First impressions of the LSE

Now that I'm officially a student again (have ID card, will get discount), I feel I should share my experiences at my new university so you can have an idea what it's like to be not just a mature student (+25) but practically an ancient student (+30!).

I'm at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE).  Yes, that's right, the one with the whole Libyan government scandal...  Or maybe I shouldn't be emphasising that one!  In serious terms, it's a pretty good university (46th in the world), although not as good as my previous alma mater (Oxford is now 4th in the world).  More importantly for me though, is its ranking as a social sciences university which is very good (check out this link for more info) and the fact that I'm affiliated with a world-leading climate research institution, the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. 

For my PhD I'm going to be looking at something to do with climate scepticism and impacts on policy-making.  Or so I hope!  I'm sure that it's going to change somewhere along the lines, but hopefully a year from now it should all be pretty settled.

But enough about me, and more about the university.  Well, it's right in the middle of London, minutes from the City, Covent Garden, the Thames, and Trafalgar Square.  Hopefully I won't be too tempted to do much shopping!  The campus itself isn't really like a normal university campus, basically being a small collection of buildings virtually un-isolated from the rest of the city (so I found out the other day when a truck barrelled full-bore down what I had naively assumed to be a quiet pedestrianised street).  It's the usual mixture of brand spanking new buildings and old, falling into disrepair mazes of lecturers' offices and study rooms.  I've heard that it can get to fisticuffs in the library around exam time regarding access to computers, so luckily as a PhD student I have access to dedicated computer rooms so won't ever have to defend my computer with my body...

The other students (mostly PhDs and Post-Docs so far) are all extremely friendly and welcoming which is great, and there seems to be no end of clubs and societies, as well as interesting speakers and events to help you while away the time you ought to be spending studying...

But I'm determined to be focused and to finish on time (your three years starts...NOW!), so hopefully it'll be more reading of books than drinking of pints (although obviously some leisure time is a clear necessity...).

Wish me luck!

Autumn in Aotearoa

Paying £1400 for a four minute appointment at the immigration office (solely to get fingerprints and a photo taken - both of which they already had on file from a previous application) seems slightly OTT, but that's what it takes to get a UK student visa these days...  Oh, and that's not including the approximately £250 cost of the visa itself - yikes!

But, it made for a great excuse to go home for a three week visit.  I behaved like a proper socialite, with morning and afternoon teas, lunches and dinners scheduled at every available opportunity.  I gorged myself on sushi as it's so expensive and so terrible in London compared to NZ (massive shoutout to Umi Sushi in Takapuna - the best sushi rolls in NZ and only $1 each!).  Big thank you to Mum for supporting my sushi habit too; I was mightily spoiled.  It was great being at home in general - I certainly got used to a life of luxury again very quickly!

Another highlight was going with Dad to a Rugby World Cup game (Australia versus Italy).  We were passionate Italian supporters, but despite going into half-time at a nail-biting 6 all, it wasn't to go our way, with Australia storming home in the second half.

Here's a video of Dad and I at the game enjoying the fantastically temporamental Auckland weather:

It was great seeing everyone as well, particularly the lovely Auckland ladies who are just as gorgeous as ever.  I had a fleeting visit down to Wellington as well which was excellent.  I tried to see everyone, and even though a few people missed out, my bank balance certainly reflected the fact that I saw as many people as I possibly could!  It was so interesting catching up on what everyone's getting up to, and I particularly enjoyed seeing the next generation - little Sonja and Oscar were so adorable.

I hardly took enough photos, but the few I did remember to take are here using this link, so check them out.

Amerrrria in Tokyo

The rationale to visit Tokyo was pretty simple: my friend Nicci lived there, I love Japanese food, and it was on the way home.  Sorted!  The extra NZ$1200 it added to the cost of my flight...well, we'll just forget that shall we...

Overall impressions were of lots of shrines (Shinto) and temples (Buddhist) - I visited the Yasukuni Shrine, Meiji Shrine, Asakusa Kannon (also known as Senso-ji) Temple, Nezu Shrine, and tried, but sadly failed to find the Gyokushin Mitsuin Temple (it sounded amazing, you enter the temple, then descend to a pitch-black, 100m long stone tunnel, before emerging into a room filled with 300 candle-lit boddhisattvas...but no sign-posting at all meant I wandered the streets of Tamagawa for nearly an hour before giving up...).  And that's not to mention all the tiny shrines and temples I saw all over Tokyo - each slightly different and generally always with someone there offering up a prayer.

And then obviously the food was incredible - my favourite was probably the 'stand-up sushi bar' Nicci took me to on our first night where the chef makes the sushi up in front of you as you order it - I especially loved the salmon ngiri where they took the blow-torch to the mayonnaise on the top of it so it was all bubbling and delicious...mmmm...  I also had freshly caught tuna for breakfast at the Tsukiji Fish Market, ramen with the Tokyo salary-men during the lunch rush (I loved it, you order from a vending machine, take it to the counter, and then a steaming hot bowl of noodles arrives minutes later), an incredibly expensive prawn tempura with hand-made soba noodles (note to self, always find out the price before you order), and a very non-Japanese but delicious pizza from Costco in the 'burbs one night.

I did heaps of walking, including a walk around the imperial heart of Tokyo which includes Kitanomaru Park and the Imperial Palace East Gardens, as well as a great walking tour through a suburb of Tokyo called Yanaka, which was very relaxed and included a walk around the Yanaka Cemetery, famed for its cherry blossoms (although not when I was there - it was stinking hot and everyone was carrying around little sweat cloths to mop themselves up with...).

Other great things included the free viewing platform at the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (although it was too hazy from the heat to see Mt Fuji), the kitchen-ware district (known as 'Kitchen Town' or Kappabashi Dori) and having a traditional onsen in piping hot mineral-rich water.

Japan has experienced a 95% drop in tourism since the earthquake, so other tourists were few and far between, lending the city quite an 'undiscovered' air which was odd (I mean, come on, this is Tokyo!!).  But it was totally safe, and the wonderful hospitality from Nicci made it even more special.

Click here to see the rest of the photos!

A taste of Japan

This is at the Cold Stone Cremery, an ice cream chain which was highly recommended to me as worth a visit while I was in Japan.  This one is in Roppongi Hills where the staff were super enthusiastic!

More photos and stories of Japan to come...

Flying through the air with the greatest of ease

For our five year anniversary, I took Adrian out on a date.  But not just any old date, a trapeze lesson date!  It was part of the summer session of the Gorilla Circus down in Battersea Park, and was a two hour class learning how to do a knee-hang move.

I could explain it, but here's Adrian getting it perfectly on his first go!

Damn those naturally talented people...  I had a bit of a harder time:

But in the end I managed to get it!  I was so determined that there was no way I wasn't going to get those legs through that bar...

But because Adrian was able to demonstrate he was good enough, he got to do a move with the instructor:

Impressive non?!

Here are the rest of the photos.  I'm covered with bruises today and have incredibly achy shoulders - but it was totally worth it!