I've been meaning to write again for a while and haven't gotten around to it. The past weeks have been so full and my first term is HALF OVER! Crazy! I fortunately only had one written assignment this term and it's been submitted so I can rest easy until the final exam essays in December.
I think I've mentioned pub quizzes on here before. They are trivia nights where teams compete to win the most points and every respectable pub has a weekly quiz night so there are about 50 pub quizzes going on around London on any given night. There's a pub called the Roebuck near my friends' student hall and about a 10 minute walk from me that has a big room where Charlie Chaplin performed for the first time. Every Tuesday is their famous pub quiz and a group of my friends from Rotary are regulars so I made it last Tuesday for the first time. The killer question at the end won the prize of 250 something pounds (!) that night and we got the answer wrong by a couple of centuries. But my team (the InQUIZition) won the entire quiz by about 5 points and won a free bottle of champagne!! I can't say I helped much because the only question I actually knew the answer to was, "Who lives at 24 Sussex Drive?" but it was still an excellent way to spend a Tuesday night! Going for the cash next time!
Wednesday was Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night, so after a late class I caught the bus with my friend Ryan to see the fireworks at Southwark Park near my flat. I LOVE fireworks and it made me homesick for ooing and aahing at the Detroit River in June. I tried to ooh and aah really loudly but Ryan still didn't join in. Some little kids did though.
Then today I had a full morning of classes, came back home for a nap (I have a bad cold and was a bit fevery today - I don't nap every afternoon), and then headed off to Canary Wharf for a training session at Doctor of the World (Medecins du Monde) where I've applied to volunteer! They do international work, but also have a clinic here in London that helps excluded people get access to basic medical care. The NHS offers basic service free to absolutely everyone but many undocumented migrants or trafficking victims are afraid to seek help for fear of being reported to the Home Office or past negative experiences with health care. This clinic helps them get regular medical help, refers to advice on legal counsel and also refers to mental health services. I am so impressed with the organization and the training they offered this evening. It would be a fantastic place to get some experience and potentially do research and I'm sooo excited. Might be kind of competitive though, everyone else there tonight was in med school or already a doctor!
So that's my breif update! I am going to a Fulham vs Huddersfield FOOTBALL game on Saturday and that's also the day of the Lord Mayor's Parade. The Lord Mayor is the head mayor of all London mayors and he has a party every year. It's apparently a really cool parade and the day ends in an amazing fireworks show. So hopefully will make it out to see the end of that and end a busy week with a busy weekend! (I do schoolwork too!)
I think I've mentioned pub quizzes on here before. They are trivia nights where teams compete to win the most points and every respectable pub has a weekly quiz night so there are about 50 pub quizzes going on around London on any given night. There's a pub called the Roebuck near my friends' student hall and about a 10 minute walk from me that has a big room where Charlie Chaplin performed for the first time. Every Tuesday is their famous pub quiz and a group of my friends from Rotary are regulars so I made it last Tuesday for the first time. The killer question at the end won the prize of 250 something pounds (!) that night and we got the answer wrong by a couple of centuries. But my team (the InQUIZition) won the entire quiz by about 5 points and won a free bottle of champagne!! I can't say I helped much because the only question I actually knew the answer to was, "Who lives at 24 Sussex Drive?" but it was still an excellent way to spend a Tuesday night! Going for the cash next time!
Wednesday was Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night, so after a late class I caught the bus with my friend Ryan to see the fireworks at Southwark Park near my flat. I LOVE fireworks and it made me homesick for ooing and aahing at the Detroit River in June. I tried to ooh and aah really loudly but Ryan still didn't join in. Some little kids did though.
Then today I had a full morning of classes, came back home for a nap (I have a bad cold and was a bit fevery today - I don't nap every afternoon), and then headed off to Canary Wharf for a training session at Doctor of the World (Medecins du Monde) where I've applied to volunteer! They do international work, but also have a clinic here in London that helps excluded people get access to basic medical care. The NHS offers basic service free to absolutely everyone but many undocumented migrants or trafficking victims are afraid to seek help for fear of being reported to the Home Office or past negative experiences with health care. This clinic helps them get regular medical help, refers to advice on legal counsel and also refers to mental health services. I am so impressed with the organization and the training they offered this evening. It would be a fantastic place to get some experience and potentially do research and I'm sooo excited. Might be kind of competitive though, everyone else there tonight was in med school or already a doctor!
So that's my breif update! I am going to a Fulham vs Huddersfield FOOTBALL game on Saturday and that's also the day of the Lord Mayor's Parade. The Lord Mayor is the head mayor of all London mayors and he has a party every year. It's apparently a really cool parade and the day ends in an amazing fireworks show. So hopefully will make it out to see the end of that and end a busy week with a busy weekend! (I do schoolwork too!)