Fulbright Orientation and the End of Summer

This past week marked the end of summer, as I moved out of temporary housing into another even more temporary housing for Fulbright orientation.  The weather is now permanently chilly, which is not good news for someone who hasn't bought a proper coat yet.  It starts with a single, cramped room:

The view is quite nice:

My official looking folder and ribbon:

We started bright and early with introductions.  Fulbright scholars, to say the least, have done some really amazing things, and make my life look quite boring in comparison.  As a sample, these people have: participated in archaeological research excavations in Italy, performed ballet in New York and Zurich, qualified as a Navy and Marine Corps parachutist, worked on a taco truck for seven weeks, founded a BFA musical theater program, etc. (If any Fulbright people are reading this, yes I got this off of the bingo card).

For dinner we went down to brick lane and had fancy Indian food:

The next day, we held orientation at Two Temple Place, a mansion originally built and owned by the Astor family.  It is apparently also one of the finest examples of Victorian architecture and design:

We met our first celebrity, the US ambassador to the UK!  Unfortunately, he looks quite small in the picture, but he was a very charming politician:

After lunch, we went to Westminster, and not just for sightseeing!

We first headed to Portcullis house, a large parliament office space beside the palace:

The people we met were:
Baroness Williams of Crosby, a former member of the house of Lords, Professor Emerita at Harvard, and Fulbright scholar in the 1950s.  She was an extremely interesting, intelligent woman who gave a lot of insight into both how parliament works and how it doesn't.
Richard Ottaway MP, a current member of the House of Commons, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.  He gave a lot of insight into the everyday workings of the house and how the House of Commons functions politically.
Kenneth Fox, a Clerk in the House of Commons.  He didn't answer any questions, but gave a broad overview of the parliament and the government.

After our introduction to Parliament through these important people, we headed into Westminster palace to get a look at a debate on the floor of the Commons.

The first place we went into was Westminster Hall, the oldest surviving part of the palace of Westminster, built between 1097-1099.  The room itself was completed in 1401 and was saved from destruction in World War II, when the palace was bombed,

In the House of Commons we were not allowed to take pictures, but I sneaked a few while climbing the stairs:

If you're really curious, here is a picture of the House of Commons.  The actually place was very empty on a Thursday afternoon, as it was a debate about Employment rights:

Exiting:

The next day we had a scavenger hunt and ended with a fancy lunch overlooking the River Thames at OXO Brasserie:

 Definitely the best meal I've had in London so far:

In the afternoon, I moved hopefully for the final time into my long-term housing:

Covent Garden

Here is a tour of Covent Garden, a very posh shopping place in central London:

They have a two story Apple store:

While I didn't buy anything, I did try all the tea samples:

I apologize for the lack of details / updates.  More events coming soon!

Tate Modern

A week ago I made a trek to the Tate Modern, starting from London Bridge:

The Thames is a lovely brown color this time of year:

A nice view of downtown buildings across the river:

After some adventures in the rain, I managed to make it to the museum 45 minutes after I crossed the bridge.  As a disclaimer, I never fully appreciated modern art in the past, but I was open to what this famous place had to offer:

It appears that half of the exhibitions in this "free" museum are paid, so I only had some limited options.  I started in the Meschac Gaba Museum for African Art:

Mr. Gaba has tried to "boldly redefine" what a museum exhibition is, and as such each room in his exhibit seems to be a mosaic of his life and thoughts.  First notable piece: a fake freezer with rubber chickens:

Inside this strange exhibit was a tree with money glued on (so deep) and some wooden blocks for children to play with:

Other things include more cryptic messages about money, and a giant chess set:

I was confused as to what the exhibit was trying to accomplish, but I thought perhaps other things would be better.  Here are some brief samples of other exhibits, starting with surrealism:

A painting by Joan Miro, the "Facebook like" blob is supposed to be a horse.

A view from the top of the Tate showing the Millennium bridge

Tree with mud covered people:

Pollock blobs:

Monet Garden, one of the few paintings that I could recognize what was in it:

A scary Vietnam war painting:

"3-D" art:

A big gourd baby:

Kind of at a loss here...some planks? Signifying walking?

The art of stacking fluorescent lights:

There were many more paintings and sculptures, but I had trouble getting much appreciation from them (I did read the very descriptive captions but had no idea how people are supposed to read into this).  Overall, I found my time at the Tate mostly enjoyable, though perhaps more confusing than insightful.