Although I'd initially thought that LSE was pretty easy, maybe even easier than undergrad, things have started tightening up and I'm beginning to feel the pressure. Last week I turned in all my term papers that were assigned in the fall, and subsequently pulled my first all-nighter since coming to graduate school. I checked out 21 books from the library - the maximum permitted - and carted them all the way back to my room, and only ended up using a handful. The interesting thing about LSE is that all papers are marked twice by two professors each, and then the scores are averaged or the professors debate which mark is more accurate. It takes a ton of time but it's pretty fair I think.
On Saturday, I took the Eurostar from London St. Pancras station to Paris Gare du Nord. With a journey time of about 2.5 hours, it's an incredibly fast and smooth ride from central London to central Paris. Getting ready to board:
Once we arrived, I went to stay at Garance's apartment with her friend Andrei, a classmate from Chapman who I've hung out with before at UCLA. My friends from LSE - Jim, Jackie and Josh - stayed at a hotel. Highlights from the trip included visits to the Rodin Museum, Père Lachaise Cemetery (where Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, and others are burried), and the Louvre.
Musee Rodin:
One of his most famous works, "The Kiss".
Eating a waffle with Andrei.
Tomb of Oscar Wilde.
Garance thinks this looks like the photo from the beginning of a spy movie, haha.
My friend David from high school works as an English teacher in Paris now, so we got the chance to meet up with him twice. It was good to catch up on how things in Oroville are and relive old times.
Out to dinner with Garance's family.
Before boarding the Eurostar to return to London.
We arrived back to London on the afternoon of inauguration day. Though I had decided to skip class to watch, Obama's speech had ended well in time for me to still go. I watched it in the quad at LSE, which was standing room only. Not surprisingly, given the liberal nature of Europeans and the Americans who go to LSE, there was a lot of cheering and jubilation.
One fact that I admire about Obama is that he is a devout Christian with strong convictions, yet he is genuinely respectful of other faiths and doesn't hesitate to acknowledge their existance. Sure, our nation may have been founded by protestants, but our intellectual diversity and individual liberties are even more valuable, in my opinion. In this respect, I think Obama's rhetoric of inclusion matches his message about wanting to unite, not divide the American people.
Obama's high approval rating with inevitably take some hits over the next 4 (or 8) years as he approaches the many challenges that our country faces. But nonetheless, there's no denying the historical moment that took place on Tuesday. This is a man who only a half century ago would have been turned away from many restaurants in the south, or even more troubling, could have faced lynching for approaching a white woman the wrong way.
This is the smile of progress!
The mall, where a few of my lucky friends were.
Maybe President someday? Hahaha...
2 comments:
the inscription on Oscar Wilde's tomb made me cry when I heard it the first time.... don't tell people that though...
Wow, I don't think I even read it. I feel like I've missed out now.
Post a Comment