Today's edition of "Ridiculous Things Written in the Marketing Textbook"

Apparently this linguistics study was done with a sample from a ghetto in Texas?  

Have you ever sHoPpEd at Tesco Mr. Author? 0__o

How To: Take an Exam

The London Business School Edition

With two exams under my belt (successfully TDB) I think it's time to share how this very important part of a university degree differs from UF to LBS. The schools themselves are so incredibly different - from 50,000 students to a few thousand, from a city that is mostly the campus to a campus that is barely a percentage of the city - I could go on and on. I do think though that most of the differences can be chalked up to the national university system. 

If you think you ever may study in the UK, especially if you would be making the leap across the pond from the USA, or are a curious soul - read on!

1. Kiss a few Friday nights goodbye

My two midterm exams were on Saturday mornings. I suspect this is a highly LBS specific problem as we're nearly at capacity and it is the only time there are enough free lecture halls for all 174 of us to be spread out. While this is similar to UF exams happening at 8:20 at night (a time I'm sure no Warrington student will ever forget), it is a lot less fun. 

2. Start your finger exercises and put down that pencil

I'm not sure that the scantron has made it to London yet. This was a real shock after four years of bubbling bubbles. Additionally troubling is that my S's look like a mix between an r, s, 7 and / which is a real potential issue when writing formulas. I had to take extra time to write carefully which put some stress on my timing to finish the exams. 

3. Say the word "invigilator" 10 times fast 

We got an email before the exam explaining that the 'invigilator would do this and the invigilator will do that' and I honestly couldn't stop the giggles. Is that a super hero? A masseuse? A robot? No - just an overly fancy word for proctor or exam administrator. Strangely these mythical creatures who sit with us in the exam room are totally random school employees who have nothing to do with the class. Gone are the days of looking to the front of the finance exam and thinking "Look at those friendly TAs - if they could do it, so can I." 

4. Be prepared to wait 

In the UK exams are graded by two people. Final exams are even graded by an external grader, in some effort to assure that LBS isn't marking its students too high (I need to do some research on this - seems like it would cause a regression to the mean to me). This in combination with the lack of scantrons means that grades take a while to get back. It is still left to be seen if we will be able to look over our work. 

There you have it, my by no means exhaustive guide to taking an exam in the UK. I hope by the end of the program to be able to judge qualitatively which system is better. 

Fellow MiMs and other who have studied abroad: If you're reading this, what other exam policies have you come across? Did I miss anything? I'd love to hear in the comments. =D

Found a Church!

May I introduce to you All Souls Langham Place! 

Pretty pretty right off Regent's Street 

All Souls is an Anglican Evangelical church in the heart of central London. The building was built by John Nash, an architect from the early 19th century who is responsible for much of the design of London (ahem, Buckingham Palace). 

It's more traditional than I'm used to. There's no flashy lighting and  worship is a mix of hymns and older worship music. But I tried churches that matched the style I was used to and found they lacked content. 

I really like this place for a few reasons:

1.  It's a very international community, a mix of ages, and made up of people from many different economic backgrounds, reminding me much of First Baptist Fort Lauderdale 
2.  The sermons are honest and don't brush over tough subjects. The pastor is  well rehearsed and his delivery is flawless, making the sermon more like a piece of art where every word has impact than an lecture.
3.  There's this beautiful portion where someone leads 5 prayers. They cover missionaries, the church's outreach, current events, etc. The first two times i visited (two months apart!) they prayed for students new to the city which really moved me. The heart of the ministry is most evident here.  
4.  Recitations are something I'm not used to but find lovely. The one after the offering is my favorite. The pastor says "All things come from you Lord." The congregation responds "and of your own we have given you" which is directly from 1 Chronicles 29:14. I think it's a beautiful reminder! 
5. They are so welcoming!

I'm happy to call this place my church home while I'm in London. 

How To: Find a Church

Sponsored by Trial and Error

1.  Take a recommendation from someone at your home-church. The second day in your new city, check the website and excitedly show up for the evening service. Find out the website is wrong so take some time - an hour - to sit outside and talk to the (overly) friendly homeless man with a vivid imagination and fabulous style. Excuse yourself to the loo to avoid having a panic attack in public once the doors do open. 

2. Google international megachurch names to see if any are in your city. Bus 40 minutes and attend service in a gorgeous theatre. Love the music (yes, it's THAT church) but scratch your head through the sermon as the pastor keeps saying "I think you get what I mean." No? 

3. Decide to go for a run. Only in your new city there are these formations called hills.  Notice that the lady looking at you with sympathy as you go panting by is standing on the stoop of a church. In your neighborhood! Sleep in and miss the service that week but drag yourself out of bed the following. Make the unfortunate realization that it might just be Bilbo Baggins preaching the sermon and try to shake it the whole rest of the hour. 

In upcoming episodes...

4. Try Anglicanism 

5. Visit a church in the same network as your university church

6. Take recommendations from your uni bible study 

Jokes aside, I've been pleasantly surprised at how welcoming everyone has been at the different churches. I hope the church has finally realized what it's like to be a guest! Still on the hunt though so if you know of a modern, evangelical church in the heart of London, I'd appreciate the lead! You might even get to be included in the next installment. 

Meeting the World

It's about time for my first real blog post since arriving in London two weeks ago. I would have written earlier if it weren't for a bit of writers block and general overwhelemed-ness. 

What I can share, and have shared with a few, is that these last two weeks have been like meeting the world! A general introduction starts with names and immediately goes to home countries. My classmates stories aren't simple either - "born there, from this descent, but educated another place" is so common (and so wonderful.) We turn each other's names over in our mouths and get them wrong, adding our own accents to the mix. We talk about that one time we visited that country, and pretend to understand when someone tells us what city he is from and we aren't exactly sure what part of the country that is. We openly share the culture differences we see, but ethnocentricty is no where to be found. 

In our class of 179, there are 41 countries and 49 languages. Our second day of orientation we were given a little flag of our country to carry around. I very embarrassingly had to admit I didn't know where someone's flag was from - and will never again forget the Bulgarian flag. Despite my ignorance the exercise was so telling! 

It's been stressed again and again by our programme that we will grow and learn immensely from the diversity of our class. I can't wait for what is to come!

If this doesn't say I've arrived in London...

... I don't know what does! 

Cod, Chips and Mushy Peas from the Fishbone 

My Visa Has Arrived!

After sending off my past and current passports to the British Consulate in NYC just a little more than a month before I left, I was anxious to get everything back with my visa. 

Laying my head down to sleep on Sunday the 3rd I prayed that I would get just a little peep, an email or notification, about where my visa was in the process. 

Monday morning I woke up to an email informing me it had been issued and Wednesday my brand-spankin' new, shiny and embossed year long UK student visa arrived on my door step! God is good.