Winding down.

So, yesterday I had a rather large scare. I came to the office and my member of parliament asked me what I sent my mom for Mothers Day. My jaw hit the floor. I told her I had no clue that it was Mother's Day. So, she starts joking around with me about how I am a bad son and how she can't believe that someone from the United States would forget a holiday that originates in their country. My reaction was to immediately write my mom an apologetic email about how extremely sorry I was and how I loved her, etc... I felt so bad. So, I go home last night, and start cursing out my roommates for not reminding me of it. Suddenly, my friend Julie starts laughing hysterically. She then proceeds to tell me that it was only Mother's Day in the UK and that it is in May in the States. And about 10 minutes later, I receive an email from my mom thanking me for the kind words but telling me I was "off the hook for now." This is one cultural experience I will certainly never forget.

Another interesting phenomenon that has taken place in the last week, is daylight savings time. In the UK, they get daylight savings time a week before the US. So right now, I am six hours ahead of everyone at home. This has been quite interesting when trying to arrange travel plans with my parents who are coming into visit this Thursday evening. It should be weird to see them in London.

I just got back to the office from sitting in on a private meeting regarding the police force amalgamation scheme set to take force in April 2007. I am writing my dissertation on this issue and it was very valuable to see what the police chiefs and constables are saying. The dissertation is on whether the Labour governments call for a strategic forces approach is the best for Britain in the 21st century. Sounds complicated... and it is. Anyways, this meeting demonstrated that no matter how complicated things look on paper, they will be even more complicated with implementation. There were a myriad of aspects I had never even though about before I sat in this meeting.

In other exciting news, I got to meet David Cameron, the Leader of the Conservative Party today. Now, you have to understand, I have been wanting to meet him so bad. It was my goal to shake his hand since I got here. It is rumored that he may be the next Prime Minister of Great Britain if the Conservatives win the next election. So, my MP Nadine, needed a photo of him for her annual report. She told me I could come along to take the picture and then sneak in for one. So, we showed up, I went into the room and my jaw was practically on the floor. He told me to have a seat on the couch and started talking US politics with me. He asked who I thought the next US President would be, if Hillary Clinton had a chance, etc.. And then I got a photo of him and I sitting on a couch. It was great. He was extremely nice and had been to Boston on some business. Overall, today was probably one of the craziest/ most exciting days of my life. You don't get much better than this... marriage..kids... those definitely.. but other than that.. NOPE! I also got a Vote Conservative sign and had my MP sign it. This experience has been life changing. The stories alone will keep me busy with relatives for months.

As I've said earlier, I can't believe I ever thought about NOT coming to London.