London in the rain

My first day at the LSE summer school strangely resembled my first day in university. All these new faces, these excited smiles but also this nervouness as to where to go, what to do and who to say hi to. However, everything was EXTREMELY well organized with plenty of staff on hand to show us where to go and smiles on their faces as they greeted new students. LSE has very capable employees who make it their duty to make the student feel like they are very important persons. A very different way of treating students :) We then had a 30 minute presentation by some of the support staff. The only presentation I truly remember was by the security manager who was very funny and gave us a running gag for the remaining 3 weeks. LSE is safe but not secure (as we can be pickpocketed or our material / laptops stolen).

I had a chance to visit the library which is very big (so big in fact that they have an audioguide of 20 minutes to help us find our way along the massive historical and contemporary works they have stored there).

As my classes have really not started yet, I had a chance to visit a few things this morning. I also slept in till 8:30 AM (wow!!!). I got to visit the British Museum but visit is a strong word as I only spent about an hour in the actual museum. There is SO much to see and I just wanted to get a glimpse of the actual site. It's about 10 minutes walking distance from the residence so I'll probably pop in there on my way to classes or back. I'll try to do a few rooms every few days. It's free and very informative (great panels explaining many parts of our human history).

I wanted to visit the top 2 residences I had applied to... Ironically, they are approximately 200 metres apart and very well situated (about 15 minutes walk from LSE and 5 minutes walk from the Sainsbury grocery store). However, the similarities stop there. I first visited the International Hall. A very modern looking, clean, and well lit and secured building. It looked more like a very beautiful business building rather than a residence. I was greeted by Ellen, one of the employees who made it a pleasure of hers to show me around the residence. She told me the breakdown on international / British students was 50/50 and that she had stayed here the previous year and really enjoyed the fun and international atmosphere. The breakfast and supper is included in the residence fees during the week and the breakfast, lunch and supper is included on the weekends. Room is a regular size (not too small but not too big) and has been recently renovated. We are a stones throw away from a very nice park.

Goodenough lives up to its reputation as the building is absolutely beautiful with hardwood all over the inside and a large courtyard in the middle of the building where one can play football or bask in the sun. However, they were not very helpful as they did not wish to show me the rooms or the areas around the grounds. It really felt like an older type mentality. Very interesting contrast with the open, tolerant and friendly atmosphere I detected at the International Hall.

Which ever one accepts me, they both have their pros and cons although I am now leaning towards the International Hall rather the Goodenough. Strange? I'm very happy to have visited them before as this will probably influence my decision somewhat.

Tonight, I will be meeting up with Ted (from Lebanon), Nina (from Russia), Marko (from Germany) and yes, another Canadian, Ash from Toronto. We are going to see a very interesting conference called "The politics of Happiness". I'll let you know all about it in a future blog...