Jan Blaha

Welcome to another piece from the long saga of posts talking about COVID in one way or another - it just really is a topic that keeps on giving. In this volume of my thoughts about COVID, I would like to talk about a topic recently refloated by vigilant scientists and media - the Origin of SARS-CoV-2.

It is July, and my second exam period here at UCL is officially over. However, things could not have looked different when compared to last year. Traditional exams, which here at UCL usually have the form of multiple choice and short essay questions taken in a huge exam hall, have been substituted with so-called alternative assessments due to social distancing measures places as a result of the COVID19 pandemic which has been scouring the world for the past months. In this post, I would like to go over these alternatives and explain why I think that in many aspects, they might be better than their traditional counterparts.

Considering the current global situation, I have decided to use this post to spread awareness about the widely discussed Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-2019) and its cause - the newly discovered coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, as it seems that many people are absolutely terrified of this duo. In my eyes and the eyes of many experts in this field, this fear is absolutely unjustified and actually results (at the time of writing; in the context of Czechia) in much more severe problems that the virus itself. I hope that this piece might help the readers to understand this topic a bit better and clarify some of the possible misconceptions.

During my time in Japan (read my previous blog), I have been exposed to an entirely different culture, which made me think about my own values and world views. Infused by the atmosphere of current days commemorating the 17th November 1939 and 1989, considering recent events all around the world, I have decided to share a few of my thoughts on this topic.

It was just a blink of an eye and, from moving to London in September and starting a new life chapter at the UCL, it's June and one-quarter of my time there is over. How can everything be so quick? It feels impossible.

It more than six months since I moved to London to study at the University College London and as many activities are becoming more and more routine, the initial enthusiasm of living in the new city partially fades out. However, some strange kind of thrill still persists and I believe that it will stay for quite some time, as London is enormous with countless wonders to explore and with my little time to just wander around (although since November this slightly changed, as I and my hall-mates are trying to go for irregularly regular walks around the city centre) it will take at least five lifetimes to experience everything this city has to offer.

Today, it’s exactly two months since I moved to London to study here at University College London. I arrived a week earlier than the majority of the students to take advantage of International Student Orientation Programme, which helps international students to become familiar with UCL and the United Kingdom in general. This event, which took place in the mentioned week, was packed with various events ranging from breakfasts in Students’ Union Caffee, through playing board games while having all-you-can-eat ice cream, to wild nights in London’s best clubs.