Norway is absolutely essential. Win them both, and we could make the medal round regardless of what happens against Canada.

In women's hockey, I am thoroughly enjoying watching current and former Wisconsin Badgers take the ice for both Canada and the USA teams, and destroy their opponents. When I say destroy, I mean DESTROY! Canada beat Slovakia 18-0 in their first game. The next night, USA beat China 12-1. Last night Canada beat Switzerland 10-1. Tonight, immediately after the USA men's game, the USA women take on Russia. Double digits would be nice, but a simple win will do. It is very cool to see these girls on TV at the Olympics on the national teams - Erika Lawler, Jessie Vetter, Carla MacLeod, Meaghan Mikkelson, Jinelle Zaug... we used to see all these girls at the Kohl Center in Madison. They would destroy opponents in the form of other schools (Ohio State, Minnesota, Bemidji State) then... now they're still destroying opponents, but in the form of other countries. Pretty wild!

Besides the hockey, everything else has been impressive to me, with the exception of course to the tragedy on the luge track the afternoon before the opening ceremonies. Georgian Olympian Nodar Kumaritashvili, a 21 year old slider, crashed at 89.7mph into the wall during a practice run. His sled flipped over after hitting the wall at the finish line (usually the fastest part of the track), and it sent him flying through the air. Dangerous enough, he almost certainly would have survived given his helmet and other safety equipment. Instead, whoever designed the track left a series of steel beams unprotected next to the wall. He hit one of the beams at full speed and died. Pretty haunting, and definitely tragic... I was surprised to see CNN had actually posted a video of the crash. If you are interested to see exactly what happened, here is the link: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/02/15/winter.sports.dangerous/index.html

In other news, thanks to Sarah for sending me an interesting article from the New York Times regarding high fructose corn syrup and soda/pop as a leading cause for children obesity in America. There are some interesting comparisons between the industry lobby and the tobacco lobby, and some interesting proposals to tax pop, and then use the money to subsidize the prices of fruits and vegetables, along with public service announcements and education for children so that they understand that contrary to popular belief, pop is not a healthy or harmless thing to be drinking. Check out the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/weekinreview/14bittman.html?emc=eta1

Finally, there has been a lot of talk of snow across the US in the last few weeks (no talk of it here in London - we have received a grand total of 'trace' accumulation of snow this entire winter - zero inches). Most people at home seem to think everyone else has been freaking out for no reason. Turns out there is some justification to Chicago's supremacy when it comes to snow removal... in an AP report, Chicago ranks at the top for snow removal: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jJ-tYDWorch1YAU1EkgWBnCu145QD9DT7S300

That's all for now - have a good day, and GO TEAM USA!!!

LOVE

BANKSIDE, LONDON, UK -- Greetings from a dark and dreary London! Low clouds, fast-moving, wind whipping. It's not raining, but it looks as if it will burst at any moment. Such is winter in London. But get this - we have received exactly 0, that's right - ZERO, inches of snow all winter long. Sure, almost the entire rest of the UK has gotten their fair share of snow, but here in temperate London town, zilch zip nada. Just some flurries and the occasional dusting, but no actual accumulation at all. Temperatures in general are in the 40s, so not terrible on that front either, even if the average is already the low 50s (it has been a "colder than average" winter here - seems warm to me!). Also, it's no longer super-depressing darkness, which is a welcome change. Daylight extends to around 5:30pm, and the extra few hours make a huge difference from a mental and Vitamin D standpoint.

Besides this, I've actually received a grade that counts, which I am very happy with. I also have been receiving good feedback that is right in line with what I want and what I've been expecting, which is also good news. It's nice to know where I stand, and to know that where I stand is where I want to stand. Also on the academic circuit, I have come up with a dissertation proposal! I'm meeting with my advisor this coming Friday, so we'll see what she says, but for now my proposed title: "Do Politicians Listen to Public Opinion? Lessons from the Copenhagen Climate Summit." What do you think? It's original because it's current, it's a simple and easy-to-understand question (you know what the purpose of the dissertation is), and it integrates my interests (environmental policy) with my degree (public policy and administration). I think I can definitely come up with 10,000 words on the subject as well. Let me know what you think and I will keep you posted after I meet with my advisor.

Can you believe that my second term is already halfway over? Week 5 ended yesterday, which means I only have 5 more weeks of actual instruction to go. WOW does time fly! Also, I have booked two trips in the last week and a half! So I now have an itinerary, which is awesome! I finish my last class March 18, then March 22-26 I'll be in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt! After a few weeks back in London, I'm off to Rome, Florence, Pisa, Naples, Pompeii, and Capri in Italy April 14-21! The Giza Pyramids and The Vatican, the Library at Alexandria and the Colosseum. Should be an amazing spring break! I'm going with other students in my program at LSE, who have never been before. We got cheap fares too - $400 return to Cairo, and $130 return to Rome (not too shabby!). Hostels in Egypt are so cheap that it makes up for the relatively higher airfare cost. Any suggestions on things to see in Egypt and Italy are much appreciated. Obviously we're seeing the pyramids - but any other suggestions?

Besides the mad travel circuit (and I'm trying to book a trip in between those two, depending on my budget and progress with my studies - currently in the mix are Athens, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Dublin, Istanbul, Lisbon, Madrid, or Prague), the music scene is heating up. Angels & Airwaves just released their third studio album, LOVE, yesterday. And get this - they released the entire album for free - how incredible is that? Rich musicians releasing a free album, and if you like it, then you can make a donation. If not, no pressure - you get the same 11 tracks clocking in at over 53 minutes for free like everyone else. Check it out here if you are interested in downloading it: http://www.fuel.tv/ava. I would highly recommend it - I'm listening to it for the 3rd or 4th time right now already!

The Winter Olympics started last night in Vancouver. I was actually recommended to help manage the logistics of the games, and had I not gotten into LSE there is actually a pretty decent chance that is where I would be right now. Alas, I will watch from an Ocean and a Continent away. The opening video was really impressive - I tried to find it on youtube but they don't have it on copyright grounds. I have it here in the UK on BBC, but that link will only work with a UK IP address. If you want to check it out it's probably on the NBC website in the US. The US men's hockey team plays at 2pm CT (12pm PT and 8pm GMT) on Tuesday for their first game and I'm planning on watching that here.

Well that is all for now - just keeping up on all my readings, starting to plan ahead both academically with my dissertation and travel-wise with my time off.

OH! Mark Kirk smoked the GOP primary - so thank you to all who voted for him. It is going to be an incredibly close race into November, but I do think he is the best candidate and should win for the reasons already stated. We will see as the campaign goes along!

Lastly, an early Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, but most specifically to you Sarah! I love you! :)

Have a nice week everyone!

Happy February/Primary Tuesday!

LONDON, UK -- Well, I don't exactly have a ton of time, but I just wanted to wish you all a Happy February, Happy Groundhog Day, and Happy Primary Tuesday!

If any of you are considering whether or not to vote today, the answer is simple: VOTE! If you are wondering who to vote for, lucky for us, in Illinois you can decide during primary elections if you want a Democratic or Republican ballot. If you choose the former, I would advise you to vote for Carol Sente in the 59th district for the Illinois House of Representatives. If you choose the latter, please vote for my man on the Hill, MARK KIRK for the U.S. Senate. He is the ONLY politician in Washington D.C. with a 100% approval rating both by AIPAC for voting with Israel, AND a 100% approval rating for environmental advocacy (he was one of only 9 Republicans in the House to vote for binding emissions cuts in June 2009).

That's all for now - been busy writing essays and I still have more to do. Classes are great, still have a love crush on London, and trying to plan my break in March/April to get to Italy, Spain, and Portugal (and maybe the Netherlands for kicks as well). Saw the National Gallery last Friday, and the Natural History Museum the Friday before (pictures on Facebook!), and am trying to get to the National Portrait Gallery this Friday, but before any of that I'm off to an SSLC meeting with the Department of Government at LSE to try and straighten them out. Is it really that hard to post minutes on the website from October? Come on - get your act together!

Great road trip by the Blackhawks (5-3), Chelsea is still on top of the table (and if they win tonight, they'll be 3 or 4 clear with an even number of games played), and Roger Federer absolutely destroyed the Australian Open field to win major 16.

Have a great week everyone!

Term 2: 2 weeks down, 8 to go

BANKSIDE, LONDON, UK -- Well hello everyone! It has been a couple of weeks since I've updated and to say I've been busy is a bit of an understatement. In the few days immediately after my last posting I was busy finishing up my Global Environmental Governance essay on Copenhagen, which I submitted and I'm pretty confident in getting a good mark. Last week was the start of term, and here is my schedule:

Monday:

12pm-1pm: Issues and Approaches in Public Policy and Administration, Lecture

1pm-2pm: Policy-making in the European Union, Lecture

4pm-5:30pm: Issues and Approaches in PPA, Seminar

Tuesday:
Reading day!

Wednesday:

12:30pm-2pm: Policy-making in the EU, Seminar

2pm-3pm: Israel Society weekly meeting

Thursday:

11am-12pm: Politics of Policy Advice, Lecture

1pm-2pm: UGM, Student government weekly forum

3:30pm-5pm: Politics of Policy Advice, Seminar

Friday:

4pm-5:30pm: Special guest lecture series by Sir John Bourn

Tada! Not a bad schedule... Mondays and Thursdays are long days to be on campus and constantly in the swing of things, and the late class on Fridays isn't a whole lot of fun. That said, the Friday class is only the first 5 weeks of term, and so after today I'll only have 3 more of those left... it's good timing, because by the time week 6 rolls around here, I'll need to be focusing more on written work instead of just reading. I enjoy all of my classes, which is always a good thing, and it makes the hundreds of pages of reading each week much more bearable.

Here is an optimistic note for the day: starting today, every day for the next six months will be getting, on average, warmer. In the Northern Hemisphere, the average coldest day of the year is January 21, so while it will no doubt fluctuate over the next days, weeks, and months, on average at least we now know that it is getting warmer, in addition to getting lighter. In fact, we are now out of the 2 darkest months of the year, and the sun is going down at a much more reasonable 4:30-5pm, as opposed to the uber-depressing 3:15 just about 1 month ago. Things can change quickly!

Chelsea is still on top of the Premier League table, the Blackhawks have won 3 of 4 on the road (and are at the top of the NHL still), and the Australian Open is underway from Melbourne... Federer is into the 3rd round, and there haven't been any major upsets so far.

I'm also making it a point to see at least 1 new thing each week here... last week my Grandpa was here, and it was great to see him! We were all over town in only a few days... we saw most of the important buildings from the cab (Buckingham Palace, Westminster), did some walking around Bankside, LSE, and over to Trafalgar Square, did a little shopping at Harrods, and went to the Marble Arch synagogue Sunday morning to pay our respects for my Great Grandma Esther, who passed away two years earlier to the day. We also got to plenty of new restaurants for me - Saturday morning we went to a Moroccan place, Del Aziz, that is literally right next to my building... they have the best omelette's ever! That night we went to an absolutely delicious Indian place, Mango Tree, that is actually only 5 minutes walking from Bankside... chicken tikka masala with some pilau rice and garlic naan, mmmmmmm! Sunday morning we went to a Dutch cafe right next to Harrods, then in the afternoon we went to a Jewish deli, Reuben's, and at night we walked over to one of the local pubs, Flouder's Arms, which is right on the Thames. Monday morning breakfast buffet at the Mercure Hotel, and that was it! Thanks for the visit Grandpa - it was great to see you!

This week, I am off to the Museum of Natural History. Next week, going to the National Gallery. Kew Gardens is somewhere on the list, as is Wimbledon, but both of those would be better for later months, when the weather improves. For the next month or so I think I'll stick to the museums and stay inside. We're also trying to get a behind-the-scenes tour of Parliament, and I'll be sure to keep you posted when that happens. Outside of London, I'm aiming for a trip to Rome and Florence in March, and at least one other trip at some point in April - Spain? Portugal? Greece? Netherlands? Not really sure... but we shall see!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Break is coming to a close...

LONDON, UK -- Well I figured before things get too crazy next week I would update the blog!

It has been a really nice and relatively relaxing break, even with all my travels included, and as such I am getting excited to start up the engines again for next week with some new classes and the like!

This week has been really low key, and I definitely needed a low key week (it has been FAR too long since I've had more than 24 hours to just sit around and do nothing). That said I still have been getting some things done, and my productivity in the last couple of days has gone way up... I wrote an essay on environmental regime theory as it pertains to Copenhagen, yesterday spent the entire day in Oxford wandering the town, done some grocery shopping for food, cleaning up the room, need to do some laundry. Tomorrow I'm off to LSE for the first time in a month to head to the library, as I have some reading to do and a summary to write.

I also uploaded TONS of pictures to facebook today! It seems like just about everyone who reads this is now on fb, so you should be able to see them. If you are on fb and not friends, just add me and then you will be able to see them. Pictures from London, Copenhagen, home, Arizona, and Oxford are all on now.

Check out this picture of the UK, snapped by a NASA satellite yesterday: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/42000/42237/gbritain_tmo_2010007_lrg.jpg

The UK is totally covered in snow!

Also, an interesting read from the BBC about the future of wind energy in the UK - they just approved 10 new HUGE wind farms that will begin construction next year, and then they're going to connect via underground cables to 8 different national power grids across Europe to sell excess power when it is more efficient/buy excess renewable power from them when it is more efficient, all to make the system greener. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8443865.stm

The Blackhawks, meanwhile, are unstoppable. They have won 22 of their last 28 games (including 3 out of the 3 I got to go at home), and now are sitting on top of the entire NHL. I would comment more, but what could I say? They simply are THE best team in the entire league, and are finally getting the type of national recognition they deserve. Want some more reading? try http://espn.go.com/nhl/ or http://espn.go.com/chicago/, http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/, http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/blackhawks-confidential/, or http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/blackhawks/.

Chelsea is still on top of the table in the Premier League, and just advanced past the 3rd round of the FA Cup (while Manchester United LOST, suckers!).

A few other random things... it is finally back to light out at 4PM again, and we are no longer in the darkest month of the year, so there is good news on that front! It's still quite dark all the time, but yeah, progress is progress. It is definitely colder, but even then the high is still in the 30s, which beats the pants off of what it has been at home recently. As you can see in the picture noted above, it did snow here (and everywhere in the UK), but honestly not much more than a dusting here. Oxford, on the other hand, got a good 5-6 inches of snow, and we spent the entire day yesterday walking through it and on condensed ice, which is always fun.

That's all for now - have a great weekend everyone and I shall post again soon with class schedules and updates!

2010!

LONDON, UK -- Happpppppppy New Year!

2009

LONDON, UK -- Okay, so apparently I lied... I could have sworn I had updated from Arizona, but clearly all that sun got to me and I never got the chance! More on a great trip to AZ later...

I leave in about two hours for London New Years Eve celebrations, and I am quite excited to see my friends here and catch up on our trips, nevermind the incredible fireworks.

2009 for me was an incredible year. Put into context, my years, for the past four or five anyway, have always been better than the year before, and that certainly holds true for 2009 over 2008. Sure, a year is an arbitrary measurement wherein it was decided that at this point we should consider the Earth's rotation around the Sun the "end" and thus "beginning," but they offer a convenient way to measure and thus reflect, and as such, so be it. The way I see it, my year can be divided into three chapters that I think will make sense as I go over them.

Chapter One:

A year ago, I had absolutely no idea where I would be now. I was a week graduated from UW-Madison, and as evidenced from my posts of a year ago, I had also just returned from a week trip to Arizona, and I was looking forward to the NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field on January 1 (this year it is at Fenway Park - be sure to watch tomorrow!), a trip to meet up with Adam in New York and road tripping up to Montreal, and heading to the Presidential Inauguration in Washington D.C. working for People to People, and that's about all I had in front of me (okay, so that is a lot, but it only covered a month, not a year). Well, I managed to do all of those things, and then...

I passed the U.S. State Department Foreign Service Officer Test, smoked the GRE, and took several hockey-related trips up to Madison to go to a few games with Adam. I took an epic road trip with David down to St. Louis, Memphis, and partied with Andy for Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The day I returned I had a big package in the mail... from the London School of Economics - I got in! So it was by mid-February when a picture began to emerge of how 2009 would go... a few weeks later I headed off to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for a couple of weeks volunteering in Bangu, a drug-free favela on the outskirts of town. I also got to meet up with my Uncle Jordan and Ana for a few days in Rio before starting the project! Three days after returning from Brazil, I took a week trip here to London with my parents and Justin to check out LSE and Bankside, and yeah, we all loved it! We managed to do the Paris day trip as well - that, we did not enjoy so much, but you can't win them all! The day after returning I was off to work in Washington D.C. on two World Leadership Forums for People to People, and I finally got to see the D.C. cherry blossoms!

Upon returning home for my birthday in late-April, I decided to slow down the pace... I got to go to all of the Blackhawks home playoff games, where they destroyed Calgary in the first round, Vancouver in the second (which included "Game 6," which has to be the greatest hockey game I have ever seen, and was certainly the best played in Chicago in at least 15 years), and fell victim to Detroit in the Western Conference Finals in a very tight series. This coincided with Brittany and Justin's respective graduations in mid-May and early-June from Harper College and Stevenson High School, and I could not have been more proud of either of them for doing so well!

Chapter Two:

By the second week in June my summer travel schedule began, working for my fifth summer in a row with People to People. I tried a "new program," for me anyway, the Business Summit, and the first few days were rather uneventful. It was great to see some old friends - some of whom I worked with just two months earlier in April, and others who I had not seen in 2/3/4/5 years! Never in my wildest imagination could I have seen what would happen though... the trip itself was great, but not in the "oh I got to go see the Statue of Liberty again" way. Nor was it in the "these students were the best group I have ever had" way. Nope... this trip was defined by a lack of sleep, and by that I mean even less than "normal." It was defined by stories of absolutely anything and everything from around the world until 2, and sometimes past 3 in the morning while keeping an eye on those 9th floor John Jay students who just "had to take a shower" at 1:30am. A bus ride to and from Philadelphia for a day. I guess it happened partly by nature - the Site Coordinator and Primary Lead Facilitator tend to work on the complete opposite assignments, which draws them to work together. Likewise, the Logistics Coordinator and Academic Lead Facilitator also have near-opposite roles, which draws them to spend more time together as well. It was nothing intentional - it just happened... I fell in love.

The rest of 2009 was defined by this... we worked together the next week in Boston at Harvard university. After a couple of weeks at home (yes, I spent more than 1 day at home in 2009, a welcome "break" from my incredible summer of 2008), and a weekend family trip to Minocqua, Wisconsin (which brought back a plethora of childhood memories), she came and visited me and my family for nearly a week in Buffalo Grove, Chicago, and we also took a day trip up to Madison. I never really feared that they would not get along - I knew based on their personalities and whatnot that they would - but it always feels nice to see it happen in front of you instead of leaving it to your thoughts. Everything I love about her, they do too! I don't suppose it could have gone much better, and for that I was delighted and I am thankful. A few weeks later, we were walking the beaches of Oahu, swimming in the Pacific, climbing Diamond Head, tasting pineapple at the Dole Plantation, and looking at pearls in Waikiki. Add Hawaii to my list of states!

Chapter Three:

By the end of September it was clear that things would be changing, and in a hurry. We can get specific and just call it September 15-22, my week at home after a tearful goodbye from Hawaii and before leaving to London. Unpacking, laundry, shopping, and packing combined with goodbyes with friends and family later, and on the 23rd of September I woke up on final descent into London Heathrow with my parents. A week of orientations, inductions, and travel around London and SE England (Dover, Canterbury, Leeds Castle) later, and I said goodbye to them too.

As classes began it was clear that my MSc group was awesome - 26 students from 16 countries, and everyone is great! In fact it has been oddly strange not seeing any of them for the last few weeks, and I'm excited to see some of them again in another hour or two to ring in the New Year! One crazy Mexican Society party, lots of tequila, and many a trip to the basement bar with Ian, my suitemate (we share a bathroom) from Seattle later, and everyone is still having a great time. Classes themselves were also wonderful - I was in three classes this first term: our core year-long class, Public Policy and Administration; Global Environmental Governance; and Quantitative Analysis (Statistics). I enjoyed all three and feel that I have a good understanding of all of the concepts presented.

I also took two trips from London this term... the first was to Vienna, Austria, to meet up with a good friend of mine! We got to have a few nice dinners, and during the day I was off in the November snow exploring the city, which to call picturesque is a gross understatement. Just a few weeks ago, as anybody reading this blog knows, I was in Copenhagen, Denmark, and also took an afternoon trip over to Malmo, Sweden. I wrote from the COP15 for G-1 Billion, a truly rewarding experience that I hope to expand on over the next year and more. I have always considered myself an environmentally conscious person, but I feel even more so now than I have in the past, which says a lot given Hillel's LEED certification and more.

In London, I have explored many of the cultural and historical elements of the city... I saw the HMS Belfast, went to several markets (including the best and famous Borough Market with Hadil), tried (and LOVED) Indian food in the Eastern Hemisphere with my first visitor, Charity, as well as saw the Imperial War Museum (which contains the UK Holocaust Museum within) with her. I saw the British Museum with the Rosetta Stone and many of the statues that are from the Parthenon in Athens. I saw Abbey Road and the Benjamin Franklin House. I saw the State Opening of Parliament, and the Queen twice. At LSE I saw many Prime Ministers and Presidents... of Ecuador, Hungary, Jordan, and Norway. I'm sure I am missing a lot, but to say the least I have made great use of my time here and had a great time overall!

Finally, the last two weeks I have been home - it was great to see my friends and family again. We had a very nice Hanukkah Party at home, and I saw three Blackhawks games - they won all three! A week in Arizona, and 72 hours of flying later, here I am...

2010 is just five and a half hours away, and while I have a much better picture of how the next six months will go, I have just as little a clue as to how the second half of 2010 will go (like how I had no idea how February and beyond 2009 would go). From now until June 25, I have my second term, summer term, and finals here in London. Mixed in I will try and see more of the city, and my main goal is a trip to Rome, probably in late-March. June 25 will be my last final, and then I'm kicked out of Bankside July 2, while my dissertation is due September 2. My goal is to have a first draft of my dissertation entirely done before finals start, however, and if that is the case, I might not stay in London over the summer in order partially to save money, and also for a reunion. By next year this time though, I really have no idea... LSE graduation is in December. I'm certainly not going to be going for a PhD right away, so that means I need to have a job! Washington D.C. is most likely, but beyond that I don't really know. I guess what I really want is six months instead of one.

On that note, a happy and healthy 2010 to all of you! Thank you for all of your great comments and it has been wonderful seeing most of you in the past few weeks. Next post (and this is a promise) is from next year!

Last full day at home

BUFFALO GROVE, IL, USA -- Well, hard to believe it but I have already been home for a week and my time here is just about up! I have had a really nice week... I have gotten to see all of my family and friends at least once, and most of you more than that. Thursday night was our family Hanukkah party at our house so it was great catching up, nevermind the candles, latkes, and mini-hot dogs. I also made it to three Blackhawks games, against St. Louis, Boston, and Detroit - and get this... they won all three games, two of them shutouts, and one in the shootout! We now are in first place in the conference, with games at hand, and we intend to keep it that way! Tomorrow night the game is here in Chicago, but I will be another 1,400 miles away in sunny and warm Scottsdale, Arizona! Okay, so they are calling for abnormally cold weather, but at least it will be sunny! Of course, we need to actually get there, and tomorrow they are calling for another inch or two of snow here, so it should be fun at O'Hare only a few days before Christmas. Well, such as it is!

Also, happy first day of winter, and shortest day of the year. Now we get to be optimists for the next 6 months, so that's good news! We had about 8 hours of daylight here in Buffalo Grove at around 44 degrees latitude, whereas London had under 7 hours at 51 degrees, and Copenhagen just over 6 hours at 56 degrees. In Yellowknife? Under 5 hours. Kugluktuk? You guessed it - the sun doesn't come up for another two weeks... they are in permanent darkness until January. Now THAT is just plain scary.

That is the update from here... been running errands all day, and got some new socks and sweaters - yes, the joys in life! Next post from Arizona!

Sweet Home, Chicago

BUFFALO GROVE, IL, USA -- Well, a 15 hour hop, skip, and jump later I made it home last night! What is the first thing you do after being away from home for 3 months? You guessed it: Lou Malnatis! Other than that I pretty much passed out right away. Overnight I actually only woke up once, which is pretty good, and today I have been able to stay active at a pretty good pace. I made myself a nice breakfast (so nice after eating dining hall garbage food for the last 3 months, or just a muffin from the mini-mart, or nothing at all), had some Matzo-ball soup at the Buffalo for lunch, got a haircut, activated some of the domestic features on my phone (hello, text messaging!), went to the post office, and here I am!

I also stepped on a scale this morning and realized that I lost weight. Well, I knew I lost weight, but I lost a lot of weight. Over 15 pounds of weight. Yeah, definitely more than I had expected! How did I lose so much weight in only 3 months? No, I didn't starve myself. But I do attribute it to two things: 1) Walking EVERYWHERE all the time in London - I have a minimum 4 miles of walking every day; and 2) The fact that high fructose corn syrup just does not exist outside North America. I mostly just drink water, which is so much healthier, but even when I do have the occasional Sprite or Fanta, it is made with actual cane sugar, which doesn't have any of those nasty chemicals that you find in everything here. This point kind of goes along with another thing I noticed yesterday.

Three instant observations upon entering the Philadelphia Airport yesterday.

1) American's are fat. Not just fat, but obese, and to the point where it actually hinders everyday things. You should not have to "squeeze" through the metal detectors, or be driven to your gate, unless you have some additional condition beyond "I ate too much and didn't exercise."

2) It was so nice to see people make commercial transactions in US currency. I hadn't seen anybody actually use a dollar in quite some time, and what remaining currency I had in my wallet was beginning to look fake.

3) It was also very nice to dial home and cell phones and just hit send, without any +'s or 0's or 00's or any other crazy international calling combination. Just 847-... and send. Nice and easy, like it should be.

Okay that is all for now - I am SOOOO EXCITED for my first Blackhawks game this year tomorrow night. Yeah, all kinds of crazy excited. LETS GO HAWKS!

Reading material: I wrote this article yesterday on the plane as we were coming into Philadelphia, and it posted this morning on G-1 Billion:

A survey of climate-related advertisements in The Economist:

http://g-1billion.org/?p=3156〈=en