this is where Edinburgh pictures are

Last Thursday, less than a week after we all landed at Heathrow, a group of us took off to Edinburgh in a semi-impromptu trip. Matt, Aaron, Sara, Jim, Greg and I are all from USC. We met Cassie, from Vassar, when she walked into the common room in Maynard when we were watching "Bad Lads" (remember the military reality TV show?). Kate (Boston College) is Matt and Aaron's flatmate, whose boyfriend Brian (also BC) lives in the flat across the hall, which is where Erika (Baylor), whom I met at dinner at a nearby Indian restaurant, lives. Matt, Aaron, Erika and I met Jim when he overheard "Traddies" in the stairwell on the first day of orientation. For the uninitiated, Traddies -- or formally known as "Traditions" is the on-campus bar at USC. Through Sara, we met Chris, who also goes to BC. Did I cover everybody?

Today, while queueing (of course, what else would I be doing on a Tuesday afternoon?) in the history department (I might tell that story later), a girl nicknamed Flea (for Felicity) gave me a pretty thorough education on the British education system and the British teenage rites of passage. Apparently, 18 is the year when you get trashed and 21 is the year you get a formal ball type thing -- to celebrate growing up, I think. I also found out people hear just say "uni" instead of "university" and that "going to school" doesn't really work for going to college. You just get a funny look. It's also interesting to learn (and hear) that British people say "OxfordandCambridge" as if they're one the way some people say "HarvardandYale" in the U.S. There is also "Oxbridge." Perhaps there is/will be Harvale?

I've met three of my flatmates; there is another who moved in but haven't caught his (her?) name, and the door across from mine hasn't opened when I was in the flat. There is Tom from southwest England; Giles, whose mother must think I'm dumb because I couldn't understand when she asked what "course I was studying"; and Tokru from Tokyo, also an associate (international) student.

The way my schedule stands right now -- and let's hope and knock on wood that nothing is going to change on Thursday -- I have Wednesday and Friday open, a crazy Monday, and OK Tuesdays and Thursdays. The 20th century U.S. history class is going to be fun, I think, but I really want out of my all-American discussion session. I'm taking U.S. history in Britain because I want a British perspective, not to get the same points of view I've been getting in the U.S. The Linguistics of Storytelling seems promising so far. There might be quite a lot of academic (finally found the word!) journals, but the main class project sounds fun. We'll see how things go.

Anyway, here are a sampling of Edinburgh pictures. I won't bore you with the whole collection. Enjoy! :)



** inside the courtyard of the Edinburgh Castle. You can google the main entrance of the castle if you want. It has a moat! :)


** this is a doorway of a military prison in the Edinburgh Castle. It's so short that my head was about 3 inches from the frame and can nearly touch it with my head by tip-toeing.


** this is the group of us at Edinburgh Castle. From left: Greg, Chris, me, Erika, Matt, Sara and Aaron.


** one of the many pictures of the Scottish Parliament building. It's pretty neat, huh? In the background is Arthur's Seat, a small hill that we climbed on our last full day in town.


** we found an old cemetary near the Parliament on the main street through Edinburgh. This is the oldest tombstone we found; there are probably others, though. In the cemetery is also the grave of a poet named Robert Fergusson. I don't know the name, but some of you guys probably do.


** the Scott Monument, which, according to Wikipedia, was built in honor of Sir Walter Scott.


** from Calton Hill, overlooking the city.


** the entire group (minus Jim, who tends to disappear on his own a lot) on Calton Hill -- or at least nearby it. The two new people are Kate and Brian.


** Matt, Aaron, Greg, Sara, Erika, Chris and I climbed Arthur's Seat -- no small feat if you know me. So here is proof. That's important! :)


** this is us (who made it to the top ... YES!) from the top of Arthur's Seat. Don't let the smallest of it fool you; it's a curvy and steep climb, and (scarily, sadly, regretfully) nobody brought water with them to the climb.

a quick missive on Edinburgh

Hello, world.

I just got back from Edinburgh, and it was everything people told me it would be. My room's internet died (again), so I am currently at an internet cafe near campus and am running out of minutes, so this will have to be quick.

I'll write more on Edinburgh when I get internet back up and post pictures ... because I took A LOT of pictures.

But the most satisfying thing I did there would have to be the full day, when a group of us hiked up Arthur's Seat ... it's not a "mountain", per se, but it is more than a hill. I got such a sense of accomplishment out of it. :)

Anyway, school starts tomorrow, and I need to unpack my luggage earnestly now because there are still suitcases on the floor and all kinds of crap on my desk.

FIGHT ON!

pictures!

As promised, here are pictures of the first half of the first week. I just got internet, and life is good again. :)


** sign in Heathrow


** Big Ben and Clock Tower with London Eye in the background.


** my rolling chair does not roll. :(


** "red beer" -- black currant concentrate, Strongbow and Grolsch.


** amusement.


** easily amused.


** ?!??!?! if anyone knows what this means, please let me know.


** a public service announcement provided by Britain.


** saw this one as my friend smokes his second Marlboro Menthol of the night.


** on the central line Tube to IKEA ... Matt, Cassie and Kate.


** the IKEA hamper I bought in the kids' department! :)


** the alarm clock didn't have a time because when I bought this at IKEA, I also bought the wrong size batteries, so now I have a whole box of AA IKEA brand batteries. Perfect.

It's 4:02 a.m. GMT. Kelly Clarkson is playing the background. I have to get up at 8:30 in the morning, so I will go now. Hope y'all enjoyed the pictures. :)

the GMT

Oh, man. I'm sitting in terminal 8 of the internet cafe around the corner, contemplating whether I should get a sim card now or later and how much I really need to use my cell phone. Scattered around me are my newest acquisitions from IKEA, my second trip ever. And what a journey to IKEA it has been. Let me put it this way. QMUL is in the east part of London. The IKEA we went to is in Neasden, which in northwest part of London. The Tube ride was fine, but the walking reminded me of freshman year at USC without a car and having to walk or take the metro everywhere. Especially memorable is the trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond at the Beverly Center, lugging pots and pans, knives, flatware .... basically everything I ever could need for my sophomore year apartment.

This time, I'm smarter. I leave IKEA with one bag and a bright green hamper with a pink flower lid!!! :) Oh, you know there will be pictures soon of my awesome amazing hamper.

But. The prize buy of the day is my clip-on alarm clock with 5-minute interval rings in increasing volume. It's gonna be awesome terrific.

I come away with no winter clothes (we were too pooped to even stop by the grocery store for provisions), but the weather today was OK. There was a bit a drizzle when we left the Tube on the way there, but otherwise, it's just really, really gray.

It looks like I won't be getting my own Internet for at least a week, after we register.

Anyway, hope all is well back home!

here I am ...

but I'm definitely not torn to pieces. :)

The first indication that things are going to be a little different was on the flight when we were descending into Heathrow. The captain, over the PA, said that we were descending, blah blah blah, and the weather outside is clear, London is reporting a temperature of about 22 degrees Celsius, which, he tells us, translates to about 42 degrees Fahrenheit (something like that). You can hear the people in the cabin twittering.

It is kinda chilly outside, but it's really quite beautiful. There's a light breeze, the sun is out, and the air is clear. So all is good.

The plane had to "remotely" land, so we had to descend our Boeing 777 onto the tarmak. That's a new experience. There were buses waiting to take us into the the terminal. It wasn't until we were deep within the bowels of Heathrow Airport that it hit me.

The bus is driving on the left side of the street. Holy crap. I'm in London.

Immigration, customs, baggage reclaim and all that went well.

On the way to Queen Mary, University of London (that's where I'm studying), the bus -- excuse me, coach -- passed Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the phallic building in Central London and snaked along part of the River Thames.

It's amazing.

I just moved into my room in the dorms, and my room is gorgeous. I love it. It's so clean and new and beautiful. Small ... about half the size of my room at USC -- just big enough to fit a built-in bed, a built-in desk, built-in closets and a REALLY tiny bathroom. There's one way in and out and really nowehere to turn with all my luggage in there.

Right now, I'm in an internet cafe just outside the campus gates. USC was telling us that East End -- where QMUL is -- is like South LA but less gritty. I guess ... but it's much better than I expected it be. It's not a "nice" area by any means, but it ain't South Central.

There seems to be quite a bit of international students. Just in the bus group I came in with were people from Boston College, Duke, University of Richmond, University of Virginia, Swarthmore and Ohio University.

I haven't met any of my flatmates, yet, but hopefully it will happen soon. :)

here we go!

The time is 6:17 a.m. I'm leaving Florence in about 4 hours. I have not finished packing, so I am going to go do that.

Otherwise, hope all is well with you all out there in cyberspace. :)

Turning off the computer now....

booooo

ETS is the ruiner of dreams. >: (

oh, dear

gasp. 2 more days until takeoff. you know NASA wants me to work for them. totally.

resolution

I finally figured out what was wrong with me the last couple of days. I was going through medication withdrawal. Whatever hydrocodone is -- I think it's either an opiate or narcotic -- it was screwing me up. Panic attacks, near-nervous breakdowns (hence, apparently, the hiding under the desk), etc. At least I know I won't be doing drugs ... ever. It sucked.

Now I am mentally preparing (haha) for my second stab at the GRE. The first time didn't go so well. You'd think that being a journalism major I would have some sort of grasp on the English language. HA! scoffs ETS, that's what YOU think, you liberal arts nothingness.

Man. I should've been pre-med or pre-law or something. Bleh.

But after the GRE, I will begin to earnestly pack for London and make sense of the piles on my floor.

And once again, another shameless plug.

Ciao. :)

a mess

Sorry, guys, for the lack of real news or updates. My life is a chaotic mess right now and needs fixing. I think it's a combo of GRE and London anxiety and a lot of other shit. I literally hid under my desk for some solitude about 15 minutes ago... :*( My stomach is in knots... and I don't really know why. : (

At this exact time next week (Saturday, 3:32 a.m. eastern), I will be in London. There is a lot to think about and plan.

I don't cry often; in fact, I can't remember the last time I did, but during all this Katrina stuff over the past 2 weeks or so, I've been really angry. Now -- yesterday, today -- when I watch or read the news, all I feel is incredible sadness and utter hopelessness. I went to a quasi-job interview the other day, and the talk came to the self-preservation of copy editors and how we tend to have a passion outside of work because we need to. Well, I think I've found mine. I've always had a passion, but these few days made me feel that I should do something that really makes a contribution to others.

I want to be a Big Sister, but apparently they want you to be able to stay in one place -- impossible for college 3,000 miles away.

But I think when I get back to LA, I'm going to get on board with USC's Habitat for Humanity ... it feels right, for some reason....

more diagrams!

This time, it's interactive! From The New York Times.

Rome/EastEnders

I tried watching the highly advertised "Rome: Engineering An Empire" on the History Channel. I really did, but I just can't get past the ridiculous sound effects of bellowing tubas and trumpets and whatever the hell else brass instruments they decide to throw in. I could barely hear the narration. : (

Also, last night, I watched two episodes of EastEnders, and it started out OK, I kind of got the relationships among the characters, but the women are so bitchy and mean! What's going on? : (

more from Slate

This is from Slate. A response to writer's complaints about TV news.

In 10 minutes of watching Telemundo, three of which covered New Orleans, I really got a better depiction of being there than I did on all the major U.S. networks that I had been watching for several hours, and I don't speak any Spanish.
— Jonathan Kyle

For the record, I like World News Tonight, before and after Peter Jennings.

New Orleans diagram/world press

The BBC has a good group of graphics to explain what happened in New Orleans and the general geographic stuff of the city. It's really helpful, since I've never been there and have only vaguely grasped what people are calling this cereal bowl.... click on and scroll to bottom:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4214504.stm

The BBC also has gathered a list of reactions from media around the world.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4216142.stm

I have seats!

Today, I called United Airlines and claimed one of the last two seats on my flight to London. Yay! It's not what I've hoped for, but the other option wasn't much better. Eh, I'll take it.

Also, have seats to the LA Philharmonic's Beethoven Ninth performance at the Disney Concert Hall the night before graduation! More yay! :) Life is looking up.

Now, if I can just get this graduate school/GRE stuff together.... :/

TV news

Was reading about why one Slate writer hates TV news. Hey, from my time at school having to learn the medium at the expense of my own major, I'm not exactly unbiased on this topic. In fact, I abhor TV news, but that's another entry in itself. I watch it because they have video. But. I don't watch Fox News.

Apart from the conservative bias, there is so much graphic, so much useless music and makeup and plastic surgeries(look at a before/after photo of Greta van Susteren), I don't know where they hide the old b-rolls and uninformative CGs (chyrons, supers).

Here she is. On the left is the pre-plastic surgery. On the right is the post-plastic surgery. And a side-by-side comparison.







Anyway, the article is an interesting read. I used to like watching TV news. : (

Rehnquist dies

Chief Justice William Rehnquist died tonight.

This obit is from the Washington Post.

random part 2

Many companies are matching employee donations to the hurricane relief efforts. Does your company do the same?

*

Watching "Forrest Gump" always makes me cry, especially toward the end. :*(

*

USC prevails against Hawaii. 63-17. Yes! (does little dance)

random

Rita Cosby from MSNBC sounds like she's been smoking three packs a day since the day she was born. : /

Nothing new to report. Still reading a lot of newspapers and watching a lot of TV broadcasts.

USC vs. Hawaii. Fight on!

voices from across the pond and abroad

BBC News' Web site lets readers respond to stories they report. This is what the people of Britain (and some in the U.S.) have to say about the way the U.S. is handling the Katrina situation.

LA Times reports on reactions around the world.

comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable

I think I've calmed down enough about this to write without less fury, but please bear with me if bottled-up anger spills over.

I was reading fark.com this morning, and I come across a posting that the Poynter Institute is asking people living within 30 miles of the Baton Rouge to take journalists into their homes while the journalists work away from their newsrooms, etc. The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune's managing editor spokes to Poynter about the difficulties of covering Katrina. The newspaper also has a number of reporters still unaccounted for.

Out of curiosity, I click on the link that would lead me to the forum/discussion postings, and what I read infuriated me.

The journalist's role is to cover the news. We feel for the people affected by Hurricane Katrina. Despite what these posters think and write, we're humans, too, and we are incredibly sad and emotionally affected by the plight of Lousiana and Mississippi and Alabama. But we're professionals, and we're doing our jobs, and to do that effectively, we can't let emotions get in the way. We need to stand away from it all (as well as we can). Scott Gold from the Los Angeles Times have been covering Katrina and recently wrote down what he saw for the paper's Column One. He, too, mentioned the need to build a wall between the situation.

When we're covering a story and we see desperation all around us, we can't stop and help. We have to keep moving and get as much of the people's stories as we can to tell the world what is happening. The humanity in all of us wants to help by providing shelter or food or water or clothes. These journalists are helping by disseminating information. Blasting what they do will not work. A lot of the journalists who are based in the Gulf coast cities have lost family members, most have lost their homes, and yet they're working -- without showers, bathrooms, places to sleep -- to bring the news so people know that help is coming.

These reporters and editors and producers aren't living in luxury. It doesn't matter that some are living in the Hyatt in downtown New Orleans. The hotel doesn't have plumbing, either. One side of the hotel was ripped apart by the hurricane. It's surrounded by flood waters.

The Gulf coast journalists who didn't evacuate aren't doing it because they're stupid. They know they have work to do.

No one involved in the hurricane stories is thinking about winning awards right now. The job at hand is to do the best we can. No one was thinking about awards when they were covering Sept. 11. Because it doesn't matter. Doing the news as good as possible is the priority. Pulitzers and Emmys and press associations and the "best of" accolades can wait. The public needs help now.

*

People are saying that the federal government is too slow in getting aid to the people affected by the hurricane. I agree. I agree with the outrage felt by Mayor Nagin, and I agree with the frustration felt by the governors.

People are also saying that the help is slow in coming because of race -- because the majority of those in need are black ... I just don't get it. Why is everything about race? Why can't it just be that the federal government are being jerks (again) and screwing those people who need its help the most? But I'm a minority myself, and maybe they have an argument, maybe not. I really don't know.

The aid is slow to get to people because of a lot of reasons and a lot of excuses, but think about it. When New Orleans is as out of control as it is right now and for the past days, rescuers and aid workers had to feel threatened by the violence (and some have). There are looters. Morally, in this kind of survival situation, I don't have a big problem with taking the necessities -- water, food, clothes, diapers, formula, medicine. But when people are blatanly taking things that can be left alone -- DVDs, CDs, etc. -- then that is a moral and value threshold that I cannot cross and cannot reconcile with. There were (are?) people taking jewelry from houses and stealing guns and ammunition from gun shops. I wonder if the people who are taking advantage of the situation -- unncessary looters, price gougers, insurance frauds -- would be able to look themselves in the mirror years from now and be able to live with the knowledge that they took things not pertinent to survival from others who lost their stores or their homes.

People are shooting at relief helicopters, aid workers and police officers. Patients stuck in Charity Hospital in New Orleans were going to get evacuated and get proper medical care, but the helicopter coming to get them had to turn back because of gunfire.

Why? People aren't going to come to help if they're having to dodge bullets. These people -- a lot of whom are affected themselves -- are trying to provide the aid that others are lambasting for being too slow and not enough. How about not threaten their lives so they can try to better the horrific situation?

A CNN reporter was with a group of police officers at their station when the station came under gunfire attack. These are police officers, and they had to fire back to citizens to protect their turf. The situation in the Louisiana police forces are so bad that the media is reporting officers simply turning in their badges and walking off the job.

The desperation I read in the newspapers and see on the news is heartrenching, and it is this type of situation that shows true human nature. Whether human nature is inherently good or bad is one of the questions that eastern philosophers -- especially Chinese -- sought to answer. It seems that, in the past couple of days, I see what can happen if people's survival instincts kick in to Lord-of-the-Flies proportions, but I also feel better to know that there are others who are willing to help. Maybe human nature is inherently good, but crises make it evil.

The Times-Picayune has been working out of Baton Rouge and posting stories online in blogform and in pdf. Tomorrow, I think, they're putting out their first printed stories in a couple of days. They're doing an incredible job.

The Sun-Herald covers Gulfport/Biloxi in Mississippi and other Gulf coast towns. They're operating out of the Columbus, Ga., paper and have been putting out limited newsprint copies.

The two reporters from the Sun-Herald are still blogging. Check them out.