Britney Spears: Artist of Choice for MP Researchers

So just to give you a little tidbit on my working environment...

R = the probably late 20's, early 30's senior researcher and foreign affairs specialist for my MP, married to an American diplomat, thinks he's America, plans on becoming an American, has an Obama poster on his wall... seriously obsessed with all things America... like actually fought with me today when I said I prefer the British legislative process over the American one

L = the twenty-three year old tasmanian devil hidden in the body of a small computer geek, absolutely hilarious, puts my unintentional noise making to shame, always cracking jokes and keeping me entertained

V = the older woman, kind of jumpy, but still really sweet, basically my MP's personal assistant, always nice and kind of the target of most of R & L's jokes

I can't lie... I laugh at least seven times an hour with these people. The British humor... humour... is bitter, sarcastic, and down-right hilarious. I'm pretty sure this is where I was supposed to be born. I love the office culture because it makes everything pain-free. Such an awesome atmosphere to work in especially since a lot of political office work can get a little monotonous.

A story to explain just another 5 minutes in my MP's office...

At the end of the day as I was preparing to leave, L and R inquired about whether or not I think my internship placement is better than my friends'. I began my reply "yes, i feel so lucky" only to be interrupted by L who begins singing none other than "She's so lucky, she's a star, but she cries, cries, cries with a broken heart thinkin'..." and R joins in... "if there's nothing missing in my life then whyyy do these tears flow at night." Yes, two educated male British political researchers sang a late 90's/early 2000's pop song by none other than Britney Spears. And I must add that this was not the first time a Britney Spears song was sung today. The others included "My Prerogative" (not initially a Britney Spears song, but still... the coincidence cannot be ignored) and "I'm a Slave For You" (ring any bells, mom? hahahaaaa good times.)

Anyway I thought I would share how extremely happy I am with my internship. The environment I work in is amazing and now that constituents are receiving the letters I've been sending and ministers are responding to my case requests, I'm beginning to see how I am actually helping people. I can't wait to see what 90's pop songs await me in the next few weeks. Can't believe I have less than two months left!

Fast Times Abroad Style

I promise I didn't forget about you. In fact, I tried to write a detailed recap of my fall break extravaganza when I returned last Sunday. Yet, after writing a few paragraphs I was exhausted and realized that there was no way I could ever really do the trip justice. So, in summary, I spent my fall break last week in Venice and Florence. We flew into Venice and stayed a night in a hostel there. We were able to meet up with Tonis, a fellow deac who is staying at the incredible Wake Forest house in Venice called Casa Artom.

As you can see in the picture taken from the Academia bridge, the house is basically a mansion on the Grand Canal, something that is very hard to come by nowadays. I had already been to Venice, but I found that for everything I remembered about it, there were 500 things that I had not appreciated during our family tour of Europe when I was 12. For instance, I don't remember the entire interior of St. Mark's basilica (pictured below) being a mosaic.

Literally wall to wall, floor to ceiling mosaic of gold, mossy greens and other majestic colors. It is kind of unbelievable that a man-made structure of such elegance and ornate design could have been made before the advent of actual machinery. We also climbed the clock tower in San Marco square, something I had not done on my trip to Venice, where we found the most compelling view of Venice I've ever seen.

As you can see, it was a very foggy day. Yet, I had never really understood the layout of the island with all of its canals and lagoons until I got a bird's eye view. Otherwise, we wandered the island, took a gondola ride, indulged in far too much Italian food, then headed via train to Florence for the rest of our break.

I have also been to Florence before, but I have no recollection of the city being such a vibrant, entertaining place. I remembered it being beautiful with its lovely bridges over the Arno and its cobblestone roads.

Yet, I didn't remember it having such a bumpin' night life. I also definitely did not fully appreciate the sheer genius behind the David until this trip. Staring up at the large statue, which has been around since the early 1500's, I truly began to see how brilliant mankind is. I mean... this statue was made 500 years ago by a simple artist. A genius, but just another man... without machines, without computers. And yet even down to the veins in his hands and the shape of his calf muscles, David is perfectly imperfect. I have never been so in awe of a slab of stone in my life. I loved that Florence was small enough to walk almost everywhere you would want to go in about 15 minutes. I love that like most European cities you can walk around with plastic cups full of wine and no one will care. I loved the Duomo, pictured here, and how it is essentially the centerpiece of the city.

Other than Washington D.C., can you think of an American city that is built around such an amazing piece of architecture. I wish American cities were as inherently beautiful as European cities. I think Americans would appreciate the finer things in life much more if we weren't accustomed to only seeing skyscrapers and shoebox shopping centers all the time. Before we left Florence, we went out to Chianti and took a short tour of a vineyard. We got to learn about the process of making wine and we were able to try an assortment of wines and olive oils made at the vineyard.

My favorite part was the drive before and after the vineyard because we got to see the rolling Tuscan hills. Italy has such a gorgeous countryside - I honestly felt like I was watching a movie as our van sped over the hills and through the rustic villages and towns outside of Florence.

I have also decided that one day I will own a vineyard... or at least live on one. At the end of the trip, I was very grateful for how great our accommodations were, how relatively smoothly our travels went, how helpful our fellow wake students were and most importantly for this whole opportunity. It was so great to be able to go to Italy and run into fellow Deacs who aren't even studying there (Tonis in Venice, Sallie, Louisa, Rebecca, and Mary in Florence, then girls from Spain like Jess, Briana and Kristen who were there for the weeekend).

Granted, I came back 15 pounds heavier (not literally, but I did average two gelato's per day, two pasta dishes per day, 8 forms of bread per day, 3 glasses of wine per day... roughly). Yet, as I always say, trucking through Italy for five days with some great friends and indulging in the culinary and cultural wonders of the world... welll... yes... here it comes... THAT is what studying abroad is all about.

Now, I don't want to put you to sleep, but this past week was kind of a major week in my study abroad experience so I can't just stop with my fall break summary. I will make this short though. Basically, I am on the downhill slope in study abroad. This is the second half of the semester. I have started taking my last class, Contemporary Issues in British Politics, and it's amazing. It's going to focus a lot on terrorism and international issues, which will be great. During our first session we watched a documentary about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that was so unbelievably eye-opening. I know for a fact I was not the only one cried as we watched a man walk through his friend's home and point out where his friend's daughters were sitting, playing or studying when their home was attacked. Four of the daughters were killed. Heartbreaking. Also, I started my internship with a member of parliament this week. For confidentiality purposes, I will leave my MP's name out of my posts. Yet, I will note he is very involved with foreign affairs and is a member of the conservative party. The office culture is brilliant. I work 10-5 with many breaks. I work closely with three people in addition to my MP in a very small office in the Portcullis House, which is right next door to the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, etc. Quite a change of pace from the days of Knicks PR. My favorite part may be that the food is subsidized... so it is very cheap to eat any meal/drink coffee. That may become a problem. Yet, a close second would be going to the Prime Minister's questions this past Wednesday where I saw Gordon Brown get hammered by members of his party and the Opposition alike. At one point an MP stood up and asked Brown "if he would keep fighting on until the bitter end", referencing his recent lack of public support. Now please, tell me how that would go over in Congress? Gah I love British politics. Other highlights from the week... I went to the England vs. Belarus World Cup Qualifying Match at Wembley Stadium along with 76,000 of my closest friends. The stadium was gorgeous, the crowd was hilarious and David Beckham is sexy even when you can't see his face because you're so far from the field. This weekend, Laura visited from Barcelona so I got to revisit some of the touristy sites that I haven't seen since my first few weeks here. We took her all around London from Portobello Market to Westminster to see Big Ben, London Bridge, etc. then over to Trafalgar Square and Picadilly Circus, then finally to Covent Garden where we indulged in scrumptious cupcakes. We also went to Billy Elliot last night, which was incredible. Honestly my favorite show so far in life because it was the perfect combination of two of my life-long loves. Politics and dance. I laughed (a lot) and cried (sort of) and just truly fell in love with the entire cast.

I guess you could say I've accomplished a lot in the past two weeks. I apologize for how long this post is, but I owe it to you and myself to explain what's been keeping me from updating you for so long. Here's what the rest of my semester looks like.... I can't believe I'm only here for less than two months now! Thanks for being patient with me and for surviving if you've read this far down...

10/24 weekend = Briel & Jeremy come to London!

10/31 weekend = Copenhagen for Halloween

11/7 weekend = Dublin with Kristen to visit Bridgie

11/14 weekend = Day trip to Bath

11/21 weekend = Paris with Kaitlyn to visit Mel?

11/28 weekend = Thanksgiving

12/5 weekend = LAST WEEKEND IN LONDON WHAAAAAAAAT??????? it hurts to think about....

October Sky

Unfortunately for you I do not really have any crazy stories of boozing or traveling just yet. Unfortunately for me this is because I have actually had to use my brain since I returned from the chaos that is Oktoberfest. This past week was my last full week of class for the semester. I had a paper on the advantages and disadvantages of the BBC's license fee due for my British Television Studies course due yesterday, I have another paper comparing the Department of State to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office due for my British Political Institutions course on Monday and we also have an exam for each class on Monday and Tuesday. I decided that it would be in my best interest to take it easy this week in order to do what I needed to do with these papers and exams and prepare for what next week has in store for me. On Wednesday I will be parting for my mid-semester break with a few of the girls from my program. We are spending Wednesday night and most of Thursday in Venice then taking a train to Florence for the rest of our break. I actually went to both places with my family when I was twelve so I think it will be interesting to see what I remember and if I leave with the same impression that I've held for eight years now. The one night in Venice will be my first hostel experience so I'll be sure to let you know how that goes. Also, I am hoping that we will be able to catch up with some of the people who are studying in those two cities. One of my goals in all of my travels is to get a feel for what the city is like for people who live there, not just the tourist side. Obviously I did not have much time for that kind of exploration during my time in Munich, but hopefully being in Florence for a few days will allow us to creep away from the tourist attractions like Ponte Vecchio and the Uffizi and toward some of the hidden wonders that Italy has to offer.

I must confess that I am in utter shock that it is October. When the calendar page turned, the temperature dropped significantly so it finally feels like I'm in London. Fortunately we still have not had more than two days of rain... hopefully that doesn't mean the rest of the semester will be one fluid downpour (no pun intended). When I return from my fall break, I will begin the rest of the semester, which consists of one class per week on Monday's and my internship with a member of Parliament four days per week. I have a friend visiting that first weekend after my internship begins and then Briel and Jeremy will be coming to visit the weekend after that (yay!!!). Then, I will be heading to Copenhagen for Halloween which will be ridiculous. I'm working on my plans to visit Bridget in Ireland and a possible trip to Barcelona and Amsterdam before the end of the semester. Unfortunately, I really do not have that much time left here. I was afraid that the semester might drag a little before I got here because I knew I would be out of my comfort zone and that every day would consist of new challenges and unfamiliarity. However, I am now beginning to understand why everyone says how quickly the time abroad goes. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting in the pit in the Knicks PR Department. Now, I'm sitting in the kitchen in my flat in London, looking out at an October sky as I try to find reasons not to read about how the FCO is similar to the Department of State. 2010 is going to have a hard time topping 2009.