MPA Boat Party!

The MPA programme had its annual boat party this past Friday!

Four-hour cruise on the River Thames getting to catch up with second years as well as meeting tons of the incoming first year students!  Thankfully, the boat wasn't named Poseidon like it was in Prague... 

Check out some photos from the evening! 

Susannah and Me- She's my 1st Year MPA Buddy!

Jenny and Me

The O2

The London Eye

The Girls

Brett and Me

One Week Later

US Embassy in London

I will  have officially been back in London a week tomorrow morning. It's crazy that even a week flies by this quickly anymore. 

I mentioned in my post earlier this week that on Thursday we'd be having our introductory sessions for the second year. Thursday started off rainy (of course), but I got to collect my loan check for the term. It's the little things of feeling slightly richer and poorer at the same time.  

The second year sessions began with our Dean giving us an oversight on some changes to the program.  Following that, besides being reunited with so many of my friends in my program, we had an introductory class to a half-unit course we are required to take this year. It deals with power, organizations, and leadership. It's taught by the "father" of the MPA program, so I'm looking forward to this one! 

The afternoon and early evening of Thursday was spent listening to the various capstone projects that we could choose from for the year. Essentially, there are numerous government departments (UK), non-profits, world organizations, and non-profits that we can choose from. Each capstone group contains between three and five people doing research, preparing reports, etc.  I submitted my preferences today, and we get to find out our projects/group this week! 

And, we also finally registered for courses. Sadly, in all my years of higher education, I was shut out of a class I wanted to take completely. I wanted to take a media and politics course as an option this year. It's not even offered until the Spring, but despite registering for it, I've been shut out and put on a very long waiting list. But don't worry, I registered for two others that will be my options to take in the Spring! 

We officially start classes this week. As for my schedule, besides interning and capstone group projects, I only have class two days a week! 

More on my weekend adventure including the boat party to come!

Pip Pip Cheerio!

The past few days have been a blur as I got back into the swing of things. Well, and seeing big red busses all over the place too. 

I landed early Monday morning at Heathrow. I hardly slept on the plane, but I got through immigration quickly. And, they had a film loop playing about Wills and Kate...much appreciated Heathrow Terminal 5.  By the time I got to the taxi rank, I was slowly moving. Traffic was horrible, and I fell asleep for a quick cat nap. About an hour later, I finally got to my flat. Normally, it takes less than a 30 minutes drive up to my neighborhood from Heathrow. #insanity

I quickly did some housekeeping manners before moving my luggage back into my studio. A quick change of my sheets and a shower, and it was time for a nap. I did sleep the majority of the day, only to wake up and run a few errands and eat. Jet lag is a killer!

Yesterday, I started my new internship for the semester! I'm interning at the US Embassy! It was a great first day, and I'm looking forward to an interesting semester! 

Besides running errands, buying groceries, and just getting settled back in, I haven't done too much...yet. Tomorrow, the second year of grad school officially starts. We have a few information sessions followed by the presentation of the capstone projects that we will soon pick. Long day ahead, but I'm ready to get back into the swing of things! And, on Friday, the annual MPA boat party is taking place where I can finally meet some of the incoming students! 

Stay tuned!

Let's Recap...

Now that I've survived math camp, real classes begin tomorrow. I just finished reading through the first chapter for class tomorrow, and I must say that I am happy to be back in the world of academia. To be honest, I sometimes dislike not having a busy work schedule, lots of meetings, and homework. My schedule on my iCalendar already looks pretty insane...and that is just for this week...the first week.

After my math test on Friday, we had quite a busy day. Arielle, Jenny, Kaitlyn, and I headed over to Shakespeare's Head for some traditional English breakfast to reward ourselves for surviving math camp. We may have all been tired and still discussing the intense, non-graded test, but we quickly moved away from that subject.  Running over to catch a few seminars on how to sign up for language courses, tips on writing essays, we then attended the MPA course fair. It was helpful to hear about all the courses including the one I've finally decided to take as well as the options for next year.

I also got to meet both my curriculum advisor  and supervisor on Friday. My curriculum advisor moreover helps us decide what classes for options in both years. He's actually going to be teaching one of my courses this year. As for my supervisor, he's in the Department of Economics, and we discussed a lot of different things related to opportunities both internally and externally. And while, it was a meeting unlike one that I would usually have with Coplin, he's given me a lot to think about in terms of future plans already.

Emma, Kaitlyn, and me

View of Tower Bridge from the boat

Friday evening was spent with the entire MPA program including the second years. A bunch of us started off at the George for a drink before heading to the MPA reception. The reception included brief appetizers that allowed everyone in the program to interact with each other before heading over to the MPA Boat Party. Yes, that's right. Our program hosted a boat party on the Thames. An eight pound ticket for four hours of dancing, friends, and the famous sights. Plenty of memories to last for the year and beyond.

Borough Market

Delicious

Yesterday, a big group of us headed to Borough Market to explore all of the food stands. While we ate our way through the stalls, I finally got to check something off my London Bucket List. When I was hear in 2010, I never had a chance to make it to the market. I picked up a bunch of veggies which I used to make dinner tonight as well as indulge myself with a fresh ham, chicken, and leek pie.  From there, we took a walk along the Thames to St. Paul's Cathedral. No re-enactment  of "feeding the birds" as I did in 2010, but I do plan on going back for a tour again!

St. Paul's Cathedral

The Thames

Today was spent making dinner for the week, running a few errands, and getting ready for classes to start tomorrow. Hard to believe that I've been here for three weeks already!