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!

A Final December Weekend of Fun!

Since I finished term on Wednesday, I essentially have had a four day weekend to explore and be a tourist in London. Post an advisor meeting on Thursday morning, Arielle and I headed over to Winter Wonderland. As you may recall, Winter Wonderland is one of my favorite parts of London at Christmas.  Going on a weekday has its advantages- less crowds, and no lines for mulled wine. 

We started off on the adventurous side with the world's biggest mouse roller coaster. I don't have a feel of heights, but I do have a feel of falling. Yet, the five minute ride was well worth the screaming.

Wild Maus

Arielle and me

Post rollar-coaster, we sat down for lunch in the Bavarian Village complete with cider and mulled wine.

YUM!

As we were a bit cold and both needed to finish some Christmas shopping, we headed down to Harrods. A madhouse as we expected, we still managed to find some new tea, some Christmas goodies, and eat some ice cream. It's been on my list of things to do in London to actually eat at the ice cream parlor inside Harrods, and I can now cross that off! We split a macaroon sundae, and it was to good to not take some photos of!

Arielle and Me

Thursday evening, I went to the Pi Phi London Alumnae Club Holiday Party. I hadn't had a chance to go to any of the events this term yet, so I was super excited to meet some other Pi Phis. I also got a chance to see Michelle, the Chair of the club here. We ran into each other literally on the street in 2010 when I was wearing letters one day. We had drinks and dinner at Wahaca's South Bank Experiment. I'm a huge fan of Wahaca already based off the Covent Garden location of this Mexican restaurant. The Southbank Experiment location overlooks the Thames.

Two Sisters and Me

Friday was spent running some errands and taking it easy. It was a crappy evening, and the West Wing was needed.

Yesterday, Arielle, Jenny, and I met up in Islington to hunt down this craft store called Loop. Jenny knows how to crochet, and our goal of the day was to do that. I had tried before, but failed, and Arielle wanted to learn as well! The craft store was located in Camden Passage. The street it was on was also filled with a pop-up antique market. Post shopping, we met up with Zaina at a local pub where we proceeded to crochet, drink mulled wine, catch-up, and eat lunch. My scarf is still a work in progress, so no photos yet..But I do promise once it is done to show it off! 

And, today was my last day in London before break. I took the day to run some last minute errands including a trip to Laduree and to stock up on some Cadbury for the Christmas holiday. I fly home tomorrow, and I must say that I'm looking forward to escaping for a few weeks. 

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!