‘Ello from sunny London! You are probably thinking that the words sunny and London do not belong in the same sentence, but in fact we have been very fortunate to have the sun join us for our first few days in England. What a warm welcome it has been.

Today marked our second day of activities for the Global Media and Communication Seminar (GMCS) in London. Last night we had the pleasure of seeing a theatre performance, The Weir, together as a group at the Wyndham’s Theatre following a delicious British meal at Browns Bar & Brasserie. After a night of enjoying the theatre scene in London together on our first official day, we decided to take Sunday morning at a slower pace as we are all trying to get acclimated to the time difference after traveling across the pond.

We – the six graduate students from the MSC program – started our morning off with some caffeine and pastries before heading out to explore the beautiful, historical and cosmopolitan city that London is. Our adventure began by riding the Tube to the Green Park station. For those of you who may not be familiar with British jargon or London, the Tube is the London Underground, which is their mass transportation system. After arriving at the station, we took a stroll through one of the Royal Parks, Green Park, towards Buckingham Palace. It was very peaceful and serene – and full of life with budding trees and blossoming flowers. You can tell spring is in the air here!

After exploring the area and seeing some iconic London landmarks, such as Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Parliament and the London Eye we headed back to our hotel to get ready for our GMCS opening reception, hosted by the Director of the London School of Economics (LSE), Craig Calhoun. Our very own President Schapiro and Dean O’Keefe of Northwestern University also welcomed us. Our fellow students from Northwestern were not the only ones to join us at the reception as we also had a few LSE students and Professors from their MSc Global Media and Communications program. It was a wonderful evening had by all and a great way to kickoff our weeklong activities of seminars, site visits and fun in London. This past weekend was action-packed and I look forward to seeing what the other day’s have in store for us as temporary expats in London. Cheers!

By Emily Vernon, MSC Class of 2014