Monthly Archives: February 2015

02/24/15

Mac Does Parliament

Mr. Doughty and me!

 

Hey folks! This’ll be a bit of a different post than usual since I want to talk about one specific thing I did since it was so cool! On Monday I had the absolute honor of visiting the UK Parliament and getting a tour from Mr. Stephen Doughty, a Welsh MP and alumnus of an organization I am part of back in Canada. About a month ago I reached out to Mr. Doughty on the off chance that he would be interested in meeting me and was a little surprised but mostly delighted when he said he would love to have lunch and show me around the Palace of Westminster. There aren’t any pictures because I wasn’t allowed to take any, but it’s a good story.

The first thing we did was a standard tour of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, the two Chambers that legislating takes place within.  Mr. Doughty was incredibly knowledgeable about the buildings, talking about architecture, artwork, and the actual purposes of the rooms.  We happened across a display of celebrating the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta, a document discussed in basically every social studies course ever.  The display included on the the four original copies of the Magna Carta (not quite as cool as the original itself, but still a once in a lifetime opportunity).

The fun really started after we finished with the main public areas as Mr. Doughty offered to show me some of the backrooms that aren’t usually open to the public.  We walked past the Library which was one of the few rooms he couldn’t bring me into.  We also passed the Stranger’s Bar and poked our heads in, although it was too early for a drink.  We enjoyed lunch in what seemed to be the main dining hall while he listed the many odd features of the buildings, including a shooting range, hairdresser, and florist.  After lunch we took a trip the Member’s Porch, a beautiful deck overlooking the Thames on which I managed to get my picture taken as well as a quick selfie with Mr. Doughty.

After lunch we continued our tour of the backrooms of Westminster, including a visit to the committee rooms (the real heart of government, in my opinion) and one of Mr. Doughty’s three offices. Yes, he has three offices. In fact, he has two offices in Westminster which is two more than most people would ever dream of having.  In it I met a fellow Labour MP who worked closely with Mr. Doughty on a daily basis.  At this time, we enjoyed tea in the Pugin room – easily the fanciest tea room I had ever had the pleasure to enjoy.  With a view of the Thames and the knowledge that Prime Ministers sat in the same room making world changing decisions, how could it not be amazing?

Finally he offered to get me a seat watching the debate in the House of Commons that day in front of the glass screen that usually separates visitors and the politicians working. This was truly one of the highlights as I am both a complete Parliament geek and Mr. Doughty had to certify he knew me and I was trust worthy for me to sit there.  I got to my seat (which was over top of the Opposition with a pristine view of the Government) and stayed for about an hour and half, just enjoying the experience.  At one point I asked the usher who was watching us if I could move to the front row, in hopes of garnering a view of the front row of the Opposition but was informed that that row was reserved for the House of Lords. That was when I knew I was somewhere truly special.  Even better, not even 10 minutes later a member of the House of Lords arrived to watch the debate.  If that’s not cool than I don’t know what is.

That’s my story!  Mr. Stephen Doughty was an incredible guide – he had amazing stories, we shared genuine and unusual connections, and he was interested with what had brought me to the UK and how the organization is doing. I think the moral of this story is to reach out to connections you might have while travelling.  Friends, friends of friends, people who you have things in common with, you never know where your next adventure will be or who it will be with so you might as well try.  Until next time, keep doing you!

02/8/15

When Things Go Wrong

My Replacement Laptop

So I’m sitting here writing this from a university computer in thew library instead of from my ever faithful laptop. Why? That ever faithful laptop decided to call it quits this week.  On Wednesday night the screen suddenly turned off with no apparent cause.  I tried restarting it because that’s all I could think to do, and when that didn’t work I sent a quick text to my family back home about it and went to bed.  There wasn’t anything I could do at 11:00 at night, so I figured it wasn’t worth worrying about. The next day I went to the nearest Apple Store in the nearest city and was told it wasn’t worth repairing my laptop.  I got in contact with my family back in Canada to let them know I’d need to buy a new computer and get their input.  I ended up ordering a Chromebook on Friday and it should arrive tomorrow.

My flight back to Durham after Christmas was an ordeal, so say the least.  My first layover was in Toronto and that was supposed to last only 40 minutes.  It looked like I’d have to rush to make the connection.  When I got to the gate, my flight to Paris had been delayed by 1 hour (and later it would be delayed by another hour).  Earlier that day, there had been a hostage situation near the airport in Paris so flights leaving and arriving were all behind schedule.  Lucky for me, that meant I had time to actually grab something to eat. Unlucky for me it meant that when I got to Charles de Gaul airport, I had to move quickly through the terminals and I was still the second last person to arrive at the gate.  As I waited in the small queue, the screen switch from “Last Call” to “Boarding Now Closed”. I had made my connection, but as I found out when I finally made it to the UK, my baggage hadn’t. It had been lost somewhere in Paris.

Crisis. What do you do when it strikes? Something goes wrong and you need to change your plans.  Well here are a few tips for dealing with crisis.

Stay Calm

Sometimes when things go wrong, there’s nothing we can do.  My laptop screen isn’t working? I’m not a computer technician so there isn’t much I can do about it.  Staying calm is the best way to manage the situation – freaking out will only make things worse.  That is not to say don’t try to solve the problem, but you shouldn’t see it as life or death if it isn’t.  Sure, I sped up when I realized boarding had already started when I landed in Paris.  What I didn’t do was worry so much that I had a bad time – heck, I even had fun with it.  Speed walking through the airport like I was someone with important things to do felt kinda cool.  Stay calm, there’s no reason to make the situation less pleasant than it needs to be.

Ask For Help

I get it – you’re off on a journey of self discovery, learning to be independent for the first time.  The absolute last thing you want to do is ask your parents for help.  Sometimes, though, that’s the only thing you can do.  If your laptop breaks and you can’t afford a new one, don’t try to hide it from your parents if you think they can help you.  Not everyone is lucky enough to have parents that can help them so if yours can, make sure to keep them informed.

It’s not just parents that can be helpful though. Friends can be an even bigger help.  When my engineer friend heard that my laptop had broken, he offered to take a look at it (even though I’d already visited an Apple Store).  Other friends offered advice – from new computers to buy to setting myself up with a screen that my laptop might be able to run.  One of the best parts of friends is that they’re their for you when you need them, so go ahead and ask for help.

Make the Most Out of It

Sometimes a curse is a blessing in disguise (or at least there is some small part of it that’s good).  Each of my crises has a small upside to them and focusing on that can be really helpful.  When my laptop broke, it was an excuse for me to take a morning trip to Newcastle – a vibrant city rich with history.  Every time I go, I marvel at the beautiful city center, the gorgeous surrounding landscape, and the joy of being in a city again.  Even though I was there for something unpleasant, the short trip was still fun and a good change of pace for me. When Air France lost my baggage, it meant I didn’t have to lug my heavy suitcase from the airport onto the subway and then the train and then through town to my dorm.  It was way easier to have Air France pay to have it delivered right to reception at my College.

Things go wrong when you go on exchange, just like they do when you aren’t.  Being away from your old friends and family can make those things seem so much more important and more daunting but at the end of the day it’s the same problem.  Stay calm, ask for help, and try to keep having fun.  At the end of the day, if everything went perfectly you wouldn’t have any stories to blog about.  Exchange is an adventure – don’t worry about things going wrong.