First Week--London

London-

After arriving in London, Professor Mike Hemesath decided a good way to keep us from sleeping immediately and thereby throwing off our sleep schedule would be to take us on a two hour walking tour around London. The tour was informative and a great way of getting a quick lay of the land (we walked by various monuments and historical sites, such as famed economist John Maynard Keynes' old house) but by the end most of us were either thinking of sleep, food, or how easily we could get away with stealing a car so we didn't have to trek the 30 minute walk back to the hotel. However, the plan worked as we all got back from eating around 9pm and slept soundly.

Outside the County Hotel waiting for the tour to start. Fun game: Try to find Katherine in the crowd of students.

Throughout the next couple of days we were lucky and fortunate to visit with some distinguished alumni in the banking and news sectors. For example, we visited Richard Greene ('91), a news writer for CNN International. The fun part about visiting with these alumni was to listen to their career path and how they got to their current job. It was also fun visiting their place of business and getting a behind the scenes look at how mutual funds or newsrooms really work.

Richard Greene giving a brief introduction to CNN International

The gang in the main CNN International studio

Along with exploring London on our own time, we were able to see Henry V at the renowned Globe Theatre as a group. Although the last time I read Shakespeare was in ninth grade, and the dialogue was tough to follow I believe the general gist was that England dominated France in a war. I'll have to ask someone from France once we arrive in Paris tomorrow. The theatre was a great experience though, with the majority of the crowd standing while there was a gallery surrounding the stage. 

Our seats in the Globe Theatre. My favorite performance was by the pillar. Notice how we had the (grateful) luxury of seats while most of the crowd had to stand for the entire play.

Soon to come: Brussels, Brugge, and how we solved the Euro crisis ( j/k we didn't. )