Went to Cambridge this week!

OK, you are probably tired of random pictures of flowers, but I love them! So here is Spring in London II:

Spring at the Palace of Westminster

This was my view at lunch today.  I am one lucky lady!!

Spring Has Sprung!!

Hello friends!  Spring has finally started to arrive in London.  It is still quite cold, but there are signs of life.  Here are a few pictures of some of the spring flowers in the parks that I go through on the walk between work and school (if Krisann is reading this, that walk takes about 20 minutes).  I plan to do much more picture taking this spring in London so stay tuned to this space for more exciting updates!

Last week I met some fine British politicians so I wanted to share some photos.  It is unclear why I am so shiny, but I am looking into it.  Here is Liam Fox, the Secretary of State for Defence (I gave into the British spelling on that one since it is his official title).

And here is Michael Portillo, the former Defence Secretary, former Shadow Chancellor and all around British political legend.

Oxford Union Debates

On Thursday I was lucky enough to be invited to a Oxford Union Debate as the guest of one of the speakers.  It was my first time in Oxford and it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.  The debates have been taking place since 1823 and, honestly, it was just what you would expect.  There were lots of men in black tie (all male members of the Union and all the debaters -- five on each side of the proposition --  are required to wear them).  We ate dinner at a massive table in an ancient room (although you should know that rubber chicken diners are common on both sides of the Atlantic). At the end of the meal everyone stood and made a toast to the Queen and then they passed a large decanter of port.  The debate took place in another ancient room that was specifically built to host debates like this.  After it was all said and done the audience voted for the winning side by walking out of the "aye" or "no" door.  My side lost, although since it was arguing in favor of higher tuition fees that was hardly a surprise.  It's a good thing that the Oxford Union lets both the winners and loser retire to the library for an after debate drink!

Happy 2011 friends!  I know it is a little late to be saying that, but we just started back to class this week, so this has been the first week I have been organized enough to get on the blog.  I have new classes this term and I think I am going to like them much more than the classes I had last term.  I am taking my core class in Politics and Society (the same as last term) and then I am taking a course on Partisanship in Europe and one on Political Behaviour in Europe (note the spelling...I have been getting endless grief for spelling like an American).  The entire grade in the Political Behaviour class is based on a 5,000 word essay that I am going to write on Margaret Thatcher.  It's going to be awesome.  I also had to decide on a topic for my dissertation.  I am going to compare and contrast the politics of literacy policy in the U.S. and the U.K.  Alright, that is all for now folks!  Talk soon!