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Tag: LSE

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By maxikaplan

This weekend will be my second go at bungee jumping here in the UK, where the weather has a tendency to cancel your first bungee attempt. I can’t think of a better way than jumping from a cliff to blow off stress while I get through this study period. Anyway, in my last blog I think that I wrote all there is to say about my study party here, so I’ll try to avoid it all together. It will do everyone some good to just not think about it, right? It will suffice to say that it is hard.

I’m reminded of how lucky I am to have gotten the chance to stay here for a year as I say goodbye to my friends who arrived for study abroad in January and are now leaving before I am. It is a really weird feeling because these are my friends from home home (New Jersey), and it is as if I am living here and they are just visiting, when in reality I leave in under a month. That is definitely weird, but what’s even weirder to me is when I take a day off to explore and find more and more places that I never knew existed in my nine months here. If anything, this is a lesson to myself to never stop exploring the city that you live in, because there is almost always something new that you haven’t seen before. London has old alleyways lined with pubs and townhouses in the way that Washington tries to have old alleyways, except the ones here are actually breathtaking. When I say that I explored a new area, it could be something as simple as a couple blocks that happen to have great food and great scenery. Many of the townhouses in London will have blue plaques on them indicating that a famous person once lived there. Around the corner from me last weekend I found the old residence of “Monty Python”—I didn’t even know that Monty Python was a real person.

I think that the perfect definition of how I feel about leaving London is undoubtedly bittersweet. I am past ready to leave this prison cell of a room that I currently occupy—while on a trip to Dublin my friends and I visited an old prison, and upon walking into a cell we quickly realized that it was just about the size of our bedrooms at LSE. I am definitely not ready to leave my friends here though, with whom I’ve spent my entire junior year. That is 1/20th of my life, to be dramatic. I have so much to look forward to when I get back (like returning to GW) that I really feel a combination of bittersweet and conflicted. Either way, I am excited for what lies ahead.

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By maxikaplan

With no time left to travel in this month long study period of mine, I’ve had to re-explore parts of my own neighborhood to keep myself entertained. Fortunately, it turns out that London is quite a big city, and that after 8 months of living here there remain parts of the city only a few blocks from me that I didn’t know existed. What is unfortunate, however, is the good weather that’s come to London just as I’m beginning to stay inside week after week to study. It’s as though my last eight months of fun were all at the expense of this study period, but as I’ve said before, if somebody would have told me this would be the case I would have come to London for the year regardless of study time. Whereas before the study period I had decided to take a few days a week off to explore, now I cherish my Saturday’s as my one vacation day, and so far they’ve been incredible. This past weekend there was a food festival of sorts in central London along the Thames, and since I’d never miss a food festival, I quickly made my way down there with my friends. These day breaks are proving to be the best way to re-energize for the week ahead of studying—one day of fooling around helps to keep me focused for 6 days it seems like.

With an exam on May 30th and my flight back to New Jersey booked for the 31st, my friends and I are beginning to realize that this year won’t be ending with much of a blast. Most students in the General Course here who are American would of course be used to the semester ending in excitement, but this program has flipped this idea on its head, and I’m not too happy about it. Surprisingly complaining won’t make it any better so I will stop here, but after 4 semesters at GW ending with partying, it will be interesting to see what it feels like to just take an exam and leave. In a sense it feels like I’ll be leaving London without a proper goodbye, but oh well—I will be back one day I am sure.

Now that I’ve painted this picture of all the fun being over and life going back to a regular schedule, I should say that I’m still having fun—just not as much fun that I was used to having over the past few months. That level of entertainment and freedom is very hard to beat, but once everyone makes it through these exams I am sure life will be good again. Until then, I’ll remain studying.

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By maxikaplan

My first week of studying for finals has commenced, and I can safely say that it was not all that bad. Yes, studying is time consuming and nobody wants to do it, but it feels good to get those parts of my brain going again after no quizzes and tests for nearly 9 months. Did I spend most of my time inside this past week, doing nothing but working? Yes, but it was good practice for what's to come, and I rewarded myself by taking this weekend off, which was incredibly helpful.

On Sunday was the London marathon, which I did not participate in, but I did go to the Paul Smith museum that day, and that was equally as fun as running 26.2 miles. Paul Smith is a well known fashion designer from London whose work also spreads to car designs, snowboard designs, etc., and this museum was wonderful. Paul had taken everything that was lying around in his office and put it into this museum for display—a brave move, but I am happy he did it because it was one of my favorite museums I have ever been to. The weather outside was 65 and sunny with not a cloud in the sky, and you can’t ask for anything much better than that in London. Saturday was nearly the same, and both days I spent eating well and enjoying the weather. Thankfully it does not cost anything to breathe in London, although it might soon.

As my time abroad is slowly coming to an end (I just booked my flight home for May 31st), I am getting quite excited for things that I have been deprived of for some time now, like $1 pizza from New York, and cheap food in general. Of course I miss my family too, but it is the little things that you forget about while you’re gone that seem so sweet when you are reminded of them. And I am sure of the fact that a few months from now I will be writing in my journal of how much I miss the little things in London. The grass is always greener on the other side I suppose, so you have to enjoy these things while you have them. With that, I now have to go enjoy my homemade dinner that is waiting for me. Ciao!

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By maxikaplan

Today is the day. I have about two months left at LSE until my finals begin, but I’m beginning to study for them today due to the sheer amount of material tested. Luckily, my grades do not carry over towards my GPA directly, but I am studying hard nonetheless because equivalent grades will be displayed on my transcript. This isn’t exactly the beginning of the end for me, however, because there is only so much time that one can spend studying—eventually you need a break, and I’m hoping to take full advantage of that time. Two months is a long time to do anything, let alone study, but I suppose what I should really be talking about here is my recent trip to Switzerland.

Unfortunately, my little four-day vacation cut quite deeply into my wallet—not a surprise in a country where the minimum wage is the equivalent to 25 US dollars—but to me every penny was worth it. The contrast between Switzerland and Croatia, where I had been the week before, was immediate from the moment I walked into the airport in Zurich. Everything was pristine and every train was on time. You can imagine my excitement over their efficient public transportation considering we got stuck twice in Croatia while we were traveling because of poor bus scheduling. We were to spend two and a half days in Zurich and a couple final days in Lucerne, about an hour train ride away. Zurich was fantastic, but the beauty in Lucerne is unlike any other country I have seen thus far. We rented boats to take out onto the lake, and the weather was so incredible that we took a second boat out the very next day. With the Swiss Alps in the background and not a cloud in the sky, there wasn’t much you couldn’t love. At night, my friend from GW had invited my friends and I to dinner at her family’s apartment in Lucerne, which was placed beautifully over the city. It was maybe one of the best views that I have seen in my past few months of traveling—it compares with the top of the Eiffel tower—and these people lived there! I was instantly jealous, but it was inspiring in a sense. And just like that, all my traveling for this year came to a close. It was incredibly sad but also incredibly rewarding, a feeling I had never felt before.

At this point, I’m beginning to prepare myself mentally for the many weeks of studying that lay ahead of me. In a way I feel as though I haven’t actually studied in a very long time, since the work you do at LSE during the year can’t exactly be considered studying. You are really reading a lot of information and taking as many notes as possible so you can review them later. Now, I have to remember how to get back into the groove of studying, and although I’m not looking forward to it, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Two of my exams I’ll be taking in New York during my internship, so that should make for a very interesting experience. If you plan on coming to LSE it is important to know that their exams stretch all the way until June 20th. This is very important for students who will have internships over the summer, because it will most likely conflict. With all my traveling over and done with, it looks like my next few blogs will have to be about London and my life in this beautiful city—I cannot complain.

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By maxikaplan

photoWith week one of spring break under my belt, I’ve arrived back in London from Croatia and am packing to leave for Switzerland later tonight. Two of my friends and about 40 other students from LSE spent the last 5 days in Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, as well as Plitvice Lakes and Zadar where we experienced some of the most beautiful natural landscapes and some of the worst infrastructure a city can build. Getting around was certainly difficult, but once we arrived to where we needed to be the travel was well worth it. At Plitvice Lakes for example, Croatia’s largest national park, we arrived at 2:30 and were waiting for the bus by 6:00 pm, but by the time 6:30 came around, we had realized that there was not going to be a return bus. With daylight quickly fading, we walked back into the park to find a hotel and luckily stumbled upon one of the only open hotels for miles. It seems that traveling in Croatia is one part planning and one part luck, but I could have cared less about the missed bus because of the natural beauty I witnessed there, as you can see in the photos below.

As I unpack from Croatia and prepare for Switzerland, I am expecting a very drastic difference between these two cities. In Croatia I was warned that a pizza pie in Switzerland could cost up to 35 euros (approximately 50 US dollars), where in Croatia a three-course meal just barely topped 20 dollars. I suppose that you get what you pay for though, and I am trying to enjoy my spring break as much as possible before the reality of finals begins to seep in. It was a stark reminder of reality when I received my finals schedule in Croatia and saw that I have exams beginning May 20th and ending June 17th, which should make for a particularly interesting few weeks of my internship. My friends in the General Course at LSE often mention how this is a price we would have been willing to pay to come to LSE no matter what, because the past 7 months of fun fully justifies a month of studying. How much studying my friends and I will actually get done during this study period is still up in the air, although it is definitely something to be taken seriously.

Before I go I just want to mention that any readers of this blog should feel free to reach out to me about any questions regarding LSE—GW will be putting my contact information on one of the sheets at the pre-departure orientation coming up, and I would be happy to answer any and all questions. Before I left for LSE I must have spoken to about 6 or 7 former General Course students for advice, and some of the things they told me were incredibly helpful for navigating LSE and London once I arrived. I have a plane to catch in a couple of hours, but I look forward to giving an update after Switzerland to see how it compares to Croatia.

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By maxikaplan

It is beginning to feel unreal that this is my second to last week of class at LSE. I’m not anticipating my six week study period here will be too adventurous, especially considering I have to take my exams in New York. What this means is that I have to really make the most of the next few weeks, because before I know it I will be studying for 12 hours a day. This sounds all gloom and doom, but it could be worse—a few of my friends at other schools have their grades at LSE counting towards their GPA, while I only receive a pass or fail. With that in mind, it looks like next week will be a night out on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and the week after I am hitchhiking to Croatia. So I suppose that I cannot complain too much.

photo 1I know that a rant about the greatness of the city of London is a surefire way to deter all readers immediately, but bear with me quickly. Today my friend David and I took a trip to Regents Park, which is North of my neighborhood (Holborn) and only about a 25-minute walk. I think for the first time in my history of blog writing that I will actually attach a photo to this post because the beauty of this park is indescribable. It felt as though I was no longer in the city of London, because everywhere we turned there was either another waterfall somewhere, or another pond where you can go paddle boating. I haven’t taken the time to look into why yet, but every park in London has a wide array of different species of birds, each one more beautiful than the next. They have the usual mallard duck and annoying pigeons, but the swans and other exotic birds add the perfect touch. Of all the people in the park, I would say half were probably sleeping in fields today because the weather was impeccable. In a city where it typically rains 6 days out of 7 a week, the locals definitely make the most of the sun.

In many ways, London reminds me of New York, not just because each are major developed cities, but because of their geography. Last weekend we took a trip to Chelsea and Kensington, which one could say is the equivalent to the Upper West Side of New York, and the neighborhood had an entirely different smell and feel than mine does. I mentioned in my last post that I would be spending significantly more time exploring the city than I have previously, and I suppose that that explains the contents of this blog quite well. I may miss a blog post while I am traveling to Croatia and then to Switzerland, but I will do my best to find a computer and type something out! I hope you enjoy the photos I’ll try to attach.photo 2

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By maxikaplan

With two weeks left of classes in Lent term, there are only two things left to do: work hard and plan spring break. The working hard part is proving particularly difficult, especially because the weather in London this past week could not have been better. In a city where it rains almost every day, 60 degrees and sunny is most definitely not the norm, and it makes you want to throw your books out the window and go for a run. The looming danger of finals is far enough away—about 2 and a half months—to still take the lazy Saturday off to explore London, which has been very rewarding but which can’t last forever. In two weeks, however, I’ll take off for a hitchhike to Croatia, and then fly to Switzerland and Greece, so I am really in no position to complain.

This week GW again managed to put together a great event by taking many of the study abroad students to see Puccini’s Turandot at the Royal Opera House on Friday night. This was an opera written in 1924 that takes place in China, although it was written by Puccini who was Italian, which made for a confusing story line, but the orchestra was incredible and it was an amazing experience nonetheless. These events seem to get better and better, and I would definitely recommend to the potential study abroad student that they try to attend as many of these as possible. Not only are they free, but you get to see all the other GW students who are studying here too, and it is reassuring to be reminded of how many of us there are in London. The day after the opera I walked around London with two of my friends that turned into the longest I’ve walked in London since I’ve been here. My legs really didn’t appreciate it, but it was an interesting experience because after living here for seven months you tend to think that you’ve seen everything there is to see. And then when you walk around you’re reminded of how massive this city is and how much there is to do, and I can probably say I’ve only experienced just the tip of the iceberg. Much to my dismay I have not even been to Brick Lane, which is a famous street in London known for its Indian food—something my long time readers (if I have any) will know I love.

Even though I am really looking forward to my spring break and not having any classes, any work, etc., I can’t express how in a weird way I will miss my classes at LSE. I’ve said before how the teaching style here is different from the US and GW in particular, but the breadth of material that they’ve taught me has been incredible, and I’m truly indebted to many of my teachers for their hard work as well. I am sure many of my blogs sound like an advertisement for LSE, so I will stop there, and in short just say that this experience has really defined my time in college. I’ll check in with ya’ll next week.

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By maxikaplan

It probably will not come as a surprise to most, but there is no culture shock in London. If there is and I have overlooked it, it cannot compare to what some of my other friends are going through in countries like Africa and Asia. So as I made my way this past week from Budapest to Prague through Hungarian cities which I cannot pronounce, I had my first, “I’m seeing the world” moment. History has not been so kind to some parts of Eastern Europe, but during my 7-hour bus ride to Prague I appreciated looking at the influence of the former Soviet rule on the dimly lit cities we rode through. Since my bus ride was overnight, I looked at the people getting on at 3 am from Bratislava and other far away cities and wondered why on earth they were getting on here and now. But they probably thought the same of me, and so it goes.

When we first arrived in Budapest and somehow negotiated where we were going to a taxi driver, I was practically in tears to see how cheap everything was. Two dollars for a beer? In London, I can barely find one for six, and I was almost sure that this was a little piece of heaven on earth. But then we came to Prague and beers were fifty cents and I nearly kissed the ground of the grocery store. Although Prague and Budapest are not too far from one another, the differences between the two are like night and day—in Budapest you can find a smile only so often, whereas Prague had far more of an uplifting spirit to it. This was a great pace of change for my friends and I, especially considering a bomb scare at the hostel in Budapest that had us shivering in the cold, wearing next to nothing, from three to six in the morning. Fortunately, when you don’t plan your days you have the luxury of waking up at noon, and this surely helped.

Without going into too much detail of either city, it will suffice to say that I had a fantastic six-day vacation that, to me at least, was much needed. It is a strange feeling coming back to London after a week away, because in a sense it felt like I was coming back home, but nothing can replace that feeling of actually coming home, and I missed my real home then. For better or for worse, I have only three and a half months left in London, and I am surely making the most of it before I head to New York for a much busier summer than the life I live here. My next two countries to visit are Croatia and Switzerland, and I will provide a more in detail blog when I return in about a month from them.

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By maxikaplan

As I’m about half way through my second semester here at LSE, I’m surprisingly still not running out of things to do, which makes me think that this would not be such a terrible city to live in. This past weekend, while I should have been writing essays before I take off for Prague next week, I took my second visit to Borough Market, one of London’s most famous. What makes Borough market incredible isn’t just its size, but it’s variety—after a two hour trip there I came home with cheeses from France and Parma, and two burgers for dinner: one from a camel, one from a zebra. In between my walking around I took a shot of wheat grass, which is essentially juice made from grass, and incidentally one of the worst tasting drinks known to man. The best part of this Saturday excursion was that I came back to the north side of the Thames not to finish schoolwork, but to stay out with a mix of friends from home and abroad at different pubs. It often feels like after having been here for five months that I am nearly living in a dream.

One of the advantages to being at LSE for the year is being able to really understand how the flow of schoolwork here functions. Taking this understanding to then take a week off from class to travel to Budapest and Prague is probably one of the better strategies of tackling work that I’ve used. Although this sounds like I am missing out on the academic experience at LSE, all classes are fortunately recorded online and I will not miss a thing while I am gone. To any sophomores who might be reading this blog thinking of applying to LSE, I could not recommend it more. This Friday I will be going to the Royal Opera House to see a world famous opera production, and tomorrow night I am going to a public lecture by one of my own class teachers about the merits of Bitcoin. This is truly a unique experience that is both academically stimulating and, not to sound cliché, but fun.

This fun is intermitted by periods of very high levels of work unfortunately, and it is time that I go to finish that work before my week off. GW is sponsoring the trip that I and the other students will be taking on Friday to the opera, and I owe them a big thanks for that, since I am especially excited for it. I will check in next week right before I take off for my travels. Talk to you soon!

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By maxikaplan

Sometime studying abroad can feel like you are in your own world with all those new experiences thrown at you.  But not going to the gym for two weeks, or not maintaining your daily routines and rituals as you would at home, will quickly bring you back to reality.  I had the unfortunate experience of knowing how this feels, but the pendulum has swung the other way now, and I am have luckily gotten back on track.  I wouldn't be surprised if there is another post similar to this about how to keep your routines in check while traveling, but I would like to share my own philosophies on this topic nonetheless.

Rule #1: Do what you would do with (most) of your daily routine as you would at home.  If you are a runner, don’t be afraid to run in your city, just be careful when you do since the streets here can be a little messy, especially when, you know, they drive on the other side of the road.  I didn’t get around to putting my running shoes on and touring the city until my second week here, and I wish I had done it sooner because it gives you an entirely fresh perspective on the layout of your city, and what the different neighborhood are like.  The only reason I say “most” of your daily routines is just to be aware to not do anything “culturally unacceptable” as you might back home.

Rule #2: Sleep.  I don’t need to elaborate on this too much, since it’s relatively similar to how you would do it at home, but I see a lot of students here who still try to operate on 5 hours a night.  Traveling can take a lot out of you—get those ~8 hours.

Rule #3: Eat out.  I find myself trying to save too much of my own money by not eating, when in reality it is most definitely worth the time to treat yourself right and take friends with you to eat at a new restaurant.  This is your new home, and you should be trying out new restaurants the same way you would as if you were living here for the next few years.

Rule #4: This is more of a personal routine, but put your camera down occasionally.  I promise that you will remember the sights you see for the rest of your life if they are truly worth remembering.  Sometimes a phone camera in front of your face can take away from the true value of what you’re seeing.

These tips might sound a bit abrasive, but they have done me so much good for me here thus far.  Joining the gym has begun to take the place of running for me as it begins to get colder out, but maintaining mental and physical health is just as important abroad as it is at home.  Take care of yourself.

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