A Week in Review–September 7 - 13
“Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going to fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.” - Eddie Cantor
Sometimes, it’s just good to have a nice, slow week! I think I speak for all the students and the NUin team that although this week has not had the amount of activities that previous weeks have had, it was very nice to catch up on some rest, homework, and laundry! 
This week started off with our Family Meal at Las Iguanas, a Latin American Restaurant in the Southbank. As we try to find different restaurants and cuisine for the students every week, I was happy to see the students excited to dine on fajitas, enchiladas, and burritos. This coming week we will take the students out for Italian food in South Kensington!
The film for this week’s Academic Film Screening was Pierrepoint. This film covers the life of Albert Pierrepoint, the last hangman executor in the United Kingdom. After his career, he became an outspoken opponent to capital punishment. As the students have just finished reading Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell, they were asked to notice the time period of this film. Orwell was said to be influenced by that time period in writing this famed novel.
The Global Experience Course this week focused on “Creating Cultural Connections” where we focused on ethnocentrism vs. ethnorealism. I extended the discussion by introducing the topic of British national identity, sometimes referred to as ‘Britishness’. I encouraged the students to watch the BBC Last Night of the Proms. The BBC Proms season lasts for eight weeks and ends on the second Saturday in September. It is an orchestral classical music event that takes place at the Royal Albert Hall (just around the corner from Metrogate!). This past Saturday, September 12, was the ‘Last Night of the Proms’ which is a fun event that ends with a series of British patriotic music. I encouraged the students to watch this event in order to gain a sense of one perspective of Britishness in the UK.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2009/
Some students took advantage of the long weekend by traveling to the Continent. Destinations included Amsterdam, Paris, Belgium, and Liverpool!They have all safely returned to London and overall their feedback has included that they had a great time and gained new perspectives on Europe and traveling.
Stay tuned for more updates! Until next time, have a great week!