Here is a comprehensive list of every singe blog post I’ve ever written. Happy Reading!
A Taste of the Royal Life
This weekend, I spent in a lodge where Queen Victoria frequented. I am, after all, in England. The MPA program took us away after a week of intensive math and stats classes to Cumberland Lodge which is one of the royal properties entrusted by the current Queen. Situated just outside…
Work Hard, Party Harder.
This week is LSE’s orientation week, yet us unfortunate first year MPA bunch still have intensive pre-sessional course in statistics. Last night was the postgraduate party hosted by the student union. Though on a Tuesday and we had class this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see a good bunch…
afternoon delight du village
Naturally, the day I need to prepare for my first exam in over 2 years was a gorgeous sunny day in London. Luckily, this exam doesn’t actually count for anything, more just an assessment and provide feedback. Yet for some reason, everyone in the program is taking it mighty seriously….
First Day of Big Kids’ School!
The past two weeks have simply been a warm up to the real deal. Today began the first day of graduate school at the LSE. It was, well, exhausting. The LSE is after all a city and an European school. There is not acres of green fields to spread out,…
Piecing the Puzzle
Within the international development stream of the MPA program at the LSE, we are only allowed to have one option unit during the first year. After a quick browsing through the approved option list, I immediately decided upon a course named “Regulations of Financial Markets”. While fellow students were struggling…
Tower Bridge is Folding Up
As a child, one of the first tunes I learned to play on the piano was “London Bridge’s Falling Down”, but we sang it in Chinese, of course. Then later, in English class, we learned to sing London Bridge is Falling Down, in English. Today, after a long day at…
Baby Steps
The first week of real classes came and went. The workload is quite intense already; it took me hours to simply put together the reading list for the term! At the same time, I’m being a complete dork and loving all of my lectures. I went to a few company…
50 Years of Service
50 years ago today, a speech made by President John F. Kennedy at the University of Michigan inspired the idea of the Peace Corps. Many before me have served and many after will. Maybe because I’ve just returned, but this short two years of experience is now a part of…
La vie à londres
Lagging behind on the blog. Grad school is slowly taking over my life, but I’m fighting it. Unlike my pre-Peace Corps self as an undergrad, I am determined to strike a healthy balance between work and life – getting more sleep and enjoying life for what it is.Heading into week…
Why, of course!
Half an hour to kill. Do I read a 130-pg document on electoral voting in the UK or write something fun in my blog? Not a tough choice there. On a Saturday morning, I was walking toward the London Bridge tube station along River Thames when I heard someone said,…
Happy Halloween!
Halloween falls on a Sunday this year, which fits nicely into a wild Halloween weekend. I’m not usually one that’s crazy into fancy dress (this is what British people call costume parties), but around Halloween time, I usually can get talk into putting on some silly outfit and have a…
An Autumn Day in London
After the printer at the LSE residence failed to print off the articles I need to write a 2,500-word essay on the failure of international financial regulation, despite my best efforts to revive the printer (45 min of fight), I gave up and decided to enjoy my day in London….
Old Friend in London
This weekend, I had my first visitor in London! Juliette, my French friend who spent the first 6 months of my service in Batié with me, was visiting from Paris. We hadn’t seen each other since she left Cameroon a year and a half ago. As always, it’s amazing to…
A Taste of America
On my 3rd consecutive year living away from the U.S.A., I actually am begin to miss that place – the land of abundance (excess). Last week while frolicking through London with Juliette, I discovered this: Juliette being the Parisian that she is, did not share my excitement in stumbling upon…
Putting on My Debate Hat
I haven’t written much about the academic aspect of my experience thus far here at the LSE. To be honest, I really am still trying to figure out what is going on and what is the best strategy in tackling the course work and getting organized so I don’t seriously…