2012: The beginning of a new year

I thought about titling this entry with something about the end of 2011 but I usually prefer to look forward at New Years and to what lays ahead. 2011 was an interesting year with definite highs (traveling, my move to come back to school, and spending time with great friends) and lows (leaving great friends, moving farther away from my family, and of course the mediocre Iowa football season among more personal others).
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I enter 2012 with a lot of unknowns: the topic of my dissertation, what I'll be doing after September 15 (when I turn my dissertation in), where I'll be living. This is also exciting because it's the next phase in my life and I'm really looking forward to the direction I will go. My experience at graduate school so far has been exactly what I was looking for; a small specialized school in which students are engaged and I'm learning about the Middle East region from an anthropological perspective.
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My holiday has been eventful so far and I need to post about it! My sister has been here for a week and activities included: seeing London, Winter Wonderland Christmas market, Les Miserable and excellent Christmas Eve dinner, 2 days in Edinburgh, Scotland. And now my cousin is also here and activities included: Wicked, Camden, and Brick Lane. Upcoming activities include fish and chips, New Years Eve, New Years Day parade, and Covent Garden. It's been a full schedule but that's why it's fun to have people come and visit! Pictures and more entries will definitely follow soon.
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I know 2012 will be a stellar year with new experiences and dealing with new changes. Best wishes to everyone for a Happy New Year!

Showing some support!

My friend Lorenzo Evans has made things happen. He's created a brand for himself and has recently created the newest line dance phenomenon - Soul Food Line Dance. Dancer, Choreographer and Owner of goLo World Dance Company in the Washington DC area, Lorenzo has taught masters classes at both the Kennedy Center in DC and the Lincoln Center in NY. He has also worked with Chuck Brown, the 'Godfather of Go-Go' and opened his own dance studios in the DC area.

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Lorenzo and I met when we both worked at Smithsonian Journeys (now under Smithsonian Enterprises) together and it's been fun to hear about his adventures ever since. Lorenzo will be coming to the UK to teach a masters class in Manchester. He's featured on the cover of Linedancer Magazine http://www.linedancermagazine.com/magazine.html.

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Making a name for yourself in the dance world is very hard to do, so I want to give props to Lorenzo for continuing to make things happen and gaining international recognition for all of his hard work!

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You can see his Soul Food Line Dance here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn306f5yUcs

Already the end of Term 1

These past 3 months have flown by. It seems like I just arrived in London, not that it could already be the end of my first term at grad school. So much has happened in such a short period of time that it really makes my head spin. Leaving my job in Washington DC to move to London and become a student again after 5 years of being in the working world, entering into dorm life (something I NEVER thought I'd do again!), and being in a constant state of 'studying.' I've loved every minute though. From the 6 hours I spent waiting to check-in to my room with 3 suitcases, being sick for a month, and finally experiencing the London weather, ie spitting rain, colder weather, and wind in my face to meeting amazing people who want to help the world, studying the Middle East at such a pertinent time in history, and exploring the fantastic areas of London.

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The end of Term 1 means I am halfway done with my courses, that I now have 3 weeks to write 2 papers and study for an Arabic exam AND that my sister is coming in a week and my cousin is visiting in 2 weeks! It will be so much fun to have visitors and do things that I don't normally get to do. And then begins Term 2 which will fly by: courses, writing 2 more papers, studying for end of year exams AND beginning my dissertation. Some of my classmates went out for dinner earlier this week and it was so nice to socialize outside of the classroom but it also meant we talked about paper topics and the upcoming dissertation ideas. It's so interesting to hear what people are thinking of researching and while I have a few ideas they definitely need to be played around with and narrowed in scope. After the end of Term 2 and exams in early May, I will spend the summer researching and writing 10,000 words! I'm actually looking forwrad to it. Yep, I did just say that!

Christmas Tree Lighting

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Festive lights adorn every building and on 1 Dec tradition continued with the 65th tree gifted from Norway and lit in Trafalgar Square. The tree is presented as a token of appreciation to Britain for assistance during World War II. Rain had just started to fall so we huddled under umbrellas with the rest of the crowd to hear speeches, singing, and a flick of a switch to light the tree! Of course the Christmas tree lighting was followed by dinner in Chinatown, right down the street.

30 November Day of Action

On the 30 November, the biggest strike in 30 years hit the UK. The public sector (teachers, civil servants) around the UK was protesting to defend cuts to their pensions. Predictions put the number of workers striking at 2-3 million and 90% school closure. The number of strikers was much less and only about 58% of schools were closed.

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Much of SOAS was on strike for the day: the shop and pub were closed all day, classes were canceled and there were picket lines. I went to campus around 10am to check out the scene and it was really just a handful of people milling about. There were picket lines in front of the doors to the main buildings and people huddled around coffee. And the city was surprisingly quiet. Although to be fair, people who were striking were all outside of their own institutions and buildings. The rest of the day was spent in a coffee shop with my flatmate studying!

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Last week I was running from one class to the next when I ran into a crowd of people standing outside of the building I needed to get in to. Apparently, there was another protest (just a few people with a loud speaker) and the building had gone on 'lock down.' No one in or out. It was more amusing than anything since I missed all the action. Fortunately, the lock down ended and I was able to make it to class....spoken like a true student!

Experience with the NHS

I was sick for a few weeks and I hate being sick. Low energy and stomach pains. Exactly what I did not want to deal with right after coming to London and starting school. Fortunately there is a great health care system here (the National Health Service - NHS) and then the tests began. After about a month of dealing with the pain and going in for tests and results, I had my third and I hope final appointment today for awhile! I'm used to going in to the doctor, telling her what's wrong and walking out with a prescription....not here. Test after test was negative ending with the same negative results today! Of course. Finally I am feeling better though! The doctor told me that I probably had some type of infection (I did have heightened levels of white blood cells) but now that I'm ok, all is well again. Go figure.

Video about SOAS

This video is all about SOAS, from the learning environment to the type of students who attend. And it's all so true! Makes me laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pijH2AyGiSQ