London: Week One

This past week was very nice, if you conveniently forget the whole bed bug fiasco. The first good thing is that I have an office in the political science department at University College London. All of a sudden I have a desk and office mates. This translates into human interactions! Woot woot! I also feel like I have a set place where I can get MSD (major shit done). On my first day at the office I met these other human beings. The first was Canadaian and instantly charming. Yet as we talked I noticed that he was the prototype of a "frenemy." He just slides in these digs in everything he says, mostly about Americans. Because of his false amability he reminds me of one of Bridget Jones's friends. She had this way of saying things that made pathetic Bridget feel even more pathetic. Now Bridget knows that it is on purpose, but it is so subtle that she can't really call the person out. Luckily, my other officemate Jeremy is super cool and I can see us being friends for a long time. There is also Julio, the Argentinean political theorist. HIs English is very charming in that he speaks in a literal translation of Spanish phrases, which are very poetic but completely foreign to any saying that a native English speaker would oncoct. The four of us, as well as other graduate students in the department, went out for drinks. A professor even joined us! He is young and reminds me of the Lebanese-Chilean-English version of Mika (LCEVM for short). He and I really hit it off! We discussed everything, from Derrida's bullshit and how to tell the social class of an Englishman based on how he pronounces "house." Next week he is taking me to Brick Road. Today I went to Oxford to meet Maria, with whom I've been in contact for quite a while. As I approached Nuffield, I was instantly amazed by how much I loved the university and how excited I was to enter the department. Fiver years ago I had visited Oxford and now I was there for a professional meeting! The scene was perfect. It was raining lightly, which made the bucolic scenery just glisten. The lush green complemented the butter yellow of the stone buildings. I was in heaven. We went for lunch in this really nice cafeteria. It was gorgeous and so academic looking, complete with high vaulted ceilings, stone walls, and lamps for lighting. I found out that the school pays for staff members' dinner and lunches. We had an extremely productive conversation over Jamaican chicken and fresh fruit. Afterwards, we went back to the canteen, grabbed some coffee, and made ourselves at home at the, you guessed it, incredibly academic looking staff and student lounge. We have nothing like this at Michigan. There was a large flat-screen TV playing a cricket match, and white-haired professors chatted over (free) coffee to students Maria's fiance joined us. He was still dressed in his cricket clothes as he had practice earlier. He sat down with us and we had a really fun conversation. I learned so much in those two-hours, from British culture and the ins and outs of British party politics in, oh, the last 30 years. I was in heaven. Honestly, I could have died right then and there. I will say it: my dream is to work at Oxford, whether it be for a year (post-doc) or for a very, very long time. So now I'm in my new hotel. Why? Look at this picture: 'Nuff said. DK is coming tomorrow! I am so excited! And on that note, I'm going to bed.