London, Scotland, etc.

Hi all :)

I've been enjoying myself here in the UK, getting to know London, the Tube, the TV stations, Scotland, the national rail system, and loving the 1.84 exchange rate (not really!). I'm taking a class in European capital markets, which has been very interesting. I finished applying for BU's nomination for the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships for two years of further study (in economics) here in the UK at Oxford, LSE, or St. Andrew's. I had a telephone interview with such figures as Sheldon Glashow (Nobel in Physics) and Jon Westling (former BU president) earlier today. Pray that I have made a great impression on the selection committee so that I can progress further in this.

In the past couple weeks, I've found a church I'd like to attend regularly and met a weekly small group not far from where I live. I went to see a play with them last Thursday night (Pericles, Prince of Tyre) at Shakespeare's recently-rebuilt Globe Theatre. Tonight I will watch Playing With Fire at a venue closer to the West End (London's theatre district). The show at the Globe, by the way, was really impressive. I was a groundling and got slowly soaked by a very light drizzle, but their use of the theatre was incredible. We went to The Anchor, a pub, afterwards and relaxed for a few minutes in the warm place that Shakespeare's men used to use as a changing room (a pub since the middle ages!).

This past weekend, my flatmates and I traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland. We stayed at a hostel there that wasn't incredible, but it was a bed. We climbed Arthur's Seat, a mini-mountain on the first evening and barely missed a huge rainstorm, approaching from all sides, then scattering into a beautiful, 180-degree rainbow (2 of them, actually). The next day we visited the Museum of Scotland, then caught a train out to Stirling, where William Wallace won an important battle in the 1300s (cue Braveheart music). We visited Stirling castle; not very impressive relative to Windsor and Buckingham, but a fun time nonetheless. That afternoon, we walked briefly around Stirling, visited the oldest townhouse in the area (quite melodramatic!), then caught a local bus to a couple cities away to visit Alva. Even Edinburghers don't know exactly where Alva is, but we found out that there was a local festival, the Alva Glen Illuminations, going on and we just had to see that :) Actually, we thought we might hike there; the Illuminations were an afterthought. We got in there too late to hike, but we did get to see the end of the Second Duck Race (kids racing rubber duckies down a creek), enjoy dinner at a local pub/B&B with a lovely Scottish lass as our waitress, then head back out the the Glen for the real Illuminations events. A band of local pipers (including a little 8-or-10-year old) played some great tunes, I bought some assorted homemade cakes in a baggie (these were yummy), and then we walked through the glen to see much of the vegetation lit by candles (historical) and halogen lights (not too historical). Got some fun pictures of a guy juggling fire; he breathed it too. Listened to a local band play some older and recent hits. We got a bus back to Stirling, where we walked around the town for a little while (I got some McDonald's for the first time since I've been here). Not much of a night life at all there; actually pretty dead at night :) We caught our train back to Edinburgh and got to sleep shortly thereafter. The next morning, Sunday, I took off on my own to see a bit more of the city; I bought a Claymore, the sword William Wallace used, and am enjoying swinging it around and seeing how shiny it is :) Don't worry, it didn't cost a ridiculous amount, although I did think it unusual that I would buy such a thing, wise a spender as I am.

I'm enjoying classes; working hard on occasion, doing reading and writeups. Most of the time, enjoying the city. Will probably end up working with an accounting firm or an investments firm. Hope all is going well back in the states. Let me know if you have any London friends I should meet.

-Brian

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Brian Patton
http://people.bu.edu/bjp/
http://people.bu.edu/reallife/ourstories.html

London

I am in London for the semester. Send me an email if you care to find out how it's hanging.
Call if you really want to hear my voice (probably better to pre-arrange this; I'm 5 hours ahead of the East coast): 011 44 207 590 7005