Arcadia England
A Message from the Director
Date
August 18, 2014
Dear Fall '14 student:
Greetings from Arcadia in London, where you'll be based - or passing through en route to your university in England or Wales - shortly. We are busy prepping for your arrival and all look forward to meeting you soon.
I hope your summer's been good - perhaps a mixture of relaxation and interning or working somewhere? As your thoughts begin to turn towards your semester of study in a different culture you'll be glad to know we'll be running an extensive orientation programme for you which covers all kinds of adjustment challenges from the different style of academics to smart budgeting; from travel tips to health and safety information.
If you're at all curious about the country and culture you'll soon be living in, then why not glance at the BBC News from time to time, or try The Guardian online? Did you know that a UK Government minister resigned this week over what she described as a lamentable failure of moral even-handedness in the UK stance on the Gaza war? She felt the Government should have spoken out over the high civilian death toll amongst Gazan children and non-combatants. She is a Conservative politician: can you imagine this happening in the US?
And soon after you arrive, the Scottish Independence Referendum will take place (September 18) - this is a bit like Texans voting to secede from the Union! If the Scots vote to leave the UK, we'll need a new flag, a new set of political and financial arrangements and lots more besides - all in an island that basically would fit into the state of Montana!
On a lighter note, the English Premier League season will be starting again mid-August, so all you soccer (please get used to calling it by its proper name: football!) fans can think about getting tickets to some of the London fixtures. Our Center staff have passionate allegiances: just ask and we’ll tell you who to cheer and who to boo!
So there's lots of things you might want to follow up on as you wait to board that plane!
With our best wishes and we look forward to seeing you soon!
Peter
Peter Leuner Ph.D
Regional Director, Arcadia Programs in UK & Ireland