I Survived: Exams

I think I've finally fully recovered from my first round of grad school exams. I can now return to both society and my human life.

You think those exams you took in undergrad were tough? Stressful? Anxiety inducing? They were. So now take those and multiply them by about 100000 and you'll get a sense of how my exams were.

Last week feels like it was yesterday and an eternity ago all at the same time. For the weeks leading up to them I was studying and worrying and thinking, "I'm worried, but I'll be fine". The two weeks before I basically lived in the library and became all too intimate with the woman who cleaned the private study rooms. I also somehow went a whole month without wearing real pants. Separate accomplishment.

So as to not make this post insanely long, I've devised a list to help me properly describe what taking master's exams is like here in London. Now, I'm not sure if it's like this other places in Europe or if King's enjoys a specific type of torture, but my experience has been scarring.

The Basics: 4 exams in 5 days on topics so vague you might not even recognize them as topics. See: Management.

Location: Kensington-Olympia Conference Center

Travel Time to Location: 1-3 hours, depending on how well you understand what the tube is doing. LOLOLOLOL

Things you can bring: Nothing. They barely allow people to actually be there.

Procedure: Mostly shuffling around in a giant conference center with 2000 other anxious people and not enough bathrooms until you get to sit in a giant room at a very wobbly t.v. tray in a plastic folding chair.

Governing Forces: Invigilators. They have clipboards and yellow traffic vests. Do. Not. Mess. With. Them.

Announcer: God. I call him this because he sets the rules, the tone, and is a bodiless being that speaks constantly.

Amenities: Areas of the floor to throw your coat. Also, partially working bathrooms. Sometimes.

Population: 2000 people attempting not to have uncontrolled bodily functions happen due to nerves.

Now, I may be making this sound intimidating. Good! I'm getting my point across! But really, on the way there the first day I was with my friend and fellow classmate and she commented on how quiet I was. I responded saying that I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, instead of words, it would be vomit. Quite an image I've painted for your there, huh?

These exams were absolutely the hardest most difficult and challenging thing I've ever done. I've never studied more and felt less sure about anything in my life before. You cover 3 months worth of material in class and then have to guess what the best topics would be to study. All of the exams are essay questions and you do not know what is actually on the exam until you're sitting in your seat and God tells you that you can begin and flip over the paper.

The essays are supposed to be well thought out, answer the question, and develop conclusions based on what you know. They also expect the essay to be structured well and you must cite references. Yes it's not enough that you crammed more information about Agency Theory and cultural and institutional issues relating to globalization into your brain than you thought was possible, but now you have to remember who wrote what! This was by far the most difficult part. In panic mode, you forget everything and want to cite either Smith or Johnson for everything. Those are common names, right? They probably wrote something, right?

Once exams are over, you tend to want to have an emotional purge, but really, you end up sleeping for about 20 hours. It wasn't until our first week back to classes (on the Monday following our last exam on Friday. No rest for those who voluntarily do grad school.) that you find out that you will not know your grades until March, and that they are only "probationary" grades until April. Our next exams are in May. There are apparently ethics meetings about the exam grades, each professor must grade their own and another professors, and additionally, the exams are then sent to another UK university to grade. Three people grade your exam. Not intimidating at all!

I must say, no matter what happens, I did my best and I feel pretty accomplished about these exams, even if they did give me stress I've never felt before in my life.

Just so you understand the exam halls, here are photos of the seating arrangements and what you're allowed to bring.  Please excuse the shaky photos. Nerves mixed with no cell phones allowed.

Sailsbury & Stonehenge, among other things

I've officially been here for a month. That's totally crazy! A few of us were just talking about it over tea (yes, we've all decided that we're super British and discuss things over tea) and we can't believe how fast this is going.

This past week was fairly standard as far as classes, etc went. The reading has somehow continued to multiply and someday I'll get used to it. On Sunday, though, I finally did something outside of London! Through a friend, I signed up for an all day trip that took us first to Sailsbury and then on to Stonehenge. Here's the recap.

We met at a hotel near St. Pancreas around 9am to get on 4 coach buses and drive to Sailsbury. We got there at about noon and had 3 hours to have lunch and explore. Our first stop was a little British pub that served very British dishes so I finally had my first real meal out. After lunch, we walked a few blocks to the famous Sailsbury Cathedral. It was amazing! I've seen a few Cathedrals here in London as well as some in France, but this one was definitely one of my favorites. There isn't a tour or an audio tour, so you can just wander through at your own pace and look at whatever interests you. Here are a few snaps of the afternoon spent at the cathedral.

Bunny ears have apparently just come to Europe. 

After we finished touring the cathedral, we got to see the Magna Carta, but since photos were not allowed, you can just picture the old piece of cow hid with very squished Latin written on it. It's pretty awesome that they still have it and that it's totally readable after so so so long. Fun fact: there are still 3 clauses that are still in use in the UK today. 

At about 3pm we all went back to the buses and took the short ride to Stonehenge. You have to get a shuttle up to the actual stones from the very modern looking cafe that they drop you off at. There is a guided audio tour for Stonehenge, but honestly, it was more fun trying to get all 6 of us in photos along the perimeter of Stonehenge so we didn't really use the audio guides that much. We did, however, manage to take nearly 50 selfies that only cut out most of us about half the time. Success! 

It was pretty rainy by the time we got to Stonehenge, but it really set the stage. Here are a few photos! 

Sighted! 

 The far side - you can sort of see the circular ditches around it. 

 Oh man - it's looking pretty impressive now.

 I'm here! 

The selfie that took 1000 years - we sort of did it! 

Overall, it was a pretty great trip. Even though I lost a day of studying, it was worth it and I'm so glad I got to see some pretty famous things. 

Now, the weekly list of favorite things: 

- Sailsbury & Stonehenge 

- Single person portioned food at the grocery store 

- The classic London weather (I'm still enjoying it for now!) 

- The cobblestone streets that are just normal streets 

Cheers! 

Week 3 - Lizzing London

Grad school is hard. I mean, I know that's pretty obvious, but until you get into it you don't really think about it that much. I give props to anyone who does this while working / being a parent / doing anything else because of the sheer amount of reading and work that needs to be done!

Classes are going well so far and I'm enjoying the content, but honestly, they all sort of blend together a bit. I have all of my classes on Mondays and Tuesdays (That's 6 hours straight each day) so by Tuesday night (right now) my brain feels like it's seeping out my ears. Quite the image, right?

I had a meeting with my "tutor" today and I felt so much better about things after that meeting. At King's each student is assigned a personal tutor for the year. They are a professor who is teaching one of your classes during the year and is someone you can go to for advice, help, questions on material, and potentially as references after the program is complete. This is something that I think King's does really well - and I know it sounds like I'm sponsoring them now, but really, this is pretty awesome. It's basically someone to say "Yep, stuff is really hard and it's only going to get harder and there is a ton of reading, but honestly, if you didn't think it was hard we wouldn't be doing it right". Pretty relieving!

Aside from school, I have had more of a chance to enjoy being in London lately since I've gotten a better handle on my schedule and how to plan my days. Since I have somehow lucked out and gotten two days of classes, that means that I have five day weekends. European weeks? I wish.

Last Friday, I went on a night bus tour that was set up by the building I live in. Not much to say here aside from - wow, my city is amazingly beautiful.

Some of my coworkers from my office in Chicago were here last week and it was SO NICE to see familiar faces and just generally hang with people who already know me. I didn't have to be as on my game as with my friends from school. (We're still new and in the "please like me, I'm making good impressions" phase of our friendships). We went to the Borough Market, walked around Kensington Gardens, and went on our own little pub crawl in Queen's Park with some friends from the London office. It was awesome. And super London-y because it rained the whole time. For what it's worth - my raincoat is perfect.

Weekly list of my favorite things right now:

- Getting the front seat on the top level of the bus. See the Shard? I live right next to it. Ah!

- Indian food is literally amazing here. All of it. Anywhere. Even the frozen meals.
- CityMapper app. It is on the list again because I couldn't live without it.
- Having a "regular spot" at the library where I meet my friends.
- The fox in the courtyard now has a name. Foxy. Really original.
- Making a breakthrough in my flat. If you know me well, you'll already know this story.
- I'm rubbish (see see!) at taking care of plants. I think. Unless it's supposed to look like this:

Thing I learned to fear this week - flying daddy long legs. Yes, these are real. They are just like those spiders in the U.S. that have super small bodies and really long, thin legs and are totally creepy BUT THEY FLY HERE. I would have a photo of this, but in moment of sheer panic, you tend to forget all about capturing moments. They come in your window when you least expect it and the next thing you know you have a boot on each hand and you're jumping around your room yelling "I've aggravated it!!" Don't ask me how I know this.

Cheers!

Lizzing London - I'm here!

Hello from London! This has basically been my subject line in every email I've sent in the last two weeks. I'm finally here and somewhat settled into "normal" life. I've been here for 2 weeks now and can say that I do feel like I live in London! Here are some major topics and some updates.

Classes: 
Classes started last week and I love them so far. Although, there is so much reading my eyes might fall out of my head. I am starting week 2 tomorrow and basically have all of my classes on Mondays and Tuesdays only until my certification workshop starts in late November. That leaves a lot of time to do fun things - like more readings for class haha. But really, it does help that I have a 5 day weekend and can really space out how I want to work.

My Flat:
The building is tucked away behind a busy high street in the borough of Southwark. That flat is laid out very oddly, but it's pretty functional nonetheless. My room is a bit bigger than I thought it would be and I have plenty of storage space. I have three roommates that I'm very slowly starting to get to know who are from China and Mexico. The building is only for Postgraduates at King's, so I've met a lot of people who are doing as much reading as I am so it's nice to have some study buddies.

The area: 
I basically live in the Lakeview of London with just a hint of Wicker Park mixed in. It's technically in Central London, but just outside of all of the major landmarks. I live south of the river, so when I travel to one of the campuses, I get to walk across Waterloo bridge and see this:

OMG, right? I get to live here!



People: 
I've gotten to meet people from all over the world since the building I live in is only for International students. My program is also very international with students from 35 countries out of the 90 of us - pretty awesome!

I have learned so much already just being here two weeks. Here's what I've been thinking about the most.

- I take English for granted and I'm totally spoiled by the fact that everyone else has to speak English to me.
- I need to learn 10 languages ASAP.
- I can get by with only 4 pillows on my bed.
- Coffee and I are BFFs again.
- Weekends are for class reading. As all days of the week are.
- Getting lost in London is a right of passage. Unlimited data for GPS is a must.
- The CityMapper app is a literal life saver.
- Buses are awesome for getting you places, but they often don't take the route they're supposed to. Be prepared for unannounced detours for no reason at all.
- The coins are still confusing.
- Groceries are the most expensive thing ever.
- Foxes to London are rats to Chicago.

Lizzing London, Volume 2: Two Weeks to Go

Welp - we're in the final countdown!

I've been unemployed for about a week and a half. I'm sorting through my things to get it down to just a suitcase or two. I'm spending time with family and friends.

Right now, it all still feels like I'm just on a bit of a vacation from my real life and that I'll be going back to work and my normal life in Chicago very soon.

Here's what I've learned in the last week and a half: 

1. Without a schedule, I honestly never know what day of the week it is. I need one of those calendars that says the date and day of the week like in a nursing home.
2. I make a lot of lists to feel productive.
3. I take a lot of naps.
4. I have entirely too much stuff.
5. All of my hair appliances are dual voltage: win!
6. I'm really bad at that "Two Dots" game.

The next time I write, it will be from London. How crazy is that?
Cheers!

Lizzing London, Volume 1: One Month to go!

I can't remember how to change the title of my blog. That's how long it's been since I've even considered blogging again. Please bear with me.

Now, this blog will be much different than what I have previously been writing about, my dear reader - all one of you. I'm sure you (basically just my mom) are really going to like the new direction, though. As you might have noticed from the title, I'm off on a new adventure in a new city. In just about a month, I'll be packing up and heading off to London to start grad school!

To recap the last year that lead up to this actually happening, here is a timeline.

May/June 2013: travel to London with family. Freak out on plane ride there. Love the city from day 1. Wonder about the construction workers outside our flat for next two weeks while exploring the city. Get hooked on tea with milk and the electric teapot.

June/July/August 2013: Think a lot about doing my personal essay, get references together, write a bunch of personal essay that gets deleted. process repeats.

September 2013: Whole month spent helping with BFF's upcoming wedding, doing wedding activities, worrying about writing maid of honor speech, and actually write something significant for personal essay.

September 30th 2013: Stay up until ungodly hours re-writing most of personal essay after having panic that it's the worst thing I've ever written. Big props to Genna for editing me in my panic.

October 2nd 2013: Submit application, panic for next week about doing it correctly. Genna gets married. Sweat a lot on day of wedding.

October & most of November: Incessantly check to see if there is an update on application. No update.

November 27th 2013: FIND OUT I GOT INTO KING'S AND HAVE TOTAL EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWN.

January 2014: Apply for housing. Mostly no panic happening.

January - May 2014: Worry about leaving, worry about not leaving, worry about having everything together, attempt to get rid of everything I own, but then worry about not having anything left, get overly excited, plan for every inevitable failure in life, freak out a lot, move out of apartment, freak out even more, give notice at work, stop panicking so much, oh wait - more panic.

June 2014: Apply for visa & attempt to get IL driver's license. This license part isn't even really part of this story, but it was an ordeal that I cannot forget.

July 2014: Plan lots of fun things, start to get so excited and not so much panic, get Visa approved, enjoy time in Chicago before I leave.


So, now we're caught up. As you can see, I spent the better part of the last 12 months losing my mind over this, but it's all been worth it knowing that I'll get to spend at least the next year of my life (hopefully more!) in London, in my opinion of one of the greatest cities ever.

My blog will definitely still be a place where I rant about beauty, fashion, and other odd things that are girly, but also a travel blog - the series named by the famous Greyhound bus tweeter, Kelli Johnson (@kellistlouis)

Welcome to Lizzing London.