My diary in London MET

5th, Jan 2009
The first day in London MET
I did not expect to learn on the very first day, I guessed we would enroll first and even we would wait for some late students before we start, but everything was different. I went to University on time and saw many students stand in a big open room, waiting for someone responsible for the meeting as we have been informed before. Finally, Mr. Andy Harris appeared in front of the crowd and made some announcement, dividing students who will have to take the pre-sessional English course into some classes and I was put into EMERAL class with Mr. Simon, a teacher of Grammar & Vocabulary, and Mr. Steve, a teacher of English skills (Writing, reading, speaking). And then we started to study English.

The first thing I have realized is a very different way of giving lecture here, I think it is useful and makes students work actively. That is what I need for my future career. In the Simon’s class, I learned to realize some world-wide famous brands: Mc Donald, Hello Magazine, Addidas, Channel, Pepsi, London Underground, Body Shop, Levi’s, Ford, IKEA, Virgin, Paramount, Lego and Mercedes. And then I and my classmates were given how to build up our knowledge and vocabulary with those brands. Steve’s class is different. He introduced students in the class and his subject in a very natural and humorous way. In his class, the old students (who have been studying and staying in London for at least 3 months) and the new students like me (who have been studying and staying in London for not more than a week) exchanged with each other about how everything works in the University such as self-study, computers, social programme, library, photograph… and Steve still raised a question of how to improve English speaking to discuss in the class: Study groups, conversation in public transport means, dating… I think it is good and I will try to follow that for myself. And it is the first time I have known the correct way to say 2.5 years in English: two and half years (instead of two years and a half, I was said to speak in both ways before).

After class, I filled the form and gave it to Mr. Marc Lawlor, one of the most skillful key persons to whom needs help as finance, weblearn, IT, card problems… Next, I and Cuong, a Vietnamese classmate went out for lunch. At 2 o’clock, we, all students, gathered in the big open room where we first met in the morning to go for a tour around the University and heard Andy Harris and Danielle Roche introduce the important places of London MET where you can get information and do things during the student time in the University. My first day ended when we finished the tour. And I took bus and then, tube to come back home with a good impression with London MET and its staff.

6th Jan, 2009
The second day in London MET
The second day seems easier for me because I am now getting used with the study environment and the University. As usual, the class started with Mr. Simon and his task today was to transfer some general knowledge of globalization to us. Most of Simon’s lecture was given with impacts of globalization on countries and people and he urged us to discuss and tell each other about our own opinion on aspects related to globalization such as cheap air fares; chances to work and study abroad; opportunities to enjoy foreign film, music; more power for multi-national companies; workers being exploited in the poorer countries… There have been two more new students in our class today, and I was impressed with Simon’s behavior towards these students, he showed his humorous sense, also his caring and thoroughness. At last, Mr. Simon assigned us homework, a vocabulary exercise through a reading task.

Steve started his lecture today by his own way which is very natural and easy to understand. He let us listen to a piece of radio news, discuss about Mr. CH Tung (Hong Kong, China) assessments on China’s triumphs and tragedies in 2008, its prospects in 2009, some challenges the world is facing and two solutions. The last task we had to do with Mr. Tung’s assessment was summarizing which was a main part of Steve’s lecture. I think summary skill is good for us to understand quickly the text, especially long documents. Hopefully, I will do summarizing better in future work.

During lecture, Mr. Steve spent some minutes talking about his MBA attendance in the City Compus. Due to his plan, our class time will change to fit him, therefore, our Wednesday class will be shorter and finish at 12h15 and we can have two choices on Wednesday: Continue to study in the class until 13h00 or self study elsewhere. However, the Tuesday and Thursday classes will be longer than usual, they may last until 13h30 and Steve promises to work part-time with us if needed. I think it is OK for us to spend time self-studying to meet the requirements of the pre-sessional English course.

7th Jan, 2009
Today, I made a very stupid mistake so that I came to class late, exactly 30 minutes late. I woke up early as usual, even I went out of my flat for University earlier than ever before, but I forgot to take the right DLR train to Stratford station, my first train went to the opposite destination.I came to class and enjoyed the last moment of Mr. Simon's lecture about cautious expressions with: It is likely that; It is unlikely that; I would appear that someone doing something; It is clear that; This will certainly lead to something: That will possibly result in something; or probable - probably; certain - certainly; clear-clearly.... they are interesting expressions in English because sometimes you stand on the fence and therefore, you can not speak out exactly what you want.

Mr. intelligent Steve entered our class with a bit worried feeling, maybe he has been a teacher for a long time and today he is going to be a new student in the City Campus which I guess made him a bit nervous, right? As Steve gave us a notice before, his today lecture would be made shorter so that he had enough time to go to University to make his student time more effective. Steve told us something about blogs where we, and I also, can write something to express opinions and do our self-study. I thought Steve gave us some tips to make blogs easier to read, but it is something difficult for me to understand immediately in the class because it is the first time I have made a blog and I have never had a blog before. Therefore, this afternoon, I tried to set up a blog of my own.

The second task Steve assigned us is to write a paragraph of more than 250 words to introduce our subject area. Of course, he explained step by step and showed us how to do it from taking note in the class, listening to a short presentation of partners, discussing with partners by asking and answering questions on the topic, and spending the whole weekend (If possible) writing the paragraph he assigned. I do not know what a paragraph is going to be if it is 250 or more words long, but intelligent Steve said "A paragraph". That is it.

First, I supposed Mr. Steve would listen to some of our presentation before he left for his class in the City Campus. But it is not that. I paid much attention to discussing with my partner, an Italian guy from Naple where the Napoli FC stations (He is a fan of Napoli FC? maybe), later I turned out to me that Mr. Steve disappeared while we were discussing and exchanging our opinions. Even I did not have time saying "bye, bye" to him. Oh, my God.

8th Jan, 2009
I felt much pressured by pre-sessional English course today with increasing number of homework assigned by Simon and Steve. Their new ways of teaching force me to change my access to study from passive learning to more creative methods, I think it is good for me and my future career. The problem is how quick I am to adapt with this new teaching and learning methods. Maybe, it is the key to success in MA study in London MET.

I have not learned much from Simon's lessons in the field of GRAMMAR and VOCABULARY, it is the same all time, except his ways of transferring knowledge to students. I think I could not do the same as he does if I were a teacher. Brainstorming and note taking are not new sounds to my ear, but how quickly or fast I can is really a question for me. From now on, I have to think thoroughly about the 1000 or more word essay we have to write and submit at the end of the course.

9th Jan, 2009
Today, I have done a lot of things, It is the most effective since I came here a week ago. Early in the morning, I wrote a paragraph of about 300 words introducing my subject area for Mr. intelligent Steve to read and comment. My blog was created yesterday, but I think it is not quite interesting because only my writing pieces have been posted on it. I want to post many more works, including photographs and Video, but I do not know what to do with it. I hope I will have created an interesting and useful blog as Mr. Steve does. As usual, I woke up at 7 am to prepare well for the class. I got out at about 7h50 and it took me about 45 minutes to go to University with the assistance of my feet, a DLR train from ALL SAINT to Stratford, an overground train from Stratford to Highbury@Islington, and a bus to London MET.
Today, Mr. Simon is off, so we had a lot of things to do with Mr. Steve: note-taking, reading, note-taking again, small presentation and an interview with Mr. Steve (New students only). I was the first to have a talk with Mr. Steve. I thought I was OK in the interview, everything I had done in the interview was answering Mr. Steve's questions. The most unforgettable question give to me was that "what is the most important thing I will have expected to get at the end of the course?", I answered "the method of study". I thought Mr. Steve did not expect to have the question answered like this, he was a bit surprised and tried to make clear what I was answering. Then, I came back to my group to continue our discussion about the "Globalization".
I got my student card this morning during the break. After class, I went to the Tower building to get my bank letter (the letter of our University sending to the bank to introduce me with the bank so that I am assured to open a bank account). Of course, I was easy to get the letter I wanted, therefore, tomorrow I can go to open an account for myself. Maybe, I will also apply for an Oyster card tomorrow. It is a good ending of the first week in London for my study, isn't it. Tomorrow, I will kick-start a new effective week, I hope.

10th Jan, 2009
Today, I had a tour around Canary Warf with some purposes, among which I wanted to see a branch of Natwest bank or Loyds bank to open my account. I got out of the flat rather late, nearly 12 o'clock and took a train to Canary Warf. As I was told before, I went down to the underground floor of a big building in a shopping center called Canada Square after getting of the train. I wondered to see a number of shop inside the building and look for banks for the above mentioned purpose. I did not know where the banks were until I asked a local people who was sitting at a bench for a short rest. With his instructions, I went out of the building to an open area nearby to seek for a Natwest branch. Unfortunately, the bank was closed because today is Saturday.

I went on searching a Loyds bank. I asked an Indian British man walking on the street to get the information. I continued with much more confidence and entered again into the Canada Square (as for me, it is a complex rather than a big building). When I was inside the building, I looked around and saw a diagram showing offices in the building, therefore, I thought at least there was a reception office of Natwest bank stationed in the sixth floor of the building. I went to a corridor to see whether there was a lift or not. At the time, a black guard guy saw me there, he approached me to ask if I needed anything. I quickly asked him how I could reach the Natwest bank, he showed me the way towards the Natwest bank branch where I had just escaped from. I was a bit disappointed, but I asked him one more question to get information about the Loyds bank. Hearing my question, another black guard guy appeared and seemed unpleasant with me as I was considered to play a trick on his friend. I asked me angrily whether I wanted to test their knowledge or not about the banks and which banks, Natwest or Loyds, I really wanted to know. I was so unhappy with him and his behavior that I argued with him a little. At the end, I was shown where the Loyds bank was.

Once, I was not lucky with the banks today when the bank staff explained or refused politely my request for a bank account to be opened with a very simple reason that I should go to a Loyds branch near the University for my convenience. I was reasonable, but I felt that banks in England do not pay much attention to me, a new customer. I guessed they was not willing to do business with me because I was only a short-term and small customer. At that time, I did not care for the bank account anymore and it was OK for me to open an account on Monday after class. Therefore, I decided to go shopping in the Tesco supermarket to get some food and drink for next week.

When I had done all with food and drinks, I discovered there was a Tesco club card to support customers shopping in Tesco supermarket. Each pound customers spend on goods in Tesco was equal to a point which would be added to the card by electronic machines at payment counters. As I get 150 points, I will get the goods discounted. With such a big discovery, I got a Tesco card as described above with a hope that my goods will have been discounted one day. I was satisfied with that sudden outcome. It was today I have bought enough for the whole week ahead and learned something interesting in the streets, not given in any book or lecture, even they were not included in the Mr. Steve's lectures. "One day, one lesson" is my approach in getting used with London and London's life.

11th Jan, 2009
Today might be the easiest day in London since I was here on 2nd January, 2009. I was suggested to go to Oxford Street where there was a big shopping centre with many shops and places to shop. I went there because I need to go around to get to know London and its transport system as well as spend one more day away from home. I went out alone and maybe, from now on I will go out alone to remember better roads, train lines or any other transport systems and vehicles. I hope after several days wondering around alone, I will not get lost in London anymore. But is seems not to be an easy task. I took the D6 train from ALL SAINT station to MILE END and continued my trip by central line underground train from MILE END to OXFORD CIRCUS. Then, there was a big open area for shopping in front of me after I escaped out of the tube.

Today, I felt free to enjoy things and surroundings without any difficulties in mind. I kept going from Shop to Shop, searching up and down, there and here for nothing, just for sightseeing. I spent the whole morning and half of the afternoon wondering half right side of Oxford street from the Oxford Circus station with a wish that I had enough money to buy a Rolex (I saw a Rolex shop with many beautiful watches inside, being sold at a terribly expensive price each: more than 3,000 pound at least, especially a DAY-DATE ROLEX to be sold at 17,000 pound) and intended to buy a Channel 5 perfume bottle for my home bank account at the suitable moment before finishing my study here. That was enough for me today, because my trip's main purposes are not shopping, but getting to know the places and people of London, its traffic system and sightseeing. Next week, I think I should go to well known historical spots and scenery places like Big Bell, Birmingham palace, museums, squares...

It is now very cold in Ha Noi. Hopefully, the cold weather will last shortly for some days only. Ha Noi is going to welcome a new lunar year - the YEAR of BUFFALO and It is not a cold year, I hope.

12th January, 2009
I went to University as usual and it takes me about an hour from my flat to the University on foot (from my flat to ALL SAINTS station), by DLR train and overground train, and then by bus. I think it is normal to travel such a long distance to the university in London.

The first lesson of Simon was replaced by a vocabulary test, followed by a lecture on Globalization given by Mr. Steve. As far as I understand, the lecture was given for students to do note-taking. I think it is a very important skill we should learn in order to make my MA study better, but it is difficult for a non-English speaker from a quite different culture of education like me. The lecture introduced a short overview about some negative effects of Globalization. We backed to the classroom to discuss how we summarized the lecture. The class ended with a homework that we had to summarize what the main idea of the lecture was and bring it to the class tomorrow morning.

After class, I did not go home rightly because I wanted to wait for the IT introduction at 2pm. I stayed in the classroom and read a newspaper. Then, I remembered to go to a Natwest branch to open a student account. Therefore, I phoned them and made an appointment for that transaction at 15h30 tomorrow. It did not expect to have done my task of making an appointment as easily as I had done like this with the bank. I hope I will sign a contract with the bank tomorrow. With the IT introduction in the afternoon, I knew about the intra-net of the University and how to log on the net. Finally, I went down to the library to ask a librarian to activate my library card by using my student ID card. Then I ran out and came back home as soon as possible. At Highbury station, I learned another lesson about how to renew an Oyster card with the station staff's assistance. It was OK, wasn't it?

13th January, 2009
As usual, I started a University day with Mr. Simon and his vocabulary & grammar lessons: His today lesson is about Prefixes: Anti- (Against), Pro- (for), Bi- (Two), Ex- (Former), Micro- (Small), Mis- (wrong), Multi- (many), Over- (too much), Post- (after), Pre- (before), Pseudo- (su:dou, fake), Re- (again), Semi- (half), Sub- (Under) and Under- (not nough). Tomorrow, the lesson is about the suffixes and I knew this because our teacher gave us some homework to do to show that, I do not guess. Mr. Simon then gave us some advice about a well balanced structure of our 1000 word essay: Introduction - 150 words, main body - 750 words, and conclusion - 100 words. I think it is a good idea for us to start our writing.

Mr. Steve had further taught us about how to summarise main ideas from a text, he also mentioned "paraphrasing" to avoid plagiarism and asked us to remember to add a reference at the end, not copying. Three steps to writing a good summary are Choose the key ideas, Re-organise, Write and reference. I have approached more to the targeted end of the course after Mr. Steve showed us how to write an introduction to the academic essay. He took his yesterday lecture as the information inputs to advice us some ideas about what we should do in order to write a good introduction. In the end, he wrote a nearly finished introduction for us. My following task is only write two more sentences linking the subject area to Globalisation in the introduction.

Today, I had some more experiences in dealing with banking transactions - OPENING A BANK ACCOUNT. It is more difficult to open an bank account here in the UK. Besides my University' letter of introduction to banks had something wrong with my address in London due to my mistakes when I enrolled, the banks required different documents. The Natwest bank is more restricted for account opening by requesting people to show them a bank statement or a paid bill together with Passport and University letter of introduction. The bank needs to be sure of my term address in the UK, therefore, I can not do anything to get such a document like their requirement. They still suggested that I could open a post account before going to open an account in their bank. That is all very well but I found these annoying. So I decided to open an account in the Loyds TSB bank. I have learned by myself that it is easier for you to have a deal like bank account with Loyds TSB. What I have to do tomorrow is going to a Loyds' branch and get my account opened. I also learned that I have to pay in the account at least 1000 pounds when I open it. Every month, 500 pound should be transferred into the account. It is OK for me, I have enough to meet their requirements. I hope tomorrow is a nice day.

14th January, 2009
Today, when I was sitting in the class, one of my Vietnamese classmate asked my what dates will be Tet holidays, I even did not know how to answer correctly. What a pity! I have not thought about this important event this month. The today lessons did not have much to say about. Mr. Simon had something to show us about "CAUSE & EFFECT expressions". The rememberable information in Mr. Simon's lesson was how to use verbs and nouns to express "Causes & effects". For example:

Driving fast is a danger to other road users.
Lack of time prevents you from doing things you want.
Watching to much TV has negative effects on young people.
Eating plenty of fish decreases the risk of heart disease.

During his short time in the class, Mr. Steve gave us some instructions on what we need to write in our essay's introduction (8 points to be written on). It sounds easy for us to write an introduction in an academic writing, but in fact, it is quite different from what people usually think about. It is a bit difficult. So far, I have not got any idea about How I should start. Tonight, I hope I will have a good answer to that question. In the afternoon, I went to a Loyds branch in Commercial Road (about 20 minutes away from my flat by bus) to book an appointment for my bank account opening. I have made it on Friday, at 13h30 exactly. I am trying to complete this task as quickly as possible, it is a really a waste of time. Friday may be a nice day for me.

15th January, 2009
Today, I had nothing more special than yesterday except I was the first guy to show my face in the class. At the beginning of the day, my student ID card was not working due to some technical errors in the card. So I was asked to see Marc for help and I did, but later. Simon continued the lesson of "CAUSE & EFFECT" that we started yesterday. The things I have learned in this lesson were some new words - verbs and nouns - to be used in CAUSE & EFFECT structures. I think some words I learn are quite beautiful, easy for me to use in the daily life.

Mr. Steve's lesson was quite different because we have been preparing for our final essay - today, we learnt some tips for that, first about how to write an introduction. We had a longer second part of the class which lasted until about 13h30. During the second part, Mr. Steve and we continued to work on the Essay's introduction with some sample writings prepared by students in advance. I think this part of lesson is useful for my essay writing, especially for the final essay of this course. It was clear that I understood more clearly what an introduction needed. Therefore, I imagined what my introduction should be as the deadline for essay's introduction was approaching, it is tomorrow I have to present my essay introduction to Mr. Steve.

After class, I came to the Administration Office to meet Mr. Marc to get my student ID card repaired. He checked my ID card to find errors. Finally, he got the idea of what my problem was. My card was not working this morning because its expired date was set wrong. Mr. Marc did something with his computer and informed me that my card's errors were found and are going to be fixed. Then, my ID card will be working again tomorrow. Afterword,I went back my flat and had a good lunch.

16th January, 2009
The first half of our class time today had gone normally as Mr. Steve gave us some instructions on REFERENCES. It is a bit complicated for me to use references in academic writing which I think to be used frequently throughout my study time here. This lecture is worth listening again, once or twice, as Mr. Steve talked to us in the class. The second half of our class time continued without me as I was allowed to leave the class earlier to go to an interview with a Lloyds bank branch for my bank account opening. I was a bit confused when I asked Mr. Steve for my early leaving because I saw him getting angry after being annoyed by phone inquiries from, I think, a student. It was likely to express anger straightly like this in the UK? It is good to do like this because you are able to show your attitude, even anger, toward somebody. I do not know whether I can, or have a chance, show my angry attitude like Mr. Steve did when I am living here in the UK or not. I hope I can, this suits me. I like this way of feeling expression.

I left the University for my first appointment in the UK. This transaction is important for me because I need to open a bank account for my convenient living here. Thanks to Mr. Steve's permission, I had much time to go to the Lloyds' branch in Commercial Road which took me about 1 hour and a quarter traveling from the University by all means of transportation: on foot, by bus, by overground train, by DLR train and by bus again. When I met a "big" lady, I thought she was over 50 years old, working for that bank, a difficulty arose. I think it is a stupid situation I have never witnessed before. As you know, this difficulty stemmed from my name. It is clear that my name is written differently in Vietnamese and English: NGUYEN NHU DUC, compared with NHU DUC NGUYEN as in English. The bank lady looked at my passport and also the University letter of introduction. Unfortunately, she discovered the difference between two ways of writing my name as above. She asked me again about my surname. "NGUYEN is my surname" - I answered. It looked differently because It was written by different ways - in Vietnamese and English, I explained. She then walked out to consult her senior manager, I guessed. About 7 or 8 minutes later, She got back and talked with me about my case that my name should have been written or copied exactly the same like It was done in my passport, therefore, She asked me to bring back another letter of introduction with a changed name on it. She ignored every explanation that I tried, at the end, I felt very angry with the way of doing business like this in the UK. I think she is as conservative as Great Britain, maybe with this kind of conservativeness, Great Britain is becoming the Great Backwardness in EU in particular, and even it will be facing a collapse some day in the future. I saw her eyes and attitude showing that she wanted to see me off immediately when I said angrily: "The letter is not wrong, my name is written right in English and Vietnamese". At that moment, I wished my English was so good that I could express my anger softly. I left the bank in a bad mood, but I could not do anything to make the situation better. Even if I spoke more, the situation would have deteriorated. So I'd better leave. Oh, my God.

I came back the University and got another letter of introduction to Lloyds bank with the changed name as I wished. I decided not to come back the bank branch of Lloyds TSB in Commercial Road. I wandered around to ask somebody how I could find a Lloyds bank branch near the University. Finally, I got the answer: there is one at the beginning of Holloway Road. Fortunately, I went there and got another appointment easily, but on next Wednesday, at 3.00 pm. It is likely that I am not lucky and maybe, I was browbeaten in a civilised and highly developed country with "a good record of human rights and nondiscrimination" in the world. Even in my dream, I would not be able to think of that situation. But it is a fact now, and I have to accept that because it is the UK. I do not know if Mr. Steve has ideas about this situation. I went back home late in the afternoon with some confused thoughts about the UK and its businesspersons. In short, today, I had traveled a lot, 5 hours by London transportation means: foot, bus, train, and the result: an 0. Tomorrow, I will go somewhere, maybe some historical landmarks of London to witness the greatness of the UK. Maybe, it will be a different Great Britain tomorrow.

17th January, 2009

Today was a busy Saturday as I was going out to visit some of famous landmarks in London. The targets of my Saturday trip were Leicester Square, China Town, Big Ben, the Thames River, Buckingham Palace and 4 famous lions. My trip could not begin as early as I wished because needed to buy a digital camera. Therefore, I went to Oxford street first for my camera. As soon as I bought it, I went on going to Holborn by bus instead of traveling by train in central line as planned. My traveling strategy was going and asking people for directions toward the places I wanted to go and It was useful for me to remember how to travel in London, especially I could remember the London transport system - bus and train. It may be difficult for new comers in London with the tube map reading and traveling by train, but it is easier for travelers after several trips around London, and I had learned the tips of traveling.

I first arrived in Leicester Square. It is not a big square, but many people come here to enjoy walking around and having a portrait by amateur artists. At the time, I was there, 2 people were portrayed and I had a good opportunity to witness some skillful painters doing their job in the open air square. I wandered around and then went to China Town which is a common name for many countries all over the world. China Town is characterized by red lanterns and I heard that there are some trick rules and regulations governing the trade in China Town, but I do not know exactly what they are. I called on a groceries shop in China Town and joined a crowd of people shopping there. I thought there were many things in the shop that a household needed for their delicious meals, especially with Asian families. I saw some Vietnam made food there such as instant noodle, some kinds of seasoning...

The second place I visited was EMBANKMENT where I viewed the Thames from a bridge crossing the river. I had a walk through the bridge to enjoy the beauty of the Thames and took some photograph. And with the view from the bridge, I captured the image of BIG BEN and it was not clear enough for me to describe that scenery landmark. Then, I kept going to Westminster and I had a chance to see the Parliament House and its surroundings. I was tired and decided to come back home.

On the way back, I witnessed a Pro-Palestine and Pro-Gaza peaceful demonstration at Trafalgar Square where 4 Mr. famous lions stood. About a thousand people, mostly Muslim people organised by Muslim Community Britain, gathered in the square and called for support from the international community for Palestine and Gaza. They shouted clamorously and raised the bands of "Stop Ginocide", "Gaza","Massacre"... I had taken some photographs of their demonstration. The demonstration was aimed at drawing concerns from the international community and the UK for Gaza where the Palestinian has suffered from Israel's bombings and rockets. Up to date, more than a thousand Palestinian died due to the bad situation in Gaza Strip. Hundreds of police men and women were there ready to interfere if demonstrators went too far to a violently protested demonstration. I hoped it would not be.

Due to the demonstration, traffic activities around the square got stuck and no traffic means could move, they stationed and waited for a breakthrough. So I had to walk towards Oxford Circus where I could catch a central line train to Mile End station, then to my flat. It was a tired day for me, the most tired day in London since I came here.

18th Jan, 2009
Today is Sunday, but yesterday, I spent nearly the whole day out sightseeing around London, therefore, I did not want to go far away. With this decision, I'd rather visit one or two places in London and then, back home. It was Museum of London where I would go to see and maybe, enjoy the historically eventful stories. I went out with the similar route from my flat to Mile End station in order to get a central line train to Moorgate station. I got off and headed to Museum of London on foot, I thought it was about 10 minute walk. I found the Museum easily at the end of the road. Then, I went on to have the museum discovered by myself. I do not know what kind of London Museum should be, but this is not qualified enough to be considered the Museum of London. It exhibits many archaeological samples like human skulls, labour tools (stone axes, stone knives...), ancient weapons, models and pictures related to many historical events of London as London great fire in 1666 when almost London was in fired and nearly damaged. However, it is my field of interest, so I decided to leave it early to start my second plan of discoveries in the day.

I intended to pay a visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam's Embassy to the UK and it was time to realise it. As described in the website of the Embassy, it is located in Victoria Road and the nearest station from its place is High Street Kensington station. Therefore, I took a central line underground train to Notting Hill Gate and then a circle line train to High Street Kensington. It took me about 20 minutes to find the Embassy: walk and asking for directions. Finally, I reached my target - the Embassy in 12 - 14 Victoria Road, London W8 5RD (Tel: 02079371812). It is a bit difficult to find the place, especially with a stranger like me.

The embassy's gate was closed on Sunday as I thought. First, I did not intend to come to visit the Embassy, I just wanted to see and know exactly where it was. When I went along the front of the house from the main gate to the small gate, a distance of about 40 meters long, two senior men in a small 4 seated, 2 door car stationing on the road gave me a signal which I understood that they wanted to ask me if I visited the Embassy. I thought they were the Embassy staff, ready to go somewhere on Sunday, but they found me wondering and they wanted to give me some advices. I knocked the door wind glass and asked them if they were Vietnamese and Embassy staff? They invited me to come inside the car to avoid the coldness outside. I did as they said. Then we had a small talk as an introduction. I knew they were both Vietnamese British, over 60 years old, waiting for the Embassy party of Welcome to the New Lunar Year 2009 which the Embassy was organising to invite a number of British friends, Vietnamese British and Vietnamese oversea students for NEW YEAR CELEBRATION. And they asked me to join the party, I thought it was a good opportunity, but I was a bit shy because I was not among the guests to the party.

I decided to join them to the party, helped them to bring cameras and belongings and come into the Embassy. They were asked to record the party, especially the Ambassador's speed and the award presenting ceremony to some helpful Vietnamese British held by the Ambassador. When all of us were in the house, I helped them to prepared for the recording work later. One work they wanted me to do the most while the ceremony was to bring a camera spotlight and turned it on/off to provide sufficient light for them to record the gathering. I completed my assigned unwilling work, but I was happy to do that. Our playgroup, two senior Vietnamese and I, was so perfect that in the end, another senior Vietnamese British considered me as a son of one of the Vietnamese British in our group. I thought I was successful in that forced play role.

The party came to its end with many activities: Ambassador's speed, Chairman of Overseas Vietnamese Association in the UK, Chairman of the UK-Vietnam Friendship Association, Chairman of SVUK Association (Vietnamese Student Association in the UK), the award presenting ceremony and the last, some songs performed by students. And the second part of the party was enjoying Vietnamese specialties as spring rolls, Chung cake... and drinks.

After the party, together with two other Vietnamese British who hitchhiked home, I was invited to visit two senior Vietnamese British's houses, named as Mr. Minh and Mr. Ly Duc Xuan, respectively. Both of them were Chinese origin Vietnamese, having left our country in 1979 for a new world when the China - Vietnam border war broke out. I heard their story randomly and understood their sad situation at that time. They were all right now with no more feud with our country, but in fact, two of them were unable to forget the miseries they had to suffer in the past when leaving the country. I came to visit both of the cameramen, Xuan and Minh, with an attempt to get to know the Vietnamese British' lives in London. Mr. Xuan was not in a good condition of living as Mr. Minh, but they were both having a good family with matured sons and daughters. One of the most impressive stories I heard about their lives was that: Mr. Xuan intended to ask his son, living next door, to help him to do something, his son said to him that if he (father) wanted something, he should have made an appointment in advance!!!

Mr. Minh had a better living conditions with two owned flats, one for him and the other for his wife with his youngest daughter. Later, his niece considered him a middle class man with such a fortune. I had a big bowl of beef noodle with his family and a Vietnamese British couple who had come with us in the same car from the party back to his flat. I thought it was a joyful evening with a newly established relationship. I was taken to a nearby railway station by Mr. Minh in order to catch a night train to Victoria station where I could catch a district line train to my flat. Sunday finished with a new story with me and I hope I will enjoy another joyful story some day in the future.

19th January, 2009

Monday is a boring day of the week as usual. I started my study with an unexpected test in the so called conveyed programme to understand how interesting a student is when he/she learns new English words conducted by a training Iranian teacher. I though it was a waste of time, but I did not know what to do with that kind of exercise. The next class was feedback given by Mr. intelligent Steve about our essay's introduction. Looking at his feedback, I thought I was not bad at introducing a problem in an academic essay and at least I got a pass. The rest of the class was not very interesting, but not bad. So, my Monday was over with a little progress in English and Tomorrow may be different.

20th January, 2009

Today, we were forced to have an experimental test on English new words learning. We had to do the test because they needed to take a survey in the subject of new word learning. I did not know how it is important, but it was quite bad idea to learn English new words in some minutes and it does not attract students as much as they hope. However, the second part of our class was very useful with a paragraph analysis: Topic sentence with a topic and a supporting idea; supporting reasons; and an optional conclusion. I think it is useful because I have got an idea about how to write my essay. If Mr. intelligent Steve taught this before, we would have improved much better than I am now in academic writing. After learning these tips of academic writing, I will consider revising my essay introduction and some paragraphs in the essay that I am going to write. Maybe, I have to change something in the essay, but it is not much, I hope.

After class, I went to the EF Registry to get another letter of the University to deal with Council Tax Redemption. Then, I went straightforward back my flat and in the afternoon and the whole evening, I tried to search information for my essay, read them and get some necessary information. With the collected information, I tried to imagine a larger picture of what my essay is going to be and what sort of information I should put in it. It was a quite efficient (effective) evening for me, staying alone in my room and trying to write something. At the end, I had finished all homework, including vocabulary-grammar exercise and writing exercise. Moreover, I had written more 3 completed paragraphs for my essay which will consist of 8 paragraphs. To date, I had done half of my work on academic writing.

21th January, 2009

My class was in time at 10h00. As usual, Mr. Simon started lessons by correcting our homework on Reported speech. Simon's today lesson involved much speeking and grammar rather than vocabulary and reading. Maybe, it is good at this time. Later, we had done some excersise and get homework. Mr. Steve ran his lecture more quickly because he had to go to the City Campus for his lesson this afternoon. So I can say foresure that I had nothing special today unless my appointment with Lloyds TSB at 15h00.

It was the luckiest day for me in the UK since more than 2 weeks ago. I finished my class at about 12h15, then I went to the library to do some homework, spending time while I was waiting for my appointment. I went to Highbury Corner branch of Lloyds TSB at the Highbury corner 15 minutes earlier. After entering the bank, I asked the inquiry receptionist whether I could meet a bank staff as I had an appointment in advance. Then I was asked to have a seat and wait for the coming staff. Later, I was lead to a room inside the bank to start my transaction. It was unexpectedly easy to work with the guy in front, asking and explaining what I had to do in order to open a bank account there.

Relating to my letter of introduction, he saw and asked me something about my family's member, such as what my brother' name was and then, he compare to my name to ensure which name was my family name, I guessed. When he got my answer, he said He was confused with my name: First name, surname... I understood what he was going to say next and what he wanted to know about my name. Therefore, I told him my experience of opening a bank account in the UK that once I went to a Lloyds branch in Commercial Road, I was requested to bring another letter of introduction with my name written in Vietnamese way instead of written in English way as in the first letter. He was very surprised and understood my situation. He asked me to show him the first letter with which I was refused a week ago. He took the letter and confirmed it was exactly the letter he wanted. To my surprise, He told me to start the contract of account opening.

I felt very pleased to work with him, he was open and easy. We had a smiling chat while we were discussing the contract. I thought he was persuasive and convincing when he explained some extra benefits when I opened a silver card instead of a debit card (a normal card, no charge). With a silver card, I could use my card as Money Transfer Card and Travel Money Card and have European Travel Insurance, Mobile Phone insurance and AA Roadside Assistance and Accident Management. I did not know exactly how it was beneficial to me in the time to come, but I liked the way he dealt with the transaction, that was it. I finished my banking transaction with a joyful smooth. Before I got out, I still booked an appointment for my friend with the same transaction: OPENING A BANK ACCOUNT. It was a good ending of a funny story here.

22th January

I had two different lessons today. First, instead of studying with Mr. Simon as usual, we had another and the last experimental test on new words learning. It was boring and unbeneficial to me anyway, but I had no choice, even some of my classmates did not come and took part in the test. The second half of class was better and it was more important with Mr. Steve's lecture about what we should work on to improve the final essay in order to submit it in time, the next day. I got more ideas with some clear thoughts of counter-argument and paragraph connection.

Another important thing was that I needed to ask someone to sign in Report No3 which will be sent back to the Ministry of Education and Training after that. Once I got to the Admission room, I discovered that I had to fill in a form in order to enroll in the MA course in International Relations which starts on 2th February and next Monday, the 26th January would be the last chance for me to get enrolled. I was lucky again with this information. Then I was given a form and took it home to fill the gaps in it. That was all good for me.

22th January was the date I knew how to put money to my printing account which I need to print my documents.

23th January 2009

We spent the whole learning hours listening to Mr. Steve's guidance to write the final essay which should be submitted at 2 pm. Mr. Steve went through one by one to get our essays corrected. I had some useful advices about how to write paragraph connections and references. Based on his advice, I completed my essay - 1053 words and submitted it at the end of the class hour. Next, I went to submit the form of enrollment to the Admission staff and also had information about when and who will sign in my report No3 - as soon as I will be accepted to have a place in the MA course. I knew one more thing: Putting money into the photocopy card machine to have a photocopy permission.

24th January, 2009

It was Saturday and the day before the last day of old year. I enjoyed the weekend at my flat. In the morning, I went shopping for the next whole week with food, vegetable, drinking water... They will have been eaten for the whole week. In the afternoon, I went to the airport to see a Vietnamese student off. Everything I did in the afternoon was to carry luggage to the airport and say "bye, bye; see you!". It took me about 4 hours to complete the task. Then, I came back to a new friend' flat to have a dinner party with his family, which we called "the celebration party to see off OLD YEAR and welcome NEW YEAR". I enjoyed a warm family atmosphere there and it was a really delicious party.

25th January, 2009

It was Sunday and the last day of OLD YEAR. I had a date with some other Vietnamese students to have a lunch party as another celebration party to see off OLD YEAR and welcome NEW YEAR. I started to go to my friends' flat where was about 45 minutes away by bus. I was very confident that I could go there by bus as once I had been to. In fact, I had to take two bus for my trip. It was OK for me with the first bus, but there was a problem with the second bus due to my bad memory. I thought I could go to my friends' flat without asking for direction. But I was wrong. I could not remember exactly where I had to get off the bus. It was over an hour after I left my flat, I knew I was lost and passed the friends' flat without any notice. I got off the bus and came back. I arrived one hour late at about 12h00, fortunately, I was in time for the party. At the later party, I was introduced with two new students, one from Shanghai city, China and the other from Japan. They were interesting and friendly. We had a chat and had lunch together. At last, I came back my flat and made some calls to my family to say "HAPPY NEW YEAR".

26th January, 2009

It was the last day before the final presentation and examination of the pre-sessional academic English course. Everything in the class was about the presentation and examination. Both Mr. Simon and Mr. Steve spent time telling and explaining what we need to do in order to get an "A" in the final tests. I thought it was very useful for us to do the last preparation for the tests. At the end of the class, I told Mr. Steve jokily that I was looking toward to receiving a "B" for my presentation next day. He said that I could get an "A", it was a joke I knew. I answered "I'm hoping". I then spent the rest of the day preparing for the final presentation that I wanted to have fun as Mr. Steve had wished.

27th January, 2009

It was the presentation day. We had a random picking to choose presenters. First, two of us were picked up, the first person who gave presentation was CUONG, one of the five Vietnamese student in my class. I was lucky enough to be the forth giving presentation. We did present in order, as soon as one finished his/her presentation, he/she had a period for answering at least two questions. The question time of the previous speaker was the preparation time for the next. Therefore, we made speeches continuously until 13h00 we finished the speaking test. I thought my presentation was not bad and I made it fun and somehow impressive with a strange introduction which was different from others'.

28th January, 2009

It was the final examination day. The exam was not as difficult as I thought it might be. We did the listening and writing tests first, and then the grammar test. It was OK with me. I was quite sure I got a PASS. Tomorrow, I had to go to my class to get my English certificate presented by Mr. Steve and I need to see someone to ensure my place in the MA International Relations course. It is all right.

29th January, 2009

Today, I had many things to do in order to confirm my MA course' place. It was the last day in the Pre-sessional Academic English course. I had feedback for the final examinations I had been attending some days before and I had been presented my certificate of the course. As usual, we started the class at 10h00 and the first discussion was about the 50 million debt situation of London MET university. As for me, it was not a very serious problem. Then, we together checked the grammar tests by dividing the class into two arguing teams: Argue and get points in order to win a chocolate box from Mr. Steve - my team won finally. We continued the grammar correction until nearly 13h00. After 1 hour break, I was the first to do face-to-face tutorials with Mr. Steve. During the tutorial, I was presented my certificate and informed my final result: A - it was great, isn't it. I asked Mr. Steve two questions: How should I do to improve my English by leaps and bounds during my target course? What was the common method of study in London MET. He showed me the ways to improve English, but no answer to the second question, because he was not my tutor in the target course, I understood that.

In the afternoon, I went to Stapleton House to enroll in the MA International Relations course (Interdisciplinary Programme). It took me the whole afternoon to enroll. For the tuition fee, I had to pay for my MA course by two times with 4,500 pounds each. Thanks to the letter of scholarship confirmation, I went through the enrollment process. An interesting thing was that I was the last one in the enrollment queue. Before I came back home, I joined some classmates in a end-course party which I had bought a ticket before with a hope that I would meet someone in the Vietnamese student Union in London MET. It was not really a party, just a get-together for a drink with music and dance. I thought music and dance were the most useful communication means in the world. New students were easy to get acquainted with each other with music and dance. I came back home at about 8h30 pm and it was a good end of the day.

30th January, 2009

I had been informed that I (a new student) would have an introduction meeting at 10h00 today. Therefore, I went to University to attend the first important event in my student life in London. Otherwise, I also wanted to do some other personal works before I started my course on 2nd February, 2009. I followed signals marked by the University staff on the walls leading to the meeting room. I was in the meeting room a bit late, but only some minutes late. I heard a presentation introducing general information about the University and courses. At the end, we gathered in groups due to the courses we would attend, of course, I attended the MA International Relations Group led by prof. Mike Newman, our Course Leader who would follow us from the beginning to the end of the course.

Prof. Mike Newman showed us the way to another room where our group met and exchanged some ideas in an open discussion. My class is expected to include 18 people, but in the first meeting of the class, there were only 8 students from different countries in the world. Also there were 2 old students, Chris and Alex, studying International Relations who had passed their first semester here. They were 2 representative group leaders in their class. Prof. Newman wanted them to join us to introduce their experience in the course and gave us some useful advice. During the first meeting, we asked and exchanged about our course and the first 3 Modules that we had to take this semester.

The International Relations (Interdisciplinary Programme) course includes 4 core Modules with 20 credits each (Compulsory Modules) - Contemporary International Political Economy (GIP008N), International Relations and the Legal Regulation of Conflict (GIP009N), Theory and Research Methods (GIP028N) and The Evolution of the Modern Inter-State System (GIP007); 2 designate Modules with 20 credits each (Optional Modules) to be chosen from 9 Modules; and a 60 credit dissertation. I decided to take 2 core Modules and 1 optional Module this semester, which are GIP009N, GIP028N and one of either International Legal Institutions (LLP004N) or European Integration (GIP020N). Later, I decided to take LLP004N as the third Module this semester. At the end of the meeting, Prof. Newman showed us the room (TMI-37) where the Department of Law, Governance and International Relations was and also his room (TMI-48). Then, about next an hour, Chris and Alex led us around in an introduction tour for the University and answered some necessary questions we expected to have information.

I knew to use the scanner machine in the library when I scanned the last page of my report No3 which would be sent to the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam later.

After the group dismissed, I continued to do personal works: Got my reports signed and sealed at the International Office, a letter of enrollment confirmation from Undergraduate & FE Registry and requested an confirmation e-mail from the student office for my Oyster student photo-card. I got all these works done. I hope I will get my Oyster card next week by which I get 8 pound saving each week from travel cost. It is a good day, isn't it?

31st January, 2009

I thought I would have bought a good mobile phone today when I was determined to go shopping this morning, but it turned out that I had nothing at the end of the day. This morning, I decided to go shopping, so I went to Oxford Circus by taking a central line train. I had some information in Internet about the monthly contract phones before, so I wanted to check different prices of some valuable phone handsets in some shops such as 3, Orange, T-Mobile, Carphone Warehouse... before deciding which phone was the best for me. Finally, I decided to sign a 18 month contract with 3 for a free N95 at 30pound/month. Then, I had a problem that I have been here in the UK only for one month, therefore, when the shop salesman did credit checking, I might not be accepted. I did not know why, but maybe they wanted to know where my monthly income was from. I failed to get a phone contracted today. I will try another contract in another day.