Welcome to oikos London s Spring Meeting 2015!

Transcription

1 Welcome to oikos London s Spring Meeting 2015! Dear Participant, We are looking forward to welcoming you to London! The Spring Meeting is just next week and soon you will travel from all around the world to London. We hope you are as excited to come as we have been organising it. Prior to your travel, please read this essential guide to find out information about your accommodation, travel, food, trips out and other useful information about London and the programme we have planned for you. We look forward to having you. Kind regards, The Spring Meeting 2015 Team

2 Contents 1. Accommodation 2. Travel to the Accommodation 3. Travel to the Siemens Crystal 4. Travel from the Accommodation to LSE 5. Food 6. Sunday activities 7. Sweet exchange 8. Useful information 1. Accommodation - Rosebery Hall, 90 Rosebery Avenue, London, EC1R 4TY. You will be staying at LSE s Rosebery Hall for the duration of the spring meeting. Your accommodation is covered from Thursday 26 March 2015 until, and including, Saturday 28 March 2015, with your check out time on Sunday the 29th being at 10am. On Thursday you can check in from 10:30am, but access to your room will not be possible until 3pm. You will nevertheless be able to securely deposit your luggage at the halls throughout the day and check in will be possible from 10am. The spring meeting officially begins with our trip to the Siemen s crystal at 2:15pm. Groups will be leaving the accommodation from 1:30pm onwards to arrive at the Crystal for 2:15pm. Please arrive at the Siemen s Crystal at this time if you do not intend to travel with the group. The halls has access to Wi-Fi through the use of the network eduroam. For more information on the accommodation please see: Accommodation/Rosebery-Hall If you plan to arrive earlier than Thursday, as may be the case for presidents, these websites can help you in finding a place to stay for a night: or or If you have further questions on this please get in contact with us at spring.meeting@oikos-london.org.

3 2. Travel to the Accommodation The Tube station closest to Rosebery Halls is Angel station. Kings Cross St Pancras, where the Eurostar arrives is in walking distance. Angel station Rosebery Hall King's Cross Rosebery Hall

4 2a. Getting to the accommodation from airports: 1. From Heathrow airport: Train: Piccadilly line to King's Cross St Pancras station. Then walk to the halls using the above map. or Take the Heathrow Express (faster but more expensive) to Paddington station, then the Waterloo Line to Oxford Circus station, followed by the Victoria Line to King's Cross St Pancras station (or to Euston station and then Northern Line to Angel station). For more information see: getting-into-london

5 2. From Gatwick airport: Train: The Gatwick Express non-stop train service to Victoria runs every 15 minutes with a journey time of 30 minutes. You will then take the Victoria Line to Euston Station followed by the Northern Line to Angel. Book Gatwick Express Southern trains services operate four times an hour to Victoria via East Croydon and Clapham Junction with a journey time to Victoria of around 35 minutes. You will then take the Victoria Line to Euston Station and then the Northern Line to Angel. Book Southern Trains Services to London Bridge, St Pancras International and Luton Airport also run four times an hour with a journey time of between 30 and 45 minutes. Book First Capital Connect If you are travelling by train you can buy tickets in advance from an independent retailer of train tickets online. Coach: Easybus (from South Terminal) to Waterloo station. Then take the Jubilee Line to London Bridge station and then the Northern Line to Angel station. For more information see: to-and-from/gatwick-to-london/

6 3. From Luton airport: For a comprehensive overview please see: 2b. Getting to the halls from the Eurostar station You will arrive at Kings Cross St Pancras on the Eurostar. Walking to the Halls will take no more than 15 minutes. Please see the map in the section above on how to do this. 2c. Getting to the halls from the Coach station Most coaches arrive at Victoria coach station. From the coach station follow the directions to the underground station and you will then take the Victoria Line to Euston Station followed by the Northern Line to Angel. For routes we have not covered please use the website: to plan your journey or ask us if you are unsure.

7 3. Directions to the Siemens Crystal - On Thursday, we would like to meet you all at the Siemens Crystal at 2:15pm. to begin the conference. (There will be a party leaving the halls at 1:30 and it is advisable that you join this group for the directions and travel costs being covered). - We will stay at the Siemens Crystal from 2:30pm to 4:00pm. We will then travel to Old Street to eat at Fish Central. The route from Angel station to Royal Victoria DLR The route from Royal Victoria DLR station to the Crystal

8 4. Travel from the Accommodation to LSE LSE is 1.4 miles from the Rosebery Halls, the distance of a nice walk to gently wake up.

9 Directions from Rosebery to LSE: 1) Walk south (away from Angel station) down Rosebery Avenue. 2) When you get to the end of Rosebery Avenue, join the main road but then turn left on Gray s Inn Road and walk for 5 minutes. 3) Walk down Gray s Inn road until you reach High Holborn. Turn right onto High Holborn and walk for 5 minutes on the Left Side.

10 4) After 5 minutes of walking, you will turn left down an alley way called Great Turnstile on the left side of the road. Turn down here and you are now in Lincoln s Inn Fields. Walk diagonally across Lincoln s Inn Fields and the LSE is in the opposite corner.

11 The conference will take place in the Venue of the LSE s Saw Swee Hock centre (SAW on the attached map) 5. Food Breakfast is served at Rosebery Halls on Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 8am - 9am. Please have left for the LSE each morning by 8:50am as we will begin promptly at 9:30am. Lunch is provided on Friday and Saturday at the conference: A meal by our Local Hare Krishna and a meal from Foodcycle respectively. On Thursday night, to give you a taste of Britain, Dinner will be Fish & Chips (vegetarians and vegans will have a similarly British meal). Friday s dinner is still will be pancakes at My Old Dutch in Holborn. Saturday night s dinner will be provided by the People s Supermarket at Rosebery Halls.

12 6. Sunday activities On Sunday there are 5 activities taking place: 1. Management Learning Circle - From 9am-2pm at the 6th Floor Dance Studio at LSE s Saw Swee Hock. 2. An extended President s Meeting - From 11am-4pm at Rosebery Halls. From 10:30am - 1pm 3. A visit to Camley Street Natural Park, a green island within the city, just round the corner of King's Cross. (Well placed if you want to take the train afterwards). 4. A tour of London visiting several famous sights from Trafalgar Square to the London Eye to Big Ben. 5. A visit to the Kensington Museum District where we can go to the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum or the Science Museum as well as the Kensington Gardens. Please let us know which of the these you will be attending, or if you are hoping to explore London yourself in the attached poll. k56ibhtr4a23tmyn 7. Sweets exchange As has now become tradition, and a great passion of our president, we have organised an International Sweets Exchange this year. We therefore would like to ask you to please take some (of your favourite) sweets from your home country with you to the Spring Meeting. The sweets exchange aims to make oikees more interactive with each other and learn about each other's culinary cultures!

13 8. Useful information Language and international culture Currency London does not only speak English -even if it is quite common-, it speaks many of the languages found throughout the world. In fact, London certainly hosts a large community from your country, so that the nickname world city is not irrelevant at all. Pound sterlings -or quid- are the currency in Her Majesty's kingdom. Don't ever ask a British when they will enter the Eurozone or they will contemptuously look at you before silently snubbing you. We would advise you to exchange currency beforehand. However, you can withdraw cash from ATMs and payments by credit card (visa, master) are widely accepted, though not in pubs and small shops. Carrying a little bit of cash is therefore recommended. Tube and buses + Boris (Barclays) bikes Adaptors The Tube and the famous red double deckers will make your travel fast although relatively expensive and sometimes uncomfortable -believe us, try to avoid rush hours in the Tube. You can get Tube tickets either in advance -book online at or at any tube station. Moving by bike is also pertinent as the Boris-bike-station-network is quite dense. If riding a bike in London was not considered safe in the past, things have changed and all drivers have now adapted to their twowheel friends. Be aware that our British friends have their own plugs. So do not forget adaptors in order for your dear mobile phones and laptops not to enjoy sudden holidays. Finally, we have attached the Spring Meeting Program to this . You can also check online at: Again, we look forward to meeting you!!