I've hit a little break in the onslaught of letters and emails from angry constituents, so I figured I would take the time to write a short piece on here.
I have quite a lot to do in the next 24 hours as my awaited trip to Paris is approaching. I will be writing letters for the rest of the workday then I have to go off to the Hansard society office and pay a housing deposit that I thought I had eluded. No such luck. Directly from there I will spending a few hours in the library working on my dissertation.
I have decided to do my dissertation on the asymmetrical devolution of politics in the UK and the resultant dissembling of Parliamentary sovereignty. Sounds fun eh? To put that into normal speak, rather than dry political jargin, the UK doesn't have three branches of government like we do in the US. So all of their political power resides in Parliament, headed by the Prime Minister. It is entirely undemocratic that one body delegates all power to local councils, and the UK has started to realize this. So their have been movements to give Scotland, Ireland, Wales and local English councils more political power...and that is what I will be writing about. If that was confusing to you, don't worry, because it is going to take me 2 months of research and 10,000 words of writing to get it down.
On a much, much more interesting note, I go to Paris tomorrow! We are taking an overnight bus, which will get us there early Friday morning. We haven't quite planned out all that we are going to do while in Paris but obviously we will go see the Eiffel Tower, Arch de Triumph, the Louvre, and there is also talk of a half-day trip to Versailles. Either way, I am sure I will have fun being tourist. Don't worry Mom, I will take plenty of pictures so that you can live vicariously through my travels.
There are about 12 of us all going on the trip together, which will make it that much more fun. In the short time that I have been here I have become good friends with a number of people. I am constantly hanging out with the people from Flat 3, so many of the others often ask me if I live with them. There are two other guys, they're names are Rob and Joe. They both go Marist College in NY. It is good to have them around, as I have found the rest of the crowd that we hang out with is overwhelmingly girls. They live with 3 girls, Alexis (who also goes to Northeastern)and Sharyl and Jess (who both go to Purdue). They are all a good time and we spend most of our time together.
Outside of flat three there is another group of girls that we spend a lot of time with, and who are also going to Paris with us. In fact, they planned the trip. Many of you may have heard the name Hayley before. She is one of my good friends from Northeastern and we kind of went through the whole application process together. We were also on the same flight over here. Hayley became quite good friends with Mom before we left so she joins me on Skype every now and then.
Well, I supposed I've wasted enough time blogging now and I really should get back to work. I booked a trip to Ireland last night, so you will all be hearing about my travels to Galway in the near future as well.
Goodbye and I miss you all.
PS: Please comment on some of these posts so I don't feel like I am just talking to myself haha
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
It's been two weeks already
It has been quite a while since I've posted on this blog and I should really start doing it more often. My internet has been quite spotty at times in my flat so sitting down to write a long story of how it's been over here can be difficult at times. But enough about my complaining, I need to tell you about everything I've been up to.
I am currently writing this while sitting at my desk in Parliament. I started my internship yesterday and I am having a great time. It really is amazing that I was able to get into this program and it is such a great opportunity. I am only one of 11 students in my programme that got placed with a Member of Parliament. The other 20 or so got jobs in various committees, commissions and consulting groups. I'm not sure how I got picked for this position but it is exactly what I asked and hoped for. Not to mention I am with a Conservative MP (Member of Parliament), which is right up my alley. Her name is Nadine Dorries, you can look her up on the internet if you want.
I assumed that when I came into this internship I was going to be placed in an office with very straight-edged, professional, conservative people. Oh how was I wrong, but I am quite glad that my prediction was off. I was pleasantly surprised that I'm working with two girls, both about my age. One of them is actually the MP's daughter. Their names are Jen and Catriona. And they really are great people, very fun, very outgoing and very blunt. They speak what's on their mind at all times and it's hilarious. We just end up talking all day while we're doing our work. It makes the day go by quickly and also makes it enjoyable. I can see myself becoming good friends with them, in fact we're about to go out for some drinks at one of the bars in Parliament. Yes, I said bars in Parliament. The culture is much different over here when it comes to drinking. It is a social thing that everybody does when they get out of work.
The work that I'm doing at this point isn't that interesting because obviously being the second day I'm still getting the hang of things. I have only been writing letters in response to questions that some of our constituents have. But soon enough I will be working on press releases, writing policy briefings for my MP, attending debtates and questioning sessions and many more interesting things.
Between working in one of the most prestigious government institutions in the world and taking classes at the number 3 university in the UK, I am sure my trip will prove to be a great educational experience.
Well, I'm off to the bar now, much like every other night I've been here. Next time I write to you all I will tell you more about the people that I live with and all that we have been doing. By the way, we just booked a trip to Paris for next weekend which I am very excited about.
Talk to you soon!
I am currently writing this while sitting at my desk in Parliament. I started my internship yesterday and I am having a great time. It really is amazing that I was able to get into this program and it is such a great opportunity. I am only one of 11 students in my programme that got placed with a Member of Parliament. The other 20 or so got jobs in various committees, commissions and consulting groups. I'm not sure how I got picked for this position but it is exactly what I asked and hoped for. Not to mention I am with a Conservative MP (Member of Parliament), which is right up my alley. Her name is Nadine Dorries, you can look her up on the internet if you want.
I assumed that when I came into this internship I was going to be placed in an office with very straight-edged, professional, conservative people. Oh how was I wrong, but I am quite glad that my prediction was off. I was pleasantly surprised that I'm working with two girls, both about my age. One of them is actually the MP's daughter. Their names are Jen and Catriona. And they really are great people, very fun, very outgoing and very blunt. They speak what's on their mind at all times and it's hilarious. We just end up talking all day while we're doing our work. It makes the day go by quickly and also makes it enjoyable. I can see myself becoming good friends with them, in fact we're about to go out for some drinks at one of the bars in Parliament. Yes, I said bars in Parliament. The culture is much different over here when it comes to drinking. It is a social thing that everybody does when they get out of work.
The work that I'm doing at this point isn't that interesting because obviously being the second day I'm still getting the hang of things. I have only been writing letters in response to questions that some of our constituents have. But soon enough I will be working on press releases, writing policy briefings for my MP, attending debtates and questioning sessions and many more interesting things.
Between working in one of the most prestigious government institutions in the world and taking classes at the number 3 university in the UK, I am sure my trip will prove to be a great educational experience.
Well, I'm off to the bar now, much like every other night I've been here. Next time I write to you all I will tell you more about the people that I live with and all that we have been doing. By the way, we just booked a trip to Paris for next weekend which I am very excited about.
Talk to you soon!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
I have arrived!
Hi everyone,
So after after a day of traveling and a long time without eating (which many of you know is particularly difficult for me) I finally arrived at my flat (apartment) yesterday around noon. I was genuinely surprised by my flat. It is quite modern in its design and appliances, although the internet connection and hot water are not always available.
On the brighter side, I got very lucky with my living situation. I am living with three guys (Ben, Galen and Matt) who seem to be pretty cool thus far. We are living in a 6 person flat, for just the 4 of us! This means that Ben and Galen, who previously knew each other, are living in one room, while Matt and I each get our own room. I'm pretty excited about this because I certainly wasn't anticipating it.
I came to Hansard (which is the name of my program) with one of my close friends from school, Hayley. We sat next to each other on the flight, ate the nasty food and played the British version of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. She is also living directly above me in a flat so we are constantly running up and down the stairs to ask each other questions.
Today I got a phone and then we went on a bus tour of London as a group. It was very information in that I now know where I want to visit while in the city. It is amazing how historic this city is and also the number of free museums and other stuff they have. Surely, the next three months in London and my last month traveling around Europe will be the best time of my life.
Well, I'm about to head out to a local pub with Hayley and some other people so I'll give you guys another update later this week after I start classes and see Parliament!
-Chase
So after after a day of traveling and a long time without eating (which many of you know is particularly difficult for me) I finally arrived at my flat (apartment) yesterday around noon. I was genuinely surprised by my flat. It is quite modern in its design and appliances, although the internet connection and hot water are not always available.
On the brighter side, I got very lucky with my living situation. I am living with three guys (Ben, Galen and Matt) who seem to be pretty cool thus far. We are living in a 6 person flat, for just the 4 of us! This means that Ben and Galen, who previously knew each other, are living in one room, while Matt and I each get our own room. I'm pretty excited about this because I certainly wasn't anticipating it.
I came to Hansard (which is the name of my program) with one of my close friends from school, Hayley. We sat next to each other on the flight, ate the nasty food and played the British version of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. She is also living directly above me in a flat so we are constantly running up and down the stairs to ask each other questions.
Today I got a phone and then we went on a bus tour of London as a group. It was very information in that I now know where I want to visit while in the city. It is amazing how historic this city is and also the number of free museums and other stuff they have. Surely, the next three months in London and my last month traveling around Europe will be the best time of my life.
Well, I'm about to head out to a local pub with Hayley and some other people so I'll give you guys another update later this week after I start classes and see Parliament!
-Chase
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Only 5 days until I leave!
Hello everyone,
I've never actually written on a blog before, let alone created one for myself. But I figured this will be a good way for me to keep in touch with everybody and let you all know how my travels are going over the next four months.
I'm gonna be really busy so I'm sure at times it will be difficult for me to talk to everyone back at home as much as I would like. I'll be able to load pictures of everywhere I go and also tell you about the great time I'm having.
To everyone that I won't be able to see this week, I'll miss you all this spring. And to everyone else, let's have fun this week.
Stay tuned!
-Chase
I've never actually written on a blog before, let alone created one for myself. But I figured this will be a good way for me to keep in touch with everybody and let you all know how my travels are going over the next four months.
I'm gonna be really busy so I'm sure at times it will be difficult for me to talk to everyone back at home as much as I would like. I'll be able to load pictures of everywhere I go and also tell you about the great time I'm having.
To everyone that I won't be able to see this week, I'll miss you all this spring. And to everyone else, let's have fun this week.
Stay tuned!
-Chase
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