Come Fly with Me!

So long, America!

I'm headed back to the UK today after spending time with a close friend, being an editor at the Journal of Public and International Affairs reading weekend, and spending several days at home.

I'll be posting on the other side of the pond, next time! 

2nd Year as a LSE JPIA Editor

If you missed it, I'm in the United States for a week! 

I flew in last Thursday in advance of the reading weekend for the Journal of Public and International Affairs. 

The reading weekend kicked off on Friday, so Thursday night was a reunion night with one of my best friends. I hadn't seen my friend Kasey since graduation weekend at Syracuse in 2012. 

Short story: Kasey was a sophomore on my floor, my freshman year, and we've been in the same group of friends ever since! She picked me up from the airport, went to dinner, and just caught up as if we had saw each other yesterday. 

Kasey and me 

I spent the rest of Thursday evening and much of Friday at the hotel I had booked doing work for my capstone and applying for jobs. Thank goodness for the Starbucks in the lobby!

Friday evening was the kickoff of the JPIA Reading Weekend.  As you may recall from last year, I traveled to Princeton as the first year representative.  It's a two- year position, so last term, I selected the new first-year student for LSE.  

Friday evening was spent doing introductions, reading the first round of papers, and getting to know others. It was great seeing some of my friends that I met through last year's reading weekend as well. 

Woodrow Wilson of Public and International Affairs 

Saturday was the main day of the weekend. Starting at 8am, it really was a reading and scoring day. Not without a few breaks and getting to know others,  I think I read close to 40 papers throughout the day.  Some were in my areas of expertise, but others were not. That was the aim of the preliminary reading: to ensure that people who are not specialists in an area can understand the policy paper/article. 

Princeton's Campus 

By the end of the evening, we had selected the final nine papers for this year's publication. A close friend of mine from the MPA program was selected for publication this year!  Congrats, Naomi!

The evening ended with a Princeton MPA party. And, as it was last year, my fellow LSE MPA students, we can still claim the prize for better parties! 

Princeton's Campus 

Sunday was the wrap-up day. I left a little earlier to catch the train to Newark as I'm now home for a few days. It was a great weekend getting to contribute to editing a prestigious journal, getting to know other future policy makers (including a few current SU grad students), and taking it all in. The past two years in my role as a contributing editor were two years that I wouldn't pass up! 

Now Boarding!

I'm headed to the homeland today!

It's the annual reading weekend for the Journal of Public & International Affairs. I went last year as a contributing editor, and as it's a two-year position, I'm headed back!

Today, I leave for Newark and am spending the night, there.  One of my best friends from college is coming to meet me for dinner. We haven't seen each other since before I graduated, so it will be a great evening to catch up!

Friday- Sunday, the reading weekend takes place on Princeton's campus.

And, on Sunday, I get to sneak home for a few days of snow and relaxation before returning to London!

So Long till October, London!

Well friends, today, I am headed home to the USA for the summer! 

It's a long day of travel with an extra long layover in Newark. But, I will be home soon enough!

Stay tuned for some posts this week about end of term celebrations!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...

Obviously, I should have done a neighborhood post last semester. I often found myself taking photos of things in Ladbroke Grove/Notting Hill, but never seemed to post them into a coherent blog about where I live. Of course, there were my numerous trips to Portobello Road, and the time that I did the Notting Hill, the Movie, walking tour. 

Anyways, since I arrived back in London a few days prior to the new term starting, I figured that a quick jaunt around snapping some photos was a perfect way to spend an afternoon. I actually keep finding info out about where I live all the time.

Nido Notting Hill

For those who don't know, I live in private student accommodation in Ladbroke Grove/Notting Hill area. It's been a great place to live so far- all inclusive, security, gym on site, and my own studio! It's situated right along the Grand Union Canal which is linked to all of the other canals in London (Little Venice, etc.). 

My building is on a side street off of Kensal Road. Kensal Road has quite the history of change. The neighborhood has gone through a lot of revitalization in the past 30 years or so following a "rough" period post WWII. Nevertheless, it's turned itself around. Time Out recently published an article about the area that you can check out here: Kensal Road. 

The road is now home to the Dock restaurants, the HQ for Innocent (yummy smoothies!), and a lot of smaller shops that have recently opened. And yes, if you read the article, it appears we have a few celebrities in the neighborhood. Time to get the cameras out in case I see them!

About a five minute walk from me is a jumbo Sainsbury's where I normally get my groceries for the week. I say jumbo because it takes me a good hour to do a real good shopping trip for how much they carry in addition to food.

I live past the Ladbroke Grove Tube Station. I haven't really checked out that part of the neighborhood except for the fact it's right near where Portobello Road is! It's got a tube station that has both the Hammersmith and City lines and the Circle line. Not the most ideal lines to get places, but it is helpful sometimes.

To get to Ladbroke Grove and beyond, especially when I'm on my way to class, I have three main bus options. The 52, 452, and 23 are my busses that I continuously take. They all run the same path up until 23 heads straight into Queensway rather than Notting Hill Gate. The only good thing besides the long journey with route 23 is that it stops right outside of LSE. With 52 and 452, I generally take them up to Notting Hill Gate and get on the Central Line.  It's nice to have the three bus options because sometimes in the morning they are a bit crowded with school children!

The area around the Notting Hill Gate tube station is home to my daily activities. I generally come home from class via the tube and then grab the bus back down to where I live.  There are a few other grocery stores that are up along the main road which I go to if I am in a jam or want to change up a routine. Among the stores in Notting Hill are a few celebrity restaurants such as Recipease by Jamie Oliver which is also a food store.  And yes, if you are wondering, there are two Starbucks which I frequent quite  a lot.

I've enjoyed living in Notting Hill/Ladbroke Grove these past few months, and I look forward to the next seven months as well. There is always something to do here from the market to the history to the people watching from inside a cafe. There is never a dull moment!

Returning to Londontown...

Well, break is over at home at least. 

I enjoyed my time home with my family. 

I caught up on a lot of sleep, made plenty of study guides, caught up on some television, and even got to read for pleasure. If you know me, I don't already watch a lot of television, so it was a big deal for those episodes that I did miss...

I'm off to London today. Typical journey begins. Flying out of Syracuse, a layover in NYC, and then landing in London early GMT. 

Stay tuned for my news once I return to my favorite city.

Image Source

Merry Christmas!