Greetings all! Somehow it’s the end of May already? Well, everyone is in dissertation mode at the moment, and I’m actually looking forward to starting my data collection this week. It took a little while to decide on my topic exactly, since I changed it from my original idea, but I’m looking forward to working on it (I’ll give you a hint – it’s dealing with acculturation orientations of students and wellbeing). J My adviser and other lecturer at Brunel have been so helpful in assisting me with narrowing down the subject, and I also have to say a huge thanks to my stats helpers and translators (you know who you are!! J) Instead of sitting my room working on my dissertation each week, I've decided to combine it with exploring the city. Each week I'm visiting a different cafe (with wifi :)) and working on my project there. Week one - a cafe in Knightsbridge. Next week: Fleet Street Bakery in Holborn - anyone who wants to join is more than welcome! Some other friends are doing their dissertation work in the British Library, so the plan is join them there every once in awhile as well!

I’m still working at Brunel part-time as well as with the Fulbright Commission, and am enjoying them both quite a lot. This does still leave time to do some travel and hang out with friends though, which is great. And – the weather has gotten to be absolutely beautiful lately!! So many afternoons have been spent in Hyde Park or Regents Park.

I had to say goodbye to a friend as she took off for her dissertation work in Ghana, but before leaving we all had a chance to try out some amazing Vietnamese food in Soho. I realise I’ve mentioned it before, but London is just such a great place to be -it’s just so multicultural! There are also so many interesting lectures and events to attend. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to hear Thomas Pickering, former US Ambassador to the United Nations, discussing the relationship between the US and Iran at Kings College. Not only was he incredibly well-versed on the issue, of course, but he spoke and presented so confidently.

Great suggestion Ann! :)

The next weekend was spent visiting Marlow (my host club's town) where a Swedish Rotary club (Marlow Thames' twin club) were touring the area. After a really lovely dinner on Friday (and learning a bit of Swedish J) I ran a 5km in Oxford for the Oxford Rotary Club the next morning with another friend before returning to Marlow for a “Murder Mystery” evening. It was really fun! A group of actors present themselves to the audience after a “murder” has occurred and throughout the evening, the audience has to decide who the “killer” was. A bit confusing, but really fun!

She's trying to convince us that even though she may have had an affair with the victim, she was not the "killer" :)

Supposed to be an Italian actor - questionnable accent though....

With Brittany enjoying the sunshine!

Thanks to a friend who leant me a bicycle for the summer, and to the great weather recently, I’m back to exploring the city by bike! Cycling in London is really fabulous, but I feel like I just want to put two things out there: 1) If you are a cyclist, don’t run red lights – grr, that drives me crazy and everybody else who’s on the road 2) If you are a driver, you DO NOT own the road, nor do you get to try to push me or other cyclists off the road because you’re in a hurry. Ok, that’s all. J The following weekend I went to the Imperial War Museum in South London, where there was an exhibit on a typical British family during the Second World War. Whenever I read or see anything on this subject, I’m always amazed at how recently this occurred, and yet how positively things have developed across this continent, especially relations among such culturally diverse people.

Mode of transport for the summer!

Imperial War Museum

Used book sale

The rest of the day was spent checking out a food market near Southbank, stumbling upon a used book sale under the Waterloo Bridge, and enjoying the sights of the city. I found the closest thing to German rye bread that I’ve seen in London – it’s amazing!!

This week the Six Degree Committee met up once more after having finished the majority of our exams to go out to dinner at a place called Melur near Edgware Road. It was a fantastic Indonesian and Malaysian restaurant, and it was so good to catch up with everyone and talk about some upcoming ideas for events. We also had a fun night on Saturday watching the Eurovision competition on campus. Eurovision is definitely interesting J I’ll just leave it at that…

Getting ready to text in their votes...

Which brings me to today – another incredible day out and after spending the afternoon in the park with friends, I’m spending the evening working on dissertation stuff and planning the upcoming trips to France and Ireland! Just realising now that next week will be two bank holiday days, I’ve booked a flight to Tours in France and returning from Paris. We’ll see how much my poor French skills will get me by… am definitely looking forward to it!!

The following week I’m going to Ireland for an educational fair for work, but am heading up a few days early to check out the Belfast area and am very much looking forward to that as well.

The big news is that I’m planning to run my first half marathon in September for a project in Kathmandu, Nepal. I’m doing this together with various other Rotary clubs throughout the world, and my outlook is “every little bit helps”, so if you’d like to get more information, and or provide any support, it would be so greatly appreciated!! http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=meggykay

Have a great rest of May everyone and hope you’re all doing well!

Lots of love,

Meganne

Hi all!  So it’s the end of April already and just finished exams.  April has been a really interesting month as there have been a number of changes.  The coursework has ended with the exception of exams and I’ve started working as well.  I’ve had the opportunity to work part-time in the Brunel International admissions office and will be starting to do some work with the study abroad coordinator as well, so looking forward to that!  Additionally, I’ve just started a part-time job with the US-UK Fulbright Commission as an Educational adviser.  It’s a non-profit organisation connected with EducationUSA (the US State Department’s educational advising centres worldwide) and provides a free advisory service for British or other international students interested in studying in the United States.  The Commission was established to facilitate and promote peace and understanding across nations and they also offer an awards programme for British postgraduate students to spend a period of time in the States before returning home.  Although I just started last week, I really love the environment and the job itself!  

At the beginning of April I had a visitor from Germany and we did some exploring around the city (study breaks!!), as well as got some pretty incredible Indian food and went out to see Agatha Christie’s Mousetrap, the longest running show in the world.  It was phenomenal!  It’s tricky though, because there’s a big twist at the end of the story and we’re sworn to secrecy not to share the ending to spoil it for others who haven’t yet seen it.  Definitely go if you get the chance though!

I also took a trip to Germany to give a presentation at the Hochschule Fulda, where I previously worked, to a group of students interested in studying abroad in the US.  It was a very short trip, but still so fun to see friends and colleagues.  This time of year is so beautiful in Europe and going back to visit was a nice break from preparing for exams.

A couple of weekends ago a fundraising event in Henley took place, which was sponsored by the Henley-on-Thames Rotary club and I attended with my host counsellor David and his wife Stephanie.  It was a jazz evening and the band was really wonderful – they played all of the favourites and we finished with fish and chips – an English staple J 

That Sunday a few of us took a trip to Canterbury and we had a really nice time (when not thinking about the impending statistics assignment due the following week!). We walked around the town centre, visited the cathedral (timed it perfectly to hear Evensong– and they performed the Purcell Hear my Prayer, o Lord J), went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant, and also visited a museum which interactively allowed us to walk through what would have been a “pilgrimage” to Canterbury from London told through Chaucer’s Canterbury tales. 

Canterbury Cathedral (seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury)

Canterbury ChristChurch Gate

Beautiful springtime in England!

A couple of assignments due last week, and I started work, but I also had the chance to visit the Rotary club of Pinner with Johanna.  They were such a fun and lively club and just initiated another member that night!  I was impressed by how many members they had, and additionally how many new members they had joining regularly.  Johanna and I presented and had a chance to speak with the club members, so it made for a really enjoyable Tuesday evening.

Pinner Club

Presenting in Pinner

Johanna presenting

Wednesday night I was lucky enough to meet up with one of my former professors from Drake, Dr Eric Saylor, who was my undergraduate thesis adviser.  He had spent a year in London while working on his masters as well so I’m always grateful to hear his suggestions!  Again, had the traditional fish and chips, but this time it was actually at a sit-down restaurant, and was AMAZING! J  (I’m used to fish and chips battered and put in a paper wrapping, so this place was pretty fun).

Friday after volunteering I decided not to head home right away, but instead check out something in the city I hadn’t yet seen.  After I left the Refugee Council I took the tube to the Victoria & Albert Museum, the world’s largest art and design museum, and it was stunning.  (Not to mention free!)  They should be having a ballroom gown exhibit coming soon, so I’m definitely going back for that! 

V & A

Victoria and Albert Museum

Spring in London

V & A

Last weekend was the Rotary District 1090 Peace Conference in Oxford.  The presenters ranged from former Rotary Peace and Ambassadorial scholars, Revd Dr Alan Billings, and Rotarian Jean Best.  Dr Billings talked about the role of religion and religious leaders in combating terrorism worldwide and in the UK, and Jean Best introduced a wonderful programme, called PeaceJam, which raises awareness of peace and conflict resolution in schools throughout the UK.  The idea is to get Rotarians, or anyone interested (I’d love to stay one more year as a scholar to this here J!) to go into local schools and establish a peace ambassador programme where the students meet once a week and discover alternative ways to deal with issues of violence and racism, as well as bullying.  I think this is an absolutely fabulous programme and hope to be able to get involved in it in some way when going back to the US.

Rotary Peace Conference - introducing the Ambassadorial Scholarship programme, Rtn David Caswell

Beautiful fields!! 

This week was particularly special as the Ambassadorial Scholars in district 1090 went to visit the Rotary Club of Ascot and gave presentations.  We had originally planned to see the Royal Ascot races, but unfortunately because it’s been raining so much here, they had to close the track.  We still had a great time and are hoping to have a scholar meet-up in Oxford sometime soon.  It’s really inspiring to be able to hear what the other scholars are doing and where they plan to go in their fields. 

Ascot Club and other scholars

Ascot Club and Scholars in 1090

Rotarian Tom Scharff and his wife

Ascot Rotarians

Rotarians David Caswell and his wife

Well, it’s time to get started on the thesis work, so hope you’re all doing well!

Lots of love,

Meganne

It's Spring!

Happy April Fools day!

It’s officially Spring and we’re officially on semester holiday!  Before you think we’ll be lounging around, or traveling off to remote places and sitting in the sun,  I should mention that there are these lovely things called “essays” which have to be done by the end of April. That being said, I am planning to go to Dublin hopefully at some point this month, so I’ll be sure to post updates!

The essays are somewhat different to what I’m used to in the US, as all (or almost all) of the mark we receive in our coursework comes from one assignment.  It was similar when studying in Germany with a Hausarbeit project at the end of the semester, but I still find it difficult to get used to, because it’s much more unstructured during the semester than I’m used in the US.  Not to mention that I’ve gotten to experience a quantitative research methods course this semester.  This will inevitably be important in my future career, as well as in writing my dissertation, but I’ll be honest: it’s tough.  There are a few times each year when a postgrad student comes close to the breaking point, but I guess anybody who has gone to grad school would say the same thing.  That being said, I survived the semester and it’s now just on to the assignments and final dissertation project!

There are a lot of advantages to doing a postgraduate degree in the UK.  Of course the fact that it can be done in one year (which saves money) is great, but can also be a challenge because one realises just how quickly that year goes.  It’s probably good to have certain times during the year to reassess and reflect on the growth experiences, since life is otherwise so fast that it’s hard to keep up with what has happened! 

It’s Easter weekend coming up and it should be a good one.  I’m planning to have a picnic with friends and hopefully do a little travel this week.  A friend is also visiting from Germany this week, so I’ll get to stop being a hermit for a few days and go explore more of the city.  Also, one of the girls who sang with me in Choir and was in my sorority at Drake will be in London, so we're planning to do breakfast.   :) 

With Ashley and Jon in Marylebone :)

I may have mentioned in the last blog that I started working part-time in the International Admissions office at Brunel, which has been a wonderful experience.  It’s interesting to see how British international offices function differently than in the US or Germany and I’ve been learning a lot.  One of the highlights has been attending the launch breakfast for the London Universities International Partnership Programme which exists to promote London as a premier destination for international students.  It was quite well-attended at the House of Lords (very cool to go inside, I have to add!) and it was also a great chance to meet those working in the field of international education as well as other leaders of cultural and business organisations in London.  I gave a short interview for the website about what I liked about living and studying in London (it’s not too difficult to find a few reasons ;) 

House of Lords breakfast

I have to say that it was quite an honour to spend the morning in such an important location to England.  This, along with the House of Commons, is where new laws can be brought to the floor to be discussed, not too different from Congress in the US.  It’s also worth noting that waking up with a traditional English breakfast (black pudding and beans and all) and sitting along the Thames listening to inspiring speeches by leaders in this community was a pretty special experience, and one that I will long remember from my time in the UK. 

The project itself has been faces, one of them being the international student ambassador scholarship programme which would give the scholarship holder significant opportunities to link with business and cultural organisations as well as internships and cultural experiences, which they would share with others when returning back home after the year.  If you’re interested in this or any other information on studying in the London area, please check out the site:

http://www.studylondon.ac.uk/usa

The next day the Six Degrees international student association held an event to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on campus.  We served Cornish Beef sandwiches, green beer, and other snacks and played traditional Irish music in the background (some people were even brave enough to dance!).  It was a lot of fun and we met quite a few new students who we hadn’t seen at our previous events. 

That Friday I took off after work to go to Bournemouth for the annual Rotary District 1090 conference event.  I attended along with 6 of the other scholars in my district and we had so much fun together.  They’re a really great group all studying in different fields including law, medicine, medical anthropology, Latin American studies, Theology, and Russian and we had a good time hanging out (when we weren’t on stage presenting).  The weekend itself was amazing and of course, very inspiring.  What I’ve noticed maybe more than anything during my year as an Ambassadorial Scholar is just how uplifting this organisation is.  I have yet to leave an event (be it a conference, Rotary presentation, or just a fun charity event) which doesn’t inspire me, and make me want to strive for excellence in what I do, but more importantly do something which benefits others. 

Friday night David and Stephanie picked me up and took me to their hotel where I had dinner (*amazing seafood risotto* - one of those meals you remember for a long time J ) with the Marlow Thames crew.  They had a very good turnout at the conference and it was nice to spend time with them.  Following dinner was a concert by the Kentwood Show Choir which was enjoyable.

The next day was a long one, but also a great day!  We started with breakfast in the hotel, then went to the conference centre where we sat through the morning presentations, listening to Mr Mike Clare (founder of the UK’s largest bed retailer, Dreams) while he talked about starting up a small shop which has since developed into a hugely successful business.  He also talked about his charity, the Clare Foundation, which helps other charities to be more effective and efficient in their work.  One of the highlights as well was sitting through the next two speakers.  Andy Whyte gave a presentation on behalf of RNLI which is a charity comprised of volunteers who save lives on the sea.  It was very powerful as he talked about the ultimate price many of their volunteers have given: their lives and that 450 people would not be here today if it hadn’t been for those who worked tirelessly to save them.  From my knowledge we don’t have an all-volunteer charity of the same sort in the US (we have the Coast Guard), but it’s amazing to see what these selfless individuals are doing.

Afterwards, Michael Portillo, a former conservative Member of Parliament spoke about his life (he was great – an amazing public speaker!)

The girls and I had lunch at a Mexican restaurant in the city before going back on stage for our presentation in the afternoon.  It lasted approximately 45 minutes and we answered a variety of questions regarding our year as a scholar in the UK.  Even better was that the district 1090 outbound scholar from last year was back in the UK, now working for Amnesty International, and talked about her experiences at Colombia University in NYC working for the UN. 

I should also mention that my host counsellor, David, was pretty much the winner for the weekend!  He won the golf tournament and he and Stephanie also won the best costume for the Beach party at night.  Impressive!

The Beach party was a lot of fun, and the next day we spent the morning listening to other sessions, including the highlight of the weekend for me, Sister Francis Dominica who founded the Helen and Douglas houses, which are hospice care for young adults and children.  She was so passionate about it and it’s been so successful as the first hospice for young adults, that I honestly don’t think there was a dry eye in the audience.  She was incredible.

After the conference I went with David and Stephanie to have tea and biscuits at his parents’ place, just a few miles from Bournemouth.  It was a really fabulous weekend and I have to thank those who made it possible for me to go!

It’s also sort of been the month of birthdays so I have to say happy birthday to my friends Kat, Robyn, Martin, and Tavis!  We went on Monday to have dinner and drinks at a local pub in Uxbridge (half price for meals on Mondays – students figure these things out J ) and had a really nice time.  Also that week was a really fun event organised by Brunel International: The Queen’s Jubilee Dinner.  This was a celebration on campus with a three-course meal, formal dress, and entertainment in celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee this year.  For those who didn’t know (I didn’t before coming to the UK!), this year is the 60^th anniversary of the queen’s reign in England and a series of events have been taking place throughout the UK.  This, as well as the 2012 summer Olympics, make London a pretty fab place to be at the moment!

Later in the week I continued turning in assignments, going to classes, and attended a really special lunch at the Uxbridge Rotary Club.  The annual Jack Evans awards were taking place, which honour special, talented, and involved young students (school students) in the local Uxbridge schools.  The Mayor of Hillingdon attended and it was so impressive to hear what they were doing to make their schools and communities a better place as well as what they planned to do for the future.  It’s amazing to see how much they cared. 

I’ve realized that I have mentioned the organisation I volunteer for in some of my previous blog posts, but never really took the time to explain what I’m doing there and what the organisation actually does.  The UK Refugee Council is a non-profit organisation assisting refugees and asylum seekers in the UK with a variety of issues, including application assistance and other practical assistance, offering service to those who are hungry and destitute, providing English classes and other learning opportunities, among many others.  I am currently volunteering as a part of the Therapeutic Casework Unit, which provides a free service to those who have experienced traumatic events and are currently coping with their difficulties.  It combines counselling with advice on practical needs and assistance.  There is a special focus as well on dealing with problems faced by women, many of whom have been victims of torture and loss, and are facing difficult decisions with no one else to discuss these issues.  Currently studying cross-cultural psychology, as well as my experience with the domestic violence shelter where I interned during college, has been extremely helpful in working in this organisation and I’m glad to have found this opportunity. 

http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/

The end of March has arrived and I spent it studying, but also going to a couple of fun places with friends this weekend.  Friday we went to a couple of pubs near Notting Hill and Saturday was a birthday party at a pub near Charing Cross.  It was definitely nice to have a night out without worrying about having to turn in an assignment or a presentation the next day, but as I say this, I should probably get back to schoolwork now! 

I wish you all a very Happy Easter and hope you’re doing well!

Lots of love,

Meganne