A British Affair: Nightlife in London

Dancing at Crush 

Since the first thing that fell out of my LSE summer student welcome package was an invitation to a clubbing event, I'm going to dedicate this post to London nightlife. It's one of the fun aspects of the program if you choose to participate (which most students who live in the LSE residences do). Every Friday, the Three Tuns pub and Garrick cafeteria on the LSE campus are converted into a lounge and dance floor for an event called Crush. It's a night out for students at the LSE Student Union from ten in the evening 'til two in the morning and a convenient place to meet up as it's near the Holborn residence and also close to many London clubs if you plan to go out later. There's also a vibrant nightlife for students on weekdays, as on Mondays there are VIP nights at Tiger Tiger and on Thursdays there's a Full Moon Party (with lots of neon paint!) - though, I must admit that I've never attended the week-day events since I need a full night's rest to be even mildly functional the next day. 

One thing that I learned is that when you're living somewhere with a vibrant nightlife is that it's really important to consider your own rhythm (how much sleep you need, how long you take to finish the readings for lectures, whether you will even be able to get up in the morning after a night of dancing, when you need to go home to be fresh for the next day) so that you don't show up unprepared to classes (especially since in the program I'm in, they are very fast-paced and intensive). Normally, I tend to just go out for drinks & debate after dinner at one of the regular haunts, since it's much easier to conserve energy this way. Some good pubs around our area include White Hart (two paces away from our residence) and Prince of Wales (in Covent Garden, about five minutes away by foot) - the latter is quite fun to visit, as the entire bar is covered in neon star post-its with messages from guests all over. It costs one pound to post a star, and this amount goes to charity. Below is a photo of another spot for an easy night out; Roadhouse in Covent Garden is a disco-pub with live rock and pop music every night. 

(Left) One of the stars we posted at Prince of Wales (Right) Taking the tube to club Movida.

A British Affair: Dining in London

Do you know what London's most popular dish is? It's not bangers and mash or shepard's pie, but in fact chicken tikka masala! This really represents the diversity of ethnicities and cultures in London; the city is jam-packed with ethnic restaurants and it's very common not to understand the languages being spoken on the streets.


Some easy dining options that you will find all over town include Prêt à Manger, Eat and Costa, which all have a variety of fresh sandwiches, soups, wraps and salads to go. Some ethnic chains include Wasabi (Japanese) and Nero Café (Italian). Then, if you're willing to sacrifice your health, there are always the global comforts that are Starbucks, Burger King and McDonald's (though ironically enough, McDo owns Prêt which prides itself on the freshness of its food). I also eat quite a lot at Café 54, which offers a wonderful hommous and yogurt salad and is conveniently located inside the LSE's New Academic Building (where I have all my lectures and seminars). There's a nice picnic space behind the NAB, so students normally pick up food to eat on the concrete tables or the steps, and it's great to hang about there when you've only got an hour between the lecture and the seminar. Another one of my favourite restaurants near both the residence and the campus is Belgo, which is Belgian and known for "moules, frites, bières" (mussels, fries, beers) - if you go on week days, you can get a lunch special and nab a delicious meal and a decent price.

Dining out does get quite pricey though - especially in London - so my friends and I make use of our resident kitchens to cook and hang about, eating and arguing about whatever strikes our fancy (with lots and lots of hand gestures, since my main gang of friends are Italian). We get all our ingredients from the Sainsbury's down the street so dinner doesn't normally cost us more than two pounds each - a bargain, considering that we normally average out at about fifteen pounds each when dining out. In the photo, we're cooking chicken and vegetable curry with couscous - the specialty of the night's cook, Lodovica (centre photo) and we've also made lots of pasta on previous evenings. This Wednesday, I'll be serving up some Thai dishes for our gang - wish me luck ;)

A British Affair: Media Studies at the LSE

I’ve been studying abroad for the past three months, so I thought I’d give you a little peek inside my current 3-week program at the London School of Economics. Tomorrow, I'll be starting the final week of my course in “Global Communications, Citizens and Cultural Politics” with professors Shakuntala Banaji and Myria Georgiou (who, by the way, are incredibly passionate and friendly).


This course has been really useful in reaffirming my choice to major in Media Studies, Journalism and Digital Arts at SMC, as well as in helping me decide if I want to pursue my graduate studies at the LSE - but the most valuable thing that I have taken away from this course (since I have encountered a fair deal of opposition to studying media) is the conviction that despite what some critics may say, media is an important field of study that is very much worth researching and discussing. Gabbi Hall, a media major at SMC and one of my blogger role models, also talks about the usefulness and intensity of the major here and here. 


But back to the session in London! Most days, I have lectures from 10.00 - 13.00 which consists of introductions to new topics (for example, "Politicians, Politics and the Media in a Time of Global Communication"), guest lecturers and sometimes videos. In the afternoon, we attend a seminar to discuss the day's assigned reading for an hour and engage in practical activities that relate to the lecture. My favorite activity followed a lecture on how young people use the internet to promote social or political campaigns, and the task we were given during the seminar was to choose a real cause to promote, determine our target audience and devise a strategy integrating online and offline tactics in order to achieve our objectives with regards to the cause. 


A great aspect of this program is the fantastically diverse range of educational/cultural backgrounds and ages amongst the students - for example, I normally sit between an Italian and an Austrian during my lectures, and though there are some undergraduates, most students have already completed their first degree and are either working on their masters or have established themselves as a professionals. This diversity really adds to the variety of perspectives during our debates. 


In my next post, I'll be writing more about the social aspects of my time in London and all of the fun/cultural events I've been able to attend - and I absolutely promise to upload some photos! 

Why SMC?

Hello ! My name is Tarah Srethwatanakul (hence the title of this blog) and this is my very first post as a blogger for Saint Michael’s College ! You can click here to find out more about me or dive straight into the story of why I decided to join the community of Knights at SMC !


Part I. Europe or America ?

Being from Switzerland and Thailand, my decision to enroll at Saint Mike’s has always attracted two questions ; many of the students, faculty and even admissions staff ask me "How did you find us?" and the most frequent response I face from my friends is "Why are you leaving Europe?".

Since the beginning of the college search, I was very determined to find a vibrant and supportive learning environment – my top requirements were : engaging professors, a high level of student-professor interaction, a diverse array of student-initiated activities and - since moods are highly contagious – a happy student body. I also realised that I longed to participate in many (if not only) seminar-style classes, which led me to nix Europe off my list of possibilities (with a great deal of sadness, of course). The reason for this is because European universities are generally characterised by large lectures, and quite honestly – and perhaps selfishly ;) – I wasn’t prepared to share my professor with three hundred other students.

After reviewing the requirements of my "dream college", my college counselor suggested that I add Saint Mike’s to my growing list of considered universities. Her advice compounded with my subsequent research on SMC (which revealed that it made the Princeton Review's list of happiest students and best student lifestyle) convinced me to fly out for a quick campus visit in October – a visit that essentially became the deciding factor in my choice of college.

Part II. The Campus Visit

Since I was staying for a few days, I really had the time to get a full Saint Mike’s experience by sitting in on various classes (Cognitive Psychology, Media Law & Ethics, Honors Freshman Seminar: The Examined Life, Literature for Children and Adolescents), chatting with professors and students, touring the campus and of course, enjoying the Skinny Pancake's wonderful crêpes! During the visit, I was particularly impressed by the professors’ generosity in dedicating such large amounts of time to chat with students and also by their honesty, as I never felt like they were simply selling the school but actually putting my best interests first.

In the end, my decision to attend SMC was very sudden as although I had a significant interest in the college, I knew that I hadn’t intended on attending a university outside of a metropolis or one affiliated with a religion. It was in fact my experience sitting in on Professor Griffith's "Media Law & Ethics" class that made me decide to apply early decision to SMC, since I knew from that moment that I wanted to study Media, Journalism and Digital Arts under her tutelage - and I'm very lucky, as I recently found out that I'm actually enrolled in her Media Revolutions class this fall!