"Ils ont des chapeaux ronds, vive la Bretagne"

Détrompez-vous, ce n'est pas une maison de lutins bretons - c'est une vrai demeure, une maison entourée de dolmens!

La côte de granit rose .... Je crois que cette roche-ci, on la prénomme Louis XI. / The shoreline is covered with pink granite rocks, I think they call this one "Louis XI".

Voici quelques photos prises lors de mon petit séjour en Bretagne, juste avant de rentrer au Canada! Je suis maintenant de retour à la maison, en train de me faire dorloter :)

A few pictures of my trip to Brittany (la Bretagne), France, just before I left London to return to Canada. I am now at home, being spoiled by family and friends :)

xxx Miss Engagée

To Talk of Many Things

I have only one week left before flying back home-ward over the Atlantic Ocean.

In which I intend to fully soak up London (and a bit of Brittany), its endearing quirks, museums, parks, shopping (within reason) and most of all, fantastic smart wonderful people!

I treated myself to a little West End musical you may have heard of - "Billy Elliot" at the Victoria Palace Theatre. My favourite scenes were the tap-dancing number Billy puts on to express his anger over his family's rejection of his ballet-dancing, as well as the superb and seemless back-and forth dance between the young ballerina students, the miners and the police men.

 I also managed to check a few things off my "London To-Do List", namely the
Colombia Road Flower Market, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in Kensington.  The Flower Market is particularly lively on Sunday mornings as the barrow boys shout out " a fiver for an orchid! prettiern' your mudder-in-law" and surrounding local shops sell anything from Union Jack tea cosies to glazed ceramic bowls made in Thailand.
The V&A is also quite lively although the crowd tends to be more international-tourist than local/hipster. I enjoyed the Fashion over the ages exhibition, as well as the ceramics and chinoiseries.

Victoria and Albert Museum: Fashion

Victoria and Albert: Chinoiserie

Colombia Road Flower Market

Colombia Road Flower Market!

"Window shopping" for flowers

I've also been to see the Taming of the Shrew at the Shakespeare Globe Theatre, as well as to various dinner parties in order to bid adieu to my dear friends in London. Many people have already left, others are staying in the UK to pursue phDs or look for employment. I really look forward to following everyone's career and life paths, as we trudge forward on the journey of Life...

Many hugs, and as always, remember to "keep calm, and carry (ceilidh) on"!
Mia

Pop the Champagne

....It may be too early to celebrate getting a Masters' degree (won't know if I passed everything until November!!!!) but it's definitely not too early to give a big whoop for joy!
I've handed in my dissertation after months of hard work (we..lll strictly speaking it was six weeks of hard work) and the feeling is one of ebullient relief. I can't even sleep for some reason, so excited am I to say I am finished with school.

Goodbye dear old books you've served me well (no worries, they are getting a welcoming home soon, with a friend of mine who is going to LSE in the fall).

Now that I've handed in my last piece of academic work ever (unless I madly decide to undertake another masters' degree) I have two blissful weeks of NOTHING in which I can explore London's nooks and crannies, socialise socialise socialise over a drink or a cup of tea and perhaps even head south for a few days in France.

And just to reassure you that I haven't been "all work and no play" here are a few pictures from last weekend's adventures. My friend K from France (we met in Sweden so many years ago...) was here and she dragged me away from the library for a day to explore London's canals, markets and teashops. K is a dear soul with a beautiful smile and a similar eye for cute "kawaï" stuff so we had a ball together despite my pending dissertation submission and daily pilgrimage to the LSE library.

We randomly joined a tour of London' East End's back passages...

A huuuuge thank you to my faithful editors (you know who you are) for pointing out my many typos and incoherences. My dissertation "Steve" is now in the safe hands of our departmental office and soon to head into the world of multiple mark ups from several red pens. Good luck and cross my fingers!

Miss you all, see you soon.
Yours,

Miss Engagée

Notes from an Extra Friendly Island

Isle of Arran. 

Hey all
 While London was gearing up for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics, I and two friends quietly escaped up to Scotland for a few days. It was definitely a smart thing to do!! I`d been hearing all year what a magical place it is, and my time in Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Isle of Arran didn`t disappoint. For light reading, I brought Bill Bryson`s "notes from a small island" (as well as the heavier "The Smartest Guys in the Room"' about the Enron scandal). Bryson`s often charming, sometimes hilarious observations about England and Scotland were a very appropriate commentary for our traipse up to the land of haggis, golf and Adam Smith.

Edinburgh.

First stop: Edinburgh. The city is undergoing construction for its new Tramway system, keeping up with its commitment to green modes of transportation. I loved the city`s small-town vibe mixed with lots of history and grand and stately buildings. Highlights included having drinks at the Balmoral Hotel, climbing Arthur`s seat and trying on ridiculous tartan-motif'ed hats at the tourist shops along the Royal Mile. I would have maybe spent a bit more time in Leith, we went to this seaside area on a lovely warm afternoon and quite enjoyed the view and the coffee walnut cupcakes at Mimi`s Bakehouse.

Next up: Glasgow. Home of Charles Rennie Macintosh`s exquisite buildings (including the quirky and very interesting School of Art on Renfrew Street), numerous museums and tea shops, and people with difficult accents.

My friend had tickets to the Japan-Spain soccer game, but I begged off and had a splendid time wandering around the art galleries. By chance, I walked into the Glasgow Centre for Contemporary Arts which has a very neat exhibition by an Indian graphic artist named Sarnath Banerjee ("History is Written by Garment Exporters"). I also traversed the oasis of calm that is the Kelvingrove Park and made my way to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, where they were shooting an episode of the BBC antiques show, "Flog it!". (No joke.) At the Gallery, I learned about Miss Cranston`s tea rooms - the esteemed lady`s brother was a tea importing merchant, and she herself, being of the entreprising sort, commissioned Charles Rennie Macintosh to decorate a series of tea rooms, which I gather were quite popular for the "ladies who lunch in big straw hats" crowd. I was quite sad to hear that most of these tea rooms have disappeared, although next time I'm in Glasgow I will try to visit the Willow Tea Rooms, one of the surviving establishments.

University of Glasgow

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. There is a functioning organ - concerts are played every day at 1pm. 

Isle of Arran- by the harbour front. 

Last stop: The Isle of Arran. Home of seals and porpoises (although we`re going on faith on this), the Goat Fell hill (poor thing!) and of delightfully friendly islanders.

The Isle of Arran was definitely the highlight of the trip. It was, as Scottish weather is wont to be, alternatively cloudy, rainy, drizzly, sunny, dazzlingly sunny, cloudy-but-wait-there`s-sun-at-the-other-side-of-the-hill.  We were glad to have brought several sweaters ("jumpers") and pairs of socks for our hikes and bike ride - my friend even bought herself another two layers while on the island. Weather notwithstanding, it was a perfect summer getaway! We ate mussels and lots of smoked salmon, as well as "full Scottish breakfast" on both days. Arran is a quiet place but after two days of hiking up and down rocky slopes, biking, dodging barking dogs and stray sheep, getting wet and dry again, we were grateful to get to bed early.

We stayed at a great B&B - I do highly recommend The Glenartney if you ever find yourself in this area. They have a comfortable lounge area, from which we watched the Olympics Opening Ceremony and the Phelps vs. Lochte 400m swimming race.

Me and my cow friend. Near Lamlash, Isle of Arran. My feet were soaking wet from the rain but when we met the cows, it was sunny!!

It feels quite nice to be back in London, even though I could have spent another two or three days on "vacation". I'm looking forward to a bit more Shakespeare, a bit more socializing, and even  my dissertation-writing for the month of August.

`Love to all.
Miss Engagée xox

Oh Mr. Sun!

Just wanted to point out that IT`S FINALLY SUNNY IN LONDON!!

The Wenlock in its Natural Habitat

Bonjour tout le monde,

Un petit bonjour pour vous rassurer que je me porte bien et que je travaille fort sur ma dissertation (!) quoique je m'amuse toujours. 

It seems the whole world knows that the Olympics are taking place very soon in London & as a result strange little creatures like the one below are popping up all over town. I`m not involved myself in any way, except to post commentaries on how expensive and disorganised the Olympics will be & how the Olympics Committee is using sponsors like Adidas (exploitation! they pay their workers 34p an hour!!) and Dow Chemicals (which bought over the Union Carbide company, responsible for the Bhopal incident many years ago which killed and injured thousands of people. They are still waiting for compensation.) . Maybe this is because I`m a bit of a Grinch when it comes to organised sports. 

This animal is called the "Wenlock". Its natural habitat is the county of Shropshire, but it has been popping up around the Tower Bridge area with alarming frequency.  The Wenlock is remarkably proficient in modern telecommunications and has been sighted on many electronic portable phones.  It has been known to slide on rainbows. Take no notice of those predators which call it a "One-Eyed Compromise Monster". 

Of course its not all doom and gloom. I`ve had the pleasure of hosting another good friend from Canada who stopped here on her way to Belgium and Germany. We went to Cambridge & really enjoyed ourselves although I have no photographic evidence of our jaunt. We saw Phantom of the Opera and Chicago, had high tea and generally had as much fun as possible notwithstanding the constant rain.

Close to Lincoln`s Inn in the Holborn Area. 

I am almost done with my stint at War on Want. It`s been really interesting even though I was less involved in the activist side of things than I would have liked. (Yes, I know "interesting" can be both good and bad... on the whole I would say working at this NGO was interesting in a good way, though I learned a lot about inter-office dynamics and how to manage conflicting opinions).

Trying to finish up a few more sections on my dissertation before my friend and I go to Scotland for five days. We are planning an epic trip which may or may not involved haggis. I definitely look forward to staying on the Isle of Arran and to wandering around Edinburgh. I will update the blog upon my return!

Je termine bientôt mon petit stage à l'ONG War on Want, qui oeuvre à la lutte pour les droits des ouvriers. Ce fut un environnement bien intéressant quoique j'en ai appris beaucoup sur la gestion des conflits d'opinion. Je pars bientôt pour l'Écosse- Edimbourgh, Glasgow et l'Ile de Arran- restez à l'affût, je vous parlerai de mon aventure au retour! 

Stay tuned. Lots of love, as always.
Mia   x

Pride 2012

Today was Pride 2012 and we went down to Oxford Street to enjoy the parade. I had lots of fun dancing around to the samba music despite the occasional rain and the lack of funds this year, which meant that there were no floats, sadly. 

Apparently 44 members of the Commonwealth still criminalise homosexuality. Holding the World Pride in London seems to symbolise that struggle for equality which in many countries is very dangerous. We with our "academics-in-training" hat had a discussion about the over-commercialisation of the Pride parades all over the developed world, but ultimately I am grateful for the progress that has been made. And it makes for a great party - we even joined part of the parade. It was a great way to get in the spirit of things and feel part of a larger community. Happy Pride everyone!

Happy Canada Day (belated)

Canada Day in London is known for being a great party. Unfortunately this party involved a bit of rain and somewhat cold weather, but this didn’t put a damper on the crowd’s enthusiasm. I met up with some friends on Sunday at Trafalgar Square and we watched some road hockey and listened to some Canadian classics (such as the “Good Old Hockey Game”, which I actually have only heard once or twice.... and not too many Québécois songs, unfortunately). 

To top it off, my friends are big film buffs so after checking out the Nova Scotia lobster tent, we went to the East End Film Festival kick-off day in and around Liverpool Street Station and the Shoreditch area. We heard some interesting Spoken Word artists, including a young woman who started a blog about her personal project to speak to strangers every day for 100 days, "Speak to Strangers" is the self-explanatory title. We also saw some silent films and animations made by film students and presented by Gorilla Film Magazine. (When I asked the magazine crew why they picked that particular name, they replied that it refers to "Guerilla film making" e.g. small independent projects. Sadly, there were no gorilla mascots in attendance.) It was quite an enjoyable Sunday afternoon, & we ended up watching the Eurocup soccer finals at the Rich Mix art centre.

A belated happy Canada Day!!
xox

Roman Holiday

Hi everyone,

Time for another update! It's been a busy two weeks: finishing my exams and immediately setting out to Rome, spending a wonderful week in Italy, and then coming back to London to celebrate my birthday (not once, but twice) and saying goodbye to some very good friends and flatmates.

Springtime in Oslo

A rainbow is a momentous occasion. TWO rainbows? Well, that`s extra special. I was blessed to see this beautiful natural phenomenon whilst enjoying some quality time with family in Oslo, Norway.

After finishing two exams last week,  I was more than ready for some R&R away from London, so this was the perfect getaway. My aunt picked me up at the airport & we spent three days hanging out with her five grandkiddies, who are all much taller than when I last saw them in 2008. I played ping pong and Wii with the boys and we attended a very fun opening event for the local community/art centre. I wish I 'd taken more pictures of the Art Collective...the space was picturesquely located in the woods next to a farm (with beautiful horses!) and every nook and cranny is filled with colourful artwork, intricate wood sculptures, silver jewellery, film studios, etc.

My neurons got a pleasant break all weekend & I had fun trying to follow the conversations in Norwegian-Chinese-Swedish (not to mention watching a movie in Italian with Norwegian subtitles!! At the Art Centre we watched Cinema Paradiso, on an outdoor screen, with the sun not quite setting because of course it is Norway in the summer time....)

Norway's Old Town

I also spent half a day wandering around Oslo proper, watching the changing of the guards, doing some window shopping and coffee drinking. I also visited the Nobel Peace Centre, where they have two very interesting photo exhibits on Afghanistan - from a soldier's and from a local women's perspective.

Photo credit: Lynsey Addario- In Afghanistan, Exhibition at the Nobels Fredssenter

It goes without saying that Norway is a beautiful country. My aunt has a theory that the good quality of life that Norwegians enjoy can be measured by the ratio of trees per capita. I`m being a bit facetious but my own theory is that people who enjoy their life show it by showcasing beautiful things...which are plentiful in Oslo. Regardless, I am struck by the poise and pride the Norwegians possess. It's certainly a country which deserves to be discovered. Maybe in another four years, I'll be back and exploring the fjords...

xoxo Miss Engagée

Diary of a Tired and Cranky Student

Hi everyone,

Sorry for my long silence in cyberspace. I've just come out of a marathon week of cramming for my two full-unit courses. It's been stressful so I'm really looking forward to a few days of peace up in Oslo visiting aunts and cousins. Who knows, it might even count as "studying" as I have some very smart cousins-in-law whose conversations may help shape my thoughts on the Informal Economy and Global Environmental Governance (my two remaining exam topics!!).

The whole exam system here is rather skewed I'm afraid. We should really have tests scheduled in December so we can get half-units out of the way. Instead we're expected to revise for subjects that we vaguely remember covering six months ago?! I suppose it's not so bad if you are a diligent note-taker. I happen to take pretty descriptive notes but am rather disorganized so have to check all my randomly collected piles of paper in my room to make sure I haven't mixed up " theories of neo-Gramscianism" with "Bottom of the Pyramid" notes!

Ah well, the good thing about exam period is that it gives one an excuse to give oneself treats (I'm "incentivizing" myself to overcome my tendency to procrastinate hehe). I've been religiously going to yoga class and treating myself to ice creams (or "ice lollies" as popsicles are called in England). I also enjoyed some Shakespeare performances last week - there was a particularly memorable performance of   Love's Labour's Lost in British Sign Language. Makes me think that all theater should be performed in sign language - it is the most visually evocative of media.

If I take some nice pictures of Oslo I will post them up next week. Otherwise you may get more on the subject of my Tired and Cranky state of being.

Love to all, je vous embrasse (et souhaite BONNE FETE a mon petit frère!)

Mia xox

Promenade

Tiens, bonjour!
J'ai décidé de prendre une marche (oui oui je veux dire "je suis allée me promener!") le long de la Thamise aujourd'hui, histoire de me changer les idées. À force de passer tout son temps enfermée dans la bibliothèque à discuter de néolibéralisme, on oublie que  ça existe, du monde qui se moque de théories du développement et qui préfère aller se promener un jour de congé.

Il a fait un temps de canard ces temps ci. Imaginez ma surprise ce matin lorsque des rayons de soleil m'ont réveillée!! Il fait assez frisquet mais c'est une température idéale pour réviser en préparation des examens finaux.

I had a very busy and social week regardless of a strict study regime. We went to the London Philarmonic Orchestra on Wednesday; heard a fantastic pièce by the son-in-law of Dvorak, "Symphonie poétique" I think it was called. yesterday after my empteenth study group I invited two girl friends over to eat junk food and watch the "Rocky Horror Picture Show". I couldn`t believe that my film-studies-major friend hadn`t seen this cult classic - this is the girl who took  me to a Big Lebowski bowling night!!  Anyways today it had been back to the books, I`ve managed to write one summary and send a whole bunch of emails so I`d say it was a medium-productive day. (!)

Feeling a bit antsy and can`t wait for the exam period to be over - in 44 days to be exact, urgh. Ah well it is kinda exciting to be revising and realizing how much I`ve learned over the course of a year. Plus my study buddies are great fun and keep me from going nuts. I`ve booked my trip to Rome! and will try to cook up more interesting plans: once the sun shows its timid self I think i will be much more inspired to plan bike trips/adventures and what have you.
Bisous
Miss Engagée