And I thought WM was liberal

Let me preface this post by saying that I am not supportive of Israel's actions, yes they had every right to defend themselves but law states "by proportional means" I think the story of the pro-Israel doctor in Gaza (clearly no hamas in his house) who lost two daughters demonstrates that Israel made serious mistakes. (Hamas also was not justified in civilian killing). So this post is not meant to demean any efforts for peace.

And with that disclaimer out of the way!

For the past week Palestinian students and supporters of them "occupied" one of the buildings on campus. As far as I can tell it was all very peaceful and some demands made sense (waiving application fees, diversifying the school) but really it was almost like LSE was a country ...like our director could actually do something. It was kind of funny getting email updates about "negotiations" I felt like it was CNN updates.

Good for them for pushing for change...kind of odd to occupy a building

The thing I miss most about America

-Walking into a building and feeling warmer (God bless central heating)!
-Having a whole week go by without rain.
-Soft toilet paper (even the posh stores can't compare to charman!)
-One dollar bills

I left my comfort zone to try something new...being a life long skier it was time to snowboard! Sadly I had an epic fall which appears to have broken a wrist & tail bone! I mostly feel bad for my instructor I think he feels partially to blame (but isn't- hey I be clumsy).

Anyway since one handed typing isnt so fabulous I wont be blogging for a while!

x
kate

I got upgraded to first class on my flight from London to NYC...Hurray!

What I don't understand however is the chairs can rotate so you can have an office, have a bed, do what ever....yet for some reason the bathrooms are still the same size and gross level they are in economy. What is up with that?

Hmm

I have not blogged in a while...however being a graduate student a large portion of my life is just reading and writing papers so you can understand my aversion to even more writing and spending more time thinking!

It is the last week of courses (how you can learn anything of substance in ten weeks is beyond me) so my resolution has been to do something around the city I have been meaning to do every day. Monday I wandered to Carnaby St where there are some vintage shops and boutiques I like. Sadly that was all a miss (the one boutique still had all the clothes from when I was there in sept.) I did buy a bad ass pair of shoes though.

Today I wandered around this area behind the Tate Modern that is up and coming with shops and restaurants...looks like some good places to eat but all the shops just seem to be inventing their own version of urban outfitters.

Tomorrow I shall finally do a pub quiz and Thursday I am shopping with my bartender (perhaps I spend too much time at my pub).

I do have a really lovely post about gay/straight... straight/gay men but I am going to be a guest blog so gotta save it for later.


Other than that my current mood is that London is cold and rainy...perhaps Boston should be my next city. After the events of this weekend Emma and I have concluded that 95% of men are pretty much poo.


Hurray for returning to America soon!

The thing I miss most about America

The thing I miss most about America.... toilets that flush with conviction!

Over here you have to really warm them up to get them to do anything, back home you can do it all in one swoosh!

Smile you're on candid camera...kind of

Wednesday was not a kind day to me.

I got on the bus like ya do and began reading my anti-cooperation book because I am a tree hugging hippie. At one stop four guys got on with a toilet (yes a real live toilet) I did not think much of it because well this is public transport in London. The toilet had a picture of Gordon Brown on it (PM of England) and they were trying to sell it to the guys in front of me saying it had just been shown at the Tate etc. They also were obnoxiously taking camera phone pictures of them. So after they failed to sell it to them they moved onto me. I politely said no and attempted to continue to read. Of course they would not be stopped that easily...they began to ask me what type of art l liked "abstract" ...'no", "modern"...."no", "do you like urban"..."no" Which prompted the response "oooo you don't like urban people so are you like racists" At this point I am like o crap I am going to get a beat down..so I attempted to explain that I wasn't actually paying attention, just saying no so they would move on, and that I did not know what the term actually meant. They then proceeded to ask me if I voted for Barack Ossama, I told them it was Obama which prompted another racist accusation (this time that I don't like muslims). They bothered a few other people on the bus and then got off, but first urged us to buy their cd. Once they got off two airhead girls proudly announced they were with MTV who was filming a new reality show that we had all just been filmed on (o dear). They explained it was a show tracking these "rappers" rise to stardom (they are a made up group) and that the whole thing was shot via camera phones. They encouraged all of to sign the paper so that they could use the footage....not a single person on the bus signed. Thankfully I don't like MTV that much to be allowed to be painted as racist on their new reality show (which being shot with camera phones will probably just make people feel ill watching).


Anyway that was my encounter with stardom this week....guess I just don't want my 5 minutes of fame.