A typical Monday-Thursday:

(for Russell, Richard, Sarah Kate and those of you who have asked…)I climb out of the stiff res-hall bed at roughly 7:30am, try to dress somewhat “casual smart” for work, and pack a PB&J and raincoat in my bag. At 8:30am, I leave the res hall. The weather outside is typically cool and fickle (hence the raincoat).  I catch the number 11 or 19 or 22 bus to the tube @ Sloane Square and catch the Circle or District line to Westminster. The tube is overly crowded and most people look angry. I exit from the tube just under Big Ben and walk past the Houses of Parliament, dodging oblivious tourists taking pictures. It quickly becomes my goal to find a large person to walk behind; commuters are fierce in the mornings. By 9:30am, give or take, I arrive at the Local Government Association, go through security, and take an elevator lined with mirrors to the Conferences and Events Department on the 5th floor.  Work is typical… sometimes interesting, sometimes not, but everyone says “cheers,” and offers you “biscuits” with your tea. 

There are 8 conferences alone in July that we are managing. The conferences deal with controversial issues on social, environmental, or policy-related topics. The biggest one is going on now in Birmingham and is the Annual Conference where David Cameron (the leader of the Tories) is speaking. This is a 3-day event with over 50 speakers and 2,000 delegates from across Britain. I am going up to help tomorrow. The delegates who come to our events are usually MP’s, councilors, or local authorities. Needless to say, we have been busy making sure everything happens and happens well.

As for lunch breaks, I typically spend them one of three places: at my desk (if we are extremely busy, which is a lot), on the 7th floor terrace (that overlooks St. John’s cathedral with a view of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey), or Strutton Grounds Market (which is just down the road). I leave work around 17:30, and as I walk past Parliament Square, there is usually someone shouting anti-war messages through a loud-speaker. (This is what I heard yesterday: “Wake up, Britain! As you sleep, your government is killing children! When will this genocide end?”) I head to the Westminster tube station, and on a good day, there is a musician playing jazz or the blues; techno or classical. I catch the tube and then the bus and arrive at the res-hall around 18:30. I eat, ice my ankle, and then we head to the theatre or a gallery… or I crash. On Tuesdays, I don’t get back from work until 20:30 because we have tutorials… Tuesdays are l o n g . All in all, I’ve loved work. The people are “brilliant,” as is the organization as a whole. I’ll be sad to leave the LGA, but it will be nice to get paid the next time I work somewhere…