Short Note #1

Gotta love having an Italian flat mate. You go to the kitchen early in the morning to clean your dishes and she has just ended making a cup of (good) coffee and shares it with you.

#3 Meeting the people

As your dear narrator has informed you in the last post, the first attempt to meet some fellow LL.M. students was far from successful: to be honest, it was a complete failure. After unpacking all his stuff and placing it in the appropriate locations (which took a lot more time than it should... best of it, after that day, I have decided to rearrange my entire room... twice... it is my second week...), our character surfed (Pedro is quite stronger in online surf than in the one made in the sea) to the LL.M. Facebook Group to see where was everyone (long live the social networks and its enhancement of the possibilities to meet future classmates!). However, although the place - Drappers - was quite close to the residence accommodation, an welcoming party was happening and a huge line to enter the place deterred the strongest of the wills to socialize (in any case, after two flights and a bus ride of one hour and a half, the "will" was far from strong.) 

In any case, on the following day, and after completing the formal enrollment and signing up for the gym (with promises of going there the next day... unfortunately, hasn't happened so far, but, c'mon... these were two very busy weeks!), a new meeting was arranged. Filip and Antonija (two Croatians) were at The Half Moon, a J.D. Wetherspoon pub (aka, the McDdonald's of the English pubs, as it is a franchising and is everywhere throughout the city; however, the Mile End pub is really nice, with unbeatable prices and a cool venue). Some others - me, Christoph (German, who doesn't like to be called Chris), Chiara (a sweet girl from Belgian) and the crazy Zee (an exchange student from the US, who will only stay with us until Christmas), and a German girl who I have never seen again and cannot remember the name - joined. A lot more people of the LL.M. ended up rallying there, but they were on different tables and your narrator cannot recall everyone (no relation whatsoever with the cheap beer).

Anyway, the initial fears - "I will arrive in London and I will not know anyone for months and be completely miserable" - did not come true. Although only two weeks have passed, the ones mentioned in the last paragraph have helped Pedro unveil the buzzing city. Others (friends of friends, people met in lines or during one of the several induction sessions or any of the socializing events sponsored by the university) have eventually joined: without being exhaustive (and certain that I will not mention some people who really deserved to be mentioned), here are some of the names of the ones who I have been with the most: Valeria (the Italian girl who carries the entire energy of the world), Juan and Núria (from Spain), Teresa (from Austria), Phang Yu Jia (also known as Faith, who is from Singapore, and likes to make people walk for miles), Daniel (from Mexico), Carlos (from Peru, who, I have just discovered, is an amazing football player), Adi (from India) and Daniel (from Mexico). A special mention has yet to be made in relation to the Portuguese-speaking contingent: Ana and her boyfriend Luís (Luís is not a LL.M student; instead, he is a cook, who - hopefully - will find a job in one of the best London restaurants and get us some discounts - at least, that seems a good idea from our point of view; he is also a Benfica fan!), Carolina (the Portuguese girl from Chelsea / Kensington / Earl's Court) and the Brazilian couple (Renata and Guigo).

Although a lot of differences exist, we all want to make the best of this year and some strong ties might result out of this. At this point, your narrator cannot know if any of the people above referred to will raise to the statute of hero in this logbook, obtain important supporting roles or if, instead, they will end up having a simple minor participation. It is something to be discovered in the following months.

(Me, Carlos, Daniel, Valeria, Núria, Ana, Chiara, Renata and Guigo)
(Cumberland Lodge - 18 September 2009)

(Juan, Chris, Faith, Carolina, me, Núria, Daniel and Adi)
(Waterloo Bridge - 27 September 2013)

#2 A place to call home

As it results from the post bellow, on 14 September 2013, your hero arrived at London and, with the help of Queen Mary Airport collection service, to his new place. That was the first day of the moving-in weekend, two days in which most of the Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) freshers (first-year students) moved to their new residence. 

Queen Mary is inner London's only campus based university. The main campus is located in Mile End, East London, next to the Regent's Canal, and comprises several schools, stores, shops, markets, cafes, a club, a library and, finally, students' accommodations, in which only freshers and postgraduates are entitled to live. The nearest subway station is Mile End on the District, Hammersmith and City and Central Lines. As a result, getting from Mile End to Central London during the day takes less than 20 minutes. A bus stop next to the main campus entrance (thank God for Bus 25!) allows to arrive and leave Mile End easily at any hour of the night.

Pedro lives at Maurice Court, in a shared flat with 5 other postgraduates: two Chinese (a boy and a girl), a guy from the Philippines, a girl from India and one from Italy. All the rooms of the flat are single and en-suite and, therefore, only the dinning area, the kitchen (HUGE!) and the corridors are shared. The prices are acceptable - especially if one considers the London reality - and living at a campus - specially by one that is surrounded by some of the cheapest pubs in London - allows a student to have an amazing experience, making it a lot easier to meet new people. Pedro's room, in which he is spending a lot less time than he should - Sir, I would advise you to stop drinking, and partying and start sleeping and reading! - was better than expected (the pictures on the Queen Mary website do not make it justice), even including a small fridge. However, he felt kinda blue when he discovered that his room is located at the ground floor (positive point: its window faces a garden), something that he will eventually get used to; really inexplicable is the shower which does not contain a proper separation from the rest of the tiny bathroom, which results in a small flood everytime que Pedro va a ducharse (I have been practicing my Spanish and I really like how this expression sounds - not sure if it is supposed to be written like that though).

On his moving-in day, your character did not manage to do anything worth noting. In fact, the trip was tiresome and although he tried to meet some of his fellow students, the line to enter in the club in which some of the other LLM students were partying was huge and Pedro gave up. However, such failed attempt to know new people (we can advance the ones who were at Drapers are now part of Pedro's life) allowed this student to get to know part of the campus by-night, including one of its most popular features: the Neuvo Jewish Cemetery, a Spanish-Jewish-Portuguese cemetery from 1726, the second-oldest graveyard in England. How fun it is to walk along it by night (especially if there are so many freshers around you completely drunk despite the fact that it is only 10 p.m.)!

Anyway, long story short, after one and a half week - which feels more like a month and a half - being in here, the Mile End campus feels like a very comfortable place to live in London, which could in fact be too comfortable, as almost everything can be found in the Mile End area and, therefore, one could accommodate itself to its surroundings, missing a chance to meet one of the most vibrant cities in the world. No fears! First, all of Pedro classes will be at Lincoln's Inn Fields / Holborn. At the same time and much more relevant, this is not a simple and boring diary (hey!, stop being cranky, this one is to give some context to the reader! it's part of the early pages!), but, instead, a proper logbook, in which adventures and their associated dangers (including, but not limited to fights against dragons - read the last post) are to be included: Central London - or (as some of us simply like to call it) London will be our site of action and Mile End will in most of the cases be reverted to our hero's resting cave (unless some zombies decide to leave the nearby cemetery and decide to have a chat - well, some of them used to speak Portuguese and I can make myself understandable in Spanish.

#1 Welcome to the London Logbook

A young man took a plane to London on the morning of the 14th day of September of 2013 (well, in fact, he first took a plane to Madrid, and only from there did he fly to London). At his birth country, he left his family and some good friends (although it should be noted that some of the more special ones were already scattered around the world).

On his luggage, he carried more than clothes, personal hygiene items, books and electronics. In fact, most of the weight he was bringing was not the result of material things - luckily, the airline officers have yet to invent a weighing-machine to measure what is in someone's mind. The fact is that his fears, anxieties, doubts and uncertainties were also in his baggage. Further, he was carrying his huge will for novelty, the need to defy himself and the desire to go where no man has even been (there is a slight risk that that this last point is not accomplished throughout his first year away from home). In summary, the things on his mind would make any scale go well above of the 32kg limit established by the airline carrier that was taking Pedro to his new place.

One and a half month prior to his departure, he had left his old job, a well paid position at one of Portugal’s leading law firms. That was something that he thought he would never regret, as although he considered himself a privileged in a country that does not know how - or simply does not want to - support its young people, he just wanted more - not sure what in fact - for his existence. Simply, in his old life, he was not happy.

There was something that he did not admit to a lot of people, although he never tried to fool himself: the choice to pursue a Master degree in a foreign country was also a way of running. Running from uncomfortable comforts, unfulfilled expectations, lost loves and, above all, a fear of falling into a state of mind that he was not absolutely sure how to describe: atrophy was the word that jumped to his mind, but, to be completely honest, he didn't even know what it meant. Of course he was interested in the Law and, specially, on the relevant questions surrounding copyright, freedom of expression and freedom of the internet; he wanted to study again and try to contribute to his field of knowledge and specially to what he believes to be essential for the creation of a new and better society and for one more step in the long walk to a real democratia. However, one should not be fooled: when Pedro decided to leave Portugal, he was thinking selfishly.

This logbook aims to recite the adventures and misadventures of this not so humble writer, which, for all purposes, we invite you to regard as your new hero. Most of its entries will be written in English, but, as a result of the multicultural environment currently surrounding us, we cannot guarantee that we will not venture to write in other languages, such as Portuguese (either from Portugal, with a Brazilian accent or with memories from Goa), Spanish (Spain, Mexico, Argentina and Peru might prove an influence in here), Italian, French, Flemish, German, Croatian and Hindi. They will range from the most simple and boring description of Pedro's everyday life to amazing tales of fights against dragons and other real creatures, something that is way more common that some might think - after all, our history will be placed in the land of King Arthur.

The necessary presentations have been done. Welcome to the London Logbook.