Noble in London: Into the swing of things

Tomorrow will mark a month that I've been in London. While I feel like I've been here about 5 years, the time has actually gone by pretty fast. Less than two months until I come home for Christmas. I'm just trying to make the most of everything here and have fun. It's working out so far.

Class has been keeping my pretty busy. My favorite is British Politics and Policy - the professor is really funny and enthusiastic, and we've had some pretty good discussions in the seminar with him. Aside from that, I'd have to say that the majority of teaching I've experienced here is only so-so. The professors are intelligent, but many of them I can tell would rather be researching instead of teaching. Some people in my program seem pretty disappointed about it, but I'm honestly just taking it in stride. I've had worst professors at UCLA, and much more time here is spent doing independent study or reading instead of in lecture.

Aside from class, I've gotten involved in a few things on campus. I'm trying not to load up on activities like I did at UCLA, but things just keep falling into my lap. I got a research position at a journalism think tank here at LSE called POLIS, where I'm helping the director organize a forum in about a month on financial journalism. It's been interesting so far and I think I'll learn a lot before I'm done. I also got an associate editor position at the Clare Market Review, LSE's student-run research journal that was founded in 1905. I don't know much about this yet, but will be going there tonight at 6pm for our first editorial board meeting. Still waiting on whether I'll get an internship at Parliament.

Here are a few miscellaneous photos from my life recently...

My Oyster card, which I use to get a student discount on the underground and on buses.

On Saturday I went to Oxford with 3 Canadians, 1 Australian and 2 other Americans. We took the train in the morning from Paddington Station, spent the afternoon walking around the city and university, and then took it back in the evening. It was really exhausting but fun. It's definitely a lot older than LSE!