Today's Lesson

Despite the fact that I generally feel like I am on an extended vacation, I am actually going to school while I'm in London. I know, it's a shocker! So this post will be devoted to school and my internship.

I am taking two classes at AHA London Centre. My school is tiny! There are about 35 students total between the semester program (my program) and the quarter program. I am taking two classes, Britain Today: Issues and Perspectives and Empire: The British Experience. Most students take four classes, but I decided to do an internship instead!

Britain Today is mostly a politics class. We are learning all about the political system in the UK by going on excursions to Scottish Parliament, The House of Commons, Mayor's Question Time, and more to come. Our class time is often held as more of a Q & A session with the professor. We sit around asking questions about parliament, elections, the prime minister, political parties, healthcare, and whatever else we can throw at him. And he tries to help us understand what is going on. Coming from the U.S. and having not traveled before, it is sometime difficult for me to comprehend that a country could be run any other way. For example, the UK has no separation of powers between the executive (The Government) and the legislative (Parliament).

My other class is about the British Empire. The title pretty much says it all. We are learning about the great conquerors and how they acquired so many colonies. I recently gave a presentation about the British Empire in the Cape Colony of South Africa (real school work). It was interesting, but I would have been much more interested to learn about Apartheid and Nelson Mandela. But I guess that is the wrong country's history. It is also fascinating to learn about the British Empire from a British perspective. Growing up we always learned about the evil Red Coats and the American Revolution, but this class gives the other side.

The other half of my week is spent at my internship. I work about 12 hours a week at Johnson King, a PR firm that focuses on the technology industry. Most of my time is spent doing research for relevant news stories, updating lists of journalist who cover technology and social media, and writing blogs. I am hoping that by the end I will have the opportunity to sit in on client meetings and write press releases. The work atmosphere is extremely relaxed and the attitudes of the employees fits well with my nerdy side. But this internship has also shown me that I could never have a job that requires me to sit in a desk and stare at a computer screen from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. five days a week. I'm pretty sure that would kill me!

Even though I have to wake up at 6:30 a.m. two days a week and sit in a little desk for a few hours a day, I still don't feel like I am really in school. I am constantly learning in and out of the classroom, but it's mostly by direct experience; no textbook, no lecture. It's pretty wonderful!