Week 13-Last week of term 1 and heading home

Hello, my friends!
Well, I finally made it to the last week of my first term for my degree. It's amazing to think that ten weeks have already gone by. It seems only yesterday that I first moved into my flat, went traveling around London, and hoped to make new friends. But here I am, leaving on Saturday to head back home for the Christmas holidays. If I don't write, know that I'm taking a break for the holiday, and should be back in 2020. Crazy to think that the new year is coming up.
Last weekend I went and saw Knives Out. Amazing movie, highly recommend. For someone who reads a lot of detective novels, I was on the edge of my seat and didn't actually know who the murderer was until almost the end of the film. The theater I went to was in Notting Hill. Called the Electric Cinema, it's an old movie house with plush armchairs, cashmere blankets, and of course a built-in bar. I was more than happy to lounge in my chair as characters on screen blamed each other for murder.


This past week was the launch of our 44th issue of I, Science magazine! This was the first issue my team made and it was amazing! I have to thank Lucy our designer for making it look so beautiful. I'm taking at least five copies home with me to distribute to family and friends. I know quite a few people who will want one. The magazine is free and is completely run and written by students. I'm so glad I was able to be a part of the process and learned quite a bit from publication. You can find our new magazine online at isciencemag.co.uk for the 44th issue. I can't wait to see what the next issue brings!

I also had an essay due this week which I was busy with. But on top of that, I was also editing the new Human Angle podcast episode, as the air conditioning was on in the studio, which threw the mic levels off. Because of this, it took me around 6 hours to edit 50 minutes of podcast material. I'm just glad to say that it is finally done. When I wasn't audio editing or writing, I was busy packing for my upcoming trip. I have a bit of travel anxiety when it comes to making sure everything is accounted for on a trip. In order to make sure that my bag could be properly checked, I bought a luggage scale. In the dull gray skies over London, I captured this image of a church near High Street Kensington, because it was just so peaceful in the middle of the Christmas bustle. Seeing it calmed me down quite a bit as well, so I'm glad the church was there. My books and gifts alone, when weighed by the scale, were 30 lbs, which means I have 20 lbs for clothes and toiletries and the like. Thank goodness because I had hoped to bring at least some clothes back with me. I can't just wear books, as I keep trying to convince my parents of the opposite.
This week I've been spending time with my friends before I leave since I won't see them for a couple weeks. I went ice skating with a few friends in front of the Natural History Museum which were both fun and perilous, as it was raining and the rink became a giant puddle in the middle. We saw quite a few people fall down and become soaked. I haven't done ice skating in a while and was okay at it. I mainly just held hands with my other friends for support.
I did a gift swap with my friends this afternoon before we all part ways. Some of us are going far away, to Malaysia, and others of us to Romania, or even just staying in the UK. One thing is clear though, I will miss them all.
Until next time, have a happy Christmas!
Kenna

Week 12-Still sick...visit to the BBC

Hi Everyone!
I guess I'm now uploading my blogs on Wednesdays. That seems to work better for my schedule. I'm afraid I'm still sick but I'm soldiering through. I've been trying to take multiple flu bombs (a mixture of cayenne pepper, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and echinacea tea), which I can only take so much of without feeling like I have to throw up. Hopefully, the disgusting taste of the medicine will be worth its benefits. But I am finding that I'm breathing normally more and coughing less, so generally, that's a good sign.
This past week we had an essay due so all of us were a bit stressed out from that. It was also Thanksgiving. And the first Thanksgiving I had without my family. Instead, I invited my boyfriend over and we ate sushi and skyped my family. It was bittersweet. To be honest, I was sad I wasn't home, but at the same time, it was really sweet of my boyfriend to spend time with me and make sure I didn't celebrate alone.
The day after Thanksgiving, my friends and I had a large Friendsgiving party in our campus bar. There was soo much food, all of it delicious. My friend Cristina came over before the party and I helped her cook eggplant dip. It's a traditional Romanian recipe, where she's from, where you cook the eggplant directly on the stove burner. It smells...interesting, and we only set the fire alarm off twice, but it was definitely a success. There was also a freshly baked apple pie, sweet potato pie, some couscous with veggies, falafels, crisps, chocolate-covered strawberries, cupcakes, and more. Everything tasted amazing. Even though I didn't plan for the party to have karaoke, the bar was hosting karaoke that night. I've got some great videos of a few of my friends belting out some tunes, which I'm sure I'll treasure forever. All-in-all, not a bad Thanksgiving.
I spent the weekend in recovery mode from being sick, so lounging and trying to rest. I finished a book, surprise, and of course worked on podcast stuff. It's definitely keeping me busy, but I'm looking forward to continuing the podcast next year, after Christmas break.

Speaking of Christmas, I can't believe I leave for home in 10 days. That is insane!!! I cannot believe it. I've been busy this week, and it's rushing by me. I was able to visit the BBC last evening to watch my radio professor do his weekly podcast. Their studios are huge and amazing, super techy and professional. I really want to go back and work there at some point. It was an absolutely fabulous experience and I'm so grateful I was able to tour.
Today I was visiting King's College London, as I'm going to be a tutor there next term for their upcoming Science Communication class for Biomedical Undergraduates. It's a brand new class that I get to help develop, so I'm really excited about putting in some ideas to make the class fun and exciting for science students, and show them that there are more jobs out there than just in the lab.
Besides being rushed off my feet, I have managed to do more research for my last essay due next week. I'm also trying to relax and get some reading done, and buy some last-minute gifts for friends. Nothing fancy mind you. But just to lighten the spirit.
Until next week!

Week 11-I get sick...yay

Hello everyone!
I apologize for this post being late...again. I'm afraid I got sick earlier this week. I blame a certain individual who will not be named. But thankfully, I'm doing pretty well, just dealing with a stuffy nose and some sneezing.
This past week I made a book tree for my flat. Granted Thanksgiving hasn't even happened yet, but I got bored and wanted to add some festivity to my room. It's amazing because I still had books left over. I also added my color-changing plastic cactus on top which made the tree all the more official.
It was nice to decorate my flat and realize the holidays are coming up quicker than I thought. It's only a couple weeks until I return home to Colorado for Christmas. Crazy how time flies. At school we're doing a Secret Santa with all my classmates, so I do look forward to trying to shop for one of my friends. I wonder who I will get? lol. I'm also hosting a Friendsgiving party this Friday evening for all my classmates. Even though the majority don't celebrate Thanksgiving, it will still be nice to be around people during this time so I don't feel homesick. This week has been hard due to my family getting together without me for Thanksgiving. It will be my first Thanksgiving away from home. But I think it will be okay. I have people here to spend time with, or as I call them, my London family.
I also went charity shopping (or thrift store shopping for us Americans) this past week. I've been a bit before, but I wanted to see if I could find some more dresses, just to add some flair to my wardrobe. I got to experience a bit more of the backstreets of London I didn't see before, and of course, took some pictures.

Oddly enough I found a cat on someone's doorstep, just huddled in the rain. I wanted to take them home with me, but my new roommate actually has a phobia of cats. Plus I don't have the time right now to take care of a cat. Instead, I said hi, snapped a photo, and left. I decided I would name the mystery cat Steve. Bye, Steve!
I did manage to find some dresses in the local charity shops, and it was nice to get out of my flat during the weekend. I ended up spending the rest of the weekend in. I read an entire Agatha Christie novel, The Mystery of the Three Quarters. It's one of the new Christie novels that co-author Sophie Hannah has continued in the spirit of Agatha's old novels. Hannah's new novels are okay, they're a bit more modern and less of the adorable 1950s and 1960s slang. But still intriguing, all the same, I really had no idea that the murderer was....oh I shouldn't give it away. Nevermind.

In other news, the podcast I've been working on, Human Angle, has already gotten 50 plays!

Thank you to all my amazing fans! I couldn't have done this without you. Jacqui and I put a lot of work into these episodes, and we're glad to see that a fanbase is rising. Thank you all so much for your support.
I have another essay due tomorrow, so of course, I'm still trying to keep up with the grind, when I'm not trying to sleep in to recover from this cold. I'll get well eventually, I'm sure.
Until next week,
Kenna

Week 10-International Dinner and job interviews

Hello everyone!

I apologize for the lateness of this blog, it has been a very busy week for me with essays to write, a podcast to record, and job interviews. But it's been a fun and exciting week as well with new assignments and opportunities.
This past weekend one of my classmates, Laura, hosted an international dinner. We were to bring a dish from the country of our origin and dress up from that country. I really didn't feel like cooking, and also really didn't know what to make that was truly American (yes, hot dogs, I know...) so instead I went to McDonald's and ordered five large fries. I can't tell you how many stares I received on the tube, but it was a lot! The smell of the fries seemed to fill the entire carriage. The fries were warm so I used the bag to warm my fingers, but 45 minutes later, when I arrived at Laura's flat, they were cold. Most people didn't mind that as they were gone by the evening. We had tomato rice, vegan sausage rolls, Brazilian cocktails, Moscow mules, French baguettes and cheese, Colombian cheese balls with caramel, 15's (a Northern Ireland dish), and stir fry. Wayyyy too much food! But everything was delicious! As the evening went on we played different party games, voting who would be the most likely to... as well as a murder mystery game called mafia. I didn't end up getting home until about 3 A.M., but it was worth it.
Or so I thought until the next day when I had a splitting headache. I didn't leave my flat at all that day, just taking it easy. My new roommate Nishita moved in that day too. She is very nice and friendly. She's a writer as well so I'm sure at some point we will chat books.  I'm sensing that we will get along well.
Monday came and the usual school stuff happened. I have an essay due next Thursday which I need to start writing. Thankfully I already have an outline prepared so it's just filling it in. Monday evening my friend Florian invited the whole class to come back to campus to watch some of the Science Media Production documentaries. It's to be a regular Monday night thing, and I look forward to it. The documentaries were only 30 minutes long, but between the films, we discussed the logistics of the camera angle, different shot sequences, music, dialogue, and other cinematographic techniques.  It was a fun evening, to say the least.
Yesterday I had a job interview for a bookselling position. I walked out of the interview feeling confident, but I never want to assume that I have the job after the interview. It just makes for disappointment. I am supposed to hear back from the company today, so fingers crossed all goes well. I have a separate job interview today for a Science Communications Manager position. I feel the position is too far above my skill level, but I am still going to interview for the experience. Life does throw curveballs, so you never know what you're going to find happening. Fingers crossed all goes well.
Yesterday was extremely busy as I rapidly transitioned from interview mode to school mode. This week is just packed with assignments, interviews, and podcast stuff, all of which I find challenging and fun. Hopefully, I'm not overwhelmed!
Cheers,
Kenna

Week 9-The Podcast is live....and an amazing book to read

Hi Everyone!

So this past week has been a busy one for me, but a very rewarding week. I spent six hours one day trawling through the archives of the I, Science magazine website to make sure all our pictures were not infringing on copyright values. For those of you who don't know, I, Science is Imperial College Science Communication's award-winning magazine. As the web editor, I'm in charge of making sure the website looks pretty and is well maintained, which means that I have to make sure our 3,000 plus photos don't break any legal rules. Thankfully we're all good.
I spent the rest of last week writing my first essay for Dr. Stephen Webster's class: Science in its Social contexts. My essay focuses on whether we can trust our own senses in the case of fear priming, using different philosophies of thought for evidence. I felt rambly with the essay, and of course, will be editing it this week before I hand it in, but often philosophy does get rather wordy, so I'm not too worried.
Jacqui and I also recorded our second episode of Human Angle. I can't give too much away but it's all about the scandal around the discovery of the structure of DNA. We're focusing on two of the main scientists involved, Dr. James Watson and Rosalind Franklin. For those of you who don't know who Rosalind Franklin is, don't be worried. She was never credited with this discovery.
We'll be discussing why that is in the episode. Our last episode on Hedy Lamarr went live this past weekend and is now available on Spotify, iTunes, Alexa+Tune in, and Stitcher. If you haven't listened to it yet I highly recommend. There isn't another podcast like this out there, and Jacqui and I really try to make it a worthwhile experience of discussion and education for our listeners.
I can't give too much away about what I'm recording this week, but this episode is nothing like we've done with the previous two. We'll be discussing John Steinbeck and his lost book on marine biology, Log from the Sea of Cortez. It's an amazing read and I highly recommend it to everyone, as it discusses the friendship Steinbeck had with a marine biologist named Ed Ricketts. Steinbeck, being one of the classic American novelists, loses no style in this incredible read as he discusses how science looks to a layperson, as well as fascinating scenes of marine life in the tidepools around the Gulf of California.
I'm honestly in love with this book and I can't put it down. Some of his quotes are absolutely stunning, and I can't wait to share them in our upcoming episode. So keep your ears open!
Tonight I will be attending the Imperial Late's show called Infectious, which is all about diseases. Imperial College does a once a month late-night show about certain topics in science. I didn't get to go to the last one due to a poorly timed bout of food poisoning (is food poisoning ever appropriately timed?). I'm excited to see what this event has to offer. The I, Science team will hopefully be interviewing people at the event as well so keep looking at our website for updates.
That's all folks!
Until next week,
Kenna

Week 8-Halloween Party and first podcast recorded

Hi, lovelies!

This past week I was busy! I turned in my first essay on the day of Halloween. I spent the earlier part of the week preparing for Halloween, going shopping with my friends Sunita, Cristina, and Matthew to find some stuff for my Halloween costume. I decided to go as Black Widow for Halloween, from Marvel's Avengers series. The costume was easy enough to make, I found black leather pants,  and had a black long sleeve shirt. I cut some holes into black leather gloves to make fingerless gloves. While shopping with my friends I also found some 6-inch tall black boots to wear. While they are not canon to Black Widow's outfit, I thought I would enjoy the extra height.
While waiting for the party to begin at 8 pm on Halloween eve, I got ready and did my makeup while watching Endgame, the last of the Avengers movies, in order to get into character. Not that I really needed to, this was to be a night of fun and games. I met my friend Cristina at the station. She was dressed as Lara Croft, from the famous video game Tomb Raider. She brought her friend Matthew with her, who was dressed as Kim Jong-Ill, the leader of North Korea. Matthew's outfit was perfect for his character, and he got many stares on the trains. But amazingly, he also got many people asking to take photos with him. He kept laughing at how many Instagram followers he was getting because he posted a picture of his costume on Instagram. Someone had even photoshopped his face in a picture with President Trump.
We spent a few hours in the pub, and then a few of us moved to a more exclusive club called Aquum which was oddly enough deserted on Halloween night. My feet were killing me by the end, and I hated how slow I was walking due to wearing such tall heels. I headed home around midnight and was asleep in bed by 12:30 A.M. As I woke the next morning to sore calves and a couple blisters, I was grateful I got to spend time with my friends at the Halloween party.
I walked to campus, slightly hungover, and very exhausted. Friday was the day that my friend Jacqui and I were going to record our first episode of Human Angle, and though I struggled to focus on the upcoming task, I was excited to see what we would make of it. As I met Jacqui outside the radio studio, we went over our script, discussing the life of Hedy Lamarr.
I can't go into too much detail, as I will spoil the podcast for you, but Hedy Lamarr is a famous 1940's actress who also happened to invent the technology for creating wifi and GPS. Jacqui and I decided to split up our script, me taking the first half of her story and Jacqui taking the latter half. After setting things up in the studio, Jacqui hit the record button and we began. Recording the episode was a lot of fun, as Jacqui and I have a natural banter, which helps us to make a smoother narrative of Hedy Lamarr's life. We discussed bigger key points that we thought were important to understand, hoping to make her appear more as a person and less as a celebrity. By the time we were done recording, our 20 minutes planned episode was 40 minutes long and needed a lot of editing. We sent the audio file to Jacqui's brother in Australia to edit, as he is a professional sound mixer. I decided however that for the next episode this coming week, I'd try my hand at mixing and see how it went. Stay tuned! 
As classes began after an uneventful weekend, my core practical class geared up for our presentations next week. We have to present in our groups four different types of media that for the past month we've been playing around with: TV studio, location TV, location radio, and radio studio. Honestly, and this is no surprise, but the radio studio was my favorite out of the four. And my group put me in charge of snipping out the radio studio parts we want to highlight. So a busy week ahead as I have another essay to write, a radio podcast to record and edit, and a radio studio snippet to create. Oh! And I'm also on air next week for our I, Science radio show. As next week is 11/11, and marking the anniversary of the end of World War I, we're doing a segment about science and war. Stay tuned as I will be talking about the Haber Process and Alan Turing. I promise to include the link for it in next week's blog. 
Until then, hopefully, I won't die of exhaustion, but I'm certainly not dying of boredom right now. 
Plus I need to find a job as well. 
Cheers, 
Kenna 

Week 7-Halloween planning and first essay due

Hello, lovelies!

I apologize for the blog being one day late. This week our first essay is due, and everyone is extremely stressed about it. The essay is for our class titled the Media Representation of Science. We have to study one topic and how it has been reported in one or more news outlets throughout a time period. My paper is on the reporting of prosthetics, and seeing if there is a change in the reporting due to 3D printing and tissue engineering technology. While my focus was more on a time period, many of my classmates looked at the tone of certain articles, whether it was positive or negative, or which news outlets produced which type of articles, right-wing papers or left-wing? I can officially say that my first essay has been sent off and is over with, but the process of research and the impending grading still looms over me.

I spent most of my week last week in the library or on campus. Over the weekend I shared desks with my friends Cristina and Sunita, as we all struggled through our research together. We shared many memes in order to add humor to our suffering.
On Saturday I did decide to give myself a break from writing by going to Kensington Gardens to read my book. It was a day that felt like something set in an Edgar Allan Poe novel. The wind kicked up moldering leaves onto my ankles. As I settled myself under a tree, I was greeted by the reality of a cold, damp, and slightly squishy ground to sit on. So much for a fun day of reading in the park! It only got worse when it started to rain around lunchtime. By then I had decided that I would rather be in my warm basement flat enjoying the rain out of the window than drenched under a tree.
Classes were normal for this week. Dr. Webster reminded us that besides our upcoming essay, his essay would be due in November, so thoughts of a break between assignments began to dwindle in my mind.
The nice thing is that there was an early Halloween party that happened last weekend for students looking for a break from writing. I, unfortunately, did not attend, but I enjoyed watching pictures of the very creative and unique Halloween costumes. We're having an actual Halloween party on Halloween, and I will hopefully post some pictures of my costume on next week's blog. I'm going as Black Widow, the Marvel Superhero.
As Halloween is tomorrow, I spent most of my day shopping at charity shops with some of my classmates. By now most of us are in denial about the essay, so it was nice to have a break with my friends. It's also amazing what you'll find in charity shops! From fuzzy blue scarves to long lacy dresses, I enjoyed being surprised by what the charity shops of London had to offer.
I did also have a job interview today, for the Illuminating Objects Internship at the Science Museum. The Science Museum pairs with the Courtauld Museum to display an art object from the Courtauld's archives, and has one student describe the science behind the artwork. It's amazing what past objects have been. They will let me know by Friday if I have the position, so fingers crossed. I felt the interview went well, but I don't want to assume I have the job.
Besides the upcoming Halloween Party, I am excited for this Friday, as it is the first episode that Human Angle, my new podcast will be recorded and released! Keep your eyes and ears open for the first episode!
So, happy early Halloween and until next week!
Stay Spooky!
Kenna

Week 6-House guest

Hello, lovelies!

This past week I had the pleasure of hosting my first house-guest, Franny. She is a friend I had back in high school and recently got a scholarship teaching English in Leipzig, Germany. Because she is so close to me, geographically, she decided to come to visit London, and I was more than happy to let her crash on my couch. I wasn't the best hostess, as I have had more homework than usual this past week, what with essays beginning to be due, but we still managed to have fun. Franny and I wandered around the Victoria & Albert Museum as one of her first days here. It was amazing to see some of the floors of the museum that I missed the last time. I literally could get lost in there for days! I recently also registered with their Art Library, so I would have somewhere quiet to study. However, I was told that they have a clear bag policy, and I could only bring pencils into the museum. Isn't that odd?
A couple days I left Franny to wander around the British Museum or the Parliament building on her own. Franny's background is in politics, so she really wanted to visit the Parliament building to see the government in session. While she was exploring, I took to the library, hunkering down to get some of my reading done for a class as well as start developing my new podcast.

This past week my friend Jacqui and I talked about starting a podcast. We hopefully will have the first episode up by next week, after we can figure out all the radio studio scheduling. The podcast is called Human Angle, and it goes into the hidden lives of famous, and not so famous, scientists. Our first subject of study is Hedy Lamarr, 1940's fashion model and inventor of...wifi? Crazy right?

Episodes will only be 20 minutes long, so they're perfect for a commute or a walk around town. Once the podcast is up, you'll be able to find it on iTunes, Spotify, stitcher and wherever you get your podcasts from.  So besides doing some researching on Hedy Lamarr, I've become somewhat proficient in sound-mixing, podcast marketing, and platform learning. Gotta love the internet!

On Friday, Franny and I joined some of my classmates at the White Horse pub down in Peckham Rye, very south London. Some of the students in my program who are from London wanted to show us their part of the city. Franny and I didn't stay very long, as we wanted to be at Parliament the next day for the Brexit vote. It was still fun to see everyone outside of class and to socialize. I'm pretty sure I may go deaf at some point if I keep going to pubs because they're so loud!

Some of my classmates

It may just be that I'm getting old, but I know all of us were yelling at each other just to hear everyone. By about 10:30, Franny and I headed back home, slightly tipsy and having a great time.


The next morning we went to Parliament. Weather-wise, it was a nice day to stand outside and watch protests over the vote. The sun was warm on our backs and the shade was cruel and unforgiving. The line inside was long, and it took us about two hours to get to the front. By the time we did get to the front, we were told that it would take at least another 3 hours to get in, and even then we would miss the vote on Brexit. Franny wanted to stay, and I decided to head home to get some more work done. I kept texting her throughout the day to make sure that she was okay.

She never got into the Parliament building that day but had a fun time watching the protests swell in the streets, as over 1 million people came to demonstrate. The tube lines were closed, so by the time she made it back, she had to do a bit of walking to find an open tube to move into.

The next day was Franny's last day, and so we decided to wander into the British Library and Regent's Park. It was a fairly chilly day to walk around, but it wasn't raining, so at least that was a bonus. The British Library was quiet for a Sunday, and we were able to spend a lot of time in their rare-book room. Since being there last, I could tell that some of the books had had pages turned to show different illuminations, such as in some of the medieval Bibles. I walked into a side room that I missed the first time to see a display of the Magna Carta.

Illuminations from medieval Bible

Amazing experience, and I was glad I found it. After wandering through the rare book room, we decided to walk over to Regent's Park, which was only 20 minutes away. As the clouds clustered together and the wind picked up, we wandered into the park, admiring all the dogs, the football and rugby players out for practice, and the yellowing leaves. Surprisingly, we paralleled the London Zoo and watched some camels enjoying their lunch in peace. I do have to say that Regent's Park has to be one of my favorite places and I'm excited to go back when it's warmer and do some writing. It definitely has a writing atmosphere to it.

As we finished our walk around the park we headed back south to Kensington. We found a cute burger restaurant with gluten-free buns to enjoy. Then back to the flat to watch the rest of this season's The Great British Bakeoff. For those of you who haven't seen the show, it's a huge hit over here and in the States and is a wholesome treat. I didn't think I would get that involved in the show, but I'm loving it. Franny is a huge fan too, so we watched it throughout her time here.
Monday, Franny and I parted ways, as she headed west to Wales and I headed east to school. I looked forward to seeing my classmates again and discussing the dreaded upcoming essays that were looming over us.
Here's hoping I don't die in my pile of readings.
Kenna

Week 5-On air

Hi Everyone! This past week has been mostly just school work. I didn't get much traveling done over the weekend, though I did go to my very first London pub quiz! The quiz was at the Francis Crick Institute over by the British Library. I didn't get most of the answers correct, but I am proud to say that I did know who the first female American astronaut in space was: Sally Ride. Ride was a physicist and astronaut, being the first woman in space in 1983. She is still currently the youngest astronaut to have ever been in space at age 32. I did feel like I did my country proud with my one contribution to our team's points. Granted our team came in last. Maybe next time?

Saturday I mainly ran errands. Because the food here in London is quite fresh, most people go to the market twice or three times a week. I'm slowly following that trend, finding my supply of food in the fridge either goes bad before I eat it or I visit Sainsbury's more often than I thought. So errands, cleaning the flat (vacuuming, or hoovering) but that's merely it. I did do some reading as well, as I've been behind on my fun reading. I'm currently digesting Don't be such a Scientist by Randy Olson. Olson describes his experience as a scientist who goes to acting school. He takes the lessons he learns in acting school and applies them to science communication, making a fun and relevant read for me being a science communication student. Olson is funny, quick and quirky. I would recommend him to any writer or science writer.

Saturday bled into Sunday. I met up with Lucy and Billy, both American students in my program to visit the Tate Museum. We wandered around the exhibit of "In the Studio," showing pieces that exhibit different methods used by different artists. I saw Salvador Dali's "Lobster Telephone" in the section discussing cubism and the absurd. Picasso, Matisse, even Jackson Pollock also were featured. My brain spun with colors and images, trying to make sense of what I was seeing around me. My favorite artist, however, was Gerhard Richter, who used a squeegee to spread paint along a ten-foot-tall canvas. His paintings were based on the works of musical composer John Cage. Cage himself was very radical in his compositions, even having a song that was merely the orchestra sitting in silence for five minutes! I tried to see Cage come through in Richter's work, but I got distracted by his squeegee lines.

Monday classes started up again as we discussed the roles of a method in science. The core practical class was after lunch, as my team took a small video camera into the Victora & Albert museum to film outside the Food exhibit and discuss the ethics of lab-grown meat. The core practical is not a graded class, but instead focuses on getting the students as much exposure to media tech as possible, hence the video cameras. All of us fiddled with the cameras, boom mikes, and directing short clips discussing a topic. In a month we will present our different media segments to our fellow classmates.

Chamomile 

After the class ended, I went with my classmates Jacqui Wakefield, Ryna Lau, and Harry Jenkins to perform the weekly radio show for I, Science magazine. The show is weekly, but Jacqui and Ryna asked me to be on the show as this week's segment was on how humans draw inspiration from nature. Being a botanist, and having a background in medicinal plants, I was more than happy to help. I was so nervous being on air, but once the show started, I calmed down. It was merely a conversation I was having with my friends, except there were microphones in the room. To listen in to the show click the link here.

After my brush with fame, today seemed mundane. Classes mostly and then discussion with a journalist brought in for our weekly seminar. I finished the evening at the H-bar, one of our school bars, having fun with my friends.

In other news, my friend Franny is staying with me for a week. We know each other from high school. She's currently teaching at a school in Germany, after receiving a Fulbright Scholarship. She randomly booked her trip here. I'm looking forward to the company, and I hope she fits on my couch okay.
Until next time,
Kenna

Week 4: School week

Hi Everyone!

The start of induction week began with us writing what we
were looking forward to and what challenges we expected 

In the past week, I haven't really done anything important. The school began with an induction week and on Wednesday we went to the Maths Gallery in the Science Museum, to discuss the design of the exhibit and how to communicate maths to the public. The designer of the Museum came in to talk to us later about how she designed the exhibit to mimic the airwaves that a moving plane would make, using a mathematical model. Later on, we had people from all sorts of organizations come to speak to us about some internship and job opportunities. Because I have classes only two days a week, I know I'm going to get pretty bored without something else to do besides school, so I signed up for almost all the options.
Thursday was the last day of induction week, in which we had a case study on how to communicate evolutionary theory to different groups of people. For example, some students had to pitch an idea of evolutionary theory targeted towards people on a cruise liner. It was a fun and challenging exercise, and through it, I got to know my classmates better. We also discussed interviewing techniques and what makes for good journalism. The day ended with a big party, which included booze and crisps (potato chips for my American audience). After some lively discussion, everyone moved down a couple levels to the h-bar, which the school bar designated for specifically post-graduate students and staff combined. I stayed for a couple drinks, then headed home, as I was hungry for dinner.

Friday was a slow day for me, as I didn't have an induction week or anything scheduled. I decided to wander around the campus, as well as run some errands. I enjoyed just relaxing and preparing myself for my upcoming classes. Saturday and Sunday were much of the same thing, though Sunday I went to the Victoria & Albert Museum with my friend and classmate Sunita.

She hadn't been to the museum before, and it was nice to receive her thoughts on induction week. We wandered around the Victoria & Albert museum for a couple hours, specifically admiring much of the sculpture displayed in the Medieval Renaissance exhibits. After our time gawking, we decided to grab some coffee. Over coffee, we chatted more about the upcoming year. I told her that I was thinking of staying in London for another year or two, depending on what job I received by the end of the course. The program is so flexible it really does allow you to figure out where you want to live after it. Sunita mentioned traveling during the Easter holiday when we get a month off of school. I thought that would be a wonderful idea, and we talked about going together, as it's always nicer if there's someone to travel with.

All the editors of the I, Science Magazine 

Monday was the official first day of classes and not induction week. We began with Dr. Stephen Webster's class on Science and its Social Contexts. It's a philosophical discussion-based class, and Stephen got us started by discussing the rules of science, specifically looking at Sir Francis Bacon. By the time his lecture ended, I already had three new book recommendations and pages of notes. It was a  rousing and lively discussion and I'm looking forward to next week as we continue it. After a lunch break, we returned to the classroom to discuss our core practical with Professor Gareth Mitchell, who hosts several radio shows on BBC channel 4. He told us that for our core practical we would be filming ourselves interviewing each other in different locations and using both radio and TV equipment.  At the end of the next four weeks, we would then showcase our sound-bites and TV clips for the class. Gareth said that most science communicators get little media training before going into a job, and this was a nice way to play around with different media. I was nervous and excited to learn that I would be on film in the coming weeks. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!
After our core practical the class officially ended. We then decided to have a short meeting to discuss the Science Communication magazine, I, Science, which most of us are editors. As the magazine positions change every year, all of us were new to our tasks, and we discussed as a group some of our goals for the coming publications. As I am the web editor of the magazine, I will be in charge of all the online formating. Keep your eyes peeled for updates on our magazine. It is an award-winning publication, so definitely worth your time.
Today, I've just been lying low until classes start this afternoon. I have Dr. Felicity Mellor's class to begin which is titled the Media representation of Science. Sounds intriguing! Afterward, all of us are attending a weekly seminar. The subject and speaker changes every week, so I have no idea what is going on this week, but I'm excited!
Until next time! Stay brainy!
Cheers,
Kenna

Week 3: More exploration and school starting!

Well, it's week 3 of my stay in London. I've only been caught in torrential rain twice, one of those instances being today. I'm content to stay dry with my cup of tea while I'm writing this, as the rain pitters outside my window. Thankfully it's calmed down a bit since earlier. Though I can't promise it'll be the last time I have to change clothes and hang my wet ones up to dry. Hopefully, next time will be better at least!
Last Wednesday, to catch you all up on what I've been doing, I had plans to see Henry V, at the Globe. I decided to make it more of an adventure by going to the Sea Aquarium first. Once I arrived at the bridge to reach the aquarium, via tube, I didn't realize that the aquarium was directly across from both Big Ben and the London Eye Ferris wheel. Thankfully the skies threatened rain but nothing actually occurred. I walked inside the Sea Life London Aquarium and showed the officer my ticket that I had already purchased online. By now I had thought ahead to buy my tickets online to avoid any unnecessary waiting.

An anemone enjoying his glass wall

For the next hour, I wandered through exhibits of black-lighted tanks, and neon looking corals. I followed turtle swimming trajectories and jellyfish sinking and floating as if in a samba designed by nature. While I did enjoy my time at the aquarium, I was constantly dodging the tours of school children. This made me miss out on some of the exhibits, which I really didn't mind because at least I didn't have to elbow my way to a tank full of piranhas.

amazing coral

The London aquarium seems to be designed for children, as the whole theme of diving and getting up close to the fish is prevalent in the design of the exhibits. There was also an exhibit on Amazon rainforests in the middle of the tour, where you could see tarantulas, tree snakes, and leaf cutter ants. I felt nausea as I heard the hissing of a snake being piped through a speaker inside the head of a fake anaconda on the wall, and could only think of my dad tricked me into thinking there was a snake behind me at the zoo. This wasn't the last time I would be frightened today, as I would soon find out.

Pipe-fish and sea horses 

Amazonian turtles

Penguins!!

Beautiful but deadly

As I finished in the aquarium, there was one animal that I had hoped to see, but didn't. The octopus. I love octopuses (and yes that is the correct version of that word. If you don't believe me, please refer to Sy Montgomery's The Soul of an Octopus). They are majestic and complex and extremely fascinating to watch. I asked the cashier in the gift shop why there wasn't an octopus on display, and he mentioned that if there were any octopuses in the aquarium, they were probably being held behind the scenes. That made sense to me. I quickly looked down at my watch and realized that I had another 3 hours before my play at the Globe. I began walking in the direction of the Globe, looking for something to eat, when I was distracted by a sign in my peripheral.
It was an advertisement all in black with bloody red lettering, advertising for the London Dungeon. I had seen ads for this museum before and even had a friend tell me that she did it and enjoyed it. I knew that the museum focused on the horrific and scary parts of London's history, mainly Jack the Ripper. Because I knew the Ripper would be featured somewhere in the museum, I figured I should give it a go. I had the time of course.

Boy was I wrong!!!

I was told the museum was more like a show, where actors would tell us certain pieces of London history. I asked the lady behind the counter if it was scary and she said I would be fine. With shaky confidence, I made my way into a dimly lit cobble-stone corridor to wait behind a line of couples and teens to begin what would be the scariest hour of my life. We were all herded in one large group, which I did enjoy. But as I came by myself, I didn't have any other person to grab onto or hide behind if I got really scared. This made the tour all the more panicking for me, as my anxiety kicked in multiple times. The tour began with a brief showing of Guy Fawkes's head on a spike, which talks to the audience. The floor shakes and things explode to mimic the explosion of Parliament.
We then moved into a medieval torture chamber where a fake guard showed us some of the torture devices and how to use them. From there we moved to the plague, with water sprayed on us to mimic spit or saliva. People jumped out behind corners, and walls thumped to mimic those left for dead after they had been robbed. It only got worse when we were taken into a surgical theater and water was sprayed on us to mimic blood, after we watched an actress take the slimy guts out of a mannequin. Onto the Great Fire of London, and we quickly moved onto Sweeny Todd. The chairs leaned back in one swift motion, in absolute darkness, to mimic the beheading that this diabolical doctor was so famous for. By now I was pretty shaken up, but we still had to get to Jack and Ripper. And we did, which mainly consisted of a mirror maze looking like the streets of Whitechapel, all while screams blared from loudspeakers. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I just tried to follow the friendliest looking tourists I could and hoped to not be grabbed at by some maniac pretending to be Jack the Ripper. The museum tour ended with hanging for piracy. There was a ride at the end you could take that had a 40-foot drop mimicking a hanging. While most people walked inside the hanging room, I bolted for the exit. I was more than relieved to be on my way to the Globe theater.

The play of Henry V was absolutely fabulous and very nationalistic.

The guy playing Henry V did a spectacular performance, and actually, many of the audience members were crying. As I walked back to the tube station, I caught a nice picture of the Thames.

The Thames 

The next day I decided to visit the British Library. I really didn't have anything to do, and it was on my list of things to visit. After traveling in the tube, I wandered into the Library by a side-door. It was smaller than I would've thought, but that was because most of the library was inaccessible without a card. I wandered into the rare book room and was startled to see such a large collection of volumes from all over the world, from Virginia Woolf to different editions of the Bible. After spending several minutes drooling over each ancient volume, I made my way to a table and began to read. I had my two books assigned for school that I needed to refresh myself with, as I had read them earlier in the summer. After spending about 3 hours at the British Library, I headed home.

I think this was a King Arthur story 

Versions of "The Book of Hours"

The printed "Book of Hours" 

An old Herball 

On Friday I visited the National Gallery, which housed a couple Michelangelo's, one Leonardo, many Van Gogh's, as well as Monet, Turner, etc. I wandered around for hours just studying the art in front of me and avoiding the many tourists that had had the same idea as I did. It was a great way to spend a Friday.

Van Gogh's crabs 

Monet's pond 

Lady Jane Grey being led to her execution

The Leonardo of the Madonna and child

The weekend found me relaxing and preparing for my first day of classes. I really didn't do much except watch Netflix and avoid the rain. I'm finding that behavioral pattern common here.
The first day of school was fun and easy. I got to know most of my 35 classmates after the classes by chatting with them in our school bar. Dr. Stephen Webster, the director of our course, introduced everyone and discussed what good science was, and how science was found in different aspects of our lives. The day was mostly spent in discussion, and by the time the class ended, I was excited to talk more about it with my new friends. I spent the next several hours drinking with my classmates as all of us tried to fit on one large table bench. Everyone seemed very friendly and I'm looking forward to working with them all in the upcoming year.

All of us lovelies! 

Today we heard from documentary director Chris Riley, who has worked on several award-winning documentaries such as In the Shadow of the Moon. His speech gave us a glamorous image of documentaries and all sorts of topics to create documentaries on. I was excited to lookup more of his stuff later. We broke for lunch and wandered over to the Kensington Farmer's market. After lunch, we returned to discuss more the interview process for a journalist or a radio interviewer. All in all, a full day but a fun day to say the least!