Londonward

A seminar discussion today focused on the need for communication between the natural sciences and the social sciences, with an emphasis on environmental policy having to be an amalgamation of the two fields. I think that, more than any other discussion so far, struck a chord with me. Many things were very uncertain to me about the program and LSE when I arrived. Some still remain uncertain. Before arriving, I hoped to be able to use my degree to work in furthering scientific knowledge in nonscientific fields, or to be able to bring closer in some way two communities that rarely make themselves understood to the other. I guess I need to read up on Kuhn’s Paradigms now, and really start thinking of the philosophy of my field in addition to the masses of reading already on the table.

That brings me to another point. I’m horrible at timetabling myself. I know I’m not stupid, at least not to the point of being unable to comprehend material at university level. I just seem to have a problem with concentrating and getting stuff done. That’s what I think, anyway. Somehow everyone else seems to buckle but not break under the course load, and do well on essays in spite of heavy partying. I seem to get nothing done under the pressure.

Am I just really bad at concentrating, leading me to waste time in the library? I’m so used to doing well in school that getting papers back with mid-range grades is disappointing and even disheartening. On the other hand, I’m even more determined to do better now, but I’m afraid my time with these essays is running out. I’m just confused about how I should go about getting back on track. What needs to change, both in the way I work and about my surroundings, to force me to work harder and get into an analytical state of mind when the situation calls for it?

I’m glad the class essays have no bearing on my final grade. However, how I do on them determines what material I have to study from come exam time, and to improve on them will take time and resources I may not have in the spring. Also, in order to form a solid foundation for further work, I should grasp these first-semester topics pretty firmly. It’s the same thing with presentations: The presentations we make for our classmates are supposed to introduce them to the complexities of the issues, and a lacking presentation will not do that, making work harder for everyone else.

In the space of two weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of showing two friends from Finland around the fine city of London. They’ve both been very short visits, but it’s frankly all I could spare even though I would have loved to do more. Good thing then that both were just stopping by. In those few days last week and the week before, I’ve realized that I have learned and do know something about London, after all. I can’t say exactly what that something is, but somehow I feel comfortable here.

I’ve grown used to the flat by now. I no longer smell the musty smell of what is very possibly mold. I find the creaking floors funny and the single-paned window that shakes as the wind comes through just a fact of life.

I hadn’t expected it to rain in the bathroom though. There I was, minding my own business, when something began rattling right next to me. I thought bits of the roof were coming down, but instead the noise was caused by water raining down from the light fixture, down the bulb and onto the floor. Scrambling up, I turned off the lights and cursed out loud. There was quite obviously a leak from the upstairs bathroom straight through the floor to our ceiling. I ran up to tell the girl upstairs what was happening and called the landlord.

Now the question is how long I will have to enjoy taking showers in candlelight. I guess they will have to replace the entire ceiling. Where will I shower then?

Much to my surprise, I’m taking all this in stride. Sure, it’s unfortunate that I shouldn’t turn on the lights in my bathroom and the girl upstairs shouldn’t take showers until Monday, but does it really detract from the quality of my life? Not really. Sure, I hope they fix the leak so that the water damage won’t spread further into the structure of the building, and I don’t like the thought of mold in the flat, but life goes on anyway. I really don’t want to be negative about this.

I’ve been planning to do an essay for next Friday on pollution, another one for Monday in International Relations (probably on Globalization and why it is so hard to define), and another one for Friday the 7th of December on European integration. That would be the last day of this term. Two weeks.

I was told to do a presentation with a friend on climate change affecting the global hydrological cycle for next Thursday. Great. Not only does that mean another set of work, but it completely messes up the schedule I had going. Long days in the library are ahead, it seems. It wouldn’t be so bad if each of the articles wouldn’t take me over an hour to understand. I don’t know if I’m a slow reader or what.

I had no idea that people would use the following search phrases, which is why I assume spammers want to get them on blogs to raise their google rank. This is just one I stopped to read. I get plenty of these every day.

“pissgolden showerdrinking pisspantie pissingpissing pussypee picpee hergay pissman pissingmop pisspiss publichunter pisspiss sexpissing pantspiss teenfully clothed pissinggirl pee peepantie pissgirls pissinggirl pee in showergirl peeingasian pisscum pisscaught pissingpiss slutmature pisspissing toiletman pissvoyeur pissingfuck piss”
(emphasis mine)

I mean, seriously. Sheesh. Let’s see how many search engine hits I get because of this post now.