Skype, Poll

So I forgot to mention that I signed up for Skype yesterday, and I gotta say it's pretty sweet. Cheap calls home, free calls to other Skype users...look me up if you have it: RChu66

On a totally random note: is there anything else like getting rejected by a turnstyle?

I was thinking of this other day going into the library and thought I'd post it here. I can't think of anything like it...

Basketball Ramblings

So it's been a while, and for that I apologize, but aside from a weekend visit from Ryan Harms, my year in London is just steadily chugging along. Basketball serves as the only counterbalance to the doldrums of classes and homework, although the results thus far have been less than satisfactory.

After practicing for a few weeks, the LSE Beavers (yes, that's the mascot...no, there isn't a picture of a deranged beaver on our jerseys) kicked off their 2005-2006 basketball season with a visit to South Bank University. We exchanged baskets for the first few minutes before they pulled away on some and 1 dunks and timely three point shooting.

Final score: South Bank drowns the Beavers by 30.

Earlier today was our home opener, and what a home court it is. Scoreboard doesn't work, so there's one guy watching a stopwatch and shouting out the time, and one of those manual flip scoreboards in between the two benches. Add those to zero fans and one ref and welcome to London Basketball. Nevertheless, this game was much closer, but we still couldn't eek out a W.

Final Score: Greenwich by 5.

Some random facts about my experiences adjusting to international rules basketball:

-In the first game while lining up for free throws I stood at the top spot closest to the shooter...little did I know you're not allowed to stand there. The guy got two more shots on lane violations by me (made only one) before I realized what I was doing.
-10 minute quarters here...today at halftime I thought it was the end of the third. Energy conservation takes on a whole new meaning.

Sorry, no exciting pictures to show. Ryan was the photographer for the weekend, so hopefully I can get some pictures from him.

In the meantime, I hope these pictures from Bowling Night will hold you over...

Random Story of the Day: Mini Golf Scalping

We had some free time on Sunday in Hastings, so a friend and I went and played mini golf along the beach. The place had signs for "Mini Golf" "Crazy Golf" and in big, fancy letters, "Adventure Golf." We were a little confused as to the difference between the three, but it turns out that Mini Golf (3 pounds) is exactly how it sounds: miniature golf. "Crazy Golf" (3 pounds 50 pence) adds a windmill and maybe a dogleg, and "Adventure Golf" (4 pounds 75 p) is what we would call Miniature Golf. Those crazy Brits...

Anyway at the end of the mini golf they usually have those stupid holes where if you make a difficult putt you get a free game. This hole was set up like those skeet ball games at Chuck E Cheese back in the day: you putt the ball up a ramp and it launches into a variety of holes. The furthest one away is a free game. Now I lined up and jokingly took a practice swing before stepping up like it was a putt to win the Masters. I hit it and it actually went in.

Now probably never going back to Hastings to play mini golf, but I proceeded to spend the next 10 minutes outside the place trying to scalp the ticket to any potential putters. Now scalping tickets is one thing, but targetting fun-loving families on vacation felt five times worse. Eventually I found a family that wanted to play, and I talked up Adventure Golf to the kid so that his mom could justify the illegal transaction. I would never trust someone like me, but for some reason they did and I ended up making three pounds back and spending only 50 pence on Crazy Golf.

After typing all that I realize that this story took a lot more explaining than I anticipated, so I apologize for wasting 3 minutes of your time, but hopefully you're procrastinating and could use the reading material anyway...

Weekend Trip to Hastings

Often the best part about the first week of classes is the first weekend, when everybody re-learns the value of free time and futilely attempts to regain the summer mindset in the two days between syllabus week and the actual beginning of school. Interestingly enough my first weekend of the year in London was spent two hours outside the city and with fellow BCers. Now the "weekend" here doesn't mean as much as it does back home, partly because there is so little class and partly because really nobody cares that much about school until finals, which aren't until June.

My dorm organized a pub crawl for Friday night, introducing us to more places to drop three pounds for a pint, but still with potential for a good time. The first bar overlooked the River Thames to central London, lights outlining the city skyline...very cool. It's amazing how quickly I forget what it's like to be an illegal drinker back home. That is definitely something I could do without, and if everything goes according to plan the next time I go home it won't be an issue.

The weekend trip, sponsored by our parents and the large discrepancy between BC and London tuition, took a group of about 20 to the site of the Battle of Hastings, about two hours south of London. It was nice to get out of the city and breathe some fresh country air. There's something ot be said for being able to walk down a street and not have to play human dodgeball.

The British lost the Battle of Hastings to the French, yet the town was celebrating its anniversary this past weekend with a parade and the largest bonfire I've ever seen. Locals carried torches and dressed up in dark and gloomy costumes. The whole scene was very cool...especially while sipping a European 40 (closer to a 32) of San Miguel on the street.

Parades, beach bonfires, free food, and a hotel room that was showing the PGA tournament in San Francisco...couldn't ask for more.

I'm playing for the basketball team at LSE, except I don't have a jumpshot and I'm out of shape, so it doesn't look like I'll be representing American sports very well...we'll see how that goes.

Quick shout out to Will Goodson for inviting me over for a Sunday Roast that capped off a very nice weekend, and to people in Boston and from SF...I hope things are going well.

Here are some pics from the weekend:


First stop of the pub crawl, looking across the river
















Another pub picture
















Bodiam Castle
















Town of Hastings















Castle Ruins















BC Group to Hastings

I think my brain is full

Today marks two firsts for me here in London: the beginning of my academic journey at what everybody calls "The LSE," and in the culinary world I made my first attempt with red meat. Needless to say I spent the day in between classes wondering about how my sirloin steak would turn out. When I wasn't thinking about food though, I was frantically trying to teach myself how to take notes again. After nearly a five month break from studies my return to the classroom was less than stellar. I seemed to have revert to the attention span of a 10 year old during my summer at the bank, and it showed today.

Now I'm usually overwhelmed every first day of classes, but this place...the LSE...it's ridiculous. Syllabi are like 10 pages long, each week has about 15 suggested books for reading, of which you are to pick "a few" that grab your interest. Between four classes that's about 12 books-worth of knowledge per week that I'm supposed to pick up.

Unfortunately I think my brain is full. Any space that was left filled instantly with cooking recipes, which I hear are as much about tweaking to your liking as they are about following the actual directions. Either way, the onslaught of information that is coming in the next 9 months--both in the form of recipe analysis and economic analysis--will surely fry my brain. Next time you BCers and SF people see me I'll be a shell of my former self...prepare yourselves.

Since my dinner doesn't make for very good pictures, and neither does me sitting in class. Here are some pics from a day trip to Hampton Court Palace, a favorite residence of King Henry VIII, I believe. This place was ridicuously large, we walked around for about 3 hours and saw only about 50% of the place. Interestingly enough, one of the buildings was originally used for about 50 toilets, all in one room, for the palace's guests. The idea was that while you were sitting there shoulder to shoulder you could see your friends walk in and talk to them...classic.


Hampton Court Palace - a view from the garden
















Clock in the inner courtyard, still has the same cogs as it did 500 years ago

An inner courtyard
















A view of the gardens...and this was only about 1/8th of it