November's edition...in December

I truly meant to post sometime in November, make this a 'at least once-a-month' blog, but so far, it has obviously not been happening.  Where is the time going?
At any rate, here are the updates and more pictures.


School:  I still love being a student again, though the stress level has gone up.  Next week is the last week of class, and I have an informal presentation in one course, an exam in Spanish, and in addition to the readings assigned for the classes, there's now the looming deadline of two essays, which will each be the entirety of the grade for two of my classes.  I've been to the library multiple times for research, and most of any spare time is spent planning and researching.  They're due in January and I'm nervous, but they'll get done.  They have to get done.
Being a graduate student in London is in many ways ideal.  The accessibility to important centres and research institutions is wonderful.  Yesterday, I received a membership to a sixth library.  Crazy.  The only downside is now I have to keep track of six library cards...
However, the general higher education situation in London is tense.  Parliament is voting tomorrow to decide whether to raise university fees.  If it goes through, the cap on domestic student fees will rise from around 3,500 GBP to 9,000 GBP (that's roughly from $5,600 up to $14,500).  The concern, of course, is that will reduce access to universities, especially to students from lower income families.  There have been major student protests in London city.  I almost got caught up in one (as an international student who's paying far more than what the cap will even potentially be, the incentive for me to protest is quite minimal).  You can check out the BBC story about this particular situation at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11882582.  At at UCL, students have staged an occupation in the main building, and have been there for weeks now (BBC story at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11874633).  I walk by each day on my way to the library.  What has struck me most are the posters declaring 'Education is a Right, not a Privilege.'  What a different view the US (regrettably) has on higher education.

Work: Yep, I've found a part-time job to help pay for groceries and incidentals.  I'm working at Starbucks again (I did as an undergraduate and for six months after graduating).  My manager is from Vancouver BC, and worked for Starbucks in North America.  We get along splendidly, and I've picked back up on being a barista easily.  There are so many Starbucks stores here.  It's slightly ridiculous.  I work at one right at the foot of St. Paul's Cathedral, about a half hour walk from my flat, and I pass maybe 5 other Starbucks on my walk to work.  Fortunately it's not the Starbucks in St. Paul's courtyard, so the customers are primarily City of London workers, and not tourists.  The store is also only open during the week, so I still have my weekends.  The timing of securing the job, however, has added to my stress level, as I have had to re-work how I use my time as the term comes to a close.

London and beyond: Since I last posted, I've had two day trips out of London- one to Brighton and the other to Oxford.  Brighton is on the coast, two hours southeast of London.  I visited on a crisp clear day and had a lovely day walking around, with the exception of a terrible fish and chips on the pier, and a scary and angry old man accusing me of taking a picture of him (I didn't, by the way...it was a picture of a church).  Oxford was gorgeous.  I loved Oxford.  It has a small-town feel, but certainly a sense of self-importance (albeit somewhat justifiably).
I am a much more confident London resident, yet still have the most surreal moments as I walk back to my flat.  It's hard to believe I've been here for almost three months.  It's honestly still so painful to be apart from Chad, my girls, and friends and family, and waves of homesickness still wash over me while sitting alone in my quiet flat at night, but I am building a support base of London friends, had two amazing Thanksgiving dinners with them, and the lovely Jamie Forslund visited from Madrid for a whirlwind two days!  It was so good to have a visitor, and though we were frozen much of the time (the weather here is really cold...and we even had a couple days of snow), Dame and I had a great time.  I think my one of my favorite parts was with Dame at Borough Market.  We were enjoying a fantastic cheese sandwich (muy rico) and a raclette, when we were joined by a couple eating their take-out bangers and mash.  After exchanging some small talk (they were British), we got up to leave, and they wished us a Happy Thanksgiving!  It warmed my heart...that they knew it was a holiday for us.
I'll be having more visitors soon for the Christmas holidays- my baby sister, Betsy, will be here on Saturday and staying for ten days, Catherine Cheng, a PLU student I know from the admission office will be here for a couple days before she meets her family for the holidays, and Chad is flying in on Christmas Eve.  He's here for two weeks, and some of our plans include flying up to Glasgow (weather permitting) for a couple days, then down to Madrid for New Year's Eve with Jamie.

A Decision: Many of you know by now that this Master's is to prepare for admission to a PhD program in European History, in the hopes I'll eventually go on to teach in higher education.  'The Plan' had been that whilst here (yes, I'm beginning to incorporate British terms and spelling...you'll just have to deal with it) I would apply to PhD programs that would start Fall 2011.  'The Plan' has been changed.  (Oh, with what frequency 'The Plan' changes and will change in life...)  At this point in the year, I've done no real Master's work to use for PhD applications.  Simply put, it would have been too much to try to be a Master's student for less than two months and then turn around and go through the process of PhD applications, which have deadlines as early as December 1st.  So that means Chad and I will definitely be in Tacoma for at least another year, after I finish up here.  Not quite sure what I'll be doing (besides school applications...again), but I'm not too worried.  It's actually been such a relief to know I'll really be coming home to be home, instead of coming home to uproot and move again to start a new program.

I hope all is well with each of you.  Many blessings to you as you prepare for the holidays!

Royal Pavilion- ostentatious to say the least

Brighton Pier

View of Brighton from the pier

Halloween cupcakes!!

Fall in Oxford

This couple was dancing to Roger Miller's 'King of the Road'

Merton College

Merton College-the windows straight across were Tolkien's rooms

Merton College Cathedral

Getting good at self-portraits

Bridge of Sighs

Oxford's oldest building

Christ Church College- The Great Hall

Anyone recognize this staircase?

Look closely- portrays the murder of Thomas Becket 

Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) attended Christ Church College- some of the stain glass windows in the Great Hall have Alice in Wonderland characters

Tom Quad at Christ Church College.  Tom Tower is a Christopher Wren design (former student and also responsible for St. Paul's Cathedral).  Not just anyone can walk on this grass, by the way.

View from the tower of the 14th century Church of Saint Mary the Virgin.  The staircase was absolutely petrifying.

Radcliffe Camera

Spires of Oxford

Yes, I popped by the World Premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.  All the excitement was over, but was still cool to be there.

Jamie in London!

Hyde Park, The Serpentine

Harry Potter at Electric Cinema, coolest theatre ever...

because they have footstools!!

Jamie putting her feet up, enjoying a glass of wine, and watching Harry Potter after a long walk around London.

Thanksgiving Dinner.  Everything except the traditional turkey.  Instead, we had turkey pie with cranberries and stuffing.  Delicious!

Thanks goes to Corey, one of my classmates, for inviting us for Thanksgiving!

Changing of the Guard.  It was soooo cold that day.

Em, Dame, and Buckingham Palace.

Em, Dame, and Lord Protector Cromwell.

View from Waterloo Bridge. 

Borough Market.  Easily my favorite London Market.