My last night with the group was everything I could have wanted. Our banquet was so moving, complete with a slide show of the group's adventures and a delicious dinner at Pescorati. We had preset menus which included (for me) an asparagus appetizer, salmon for an entree, and a canoli with orange glaze for dessert. The dinner was amazing and it was great to have one last night with everyone. We gave gifts to Charlotte and Dietrich and then Macki, Ingrid and Racheal made superlatives for everyone. I, of course, received the "Future Mrs. McCartney" Award that I plan to send to the man himself along with my phone number :)
After dinner, we did what we do best and had one last night out on the town. I was hoping to have a bigger group just so everyone could be together on the last night, but I'm happy with the group I went out with. It was all my favorite people on the trip and it was amazing. Saying goodbye was ridiculously hard, especially because I wouldn't see most of the people in the morning. But it was awesome. Live music, pints, and good people is all I could ever ask for and it was amazing.
The next morning my dad showed up bright and early to help me carry my stuff over to the hotel. Well, not really bright - it was actually raining for the first time in a while. Mary said the Gods were crying because we were all leaving. It was really sad but I was trying hard not to cry. Staying in the hotel was weird. I felt like I should be right down the street in my own flat with my friends, but I knew that couldn't happen. That day (Saturday) we went to Camden Market for the last time (the first for my family). It was nice to walk around one last time and relive all my memories. Then we bought some shoes, had Pizza Express for dinner and headed over to Witherspoon's for my last drink in London- a G&T, I might add.
Sunday, we headed to Paris and too meet Emily's boyfriend, John, who lives in Sweden. Most of Sunday was spent figuring out how to find him in the train station. We finally found him and then my dad and I split from the lovebirds and roamed around Paris. I don't remember what we actually did but we all met back at the Eiffel Tower to go up it at 7ish. It was really interesting to see the city during the day from that height. I loved looking at the layout of the city. Then we had dinner at the same little restaurant Macki, Mary and I had our escargot across from the train station. It was really nice but really late and we were both so ready to go back to the hotel and go to bed. Unfortunately, we got incredibly lost and ended up walking around for the better part of an hour I'd say. Walking around the streets of Paris at midnight with a bunch of crazy, homeless people was a bit uncomfortable. Especially when one guy seemed like he was following us for a while. But no matter, we finally found the hotel and went fast asleep.
The next day we just walked around the city to see all the sights. It was very strange to be in Paris without the rest of the group. Seeing the same things just with a new group of people. We ate at this amazing little Italian restaurant and headed for the Eiffel Tower to watch it light up at night. My dad and I smoked a cigar, shared a bottle of wine (and a random bottle of champagne) and just hung out and talked under the lights of the tower and the stars.
Tuesday was our last day in Paris so in the morning I took then up to see the Moulin Rouge and the Opera House, which were pretty close to the hotel. That's pretty much all we had time for so then we headed up to Gare du Nord to say goodbye to John and then get on our train. My dad had some trouble getting onto the train becuase the guy who had to write him a ticket messed up the number. Ugh. We finally made it onto the train and sat across from a lovely little English/French family. The girls were adorable and spoke French and English! They were all over the place though and I was really happy to get off that train. Then we had to ride the Tube (*tear) to our hotel out near the airport. It was a really nice room and after a hot shower, a cup of tea and one last moment of good ol' BBC, I was tucked away under the covers ready to wake up and come home the next day.
I, again, had to refrain from crying all morning becuase I just didn't want to leave. But I managed to stay strong with the thought of returning to England very soon and, who knows, possibly permanently. The flight went fine, I watched movies and t.v. shows the whole way back including Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which I'd been wanting to see ever since Mary and I tried to watch it on the way to Edinburgh.
There was one minor problem about the flight that could have resulted in a very unpleasent night in New Jersey. First off, the flight out of Heathrow was 45 minutes lae to take off due to "weather". So we were already almost an hour behind and were due to land around 1:30 and we had a connecting flight to Norfolk at 3:10. Yikes! Except, to make matters worse, the dumb ramp thing that connects to the plane to let everyone off wouldn't fit or something so we sat at the gate for another 45 minutes! We didn't even get off the plane until 2:35 which is when our next plane was set to board.
We basically ran to security and waited impatiently as the line seemed to creep along. We finally made it up the the desk and made it through without any problems. Then we hit the line for security. It was epic. Emily, who had a skype date with John that evening, was not having it. She ran up to a guard, explained our situation and got us to the front of the line. As we got up to the belt, I took all her things so she could run to the gate after she got out of the metal detector to try and hold the plane or something. At this point it was like 3:05!!! My dad and I finally made it through and I just took off running through the airport. I found the gate and Emily was standing there looking frantic! She said we had to hurry because they were closing the gate in like 2 minutes. My dad finally caught up and we boarded the plane in a tizzy. Everyone was staring at us because we all looked stressed to the max and were out of breath. I couldn't believe we made it and I was so relieved that we didn't have to spend the night in Jersey. I just wanted to be home at that point so I could see my mom and Dan.
I didn't remember how hot home was! Oh my gosh, it was stifling. I'd been away from the heat and humidity so long it all hit me like a ton of bricks. It was so good to see my mom and hug her. It felt so strange to be driving home and, again, I had to hold back tears. Tears of relief, and joy but, of course, also sadness.
Here comes my reflections and thoughts. Brace yourself. So this summer was the best two months of my life. I met some of the most amazing people and gained so many great friends in the process. I've seen and experienced so much that I never thought I'd get to do. I saw my idol in concert, climbed Arthur's Seat in Scotland, stood at the edge of the Cliffs of Moher, celebrated fourth of July in England, worked in a British office, watched the World Cup in an actual pub, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower twice, saw the Queen, and so much more! I had the time of my life and I wouldn't change a second of it. In fact, I wish I could relive each and every moment. It was unforgettable and I am so blessed to have had this opportunity. I wouldn't have changed it for the world.
For now, I can't wait to get up to JMU to see all my new friends again and to decorate my new townhouse. I'm growing up. Yikes!
I suppose this will be my last blog entry. To everyone who kept up-thank you. I really appreciate someone reading this so I didn't feel like I was wasting my time. Maybe I'll write again when I have something to write about. But for now, it's the same old same old.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
"The Dream is Over" - John Lennon.... So True
Well, today is officially the last day of the best summer of my life. Tomorrow, everyone will get on their separate flights and travel back home (or in a few cases, around Europe). Granted, I will be staying a few extra days with my dad and Emily but it won't be the same. Today will be a day filled with cleaning, packing and maybe a few tears. I don't want to leave. I don't want to forget about these people that have become like family to me. I know what you're thinking. "Don't you all go to the same school?" Yes. But if everyone got on with their lives well enough before, why should they worry about keeping up with these new people. I hope that's not the case. I've made some really great friends on this trip and I would do everything over again in an instant. This has seriously been the greatest experience of my life and I am so thankful I was able to do this. Though it was expensive, I definitely think I got the most out of my trip by never letting a day or an opportunity go to waste. I think I grew up a lot as well; London has made me more responsible and mature. Man, I'm going to miss this place.
My last few days of classes went really well. Well, Media & Politics- maybe not- but the rest went well. I wrote my final essay exam in CBD on what makes a good t.v. drama and I feel really good about it. I really hope I get an A in that class. For Pop Culture & Diversity, I wrote a paper on image and stereotype in the music industry with specific looks at the Beatles and the Spice Girls. I'm really proud of that paper and I think my presentation went really well (minus the 3 technical difficulties). I had a video clip of the boys giving an interview about their "style" that always makes me smile just to watch them talk :) And I had the scene from Spice World where the girls are talking about their stereotypes on the bus. Best part of my presentation! haha
My dad and my sister arrived early Thursday morning for a few days in London and then we are heading to Paris for the beginning of next week. It was so funny- I was walking back from class in the morning and just came across them on the street. So random! But it was good to see them. It's a little strange and uncomfortable because they aren't supposed to be in this context, you know? It's like when you have a really crazy dream and then someone from real life just walks in the middle of it. You don't really know what to do.
But it was good. We walked around for a bit and decided to eat lunch at A friend At Hand- the cute little pub we watched one of the World Cup games at. It was delicious but a little early for a pint (in my case anyway). After class, they swung by the flat on their way out to the South Bank of the Thames where they could see the Eye, the Globe, the Tate Modern, etc. I stayed here, deciding what to do tonight to celebrate and ended up taking a nap. I fell asleep to Macki playing Abbey Road= perfect.
When I finally woke up, Macki and I got ready to hit the streets of SoHo. I'm sad that I didn't spend much time there before but I think we might head back that way tonight. Anyway, we couldn't find anyone else around the house so we headed out for a little one-on-one time. I have to say, it was a wonderful night. No pressure, no arguing. No "hey, let's go here!"..."ugh [groans] no". It was so easy. We ended up at a little pub on a corner and got some ciders and just hung out and talked about everything. Then we split a 6 GBP pizza which was amazing. We finished off the night with a Gin n' Tonic at another little pub. We came home to watch A Hard Day's Night and fell asleep.
Like I said, today might be a little tough. But the sooner it's over the sooner we can all get back to school and start having more fun together :) Just gotta make it happen.
My last few days of classes went really well. Well, Media & Politics- maybe not- but the rest went well. I wrote my final essay exam in CBD on what makes a good t.v. drama and I feel really good about it. I really hope I get an A in that class. For Pop Culture & Diversity, I wrote a paper on image and stereotype in the music industry with specific looks at the Beatles and the Spice Girls. I'm really proud of that paper and I think my presentation went really well (minus the 3 technical difficulties). I had a video clip of the boys giving an interview about their "style" that always makes me smile just to watch them talk :) And I had the scene from Spice World where the girls are talking about their stereotypes on the bus. Best part of my presentation! haha
My dad and my sister arrived early Thursday morning for a few days in London and then we are heading to Paris for the beginning of next week. It was so funny- I was walking back from class in the morning and just came across them on the street. So random! But it was good to see them. It's a little strange and uncomfortable because they aren't supposed to be in this context, you know? It's like when you have a really crazy dream and then someone from real life just walks in the middle of it. You don't really know what to do.
But it was good. We walked around for a bit and decided to eat lunch at A friend At Hand- the cute little pub we watched one of the World Cup games at. It was delicious but a little early for a pint (in my case anyway). After class, they swung by the flat on their way out to the South Bank of the Thames where they could see the Eye, the Globe, the Tate Modern, etc. I stayed here, deciding what to do tonight to celebrate and ended up taking a nap. I fell asleep to Macki playing Abbey Road= perfect.
When I finally woke up, Macki and I got ready to hit the streets of SoHo. I'm sad that I didn't spend much time there before but I think we might head back that way tonight. Anyway, we couldn't find anyone else around the house so we headed out for a little one-on-one time. I have to say, it was a wonderful night. No pressure, no arguing. No "hey, let's go here!"..."ugh [groans] no". It was so easy. We ended up at a little pub on a corner and got some ciders and just hung out and talked about everything. Then we split a 6 GBP pizza which was amazing. We finished off the night with a Gin n' Tonic at another little pub. We came home to watch A Hard Day's Night and fell asleep.
Like I said, today might be a little tough. But the sooner it's over the sooner we can all get back to school and start having more fun together :) Just gotta make it happen.
Monday, July 26, 2010
The Luck of the Irish
Last week was my official last week of work. It was really busy and I definitely have things I need to finish so I'm going in for a half day tomorrow to wrap up what I can. My work people and I are supposed to be doing something fun this week for my going away but I have a group dinner tomorrow and Friday night and Wednesday I definitely need to stay in because I have two finals (well, essays) due the next day. Yikes. What a way to spend my last week in London. Writing papers. Great. I probably wouldn't have to if I didn't have a SUPER AWESOME TIME IN IRELAND this weekend!!!
We left Thursday evening on a flight to Dublin. The process of getting to Gatwick airport and onto the plane was kinda crazy. We had to take a 30 minute express train to the airport (which I happen to buy the wrong ticket for) then go through the line, get a visa check stamp and on through security. We flew Ryanair (which is probably the worst airline ever but it's also the cheapest, hence the reason 20-something college students chose it) so we knew security would be ridiculous. The reason it can afford to be so cheap is because they hit you with so many regulations and very large fees if you mess them up. God forbid your bag won't fit in the little box measure-er thing. It's like a 35 GBP fee, which is more than the ticket to fly. Anyway, they took my facewash because apparently it was too big. I was upset but stressed to the max so I didn't care. Plus, it's the last week and I was going to leave it here anyway.
The flight was super fast and we landed in Dublin about 20 minutes early. We caught a bus the the City Centre in Dublin where our hostel was conveniently located just a few blocks away.
Jacobs Inn is the most legit hostel ever. It was everything you could ever want. Lounge area, movies playing all the time, free breakfast, big rooms, a game room and theme nights! We got a room for 10 for just 50 euro for three nights! That's awesome. By the time we got there it was like midnight and I'd had such a long day so Mary, Bennett, Jackson, Rob and I planned out the weekend and hit the hay.
Friday we got up to go on a free walking tour of the city. We hadn't really planned it with anyone else but most of the group ended p showing up for it. The weekend was nice because we weren't forced into doing large group things the whole time. I didn't see much of anyone besides those 4 all weekend but it wasn't like anyone was secluding anyone. It was so chill. Just like a "if you want to come then come" kind of thing.
But anyway, the tour was super long and it basically went through the entire history of Dublin. Our tour guide was really fun and cute. She clearly knew what she was talking about too. After that, we had an amazing lunch at some pub with a discount from the tour that consisted of a huge bowl of beef stew with cabbage and carrots and mashed potatoes. Oh my goodness it was delicious. Then we headed over to the Guinness Factory (of course) to see how the world famous beer is made. Along the way, we stopped and made reservations for a three course meal/live music/Irish step dancing show for just 29.95 euro.
The Guinness Factory was so cool! It's been brewing in Dublin since before America was even born and they have the original lease which is for like 900 years. Who signs a lease for 900 years!?! Arthur Guinness, that's who. They had these huge rooms with tons of ingredients and videos and stuff. We were just getting to the tasting room when all of a sudden the power went out!!!! No one knew why, we were just herded out of the museum and outside. We decided to just stick around because we didn't have anything to do until our 7:30 dinner reservation. Fortunately, we were allowed back in shortly but none of the video screens were working right away. Whatever, we headed straight back to the tasting room to observe how the head of the beer is formed when you pour it properly. There is a very specific way of pouring a pint of Guinness- you start at a 45 degree angle and slowly straighten as it fills up to an=bout 3/4 of the way. Then, you let it sit for a while while the color saturates and the head forms. You put it back under the tap, push the tap away from you and finish it off. Impressive, I know. I could have put my new skills to the test in the Pour your own Pint room but Mary and I opted to have our free with admission pint in the Gravity Bar on the seventh floor with a bird's eye view of Dublin.
After that, we went straight to dinner. We got a table that had it's own tap of Guinness (duh) and Carlsburg on it. The boys had so much fun pouring their own pints, but I was so beer'd out. I wasn't even hungry for our amazing dinner but I couldn't help but eat it. I had a starter of some weird vegetable soup and then Fish and Chips. For dessert I had the best chocolate mousse ever. It was dark chocolate on a layer of white chocolate all of a really rich layer of milk chocolate sponge cake. ugh, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. The band was really good and played traditional Irish tunes for the majority of the night. They even had request forms but we didn't get ours played. They probably wouldn't do Flogging Molly anyway. The step dancing was insane-I'll never know how they move their legs so fast. It was three girls and a guy on a tiny little stage but it was quite entertaining. After a few more pints and a round of Irish Car Bombs for the boys we headed back to the hostel to hit the sack.
The next morning (Saturday) we got up bright and early, seriously, to take a day trip out to the Cliffs of Moher. I woke up at 6:30 to be at the bus at 7. As 6:40 approached Mary, Jackson and I started to get worried about Rob and Bennett. Mary went p to check on them only to find out they weren't even awake yet!!! We were all freaking out because we dropped 40 euro on this thing and we were not going to have it go to waste. As they rushed to get ready, I had the hostel call us a cab because I knew we wouldn't make it if we tried to walk. Though Dublin is a very small city, it takes about 15-20 minutes to get to the Temple Bar area where just about everything of interest is located. We piled into the cab at 7:45 and arrived with time to spare-thank God! As the bus pulled away, we all drifted to sleep, knowing we had a few hours until we got to Galway where we'd switch drivers.
We stopped at a convenience store along the way for breakfast and snacks. The driver gave us all pamphlets for Galway in case anyone ever wanted to visit. I was shocked to open it up to the map and realize we had literally just driven across the country! It only took like 3 hours. It was crazy. The ride from Galway to the cliffs was fun. Everyone was semi-awake and our tour guide/driver was hilarious. He pointed out all this stuff to us and we made a few stops along the way to check out a fairy circle (a naturally formed circle of trees that are said to be where fairies live. You aren't supposed to mess with them) and a really old burial tomb. We stopped at a little restarant for luch and had a delicious bowl of potato and leek soup with Irish brown bread. We finally made it to the cliffs and took in the breathtaking sight. It's like the Grand Canyon. Pictures can't do it justice-it's just amazing. We walked along the edge, past the "Do not go past this point" sign (don't worry Mom, there was an actual trail, tons of people were walking it). It was incredible but really cold and windy.
We hopped back on the bus after a few hours and made the long journey back to Dublin. We stopped in Galway again for dinner (Subway). There were a bunch of really loud and annoying Spanish kids at the back of the bus with us which made sleeping a bit difficult but believe me, I managed. We got back to Dublin around 9:30 and decided the night was still young. After freshening up at the hostel, Mary, Rob, Jackson and I went out to Temple Bar. Temple Bar is just this general area of bars, pubs, restaurants and shops that are so much fun! We walked around for a bit, unsure of where to tuck into and finally decided on a awesome-looking place called the Porterhouse. Though it's Ireland's largest genuine brewery, I stuck with the 5 euro margaritas :) They run about 7 GBP back in London which is ridiculous (essentially, a $12 cocktail). I started out with the best G&T of my life (sorry mom) and then made the switch. I need to go back to sample some of the beers though. They had a whole row of original brews. It was a really fun night of just sitting around talking and then an amazing American cover band came on and played some Hendrix, Bad Company and the like.
Sunday, the majority of the group woke up early and headed back to London. Rob, Mary and I scheduled 7:30 flights so we could get an extra day in. We all went to mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. I was surprised that the service was really similar to my regular mass at home, but Mary said that wasn't how they do it. I think she's more Roman Catholic and I suppose we are more Episcopalian (?). I don't know, but it was a really great experience.
The rest of the day was filled with stress because Mary and I let Rob go off to see some memorial in Phoenix Park while we did some gift shopping. He had no money and no phone. Bad idea. Long story short, he was late to where we said we'd meet him and then it was just a series of misses while we tried to find each other. Mary and I ended up getting some weird enchilada/lasagna at a Tapas restaurant that was so delicious! Then we met Rob back at the hostel and headed to the airport early.
Everyone was freaking out abut bag size/weight. They threw out more of my stuff. My toothpaste and face lotion which I was mad about. I don't get how it got into the country but I can't take it back out. It's not my fault they messed up the first time. Since we got there early, I decided to study some Media & Politics for my exam. I made an outline of what I would talk about in my essay. The flight back was short again. The train ride and tube ride was not.
After we got back we sat around studying until the wee hours of the night. The exam went well I suppose. I don't really know, it's over now. Over it.
Tomorrow I'm bringing in Oatmeal Raisin cookies for work... I just have to wake up in the morning and make them. I can't believe it's my last week here. I'm so bummed!!!
We left Thursday evening on a flight to Dublin. The process of getting to Gatwick airport and onto the plane was kinda crazy. We had to take a 30 minute express train to the airport (which I happen to buy the wrong ticket for) then go through the line, get a visa check stamp and on through security. We flew Ryanair (which is probably the worst airline ever but it's also the cheapest, hence the reason 20-something college students chose it) so we knew security would be ridiculous. The reason it can afford to be so cheap is because they hit you with so many regulations and very large fees if you mess them up. God forbid your bag won't fit in the little box measure-er thing. It's like a 35 GBP fee, which is more than the ticket to fly. Anyway, they took my facewash because apparently it was too big. I was upset but stressed to the max so I didn't care. Plus, it's the last week and I was going to leave it here anyway.
The flight was super fast and we landed in Dublin about 20 minutes early. We caught a bus the the City Centre in Dublin where our hostel was conveniently located just a few blocks away.
Jacobs Inn is the most legit hostel ever. It was everything you could ever want. Lounge area, movies playing all the time, free breakfast, big rooms, a game room and theme nights! We got a room for 10 for just 50 euro for three nights! That's awesome. By the time we got there it was like midnight and I'd had such a long day so Mary, Bennett, Jackson, Rob and I planned out the weekend and hit the hay.
Friday we got up to go on a free walking tour of the city. We hadn't really planned it with anyone else but most of the group ended p showing up for it. The weekend was nice because we weren't forced into doing large group things the whole time. I didn't see much of anyone besides those 4 all weekend but it wasn't like anyone was secluding anyone. It was so chill. Just like a "if you want to come then come" kind of thing.
But anyway, the tour was super long and it basically went through the entire history of Dublin. Our tour guide was really fun and cute. She clearly knew what she was talking about too. After that, we had an amazing lunch at some pub with a discount from the tour that consisted of a huge bowl of beef stew with cabbage and carrots and mashed potatoes. Oh my goodness it was delicious. Then we headed over to the Guinness Factory (of course) to see how the world famous beer is made. Along the way, we stopped and made reservations for a three course meal/live music/Irish step dancing show for just 29.95 euro.
The Guinness Factory was so cool! It's been brewing in Dublin since before America was even born and they have the original lease which is for like 900 years. Who signs a lease for 900 years!?! Arthur Guinness, that's who. They had these huge rooms with tons of ingredients and videos and stuff. We were just getting to the tasting room when all of a sudden the power went out!!!! No one knew why, we were just herded out of the museum and outside. We decided to just stick around because we didn't have anything to do until our 7:30 dinner reservation. Fortunately, we were allowed back in shortly but none of the video screens were working right away. Whatever, we headed straight back to the tasting room to observe how the head of the beer is formed when you pour it properly. There is a very specific way of pouring a pint of Guinness- you start at a 45 degree angle and slowly straighten as it fills up to an=bout 3/4 of the way. Then, you let it sit for a while while the color saturates and the head forms. You put it back under the tap, push the tap away from you and finish it off. Impressive, I know. I could have put my new skills to the test in the Pour your own Pint room but Mary and I opted to have our free with admission pint in the Gravity Bar on the seventh floor with a bird's eye view of Dublin.
After that, we went straight to dinner. We got a table that had it's own tap of Guinness (duh) and Carlsburg on it. The boys had so much fun pouring their own pints, but I was so beer'd out. I wasn't even hungry for our amazing dinner but I couldn't help but eat it. I had a starter of some weird vegetable soup and then Fish and Chips. For dessert I had the best chocolate mousse ever. It was dark chocolate on a layer of white chocolate all of a really rich layer of milk chocolate sponge cake. ugh, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. The band was really good and played traditional Irish tunes for the majority of the night. They even had request forms but we didn't get ours played. They probably wouldn't do Flogging Molly anyway. The step dancing was insane-I'll never know how they move their legs so fast. It was three girls and a guy on a tiny little stage but it was quite entertaining. After a few more pints and a round of Irish Car Bombs for the boys we headed back to the hostel to hit the sack.
The next morning (Saturday) we got up bright and early, seriously, to take a day trip out to the Cliffs of Moher. I woke up at 6:30 to be at the bus at 7. As 6:40 approached Mary, Jackson and I started to get worried about Rob and Bennett. Mary went p to check on them only to find out they weren't even awake yet!!! We were all freaking out because we dropped 40 euro on this thing and we were not going to have it go to waste. As they rushed to get ready, I had the hostel call us a cab because I knew we wouldn't make it if we tried to walk. Though Dublin is a very small city, it takes about 15-20 minutes to get to the Temple Bar area where just about everything of interest is located. We piled into the cab at 7:45 and arrived with time to spare-thank God! As the bus pulled away, we all drifted to sleep, knowing we had a few hours until we got to Galway where we'd switch drivers.
We stopped at a convenience store along the way for breakfast and snacks. The driver gave us all pamphlets for Galway in case anyone ever wanted to visit. I was shocked to open it up to the map and realize we had literally just driven across the country! It only took like 3 hours. It was crazy. The ride from Galway to the cliffs was fun. Everyone was semi-awake and our tour guide/driver was hilarious. He pointed out all this stuff to us and we made a few stops along the way to check out a fairy circle (a naturally formed circle of trees that are said to be where fairies live. You aren't supposed to mess with them) and a really old burial tomb. We stopped at a little restarant for luch and had a delicious bowl of potato and leek soup with Irish brown bread. We finally made it to the cliffs and took in the breathtaking sight. It's like the Grand Canyon. Pictures can't do it justice-it's just amazing. We walked along the edge, past the "Do not go past this point" sign (don't worry Mom, there was an actual trail, tons of people were walking it). It was incredible but really cold and windy.
We hopped back on the bus after a few hours and made the long journey back to Dublin. We stopped in Galway again for dinner (Subway). There were a bunch of really loud and annoying Spanish kids at the back of the bus with us which made sleeping a bit difficult but believe me, I managed. We got back to Dublin around 9:30 and decided the night was still young. After freshening up at the hostel, Mary, Rob, Jackson and I went out to Temple Bar. Temple Bar is just this general area of bars, pubs, restaurants and shops that are so much fun! We walked around for a bit, unsure of where to tuck into and finally decided on a awesome-looking place called the Porterhouse. Though it's Ireland's largest genuine brewery, I stuck with the 5 euro margaritas :) They run about 7 GBP back in London which is ridiculous (essentially, a $12 cocktail). I started out with the best G&T of my life (sorry mom) and then made the switch. I need to go back to sample some of the beers though. They had a whole row of original brews. It was a really fun night of just sitting around talking and then an amazing American cover band came on and played some Hendrix, Bad Company and the like.
Sunday, the majority of the group woke up early and headed back to London. Rob, Mary and I scheduled 7:30 flights so we could get an extra day in. We all went to mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. I was surprised that the service was really similar to my regular mass at home, but Mary said that wasn't how they do it. I think she's more Roman Catholic and I suppose we are more Episcopalian (?). I don't know, but it was a really great experience.
The rest of the day was filled with stress because Mary and I let Rob go off to see some memorial in Phoenix Park while we did some gift shopping. He had no money and no phone. Bad idea. Long story short, he was late to where we said we'd meet him and then it was just a series of misses while we tried to find each other. Mary and I ended up getting some weird enchilada/lasagna at a Tapas restaurant that was so delicious! Then we met Rob back at the hostel and headed to the airport early.
Everyone was freaking out abut bag size/weight. They threw out more of my stuff. My toothpaste and face lotion which I was mad about. I don't get how it got into the country but I can't take it back out. It's not my fault they messed up the first time. Since we got there early, I decided to study some Media & Politics for my exam. I made an outline of what I would talk about in my essay. The flight back was short again. The train ride and tube ride was not.
After we got back we sat around studying until the wee hours of the night. The exam went well I suppose. I don't really know, it's over now. Over it.
Tomorrow I'm bringing in Oatmeal Raisin cookies for work... I just have to wake up in the morning and make them. I can't believe it's my last week here. I'm so bummed!!!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Au Revoir Paris... For Now
This past weekend, the group took a trip to the City of Lights. It was incredible at times and it was stressful at times but overall I would consider it a success.
BACK IT UP: The week leading up to Paris was nothing out of the ordinary. The highlights of which were going to see the movie Four Lions (a satirical comedy about wannabe jihad terrorists. It was really funny, but very controversial); going to Barfly in Camden with Tessa to see an up-and-coming band called Kassidy perform (it was amazing. They are so talented); and, finally, seeing Henry IV at the Globe Theater on Thursday (I had a hard time following it, but it was funny).
Anyway, Friday we woke up bright and early (5:45 a.m.!) to leave St. Pancras station around 8 a.m. Going through customs was easy and I got myself an orange juice and a blueberry muffin for breakfast. I slept the entire way to Paris, due to staying up late to write a paper due Monday. We arrived in Gare du Nord station in about two hours. We all received one metro ticket to get to our hostels. Unfortunately, no one really planned this well enough and we all ended up all over Paris. A group of about 12 of us were in the Garden Hotel. I mean, it was a pretty cheap hostel and I suppose I got what I paid for but it was kind of ridiculous. The shower didn't have a hook to latch the shower head into so we just had to wrap it around the metal bar. I was washing my face at one point and bent down to reach for the head and I nailed my eye right into the shower dial. I thought I was going to have a black eye. No joke. I don't know why I thought finding it with my face was a good idea. Fortunately, no bruising- just pain.
We then made our way the Musee d'Orsay to view some impressionist art from the likes of Monet and Van Gogh. It was so cool to be standing mere feet away from some of the great works I studied in Art History Freshman year. It was really cool. We went through Notre Dame, which I think was the best part of the day. When I walked in, I was just in awe. I literally just sat down to sink it all in. I didn't even take pictures. It was incredible. Then, we made our way to the Louvre (of course) to some more great works. JMU paid for all of it and we got in almost straight away. We went around and saw basically the most famous stuff- the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. We walked around a bit more and were then free to get dinner before heading to the Eiffel Tower. Mary and I had a lovely dinner by ourselves that consisted of good French wine, Roasted Chicken (for me) and Creme Brulee. It was absolutely delicious. French meals take a really long time and we were almost late to the Tower but we managed.
We got to go up the Eiffel Tower and see the city in its entirety. It was really cool because it was at night so we could see all of the lights. It was so gorgeous. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't have a very good night setting so most of my pictures are pretty blurry. After that, everyone was pretty beat from such a long day that we decided to head back to the hostel, only to realize it would take us like an hour to get back.
The French metro is insane. It is so complicated. It's a combination of colored lines, numbers and actual stop names which makes it difficult for a group to navigate around because everyone is shouting completely different things. Also, we bought single pass tickets but it was weird because some you could use more than once but sometimes the machine wouldn't take a brand new one. It was absolutely ridiculous. I think I finally figured it out on the last day though- you have to flip the ticket around so that it can't stamp twice on the same side. I wish I would have realized that sooner.
Saturday morning was an optional outing with my CBD professor, Jay, and the Art History professor, Rachel. After enjoying a delicious nutella & banana crepe, we started out at the Centre Pompidou, a modern art museum that looks very different from traditional French architecture. The outside it made to look like the building is still under construction or something with what appear to be giant hamster tubes running along the outside that consist of escalators to the top floor of the museum. We didn't go in, we were just observing the architecture. We then went to the Eiffel Tower to discuss its architecture and why society has given it such a significant meaning of the word "Parisian" and what the people of France actually think about it. Basically, the Tower is more Parisian than French, as people in the countryside don't necessarily identify with it. Then we went to the Musee du Quai Branley to look at some old cultural stuff. It was pretty cool, but I honestly couldn't tell you what I was looking at because it was all in French.
Lunch was a Croque Monsieur (essentially a grilled cheese with ham on steroids) and a chocolate eclair. YUM! We spent the rest of the day just wandering around. We went to the Opera House that Phantom of the Opera is set in and we saw the Moulin Rouge (we didn't actually see the show of course). We then made our way over to the Arc de Triomphe which was probably my second favorite landmark in Paris. It's huge and you can walk right under it. Some people paid to go up it but I didn't. I was perfectly happy from my vantage point.
Saturday night was one of the best memories I'll have of my entire summer in London. It was just so perfect-one of those moments that you'll never forget. A small group of us sat out on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower as the sun went down to watch it light up. We had a dinner of baguettes, brie, and French wine and just sat around talking and laughing as the sun went down behind us. At times, I'd just look up at the magnificent view in front of me. I couldn't really grasp that this moment was actually real. It felt too perfect. Anyway, we stayed there for a while and some people had a little too much fun so getting them back to the hostel was interesting.
Sunday, we didn't really know what to do with ourselves. Macki, Mary and I went to Mass at Notre Dame that morning. It was incredible. It was the international mass so a little bit of it was in English- the second reading to be exact. The rest was in French and I was trying to keep up, saying the prayers in English. It was a really great experience and I'm super glad we did that. We then met up with Jackson and Rob and went to Sacre-Coeur, a church at the top of a huge hill that overlooks the entire city. It was such a great view and it definitely made the hike up (with our bags) worth it. We meandered through some of the shops up there for a while and then just decided to head near the train station to go back to London. We sat down for a drink at a cafe across the street from the station, where I tried escargot for the first time. It was...interesting to say the least. The flavor was good but the texture got me a little. We had baguettes and cheese for dinner again (cheap and delicious) and boarded the train. I slept on the way back and was so relieved to be back in the London Underground instead of the French metro. I never thought I'd miss a subway system that much.
The rest of my week will consist of my last few days at Can of Worms and a whole 'lotta homework. So much to do before Dublin on Thursday!!!
-APC
BACK IT UP: The week leading up to Paris was nothing out of the ordinary. The highlights of which were going to see the movie Four Lions (a satirical comedy about wannabe jihad terrorists. It was really funny, but very controversial); going to Barfly in Camden with Tessa to see an up-and-coming band called Kassidy perform (it was amazing. They are so talented); and, finally, seeing Henry IV at the Globe Theater on Thursday (I had a hard time following it, but it was funny).
Anyway, Friday we woke up bright and early (5:45 a.m.!) to leave St. Pancras station around 8 a.m. Going through customs was easy and I got myself an orange juice and a blueberry muffin for breakfast. I slept the entire way to Paris, due to staying up late to write a paper due Monday. We arrived in Gare du Nord station in about two hours. We all received one metro ticket to get to our hostels. Unfortunately, no one really planned this well enough and we all ended up all over Paris. A group of about 12 of us were in the Garden Hotel. I mean, it was a pretty cheap hostel and I suppose I got what I paid for but it was kind of ridiculous. The shower didn't have a hook to latch the shower head into so we just had to wrap it around the metal bar. I was washing my face at one point and bent down to reach for the head and I nailed my eye right into the shower dial. I thought I was going to have a black eye. No joke. I don't know why I thought finding it with my face was a good idea. Fortunately, no bruising- just pain.
We then made our way the Musee d'Orsay to view some impressionist art from the likes of Monet and Van Gogh. It was so cool to be standing mere feet away from some of the great works I studied in Art History Freshman year. It was really cool. We went through Notre Dame, which I think was the best part of the day. When I walked in, I was just in awe. I literally just sat down to sink it all in. I didn't even take pictures. It was incredible. Then, we made our way to the Louvre (of course) to some more great works. JMU paid for all of it and we got in almost straight away. We went around and saw basically the most famous stuff- the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. We walked around a bit more and were then free to get dinner before heading to the Eiffel Tower. Mary and I had a lovely dinner by ourselves that consisted of good French wine, Roasted Chicken (for me) and Creme Brulee. It was absolutely delicious. French meals take a really long time and we were almost late to the Tower but we managed.
We got to go up the Eiffel Tower and see the city in its entirety. It was really cool because it was at night so we could see all of the lights. It was so gorgeous. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't have a very good night setting so most of my pictures are pretty blurry. After that, everyone was pretty beat from such a long day that we decided to head back to the hostel, only to realize it would take us like an hour to get back.
The French metro is insane. It is so complicated. It's a combination of colored lines, numbers and actual stop names which makes it difficult for a group to navigate around because everyone is shouting completely different things. Also, we bought single pass tickets but it was weird because some you could use more than once but sometimes the machine wouldn't take a brand new one. It was absolutely ridiculous. I think I finally figured it out on the last day though- you have to flip the ticket around so that it can't stamp twice on the same side. I wish I would have realized that sooner.
Saturday morning was an optional outing with my CBD professor, Jay, and the Art History professor, Rachel. After enjoying a delicious nutella & banana crepe, we started out at the Centre Pompidou, a modern art museum that looks very different from traditional French architecture. The outside it made to look like the building is still under construction or something with what appear to be giant hamster tubes running along the outside that consist of escalators to the top floor of the museum. We didn't go in, we were just observing the architecture. We then went to the Eiffel Tower to discuss its architecture and why society has given it such a significant meaning of the word "Parisian" and what the people of France actually think about it. Basically, the Tower is more Parisian than French, as people in the countryside don't necessarily identify with it. Then we went to the Musee du Quai Branley to look at some old cultural stuff. It was pretty cool, but I honestly couldn't tell you what I was looking at because it was all in French.
Lunch was a Croque Monsieur (essentially a grilled cheese with ham on steroids) and a chocolate eclair. YUM! We spent the rest of the day just wandering around. We went to the Opera House that Phantom of the Opera is set in and we saw the Moulin Rouge (we didn't actually see the show of course). We then made our way over to the Arc de Triomphe which was probably my second favorite landmark in Paris. It's huge and you can walk right under it. Some people paid to go up it but I didn't. I was perfectly happy from my vantage point.
Saturday night was one of the best memories I'll have of my entire summer in London. It was just so perfect-one of those moments that you'll never forget. A small group of us sat out on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower as the sun went down to watch it light up. We had a dinner of baguettes, brie, and French wine and just sat around talking and laughing as the sun went down behind us. At times, I'd just look up at the magnificent view in front of me. I couldn't really grasp that this moment was actually real. It felt too perfect. Anyway, we stayed there for a while and some people had a little too much fun so getting them back to the hostel was interesting.
Sunday, we didn't really know what to do with ourselves. Macki, Mary and I went to Mass at Notre Dame that morning. It was incredible. It was the international mass so a little bit of it was in English- the second reading to be exact. The rest was in French and I was trying to keep up, saying the prayers in English. It was a really great experience and I'm super glad we did that. We then met up with Jackson and Rob and went to Sacre-Coeur, a church at the top of a huge hill that overlooks the entire city. It was such a great view and it definitely made the hike up (with our bags) worth it. We meandered through some of the shops up there for a while and then just decided to head near the train station to go back to London. We sat down for a drink at a cafe across the street from the station, where I tried escargot for the first time. It was...interesting to say the least. The flavor was good but the texture got me a little. We had baguettes and cheese for dinner again (cheap and delicious) and boarded the train. I slept on the way back and was so relieved to be back in the London Underground instead of the French metro. I never thought I'd miss a subway system that much.
The rest of my week will consist of my last few days at Can of Worms and a whole 'lotta homework. So much to do before Dublin on Thursday!!!
-APC
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Longest Weekend EVER...in a good way
I didn't have pop culture & diversity class Thursday afternoon because the group took a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon (aka Shakespeare's supposed home) and Oxford (as in University). We left Madison House on a private coach at 3 pm and arrived in Stratford around 6 pm. It took a good hour to get out of London, a fact that wasn't incorporated into the timing of this trip. Everyone was stressing out once we got to the bed and breakfast because we only had, like, 30 minutes to eat before seeing Romeo & Juliet at the Courtyard Theater, part of the Royal Shakespeare Company. I decided to opt out of eating because I knew we wouldn't have time and I didn't want to deal with all that. The others didn't get their food until 5 minutes before the show started and somehow managed to get to there in time. It was unbelievable. ha ha ha
I really enjoyed the playhouse and the show itself. The theater was round so there were seats, and even a few standing stalls, on all sides except behind the main stage. We had seats on the very top row, in the very top section (aka the gallery), dead center. I really liked my seat because it allowed me to see everything, even the other audience members. The play itself was traditional in every sense of the word except for Romeo & Juliet. They were wearing contemporary yet simple clothes and had modern props like headphones. All the dialect was still traditional Shakespeare which was nice. I thought the acting was brilliant and I was surprised that it actually held my attention. Since it was an educational outing for the theatre class, one of the actors (Mercutio) came back to the hotel to have a discussion with them, but I didn't attend. I was so beat after the play that I literally went back and fell asleep. As I was drifitng off, I heard the actor yell upon his arrival, "I AM MERCUTIO!"
Friday morning we woke up bright and early for a traditional english breakfast...which I didn't order. To me, breakfast should not consist of baked beans and tomatoes. The rest of it was a fried egg and sausage. I got scrambled eggs on toast and some corn flakes. YUM!
We then proceeded to take a bunch of pointless Shakespeare tours to Anne Hathaway's (his wife) cottage, Holy Trinity Church where he is buried and, finally, his birthplace. I mean, it was all nice and cute but it all seemed fake to me. My main concern is how everything is a "probably/most likely/possibly/maybe" kind of thing. No one really knows everything about Shakespeare so it's hard to give a tour about him. We heard a lot of "he slept in a bed SIMILAR to this one" and "he MAY HAVE walked across this street" and so on. It was just ridiculous. Plus, my camera died it little after Anne's cottage so that was a bummer.
After seeing Shakespeare's birthplace filled with replicas of things he possibly may have used, we had some free time to walk around the little town center and grab some lunch. I was still pretty full so I just went in some shops and got some presents for a few people. The best part was seeing the actress who played Juliet the night before strolling through town. I don't know why, but I was oddly starstruck.
We made our way to Oxford, about an hour from Stratford and an hour from London. I really liked it. I mean, I probably would have like it more if school was in session, but it was nice. It's like a college town to the extreme. We took a tour of the university and a few of the different colleges within it. It was really intersting to learn some of the history behind the school and learn about the school sytem in England. It would be so cool to do postgrad at Oxford or Cambridge but it would be super hard to get in. Just a dream.
After the tour we had some free time, but only like an hour. So a few of us decided to have a few pitchers of Pimms at The Turf Tavern, Oxford's oldest pub. I was told by Helen at work that I MUST get Pimms while in Oxford. It is a brand of liqueur that you add lemonade and some fresh fruit to in order to create a wonderfully refreshing summer drink. It was delicious and seriously one of those moments that just creates a memory. I will never forget sitting on the patio of The Turf Tavern in Oxford; the warm summer sun shining on my shoulders and a nice breeze rolling through. Hanging out with great people having a laugh. I truly treasure moments like that.
Then it was back to the bus as we made the trip back home to Londontown. The night was kind of a bust that basically came down to a really terrible and completely overpriced martini at an annoyingly loud cocktail bar when all I really wanted to do was sleep.
Saturday, Tessa and I hit the streets early to Portobello Market. It was much different from Camden because it was a single road instead of a giant maze of shops and food stands. People were selling everything from old books and clothes to silver tea pots and fresh produce. The best part was the music. There were tons of musicians performing for the crowds in the street. Tessa and I split the cost of a cd by the Ryan O'Reilly Band and then spent a while talking to a new artist called Robbie Boyd. He was really nice and very talented. Then we headed home and laid out in Russell Square for a bit before heading to Sister Ray's, a pretty famous little record store. I could have done some serious damage in there, but I kept cool and didn't spend any money.
Saturday night was nice. After enjoying a delicious homemade spaghetti dinner for one, Michelle, Tessa, Marie and I went out to Witherspoon's (the cheapest pub around) just to have a few drinks and talk. It was nice to get out with no pressures and just relax, though their Pimms wasn't as good as The Turf Tavern's.
Sunday, we all went out to Spitalfields Market in the East End. I saw so many cute things I wanted to buy but I kept cool and only bought a few small gifts for some people. Then Tessa and I enjoyed a delicous asian feast for lunch.
After the market, we headed over to Leake Street. There is a sketchy looking tunnel that used to be a bus station that has sense been turned into an open forum for grafitti artists in London to come a tag/bomb/paint whatever they want whereever they want. We went for Culture by Design class the other day, but I didn't have my camera so we made a trip back. Upon arriving, we saw Lawler, Ingrid, Sarah and Katie come to make some tags of their own. Quite a coincidence. Lawler's the artist in the group and she had designed an image of a cow that has one of it's spots in the shape of a "hazard" sign. The title of the piece is "Mad Cow" and it turned out really nice. I had so much fun taking pictures of all the grafitti. I highly suggest checking it out on facebook because, I must admit, some of those pictures are pretty awesome.
Tonight, World Cup fever finally subsided as Spain beat the Netherlands in the final match. Most of us went to Witherspoon's to watch the game, but I left to come home in the beginning of the second half. A part of me is kind of sad that it's over now. No more random pub outings at work or heated group discussions about which team is better. No more random cheering and pulling for a team because their players are more attractive than the other team. Yup, sad times.
Anyway, tomorrow starts another long week until we go to Paris on Friday!!! Emily so thoughtfully made a French Guide for me so I don't feel completely helpless with the language. She even wrote it out phonetically because she knows I can't read it correctly. She's a doll.
Emotionally speaking, I really don't think I'm ready to go home. I miss everyone and everything but I am having such a great time here I don't want it to end. I'm most worried about not ever seeing these people that I've grown so close to once school starts. We run in different circles and it will be tough, but hopefully we can make it work :)
I really enjoyed the playhouse and the show itself. The theater was round so there were seats, and even a few standing stalls, on all sides except behind the main stage. We had seats on the very top row, in the very top section (aka the gallery), dead center. I really liked my seat because it allowed me to see everything, even the other audience members. The play itself was traditional in every sense of the word except for Romeo & Juliet. They were wearing contemporary yet simple clothes and had modern props like headphones. All the dialect was still traditional Shakespeare which was nice. I thought the acting was brilliant and I was surprised that it actually held my attention. Since it was an educational outing for the theatre class, one of the actors (Mercutio) came back to the hotel to have a discussion with them, but I didn't attend. I was so beat after the play that I literally went back and fell asleep. As I was drifitng off, I heard the actor yell upon his arrival, "I AM MERCUTIO!"
Friday morning we woke up bright and early for a traditional english breakfast...which I didn't order. To me, breakfast should not consist of baked beans and tomatoes. The rest of it was a fried egg and sausage. I got scrambled eggs on toast and some corn flakes. YUM!
We then proceeded to take a bunch of pointless Shakespeare tours to Anne Hathaway's (his wife) cottage, Holy Trinity Church where he is buried and, finally, his birthplace. I mean, it was all nice and cute but it all seemed fake to me. My main concern is how everything is a "probably/most likely/possibly/maybe" kind of thing. No one really knows everything about Shakespeare so it's hard to give a tour about him. We heard a lot of "he slept in a bed SIMILAR to this one" and "he MAY HAVE walked across this street" and so on. It was just ridiculous. Plus, my camera died it little after Anne's cottage so that was a bummer.
After seeing Shakespeare's birthplace filled with replicas of things he possibly may have used, we had some free time to walk around the little town center and grab some lunch. I was still pretty full so I just went in some shops and got some presents for a few people. The best part was seeing the actress who played Juliet the night before strolling through town. I don't know why, but I was oddly starstruck.
We made our way to Oxford, about an hour from Stratford and an hour from London. I really liked it. I mean, I probably would have like it more if school was in session, but it was nice. It's like a college town to the extreme. We took a tour of the university and a few of the different colleges within it. It was really intersting to learn some of the history behind the school and learn about the school sytem in England. It would be so cool to do postgrad at Oxford or Cambridge but it would be super hard to get in. Just a dream.
After the tour we had some free time, but only like an hour. So a few of us decided to have a few pitchers of Pimms at The Turf Tavern, Oxford's oldest pub. I was told by Helen at work that I MUST get Pimms while in Oxford. It is a brand of liqueur that you add lemonade and some fresh fruit to in order to create a wonderfully refreshing summer drink. It was delicious and seriously one of those moments that just creates a memory. I will never forget sitting on the patio of The Turf Tavern in Oxford; the warm summer sun shining on my shoulders and a nice breeze rolling through. Hanging out with great people having a laugh. I truly treasure moments like that.
Then it was back to the bus as we made the trip back home to Londontown. The night was kind of a bust that basically came down to a really terrible and completely overpriced martini at an annoyingly loud cocktail bar when all I really wanted to do was sleep.
Saturday, Tessa and I hit the streets early to Portobello Market. It was much different from Camden because it was a single road instead of a giant maze of shops and food stands. People were selling everything from old books and clothes to silver tea pots and fresh produce. The best part was the music. There were tons of musicians performing for the crowds in the street. Tessa and I split the cost of a cd by the Ryan O'Reilly Band and then spent a while talking to a new artist called Robbie Boyd. He was really nice and very talented. Then we headed home and laid out in Russell Square for a bit before heading to Sister Ray's, a pretty famous little record store. I could have done some serious damage in there, but I kept cool and didn't spend any money.
Saturday night was nice. After enjoying a delicious homemade spaghetti dinner for one, Michelle, Tessa, Marie and I went out to Witherspoon's (the cheapest pub around) just to have a few drinks and talk. It was nice to get out with no pressures and just relax, though their Pimms wasn't as good as The Turf Tavern's.
Sunday, we all went out to Spitalfields Market in the East End. I saw so many cute things I wanted to buy but I kept cool and only bought a few small gifts for some people. Then Tessa and I enjoyed a delicous asian feast for lunch.
After the market, we headed over to Leake Street. There is a sketchy looking tunnel that used to be a bus station that has sense been turned into an open forum for grafitti artists in London to come a tag/bomb/paint whatever they want whereever they want. We went for Culture by Design class the other day, but I didn't have my camera so we made a trip back. Upon arriving, we saw Lawler, Ingrid, Sarah and Katie come to make some tags of their own. Quite a coincidence. Lawler's the artist in the group and she had designed an image of a cow that has one of it's spots in the shape of a "hazard" sign. The title of the piece is "Mad Cow" and it turned out really nice. I had so much fun taking pictures of all the grafitti. I highly suggest checking it out on facebook because, I must admit, some of those pictures are pretty awesome.
Tonight, World Cup fever finally subsided as Spain beat the Netherlands in the final match. Most of us went to Witherspoon's to watch the game, but I left to come home in the beginning of the second half. A part of me is kind of sad that it's over now. No more random pub outings at work or heated group discussions about which team is better. No more random cheering and pulling for a team because their players are more attractive than the other team. Yup, sad times.
Anyway, tomorrow starts another long week until we go to Paris on Friday!!! Emily so thoughtfully made a French Guide for me so I don't feel completely helpless with the language. She even wrote it out phonetically because she knows I can't read it correctly. She's a doll.
Emotionally speaking, I really don't think I'm ready to go home. I miss everyone and everything but I am having such a great time here I don't want it to end. I'm most worried about not ever seeing these people that I've grown so close to once school starts. We run in different circles and it will be tough, but hopefully we can make it work :)
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Potties, Pineapple & Puns
Over the weekend, the pressure in our toilet practically disappeared to the point where we couldn't flush it even after 10 minutes of pushing the handle. After filing a maintenance request first thing Monday morning, I received some unpleasant news when I arrived home from work Tuesday evening.
Rustin, the program director, was standing outside the house and I was very pleased to see him. He had been away with his family since the first real week of classes so it was good to catch up. We chatted about work and classes and living in London. Then, Mackie walked out the door with a roll of toilet paper in her hand and headed down the street. Confused, I asked what was going on, only to find out that the plumber said our toilet couldn't be fixed until Thursday and we were moving. Apparently, Charlotte and Rustin pitched a fit to the leasing agency about making us live in a place with a dysfunctional toilet, so they set us up a flat in #18 just down the street. Personally, I didn't want to move, just because it would be a hassle and a tad pointless just to move because one facet of the flat doesn't work (the shower and sink work fine).
After packing up my overnight gear and some food for breakfast, we made the trek over to our new home-away-from-home-away-from-home. It was a bit strange to be in a new place but, I must admit, it was quite spacious for just the four of us. The boys upstairs live in an identical flat and they have 8 people. Yikes!
Mary and I watched The Wedding Date and then I crawled into bed...only to find that I could feel every single metal spring in that mattress. It was the most uncomfortable night's sleep I've had since I've been here. I literally woke up in pain.
So tonight, I am sleeping in #14B. It's not worth it.
Work has been going well. Toby took a critical look at all of the press releases, AIs, news releases and book reviews I've been writing and I think he really liked them. I've also been researching Shakespeare festivals in England to coincide with a series of graphic novels of popular Shakespeare plays Can of Worms has published. They are actually really cool. I kind of wish I would have had them in high school. It would have made everything easier.
Mackie, Judson and I went to Spaghetti House for dinner. They have a 5 GBP menu that was actually quite delicious (some sort of penne and sausage ragu). Spaghetti House service is infamous and they definitely held up to their reputation tonight. We waited over an hour for our food. Granted, we were having a wonderful time, but we were all hungry and all had papers to write.
Next to "gratuity" on the bill Jackson just wrote "no". Classic.
Tomorrow after CBD we travel to Stratford and Oxford for the night. I will post my experiences after this weekend. Cheers!
-APC
Rustin, the program director, was standing outside the house and I was very pleased to see him. He had been away with his family since the first real week of classes so it was good to catch up. We chatted about work and classes and living in London. Then, Mackie walked out the door with a roll of toilet paper in her hand and headed down the street. Confused, I asked what was going on, only to find out that the plumber said our toilet couldn't be fixed until Thursday and we were moving. Apparently, Charlotte and Rustin pitched a fit to the leasing agency about making us live in a place with a dysfunctional toilet, so they set us up a flat in #18 just down the street. Personally, I didn't want to move, just because it would be a hassle and a tad pointless just to move because one facet of the flat doesn't work (the shower and sink work fine).
After packing up my overnight gear and some food for breakfast, we made the trek over to our new home-away-from-home-away-from-home. It was a bit strange to be in a new place but, I must admit, it was quite spacious for just the four of us. The boys upstairs live in an identical flat and they have 8 people. Yikes!
Mary and I watched The Wedding Date and then I crawled into bed...only to find that I could feel every single metal spring in that mattress. It was the most uncomfortable night's sleep I've had since I've been here. I literally woke up in pain.
So tonight, I am sleeping in #14B. It's not worth it.
Work has been going well. Toby took a critical look at all of the press releases, AIs, news releases and book reviews I've been writing and I think he really liked them. I've also been researching Shakespeare festivals in England to coincide with a series of graphic novels of popular Shakespeare plays Can of Worms has published. They are actually really cool. I kind of wish I would have had them in high school. It would have made everything easier.
Mackie, Judson and I went to Spaghetti House for dinner. They have a 5 GBP menu that was actually quite delicious (some sort of penne and sausage ragu). Spaghetti House service is infamous and they definitely held up to their reputation tonight. We waited over an hour for our food. Granted, we were having a wonderful time, but we were all hungry and all had papers to write.
Next to "gratuity" on the bill Jackson just wrote "no". Classic.
Tomorrow after CBD we travel to Stratford and Oxford for the night. I will post my experiences after this weekend. Cheers!
-APC
Sunday, July 4, 2010
4th of July Weekend
THURSDAY
For Culture By Design class, we discussed branding. I never realized how much a label has to do with a product or a company's image or just how powerful it can be in purchasing decisions. My professor went into this epic description of how the Absolut vodka label is the most effective ad campaign in the world. I'll give you the condensed version:
Long ago, during the Cold War, when a good American wouldn't be caught dead drinking Russian vodka, Sweden decided they could crack the American market by selling us vodka that had "been made in Sweden for over a hundred years" or something. That was a lie. But it was the only way to get Americans to trust the Swedes with the very serious task of producing vodka. Anyway, the interesting part is the actual bottle. Back then, alcohol either came in a green or brown bottle. But the people behind Absolut decided on a clear medicine bottle because it was pure, just like the vodka that was inside.
After class, we made our way to the Museum of Brands-literally, a hallway with glass cases on both sides filled from floor to ceiling with different items from the decade. The museum was set up in different decades starting with the 1920s and ending with the 90s. It was so interesting to see how trends and themes changed throughout time yet some remained very much the same, like royalty or patriotism. The cases were filled with the most random stuff ever-from candy bars, to toys, to stamps and magazine covers to beverage containers and so much more. It was visual overload and I had such a headache when we left.
After that, I rushed home to eat the leftover pizza I had from the night before and an apple and then headed to Pop Culture & Diversity. I really liked this weeks class because we talked about celebrities!!! Basically, what it means to be one and why people tend to worship them as if they're more than human. I don't know... the best part was that we got to watch an episode of Extras, featuring Ricky Gervais (creator of The Office) and it was the funniest thing I've ever seen.
For the outing we went to this awesome exhibit called the British Music Experience. I thought I died and had gone to heaven. It was amazing. It was this huge, circular room with some interactive exhibits in the center and then smaller rooms coming off of it that represented the different eras in British music, starting with the mid 1940s-1962. They had glass cases filled with memorabilia from popular artists of the time including performance outfits, hand-written song lyrics and concert lineups, instruments and props. All the while they had some of the best music ever recorded blaring from the speakers. The best part though was the interactive room where they had guitars, basses, drums and keyboards hooked up to headphones that you could play plus a video to teach you how to play a few notes or melodies on the instrument. I played a Les Paul and messed around on one of the drum kits for a while until we had to go. I seriously considered going back another day but it's 12 GBP to get in so I doubt I will. But it was definitely a great experience.
FRIDAY
We (well the half of the group that didn't go to Amsterdam for the weekend) woke up bright and early to go on a day trip to Greenwich. The boat ride out was nice. It started out in Westminster and traveled along the Thames. We went under Tower Bridge, past the Tower of London and past all of the super expensive flats along the river that belong to stars such as Paul McCartney and Helen Mirren. It was pretty cool. Greenwich was kind of a bust though. It was quiet and small and boring. The only thing I wanted to see was the Prime Meridian (the east and west hemispheres) just to say I'd been on two different sides of the world at once. After we did that, Mary and I went to Borough Market to try to get some cheap, fresh produce. Unfortunately, their fruit and veggie selection was rather limited and it took all we had not to give into all the fudge and Turkish Delight stands crowded with people waiting to taste the handmade desserts. We did, however, buy some delicious homemade bread (garlic Focaccia) to take home and eat with some oil and spices.
Friday evening Dave and Vikki came in from Italy to celebrate their anniversary in England and of course to see me! ha ha ok ok, they didn't come in to see me exactly, but we did have dinner and it was so much fun. I miss them so much and I can't wait for them to be back in the States. We had such a blast catching up and talking in person! They are amazing people and I am so blessed to have them in my life :)
SATURDAY
Laura, Mary and I made our way through the bustling crowds of people in Covent Garden Saturday morning on our shopping trip. Actually, I'd call it more of a quest. We got gelato at Scoop (yummy) and then Mary and I tried Turkish Delight for the first time. It was a very strange taste. It's like a rose jelly covered in powdered sugar. Your mouth says" oh that's tasty" but your mind is saying "you're not supposed to be eating roses". Very strange. After picking up a few things, we made our way to Camden Market. Camden is, for lack of a better word, crazy. It's filled with all sorts of people selling all sorts of things. There are like 5 different markets within Camden including it's most well-known, The Stables. We walked around for a few hours buying things for people and maybe one or two things for ourselves. I don't want to give anything away for people so I'll just say that I bought myself a very pretty, floral dress for 12 GBP (some other guy was selling it for 15). I was proud of that. After having a sausage-spinach-feta cheese wrap at some Turkish food stand, we decided to head back home to get ready for Eclipse!!!!
We arrived at Leicester Square only to realize that a gay pride festival of some sort was going on and it was insane. So many people dressed in the craziest costumes ever were dancing and screaming in the middle of the square. It was nuts. The night got even crazier when something got messed up with the tickets and we ended up paying 14 GBP to see it at a different theater. It was so stressful!! And it just got worse when we were finally sitting down and then had to move 3 times because some poeple's tickets had assigned seats and other's didn't. I was relieved when the movie actually started so I wouldn't have to move again. The theater seemed smaller than the ones back home and I thought it was weird that they sold beer at the concessions.
The movie was pretty good (not 14 GBP good but whatever). I think I'll need to see it again before I can draw any real conclusions on it. I was so pooped afterward that I just came home and watched Bridget Jones' Diary and went to bed.
SUNDAY
Happy Fourth of July America!
I woke up early to get some homework done and then went back to bed. That's it.
No, I'm totally joking. But I did go back to bed for a while. Then I got up and went grocery shopping with Tessa and Mary. I bought some of the essentials: frozen pizza, nutella, cereal, cheese and ground beef to make tacos tomorrow night! So excited. Then a bunch of us got dressed and went to Abbey Road to take pictures of the most famous crosswalk on the planet. We had the brilliant idea to dress up sort of like The Beatles on their album cover, which, I must say, turned out alright. Macki was George, dressed in all denim. I was Paul, navy blue blazer and barefeet. No cigarette though. Sorry. Laura was a very tall Ringo dressed in all black. And Tessa was John, doing the best she could in a white tunic (it's very hard to find an all white suit these days).
When we turned the corner, we immediately knew we were in the right place because there were a ton of people all crowded around, dodging traffic to run out into the middle of the street and take the picture. It was insane!!! After like 4 attempts we finally managed to get a pretty good shot of the four of us then it was Mary, Michelle, and Marie's turn with Macki filling in as George again. We saw the studio too, with "give Peace a Chance" and "All You Need Is Love" graffiti all over the front wall as well as thousands of signatures from people who had come just to show their love for the greatest band there ever was. It was so cool just to be there. To know that's where one of the best records of all time was made, to know they walked across that road just like I did. It was amazing.
For the holiday, we made our way down to the Blues Kitchen in Camden for a delicious American feast. I got a very tasty Philly Cheese Steak complete with "fries". It was really expensive but fairly large portions compared to everything else in England. Keeping with the American spirit, I also tried an "Alabama Fizz" cocktail which was, essentially, a Gin & Tonic. It was good but overpriced. They had live music on the stage in the back and served up great jazz, blues and rock n' roll all night. Macki also entered a hot dog eating contest that proved to be more challenging than we anticipated. The "hot dogs" were giant sausages with onions on top in a sub roll. She had to try to eat an entire platter. She managed to eat three and then called it quits. She did better than I could, that's for sure.
Well, tomorrow starts another week's adventure in London. Thursday and Friday I'll be in Stratford and then I'll be spending the weekend here. Remember, if you ever want to see pictures of anything, they're all on facebook. Or you can email me and I can send you some.
Cheers everyone!
-APC
For Culture By Design class, we discussed branding. I never realized how much a label has to do with a product or a company's image or just how powerful it can be in purchasing decisions. My professor went into this epic description of how the Absolut vodka label is the most effective ad campaign in the world. I'll give you the condensed version:
Long ago, during the Cold War, when a good American wouldn't be caught dead drinking Russian vodka, Sweden decided they could crack the American market by selling us vodka that had "been made in Sweden for over a hundred years" or something. That was a lie. But it was the only way to get Americans to trust the Swedes with the very serious task of producing vodka. Anyway, the interesting part is the actual bottle. Back then, alcohol either came in a green or brown bottle. But the people behind Absolut decided on a clear medicine bottle because it was pure, just like the vodka that was inside.
After class, we made our way to the Museum of Brands-literally, a hallway with glass cases on both sides filled from floor to ceiling with different items from the decade. The museum was set up in different decades starting with the 1920s and ending with the 90s. It was so interesting to see how trends and themes changed throughout time yet some remained very much the same, like royalty or patriotism. The cases were filled with the most random stuff ever-from candy bars, to toys, to stamps and magazine covers to beverage containers and so much more. It was visual overload and I had such a headache when we left.
After that, I rushed home to eat the leftover pizza I had from the night before and an apple and then headed to Pop Culture & Diversity. I really liked this weeks class because we talked about celebrities!!! Basically, what it means to be one and why people tend to worship them as if they're more than human. I don't know... the best part was that we got to watch an episode of Extras, featuring Ricky Gervais (creator of The Office) and it was the funniest thing I've ever seen.
For the outing we went to this awesome exhibit called the British Music Experience. I thought I died and had gone to heaven. It was amazing. It was this huge, circular room with some interactive exhibits in the center and then smaller rooms coming off of it that represented the different eras in British music, starting with the mid 1940s-1962. They had glass cases filled with memorabilia from popular artists of the time including performance outfits, hand-written song lyrics and concert lineups, instruments and props. All the while they had some of the best music ever recorded blaring from the speakers. The best part though was the interactive room where they had guitars, basses, drums and keyboards hooked up to headphones that you could play plus a video to teach you how to play a few notes or melodies on the instrument. I played a Les Paul and messed around on one of the drum kits for a while until we had to go. I seriously considered going back another day but it's 12 GBP to get in so I doubt I will. But it was definitely a great experience.
FRIDAY
We (well the half of the group that didn't go to Amsterdam for the weekend) woke up bright and early to go on a day trip to Greenwich. The boat ride out was nice. It started out in Westminster and traveled along the Thames. We went under Tower Bridge, past the Tower of London and past all of the super expensive flats along the river that belong to stars such as Paul McCartney and Helen Mirren. It was pretty cool. Greenwich was kind of a bust though. It was quiet and small and boring. The only thing I wanted to see was the Prime Meridian (the east and west hemispheres) just to say I'd been on two different sides of the world at once. After we did that, Mary and I went to Borough Market to try to get some cheap, fresh produce. Unfortunately, their fruit and veggie selection was rather limited and it took all we had not to give into all the fudge and Turkish Delight stands crowded with people waiting to taste the handmade desserts. We did, however, buy some delicious homemade bread (garlic Focaccia) to take home and eat with some oil and spices.
Friday evening Dave and Vikki came in from Italy to celebrate their anniversary in England and of course to see me! ha ha ok ok, they didn't come in to see me exactly, but we did have dinner and it was so much fun. I miss them so much and I can't wait for them to be back in the States. We had such a blast catching up and talking in person! They are amazing people and I am so blessed to have them in my life :)
SATURDAY
Laura, Mary and I made our way through the bustling crowds of people in Covent Garden Saturday morning on our shopping trip. Actually, I'd call it more of a quest. We got gelato at Scoop (yummy) and then Mary and I tried Turkish Delight for the first time. It was a very strange taste. It's like a rose jelly covered in powdered sugar. Your mouth says" oh that's tasty" but your mind is saying "you're not supposed to be eating roses". Very strange. After picking up a few things, we made our way to Camden Market. Camden is, for lack of a better word, crazy. It's filled with all sorts of people selling all sorts of things. There are like 5 different markets within Camden including it's most well-known, The Stables. We walked around for a few hours buying things for people and maybe one or two things for ourselves. I don't want to give anything away for people so I'll just say that I bought myself a very pretty, floral dress for 12 GBP (some other guy was selling it for 15). I was proud of that. After having a sausage-spinach-feta cheese wrap at some Turkish food stand, we decided to head back home to get ready for Eclipse!!!!
We arrived at Leicester Square only to realize that a gay pride festival of some sort was going on and it was insane. So many people dressed in the craziest costumes ever were dancing and screaming in the middle of the square. It was nuts. The night got even crazier when something got messed up with the tickets and we ended up paying 14 GBP to see it at a different theater. It was so stressful!! And it just got worse when we were finally sitting down and then had to move 3 times because some poeple's tickets had assigned seats and other's didn't. I was relieved when the movie actually started so I wouldn't have to move again. The theater seemed smaller than the ones back home and I thought it was weird that they sold beer at the concessions.
The movie was pretty good (not 14 GBP good but whatever). I think I'll need to see it again before I can draw any real conclusions on it. I was so pooped afterward that I just came home and watched Bridget Jones' Diary and went to bed.
SUNDAY
Happy Fourth of July America!
I woke up early to get some homework done and then went back to bed. That's it.
No, I'm totally joking. But I did go back to bed for a while. Then I got up and went grocery shopping with Tessa and Mary. I bought some of the essentials: frozen pizza, nutella, cereal, cheese and ground beef to make tacos tomorrow night! So excited. Then a bunch of us got dressed and went to Abbey Road to take pictures of the most famous crosswalk on the planet. We had the brilliant idea to dress up sort of like The Beatles on their album cover, which, I must say, turned out alright. Macki was George, dressed in all denim. I was Paul, navy blue blazer and barefeet. No cigarette though. Sorry. Laura was a very tall Ringo dressed in all black. And Tessa was John, doing the best she could in a white tunic (it's very hard to find an all white suit these days).
When we turned the corner, we immediately knew we were in the right place because there were a ton of people all crowded around, dodging traffic to run out into the middle of the street and take the picture. It was insane!!! After like 4 attempts we finally managed to get a pretty good shot of the four of us then it was Mary, Michelle, and Marie's turn with Macki filling in as George again. We saw the studio too, with "give Peace a Chance" and "All You Need Is Love" graffiti all over the front wall as well as thousands of signatures from people who had come just to show their love for the greatest band there ever was. It was so cool just to be there. To know that's where one of the best records of all time was made, to know they walked across that road just like I did. It was amazing.
For the holiday, we made our way down to the Blues Kitchen in Camden for a delicious American feast. I got a very tasty Philly Cheese Steak complete with "fries". It was really expensive but fairly large portions compared to everything else in England. Keeping with the American spirit, I also tried an "Alabama Fizz" cocktail which was, essentially, a Gin & Tonic. It was good but overpriced. They had live music on the stage in the back and served up great jazz, blues and rock n' roll all night. Macki also entered a hot dog eating contest that proved to be more challenging than we anticipated. The "hot dogs" were giant sausages with onions on top in a sub roll. She had to try to eat an entire platter. She managed to eat three and then called it quits. She did better than I could, that's for sure.
Well, tomorrow starts another week's adventure in London. Thursday and Friday I'll be in Stratford and then I'll be spending the weekend here. Remember, if you ever want to see pictures of anything, they're all on facebook. Or you can email me and I can send you some.
Cheers everyone!
-APC
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
btw...wtf...bbq
At work, Helen decided to use abbreviations all day. It was pretty funny to hear someone I totally respect and kind of fear saying "lol". She said her excuse was that she is a publisher and people should know she does indeed have an extensive vocabulary.
Work was really good these past two days. Tuesday was very productive. I wrote 4 news-ish stories and 4 book reviews for the four main Eye Classics books soon to be published. Then I made lists of researched publications to send all this stuff out to next week. Wednesday, I worked mostly on a new self-helpy kind of book that is actually quite good. I wrote some blurb for the back of the cover and then Helen let me have a crack at reorganizing the introduction, which needed serious help. It was really fun, but really exhausting and by the time I got to our weekly meeting for school I was pooped!
Wednesday night was a trip. Tessa called me while I was eating dinner and asked me to come meet her at a cd release party. So I rushed around to get ready and make the tube over in Russell Square. When I got there, I waited 30 minutes for her to pick up her phone and come let me in. By the time I actually got in, it was over. I will admit, I was a little upset. But realizing that she needed my help (drunk) more than anything, I stayed and we ended up going to a pub with two guys she met who work for Napster, which is pretty cool. They were recommending all these cool bands to us and Tessa even managed to score lunch with one of them to maybe set a job up or something. Personally, I wanted to go home. I definitely didn't want to drink (I still can't even stand the sight of a beer) and I was so tired! But on our way to the tube, Tessa decided that she wanted food so we stopped and ate at Soho Pizza (really good). I'm glad we did because she felt much better after she got some food in her system.
We finally made our way back home via cab because the tube was closed by the time we left. I immediately went to sleep.
Work was really good these past two days. Tuesday was very productive. I wrote 4 news-ish stories and 4 book reviews for the four main Eye Classics books soon to be published. Then I made lists of researched publications to send all this stuff out to next week. Wednesday, I worked mostly on a new self-helpy kind of book that is actually quite good. I wrote some blurb for the back of the cover and then Helen let me have a crack at reorganizing the introduction, which needed serious help. It was really fun, but really exhausting and by the time I got to our weekly meeting for school I was pooped!
Wednesday night was a trip. Tessa called me while I was eating dinner and asked me to come meet her at a cd release party. So I rushed around to get ready and make the tube over in Russell Square. When I got there, I waited 30 minutes for her to pick up her phone and come let me in. By the time I actually got in, it was over. I will admit, I was a little upset. But realizing that she needed my help (drunk) more than anything, I stayed and we ended up going to a pub with two guys she met who work for Napster, which is pretty cool. They were recommending all these cool bands to us and Tessa even managed to score lunch with one of them to maybe set a job up or something. Personally, I wanted to go home. I definitely didn't want to drink (I still can't even stand the sight of a beer) and I was so tired! But on our way to the tube, Tessa decided that she wanted food so we stopped and ate at Soho Pizza (really good). I'm glad we did because she felt much better after she got some food in her system.
We finally made our way back home via cab because the tube was closed by the time we left. I immediately went to sleep.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Wimbledon...in Real Life
This evening, after work and classes, there was an optional group outing to Wimbledon! At first, I wasn't really feeling it because it was going to take at least 45 minutes to get there on the hot, crowded tube, but I went anyway. When I walked through the gates, I felt like I was stepping into the movies or the tabloids. You see all these pictures of celebrities attending Wimbledon and it just felt unreal...granted they all go to the matches in centre court (where the top dogs play) and have massive entourages but still...
If you go late enough in the day, you only have to pay 14 GBP (comped by JMU thank you very much haha) to get in and see any and as many matches as you want, just not on centre court or courts 1 and 2. Mary, Tessa and I started out watching what I can only assume were junior doubles on Court 15. It was definitely interesting, but I wanted to see something really good. So we made our way over to courts 2-12 in hopes of seeing some real action.
We watched another men's double match for a while before trying to scope out Court 2 where Andy Roddick was playing. Before we knew it, his match was over (which he lost) and everyone was leaving. The guy who beat him walked right past us surrounded by cheering fans and protective bodyguards. It was crazy!
We then proceeded to walk over towards Court 2 just to see what was coming up next. To our excitement, the security guard let us in even though we didn't buy the wicked expensive ticket! We sat right on the edge and watched a mixed doubles game that was televised. P.S. we were definitely on T.V.!
After the match was finished, we made the long trek back through Wimbledon Park to the tube station. We were all starving by the end of the hike so we decided to eat at a Chinese/Indian place right up the road from the station. Plus, it was the only thing open at the time (9 p.m.). I got noodles that were extremely spicy and then proceeded to choke on one a little bit into the meal. My whole throat felt like it had caught on fire! I was coughing for a long time after that.
That was an eventful Monday. Tomorrow we are having a lovely group picnic in the park for dinner. Can't wait!
If you go late enough in the day, you only have to pay 14 GBP (comped by JMU thank you very much haha) to get in and see any and as many matches as you want, just not on centre court or courts 1 and 2. Mary, Tessa and I started out watching what I can only assume were junior doubles on Court 15. It was definitely interesting, but I wanted to see something really good. So we made our way over to courts 2-12 in hopes of seeing some real action.
We watched another men's double match for a while before trying to scope out Court 2 where Andy Roddick was playing. Before we knew it, his match was over (which he lost) and everyone was leaving. The guy who beat him walked right past us surrounded by cheering fans and protective bodyguards. It was crazy!
We then proceeded to walk over towards Court 2 just to see what was coming up next. To our excitement, the security guard let us in even though we didn't buy the wicked expensive ticket! We sat right on the edge and watched a mixed doubles game that was televised. P.S. we were definitely on T.V.!
After the match was finished, we made the long trek back through Wimbledon Park to the tube station. We were all starving by the end of the hike so we decided to eat at a Chinese/Indian place right up the road from the station. Plus, it was the only thing open at the time (9 p.m.). I got noodles that were extremely spicy and then proceeded to choke on one a little bit into the meal. My whole throat felt like it had caught on fire! I was coughing for a long time after that.
That was an eventful Monday. Tomorrow we are having a lovely group picnic in the park for dinner. Can't wait!
Loooong Week
So, I'm sorry I haven't written anything in a while, but last week was crazy for me. So to sum it all up, I'll list the highlight of each day and then go about the weekend (because it was awesome).
MONDAY
I was recovering from my cold that I picked up in Scotland so I stayed in all afternoon and did a massive amount of homework. I wrote my journals for my internship class and Pop Culture & Diversity, as well as my media analysis for Culture By Design. It felt good to get it all out of the way early, but I still had a 1800-2000 word Media & Politics paper looming.
TUESDAY
Tuesday was just another long yet very productive day at work. I'm liking it more and more each day. That night, the group went to the British Film Institute to Rashomon, a classic Japanese film. yeah.
WEDNESDAY
Work was awesome. I went with my boss, Toby, to watch the England v. Slovenia at the pub closest to work. It was a very interesting experience to see all of these people, who I'm sure should have been at work, yelling, screaming and drinking in the middle of the day.
THURSDAY
Classes were really good. For Culture By Design, we went to the British Library and saw many important old documents including the original, un-printed Magna Carta, one of the three original Gutenburg Bibles that are in good shape and the original printings of Alice in Wonderland. However, the coolest thing ever was the display of the original handwritten lyrics to some of the Beatles greatest songs. It was so awesome just to know that those pieces of paper were where it all started. Thursday, we also saw a play called London Assurance at the National Theatre. It was pretty funny, plus the dad from Still Standing was a leading character.
FRIDAY
Friday began the most epic pilgrimage of my life. Tessa, Dylan and I made our way to Liverpool for a Beatles themed weekend leading up to the big event on Sunday: Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park featuring Sir Paul McCartney. The trip was insane. The bus ide took forever and when we finally got to our hostel, it wasn't quite what we expected. For starters, we were informed that we would have another person in our room, whilst we were under the impression it would be just us. Anyway, we got ready and headed out to explore.
DISCLAIMER: I am about to get mildly candid just because there's no other way to describe what happened. I'll do my best not to disappoint anyone.
After a few drinks in the room, one at dinner and one at the "Cavern Pub", we headed into the Cavern Club, the place where it all started-where the Beatles first played. It looked amazing, rebuilt on the same location with many of the same bricks from the original it was so cool. The music was good, and after another drink they started to do covers of all my favorite songs. We were screaming at the top of our lungs and it was so much fun. Then, out of no where, I thought I just might die. Long story short, I spent the next few hours in the Cavern Club's bathroom feeling like I couldn't get up even if my life depended on it. It was definitely a night to remember...or try to anyway.
SATURDAY
Hungover and weak, I woke up to the sight of our new roomie sleeping in just his boxers. It was gross. We then made awkward eye contact as I went to take a shower, and come to find out he was German and didn't speak a lot of English. That morning was a rough one. I threw up a few more times before we headed out, backpacks and all, to take the Magical Mystery Tour. After practically running for a good hour so we wouldn't be late, we finally made it just in time. The tour was cool, unfortunately, I was unable to enjoy most of it because I thought I might pass out at any moment. I learned a lot of interesting facts and trivia about the Beatles when they were young. And-bonus-I'm one of the few people who can say I've thrown up outside of Paul McCartney's childhood home. Yes, I did that. For the record, I felt much better afterward and the tour guide still said I was cute even after he had to see that. All in all, a good trip.
SUNDAY aka The Best Day Ever
I woke up bright and early to try to write that Media & Politics paper and actually managed to get most of it done. At 1, we made our way to Hyde Park for the most amazing concert experience of my life. We managed to score a little spot right in the middle about 60 yards from the stage. We laid out in the boiling heat and listened to Elvis Costello and Crosby, Stills and Nash perform among others. Tessa and I were pushed up closer to the stage (about 40-30 yards away) for the moment Paul came on. The second he walked on my heart just stopped. It was amazing. The entire thing was incredible. Just to be seeing a living legend and singing along with him to all my favorite songs was the most incredible feeling. I had a blast and got some amazing photos (courtesy of Tessa). It was everything I could have hoped for.
So that was my week in review. I hope this week is a bit less eventful but somehow I doubt it. Cheers!
MONDAY
I was recovering from my cold that I picked up in Scotland so I stayed in all afternoon and did a massive amount of homework. I wrote my journals for my internship class and Pop Culture & Diversity, as well as my media analysis for Culture By Design. It felt good to get it all out of the way early, but I still had a 1800-2000 word Media & Politics paper looming.
TUESDAY
Tuesday was just another long yet very productive day at work. I'm liking it more and more each day. That night, the group went to the British Film Institute to Rashomon, a classic Japanese film. yeah.
WEDNESDAY
Work was awesome. I went with my boss, Toby, to watch the England v. Slovenia at the pub closest to work. It was a very interesting experience to see all of these people, who I'm sure should have been at work, yelling, screaming and drinking in the middle of the day.
THURSDAY
Classes were really good. For Culture By Design, we went to the British Library and saw many important old documents including the original, un-printed Magna Carta, one of the three original Gutenburg Bibles that are in good shape and the original printings of Alice in Wonderland. However, the coolest thing ever was the display of the original handwritten lyrics to some of the Beatles greatest songs. It was so awesome just to know that those pieces of paper were where it all started. Thursday, we also saw a play called London Assurance at the National Theatre. It was pretty funny, plus the dad from Still Standing was a leading character.
FRIDAY
Friday began the most epic pilgrimage of my life. Tessa, Dylan and I made our way to Liverpool for a Beatles themed weekend leading up to the big event on Sunday: Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park featuring Sir Paul McCartney. The trip was insane. The bus ide took forever and when we finally got to our hostel, it wasn't quite what we expected. For starters, we were informed that we would have another person in our room, whilst we were under the impression it would be just us. Anyway, we got ready and headed out to explore.
DISCLAIMER: I am about to get mildly candid just because there's no other way to describe what happened. I'll do my best not to disappoint anyone.
After a few drinks in the room, one at dinner and one at the "Cavern Pub", we headed into the Cavern Club, the place where it all started-where the Beatles first played. It looked amazing, rebuilt on the same location with many of the same bricks from the original it was so cool. The music was good, and after another drink they started to do covers of all my favorite songs. We were screaming at the top of our lungs and it was so much fun. Then, out of no where, I thought I just might die. Long story short, I spent the next few hours in the Cavern Club's bathroom feeling like I couldn't get up even if my life depended on it. It was definitely a night to remember...or try to anyway.
SATURDAY
Hungover and weak, I woke up to the sight of our new roomie sleeping in just his boxers. It was gross. We then made awkward eye contact as I went to take a shower, and come to find out he was German and didn't speak a lot of English. That morning was a rough one. I threw up a few more times before we headed out, backpacks and all, to take the Magical Mystery Tour. After practically running for a good hour so we wouldn't be late, we finally made it just in time. The tour was cool, unfortunately, I was unable to enjoy most of it because I thought I might pass out at any moment. I learned a lot of interesting facts and trivia about the Beatles when they were young. And-bonus-I'm one of the few people who can say I've thrown up outside of Paul McCartney's childhood home. Yes, I did that. For the record, I felt much better afterward and the tour guide still said I was cute even after he had to see that. All in all, a good trip.
SUNDAY aka The Best Day Ever
I woke up bright and early to try to write that Media & Politics paper and actually managed to get most of it done. At 1, we made our way to Hyde Park for the most amazing concert experience of my life. We managed to score a little spot right in the middle about 60 yards from the stage. We laid out in the boiling heat and listened to Elvis Costello and Crosby, Stills and Nash perform among others. Tessa and I were pushed up closer to the stage (about 40-30 yards away) for the moment Paul came on. The second he walked on my heart just stopped. It was amazing. The entire thing was incredible. Just to be seeing a living legend and singing along with him to all my favorite songs was the most incredible feeling. I had a blast and got some amazing photos (courtesy of Tessa). It was everything I could have hoped for.
So that was my week in review. I hope this week is a bit less eventful but somehow I doubt it. Cheers!
Monday, June 21, 2010
"Anyone But England!"
This weekend was amazing! Edinburgh (pronounced Ed-in-BOUROUGH) is so beautiful. I seriously considered moving there when I get out of school, but I don't know what I'd do. Maybe I'll retire there. Also, I've been told that the weekend was out of the ordinarily nice weather-wise but I thought it was a bit chilly. I cannot be cold all the time. haha
So Friday morning, we woke up bright and early to catch the train from King's Cross station at 8 am. It was so early and we almost didn't make it. No one can function that early and we were all pretty much running to the station. The ride there wasn't that bad. It was about 5 hours long but it didn't feel like it because Mary and I were trying to figure out how to watch Harry Potter the whole time (the train had wi-fi). The best part was when we saw the water for the first time in weeks. The train just came around the bend and there it was- sapphire blue waves crashing against the gray, stone cliffs. It was truly breath-taking.
As soon as we got there, we had a nice little hike to our hotel. It was mostly downhill so it was ok, but I was dreading the uphill when we were going to leave. The hotel was so cute! Our group pretty much took up all the rooms. We had a gorgeous view of a small courtard and we had pigeons outside our window that cooed the entire time. I shared a room with Tessa and Marie. Oh, p.s., they didn't provide any toiletries. Tessa and Michelle didn't bring anything with them, as I think most of the group didn't. Good thing I had enough for the three of us or we would have been out of luck!
After we settled in a bit, the three of us went to a small pub on the Royal Mile (the kind of central road where everything is) and some good ol' Scottish food. We all had steak and Guinness pie and a pint of some delicious scottish beer. I got McEwans. It was so good. I figured I'd need it for the tour of Parliament that we had to go on right after. ugh.
Parliament was alright. The building was ultra modern and I didn't think it was very attractive. Plus, the Scottish Parliament has nothing on Westminster, let's be honest. There isn't that sense of tradition. But anyway, it was really boring.
After that, we had a bus tour of the city on one of those open-top double deckers. The city was so small, we pretty much did it in less than an hour. But it was really interesting and we learned a lot about the city. That night we went out to Rose Street where there are supposedly over 20 pubs. When we first got there, it was really lame. The pub was full of old people just watching the England soccer game. They have a saying in Scotland, "Anyone But England" because the Scots hate the Brits and vice versa. We stayed in one pub for a while though until after the game. Funny story-Tessa, Marie, Mary and I made friends with two of the "bouncers" because we were hanging out by the door. After I told the big, beefcake one that I wouldn't buy him a drink, he literally picked me up and carried me out of the bar! I was on the phone with Judson at the time and all he could hear was me screaming. After I got off the phone and my arms stopped throbbing, I walked back in and saw everyone just laughing. It was nuts. Then, karaoke started and we, as loud Americans, made fools of ourselves as old, Scottish men looked on in disdain.
Saturday, we woke up bright and early to tour Edinburgh Castle. It was pretty cool I suppose. Some people in the group had been getting head colds and now I wasn't feeling so well. My head was throbbing and my nose was stuffy. After the tour, we hiked up Arthur's Seat, a giant mountain/pride rock at the edge of the city near Parliament.
Let me tell you, I thought I was going to just keel over on some rock somewhere. I couldn't breath, every step was a struggle and my nose was running so bad. But as we finally reached the top of the highest peak- it was all worth it. The view was incredible, indescribable even. The hike down was better, then we went back to the hotel and took a nap until we went out that night.
The night was a total bust for me. I didn't feel good, but I decided to try to go out anyway. First, we went to a bar called Outhouse where we were for a while the night before and Tessa and I made friends with the bouncer. He was working again so we stayed and talked to him about working in the UK vs. the US. Then we walked over to an area called the Grass Market where it was supposed to be hoppin. I left soon after because all I wanted to do was sleep.
Sunday was a free day for us so we went shopping and laid out in the park for a while. We found this little cafe with really cheap eats and it was so good...even though I couldn't really taste it because I was so stuffy.
We rode first class on the way back because our train got all messed up and the car we were supposed to be in wasn't there or something. It made sleeping a lot nicer after an exhausting weekend.
So Friday morning, we woke up bright and early to catch the train from King's Cross station at 8 am. It was so early and we almost didn't make it. No one can function that early and we were all pretty much running to the station. The ride there wasn't that bad. It was about 5 hours long but it didn't feel like it because Mary and I were trying to figure out how to watch Harry Potter the whole time (the train had wi-fi). The best part was when we saw the water for the first time in weeks. The train just came around the bend and there it was- sapphire blue waves crashing against the gray, stone cliffs. It was truly breath-taking.
As soon as we got there, we had a nice little hike to our hotel. It was mostly downhill so it was ok, but I was dreading the uphill when we were going to leave. The hotel was so cute! Our group pretty much took up all the rooms. We had a gorgeous view of a small courtard and we had pigeons outside our window that cooed the entire time. I shared a room with Tessa and Marie. Oh, p.s., they didn't provide any toiletries. Tessa and Michelle didn't bring anything with them, as I think most of the group didn't. Good thing I had enough for the three of us or we would have been out of luck!
After we settled in a bit, the three of us went to a small pub on the Royal Mile (the kind of central road where everything is) and some good ol' Scottish food. We all had steak and Guinness pie and a pint of some delicious scottish beer. I got McEwans. It was so good. I figured I'd need it for the tour of Parliament that we had to go on right after. ugh.
Parliament was alright. The building was ultra modern and I didn't think it was very attractive. Plus, the Scottish Parliament has nothing on Westminster, let's be honest. There isn't that sense of tradition. But anyway, it was really boring.
After that, we had a bus tour of the city on one of those open-top double deckers. The city was so small, we pretty much did it in less than an hour. But it was really interesting and we learned a lot about the city. That night we went out to Rose Street where there are supposedly over 20 pubs. When we first got there, it was really lame. The pub was full of old people just watching the England soccer game. They have a saying in Scotland, "Anyone But England" because the Scots hate the Brits and vice versa. We stayed in one pub for a while though until after the game. Funny story-Tessa, Marie, Mary and I made friends with two of the "bouncers" because we were hanging out by the door. After I told the big, beefcake one that I wouldn't buy him a drink, he literally picked me up and carried me out of the bar! I was on the phone with Judson at the time and all he could hear was me screaming. After I got off the phone and my arms stopped throbbing, I walked back in and saw everyone just laughing. It was nuts. Then, karaoke started and we, as loud Americans, made fools of ourselves as old, Scottish men looked on in disdain.
Saturday, we woke up bright and early to tour Edinburgh Castle. It was pretty cool I suppose. Some people in the group had been getting head colds and now I wasn't feeling so well. My head was throbbing and my nose was stuffy. After the tour, we hiked up Arthur's Seat, a giant mountain/pride rock at the edge of the city near Parliament.
Let me tell you, I thought I was going to just keel over on some rock somewhere. I couldn't breath, every step was a struggle and my nose was running so bad. But as we finally reached the top of the highest peak- it was all worth it. The view was incredible, indescribable even. The hike down was better, then we went back to the hotel and took a nap until we went out that night.
The night was a total bust for me. I didn't feel good, but I decided to try to go out anyway. First, we went to a bar called Outhouse where we were for a while the night before and Tessa and I made friends with the bouncer. He was working again so we stayed and talked to him about working in the UK vs. the US. Then we walked over to an area called the Grass Market where it was supposed to be hoppin. I left soon after because all I wanted to do was sleep.
Sunday was a free day for us so we went shopping and laid out in the park for a while. We found this little cafe with really cheap eats and it was so good...even though I couldn't really taste it because I was so stuffy.
We rode first class on the way back because our train got all messed up and the car we were supposed to be in wasn't there or something. It made sleeping a lot nicer after an exhausting weekend.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
There Are No Grape Skittles In London
The purple is "blackcurrant" flavor. It's gross.
Anyway, Monday afternoon Judson, Rob and I went to the Sherlock Holmes Museum! On Baker Street! It was so cool. They basically recreated Holmes and Watson's house based on every detail ever written. They also had wax figures posed from the major stories, which was kinda lame but still kinda fun. It was pretty cool. I don't think the boys had a good time, but I liked it. P.S. The museum is right next to The London Beatles Store. It was so cool. They had records and stuff and like really vintage-y stuff. I will definitely be making a trip back.
Monday night we found a really great gelato shop called Scoop in Covent Garden. I got coffee and chocolate in one cone! It was huge, and it was delicious!
Tuesday at work I finally started writing! I did some more research and wrote my first press release ever! Well, actually I wrote three. And it was awesome! I was nervous all night though because my boss didn't get a chance to read them that day. I was so nervous all night.
I got into work Wednesday and my boss really liked my writing! He had me write up a news release for one of the books and write a review for it. It felt weird writing a review for a book I didn't read but it's whatever. It was just a really good day because I had something to keep me fully occupied the whole time. Helen even let us go early because it was too nice outside! (Seriously, it was the first time I'd seen the sun in way too long)
Later that night a bunch of us went out to the London Pub (our go-to) for a few beers. It was really fun until a few Canadians came over and started hitting on all the girls. I have dealt with my fair share of creepers but when one of them says, "Hey you guys should come up to our hotel rooms and help us pick out clothes for the club we're all going to go to," I was like "umm....no definitely not." So we peaced out and went to McDonalds. Best decision ever. It was so good! Just like home. It actually made me a little homesick.
Today was a really long day of classes. Culture By Design was...interesting. It was all about photography and we looked at some pictures in class about 9/11 and how the different views of it can interpret different things. We saw an image of a man falling from the window he presumably jumped out of and it was really disturbing. Then we went to the Tate Modern art museum and went to the exhibit Exposed which is basically a photography exhibit of people who don't know they're being photographed. It was really cool and pretty interesting...until I got to the section called "violence". Call me crazy, but I just cannot stand to see images of people killing themselves, being killed, or dead bodies stacked up like firewood. I kind of freaked out a bit and was very quiet for the rest of the trip. Not a very fun experience. I wanted to puke/cry. Sorry if that's a bit graphic but, then, you didn't have to look at the photos.
Pop Culture was also an adventure. Today's lesson was all about fashion. Specifically male v. female fashion. Lecture was very short so we decided to leave for our outing early and take a trip to Harrods- aka department store heaven. It was crazy. Chock full of major designers. Judson and I found a plain white t-shirt for 70 GBP (about $120). Of course, it was Prada. Then we got lost going to the Fashion and Textile Museum which turns out, upon finally finding our way, that they don't have a permanent exhibit on display at the moment. So we sat in the Fashion and Textile Museum Cafe and talked about our major project-final paper and presentation. I think I might do gender differences in music, specifically image and performance.
Tonight we stayed in, made dinner, watched Friends, and now I'm about to pack for Edinburgh, Scotland tomorrow!!! We leave at like 8 a.m. ugh. I will blog again after my sure-to-be amazing weekend. Cheers!
-APC
Anyway, Monday afternoon Judson, Rob and I went to the Sherlock Holmes Museum! On Baker Street! It was so cool. They basically recreated Holmes and Watson's house based on every detail ever written. They also had wax figures posed from the major stories, which was kinda lame but still kinda fun. It was pretty cool. I don't think the boys had a good time, but I liked it. P.S. The museum is right next to The London Beatles Store. It was so cool. They had records and stuff and like really vintage-y stuff. I will definitely be making a trip back.
Monday night we found a really great gelato shop called Scoop in Covent Garden. I got coffee and chocolate in one cone! It was huge, and it was delicious!
Tuesday at work I finally started writing! I did some more research and wrote my first press release ever! Well, actually I wrote three. And it was awesome! I was nervous all night though because my boss didn't get a chance to read them that day. I was so nervous all night.
I got into work Wednesday and my boss really liked my writing! He had me write up a news release for one of the books and write a review for it. It felt weird writing a review for a book I didn't read but it's whatever. It was just a really good day because I had something to keep me fully occupied the whole time. Helen even let us go early because it was too nice outside! (Seriously, it was the first time I'd seen the sun in way too long)
Later that night a bunch of us went out to the London Pub (our go-to) for a few beers. It was really fun until a few Canadians came over and started hitting on all the girls. I have dealt with my fair share of creepers but when one of them says, "Hey you guys should come up to our hotel rooms and help us pick out clothes for the club we're all going to go to," I was like "umm....no definitely not." So we peaced out and went to McDonalds. Best decision ever. It was so good! Just like home. It actually made me a little homesick.
Today was a really long day of classes. Culture By Design was...interesting. It was all about photography and we looked at some pictures in class about 9/11 and how the different views of it can interpret different things. We saw an image of a man falling from the window he presumably jumped out of and it was really disturbing. Then we went to the Tate Modern art museum and went to the exhibit Exposed which is basically a photography exhibit of people who don't know they're being photographed. It was really cool and pretty interesting...until I got to the section called "violence". Call me crazy, but I just cannot stand to see images of people killing themselves, being killed, or dead bodies stacked up like firewood. I kind of freaked out a bit and was very quiet for the rest of the trip. Not a very fun experience. I wanted to puke/cry. Sorry if that's a bit graphic but, then, you didn't have to look at the photos.
Pop Culture was also an adventure. Today's lesson was all about fashion. Specifically male v. female fashion. Lecture was very short so we decided to leave for our outing early and take a trip to Harrods- aka department store heaven. It was crazy. Chock full of major designers. Judson and I found a plain white t-shirt for 70 GBP (about $120). Of course, it was Prada. Then we got lost going to the Fashion and Textile Museum which turns out, upon finally finding our way, that they don't have a permanent exhibit on display at the moment. So we sat in the Fashion and Textile Museum Cafe and talked about our major project-final paper and presentation. I think I might do gender differences in music, specifically image and performance.
Tonight we stayed in, made dinner, watched Friends, and now I'm about to pack for Edinburgh, Scotland tomorrow!!! We leave at like 8 a.m. ugh. I will blog again after my sure-to-be amazing weekend. Cheers!
-APC
Monday, June 14, 2010
"Every good castle has a moat..."
This weekend was....a blur.
FRIDAY
Friday started out very early with a very chilly tour of the Tower of London. We learned a lot of interesting facts about it like that it is technically one of the Queen's places of residence, but of course she wouldn't live there. It is London's oldest functioning castle and there are still people who live inside it-the guards and their families. It used to be the place where prisoners were held and eventually executed but you had to be someone really special to be held there instead of, like, a regular prison. It was also used up until the 1960s. The Tower also houses the Crown Jewels and the largest diamond in the world (aka my future engagement ring haha)
To tell you the truth, I really wasn't into it. I mean, it was interesting but I was freezing and it was kind of rainy. I was happy to be inside when we were looking at the Crown Jewels (amazing).
I think the most interesting part was to go into one of the towers and see what prisoners had carved into the stone. Some of the designs and drawings were really intricate, which makes sense because many were held in the same room for several years.
For lunch we ate at Wagamama, a popular Japanese-ish restaurant with a ton of noddle and rice dishes. It was absolutely delicious and relatively cheap. Mary definitely made a good choice.
After lunch we took the Tube to Westminster Abbey to take a tour (one of those individual headset kind of tours). Unfortunately, you aren't allowed to take pictures in there so don't look for them on Facebook. But it doesn't matter; no picture I could ever take could fully capture the incredible essence of this amazing place. Every single detail is represented in the architecture and painting. It's truly incredible. Many monarchs are buried there as well as prominent figures in British history. My favorite part was a writers' corner where some famous novelists and poets are buried or memorialized like Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy and Jane Austen to name a few.
After the tours, a few of us went to Primark (a mix between H&M, Old Navy and perhaps Forever 21) for some shopping. Primark is famous for being really inexpensive and it definitely didn't disappoint. The hour-long line for the fitting room and the racks that looked like war zones were all worth the savings. I bought 2 pairs of jeans, a sweatshirt, and a pair of shoes for 24 GBP (roughly $40). It was awesome. Friday night was really fun. We all went out to a tiny little pub to watch the first games of the World Cup and a few of us ended up going to a club called Heaven later that night. I must admit, it was a little out of control but overall a very fun night.
SATURDAY
Another early morning to go and watch the Trooping of the Colour, the Queen's "official" birthday. It was really amazing to see the Queen and Prince William in person! Unfortunately, Harry wasn't there :( But all in all it was really cool. The parade was very elaborate with hundreds of guards in red coats marching, playing instruments, riding horses, and playing instruments whilst riding horses. It was crazy.
The craziest part, though, was while Rob and I were watching the parade, we met a woman who graduated from JMU in 2007 and is from Yorktown! She went to Grafton! Small world. She and her boyfriend/fiance/husband were on like a tour of Europe. It was so cool to talk to her about JMU in a place that feels like a whole different world. It was nuts. She is sending me pictures when she gets back to the States because all of mine turned out really bad.
Anyway, afterward I was so tired that I just came back to the flat and watched About A Boy with my flatmates. All we have are British movies here so it is what it is. Then we got ready to go to a different, and much larger, pub for the USA v. England game.
It was crazy. Fortunately, there were a bunch of other Americans there so it wasn't scary or anything. The best part was when we all sang the National Anthem at the top of our lungs. It was oddly and incredibly patriotic. The rest of that night was a blur as most of us had a bit too much fun and rough mornings the next day. I won't go into detail...basically because I don't remember.
SUNDAY
Bright and early we went to Hyde Park to Speaker's Corner, a part of the park where people come on Sunday mornings the stand up on their soap boxes (or, apparently, step ladders) and say whatever they want. I wish someone would have warned us about the kinds of truly offensive things that come out of peoples' mouths. I don't get offended easily, but there are some things I just can't tolerate.
After lunch, we went over to Little Venice and took an adorable little boat ride over to Camden Market, where I went last Thursday. It is 100X crazier on the weekends and, unfortunately, I didn't have any money. I did have enough for an old-ish copy of The Return of Sherlock Holmes for 4 GBP. I was really excited to find a huge bookstore in the middle of the market. I'll definitely be going back to buy gifts.
Yesterday ended with dinner at Professor Maune's family's house out in the suburbs of London. It was the most adorable neighborhood and, legit, the house I want to own one day. It was perfect. Fortunately, Marie took tons of photos so I can have some design ideas for my house one day. The food was delicious and it was just a great way to end the day.
MONDAY
Today we did not have a Media & Politics outing because we are going to Parliament tomorrow evening. I'm really excited. I don't know what I'm going to do the rest of the day, but I definitely need to get some work done.
-APC
FRIDAY
Friday started out very early with a very chilly tour of the Tower of London. We learned a lot of interesting facts about it like that it is technically one of the Queen's places of residence, but of course she wouldn't live there. It is London's oldest functioning castle and there are still people who live inside it-the guards and their families. It used to be the place where prisoners were held and eventually executed but you had to be someone really special to be held there instead of, like, a regular prison. It was also used up until the 1960s. The Tower also houses the Crown Jewels and the largest diamond in the world (aka my future engagement ring haha)
To tell you the truth, I really wasn't into it. I mean, it was interesting but I was freezing and it was kind of rainy. I was happy to be inside when we were looking at the Crown Jewels (amazing).
I think the most interesting part was to go into one of the towers and see what prisoners had carved into the stone. Some of the designs and drawings were really intricate, which makes sense because many were held in the same room for several years.
For lunch we ate at Wagamama, a popular Japanese-ish restaurant with a ton of noddle and rice dishes. It was absolutely delicious and relatively cheap. Mary definitely made a good choice.
After lunch we took the Tube to Westminster Abbey to take a tour (one of those individual headset kind of tours). Unfortunately, you aren't allowed to take pictures in there so don't look for them on Facebook. But it doesn't matter; no picture I could ever take could fully capture the incredible essence of this amazing place. Every single detail is represented in the architecture and painting. It's truly incredible. Many monarchs are buried there as well as prominent figures in British history. My favorite part was a writers' corner where some famous novelists and poets are buried or memorialized like Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy and Jane Austen to name a few.
After the tours, a few of us went to Primark (a mix between H&M, Old Navy and perhaps Forever 21) for some shopping. Primark is famous for being really inexpensive and it definitely didn't disappoint. The hour-long line for the fitting room and the racks that looked like war zones were all worth the savings. I bought 2 pairs of jeans, a sweatshirt, and a pair of shoes for 24 GBP (roughly $40). It was awesome. Friday night was really fun. We all went out to a tiny little pub to watch the first games of the World Cup and a few of us ended up going to a club called Heaven later that night. I must admit, it was a little out of control but overall a very fun night.
SATURDAY
Another early morning to go and watch the Trooping of the Colour, the Queen's "official" birthday. It was really amazing to see the Queen and Prince William in person! Unfortunately, Harry wasn't there :( But all in all it was really cool. The parade was very elaborate with hundreds of guards in red coats marching, playing instruments, riding horses, and playing instruments whilst riding horses. It was crazy.
The craziest part, though, was while Rob and I were watching the parade, we met a woman who graduated from JMU in 2007 and is from Yorktown! She went to Grafton! Small world. She and her boyfriend/fiance/husband were on like a tour of Europe. It was so cool to talk to her about JMU in a place that feels like a whole different world. It was nuts. She is sending me pictures when she gets back to the States because all of mine turned out really bad.
Anyway, afterward I was so tired that I just came back to the flat and watched About A Boy with my flatmates. All we have are British movies here so it is what it is. Then we got ready to go to a different, and much larger, pub for the USA v. England game.
It was crazy. Fortunately, there were a bunch of other Americans there so it wasn't scary or anything. The best part was when we all sang the National Anthem at the top of our lungs. It was oddly and incredibly patriotic. The rest of that night was a blur as most of us had a bit too much fun and rough mornings the next day. I won't go into detail...basically because I don't remember.
SUNDAY
Bright and early we went to Hyde Park to Speaker's Corner, a part of the park where people come on Sunday mornings the stand up on their soap boxes (or, apparently, step ladders) and say whatever they want. I wish someone would have warned us about the kinds of truly offensive things that come out of peoples' mouths. I don't get offended easily, but there are some things I just can't tolerate.
After lunch, we went over to Little Venice and took an adorable little boat ride over to Camden Market, where I went last Thursday. It is 100X crazier on the weekends and, unfortunately, I didn't have any money. I did have enough for an old-ish copy of The Return of Sherlock Holmes for 4 GBP. I was really excited to find a huge bookstore in the middle of the market. I'll definitely be going back to buy gifts.
Yesterday ended with dinner at Professor Maune's family's house out in the suburbs of London. It was the most adorable neighborhood and, legit, the house I want to own one day. It was perfect. Fortunately, Marie took tons of photos so I can have some design ideas for my house one day. The food was delicious and it was just a great way to end the day.
MONDAY
Today we did not have a Media & Politics outing because we are going to Parliament tomorrow evening. I'm really excited. I don't know what I'm going to do the rest of the day, but I definitely need to get some work done.
-APC
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Well, I survived my first week of classes and work. Let's start with work.
Can of Worms is everything I pictured it to me. A small room situated in a yard (basically, a wide alley amongst other small shops) with about 6 desks and 7 people in the office. It's brilliant. I haven't done a lot my first week. I spent Tuesday familiarizing myself with some of the books by reading their AIs (Advance Information Sheets). Specifically, one book, The Letter From Death. It is originally American and now it's being released in the UK. We are making a book launch, hopefully. The next day, I researched humanists in Britain to hopefully write a review for the book because it was so popular among humanists in the US. I also scoured the news for any possible connections to any of the books we need to do publicity for on Twitter and Facebook as well as the professional web site. Next week, I get to start actually writing stuff and I'm so excited.
Actually, the best part of my week at work was when Josie, the literary agent in the office, gave me some manuscripts to read through. It was so exciting to be reading someone's work of art that no one else has read (professionally) and basically deciding if it lives or dies. I read a few that I didn't like but one really caught my attention. I just really enjoyed doing that-that's what I want to do with my life! I'm going to try to find out more about it and see what opportunities I might have next summer.
Class today was a lot of fun. This morning I had Culture by Design with Jay (seriously the coolest professor). It's all about "looking at stuff closely". We basically just analyze things in society and culture and talk about it. We went to Camden Market (the sickest shopping in London EMILY) to just look around and just kind of "notice" stuff. It was awesome. Seriously awesome.
After Camden, I practically ran to Sainsbury's (grocery store) to get food for tonight before my my next class at 2.
Then I had Communication Diversity in Pop Culture with Dr. Chapman. It was pretty interesting I suppose. We discussed Jewish culture in Britain. We also discussed stereotypes and offending people. We took a trip to the Jewish Museum which wasn't as cool as I thought it would be. The one in D.C. was a lot better. I rather like listening to Holocaust survivors the most because you feel a sort of connection with the person. But anyway....
Tonight, Mackie and I made beef stir-fry for dinner. It was delicious, I must say. Now, we are trying to book the Liverpool trip and Paris. Going to get ice cream!
-APC
Can of Worms is everything I pictured it to me. A small room situated in a yard (basically, a wide alley amongst other small shops) with about 6 desks and 7 people in the office. It's brilliant. I haven't done a lot my first week. I spent Tuesday familiarizing myself with some of the books by reading their AIs (Advance Information Sheets). Specifically, one book, The Letter From Death. It is originally American and now it's being released in the UK. We are making a book launch, hopefully. The next day, I researched humanists in Britain to hopefully write a review for the book because it was so popular among humanists in the US. I also scoured the news for any possible connections to any of the books we need to do publicity for on Twitter and Facebook as well as the professional web site. Next week, I get to start actually writing stuff and I'm so excited.
Actually, the best part of my week at work was when Josie, the literary agent in the office, gave me some manuscripts to read through. It was so exciting to be reading someone's work of art that no one else has read (professionally) and basically deciding if it lives or dies. I read a few that I didn't like but one really caught my attention. I just really enjoyed doing that-that's what I want to do with my life! I'm going to try to find out more about it and see what opportunities I might have next summer.
Class today was a lot of fun. This morning I had Culture by Design with Jay (seriously the coolest professor). It's all about "looking at stuff closely". We basically just analyze things in society and culture and talk about it. We went to Camden Market (the sickest shopping in London EMILY) to just look around and just kind of "notice" stuff. It was awesome. Seriously awesome.
After Camden, I practically ran to Sainsbury's (grocery store) to get food for tonight before my my next class at 2.
Then I had Communication Diversity in Pop Culture with Dr. Chapman. It was pretty interesting I suppose. We discussed Jewish culture in Britain. We also discussed stereotypes and offending people. We took a trip to the Jewish Museum which wasn't as cool as I thought it would be. The one in D.C. was a lot better. I rather like listening to Holocaust survivors the most because you feel a sort of connection with the person. But anyway....
Tonight, Mackie and I made beef stir-fry for dinner. It was delicious, I must say. Now, we are trying to book the Liverpool trip and Paris. Going to get ice cream!
-APC
Monday, June 7, 2010
First Day of Class
This morning, I had my first class-Media & Politics with Dr. Bradshaw. First of all, FSU's building is like a maze. I swear, I have no idea where we went but somehow we ended up back on the ground floor in room #42.
The class is pretty interesting. Today we just talked about the media's role in politics such as watchdog, gate keepers and shaping public opinion. We also compared American media versus British media during election. British media is much more brutal but a lot less influential, even though every paper in England is totally biased.
Our outing was to the Old Bailey, which is a court. I thought we'd just be sitting in on like someone who got a ticket or something, but as soon as we got in the lobby, the woman directing us was like, "We are going to be sitting in on a murder trial and it's a crucial moment in the case so there's no talking, no moving and no sleeping!" It was so intense! As soon as we got in the little balcony area looking over the court room, the prosecutor was interrogating the defendant. Apparently, the suspect stabbed another guy (they were both involved in gangs and drug deals) in a gas station parking lot and claims it was self-defense. When we got in, the prosecutor was going through the stills of the security camera where you could see the victim didn't have a weapon and the suspect stabbed him twice and then punched him!
Long story short, there's no way this guy was getting off. But I found out that even if he is convicted of murder, he'll only get around 15-20 years for this crime. England doesn't have the death penalty or life in prison, I don't think.
Anyway, the rest of the day: I mailed my dad a father's day card (you're welcome, Dad) and then walked to Regent's Park with Judson, which turned out to be a lot farther than I thought. Later this evening, everyone who didn't have the theater class went to Covent Garden to the Lamb & Flag (the oldest pub in the area and the #1 pub in London according to my guide book) and just hung out and had a few drinks. It was a lot of fun and I got to know some of the people a little bit better.
Tomorrow is my first day at my job and I am so nervous! I mean, I just learned how to write a press release and now I have to write them (among other things) for a legit company! I'm just going to go to work and do my best. I will update you on my progress tomorrow!!!
-APC
The class is pretty interesting. Today we just talked about the media's role in politics such as watchdog, gate keepers and shaping public opinion. We also compared American media versus British media during election. British media is much more brutal but a lot less influential, even though every paper in England is totally biased.
Our outing was to the Old Bailey, which is a court. I thought we'd just be sitting in on like someone who got a ticket or something, but as soon as we got in the lobby, the woman directing us was like, "We are going to be sitting in on a murder trial and it's a crucial moment in the case so there's no talking, no moving and no sleeping!" It was so intense! As soon as we got in the little balcony area looking over the court room, the prosecutor was interrogating the defendant. Apparently, the suspect stabbed another guy (they were both involved in gangs and drug deals) in a gas station parking lot and claims it was self-defense. When we got in, the prosecutor was going through the stills of the security camera where you could see the victim didn't have a weapon and the suspect stabbed him twice and then punched him!
Long story short, there's no way this guy was getting off. But I found out that even if he is convicted of murder, he'll only get around 15-20 years for this crime. England doesn't have the death penalty or life in prison, I don't think.
Anyway, the rest of the day: I mailed my dad a father's day card (you're welcome, Dad) and then walked to Regent's Park with Judson, which turned out to be a lot farther than I thought. Later this evening, everyone who didn't have the theater class went to Covent Garden to the Lamb & Flag (the oldest pub in the area and the #1 pub in London according to my guide book) and just hung out and had a few drinks. It was a lot of fun and I got to know some of the people a little bit better.
Tomorrow is my first day at my job and I am so nervous! I mean, I just learned how to write a press release and now I have to write them (among other things) for a legit company! I'm just going to go to work and do my best. I will update you on my progress tomorrow!!!
-APC
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Orientation Weekend
So, I haven't posted anything in a really long time because the party just hasn't stopped. But I'll do my best to recount the past few days in order.
FRIDAY
Friday morning the rest of the group, those not interning, arrived to Madison House and everyone looked like zombies. That must have been how we looked when we first arrived! By this time, I felt like I'd been in London for a few weeks-not just a few days. It's crazy how familiar a place can seem even when it's really not. We had another brief orientation meeting basically going over everything we had already heard. The plan was to go shopping for some really cheap clothes after the meeting, but we didn't have enough time so instead Laura, Mary and I just walked towards the other side of Bedford Place (towards Russell Square) where no one had been yet. We walked past The Hotel Russell which is a gorgeous, grand hotel where many of the passengers of the Titanic spent their last nights. We found the underground station and continued to walk down Southampton. We found a nice little pub called the London Pub that I made a mental note of.
Then, the entire group took a west end walk right up the River Thames and caught beautiful glimpeses of the Eye, Big Ben, Parliament and St. Paul's Cathedral. Our tour was led by Rustin (our program director) and took hours!! I mean, it was interesting and really cool but my feet hurt so bad afterward! Everyone was so hungry by the time we got to the restaurant. We went to a place called Tas, it's Turkish. We had Turkish pizza. It wasn't good. First of all, dinner lasted 3 hours while we just sat there growing more tired by the minute. It was dark by the time we left the restaraunt and remember, the sun doesn't set til 9:30. Then we all walked across the Millineum Bridge towards St. Pauls and headed toward the Tube.
Mary and I were so tired, we checked out some videos from upstairs and watched a Brtish comedian named Catherine Tate. She's pretty funny-very British sense of humor. Then we just went to bed because we had to be up bright and early the next morning for more walking tours!
SATURDAY
9 a.m. came much too quickly as I tried to stay awake in the shower. Walking around ALL DAY in (surprisingly) sunny London really takes it out of you. Anyway, we rode the Tube to the east end of London. There we were met by our tour guide, the old and adorable Harry Jackson, who led us through the east end. The east end is..intersting. It looks like Harlem. Filled with Bangolie and Jewish families and markets. The east end is also infamous for Jack the Ripper. I stood in the exact place where his first victim was found dead. GROSS! The east end was also bombed mercilessly during WWII. However, many buildings were still left standing from the 1700s though they look much different and are used for much different things. We also walked past the Royal London Hospital which is where the Elephant Man was taken to be studied after his discovery across the street. His bones still remain in the hospital even though Michael Jackson tried to buy his remains for I think 1 million pounds. My feet hurt so bad after all of it.
From there it was a free evening so we had a group of about 7 and went to the London Eye! It was so cool to see the city from up above. We even found the area where we are living. I got tons of great photos that I should be uploading soon. Then we all headed to the same pub Mary and I had the other night because it was the only one we knew wouldn't be crowded on a Friday evening (because it's underground and easily missed-probably one of the best kept secrets in London). I had a burger this time and it was really good! I also had a pint of Strongbow (my new love) which is like a cider rather than an ale. It is delicious.
The general concensus for the night was that everyone wanted to go to a pub instead of a club because we had to get up early the next morning yet again. So we went over the the London Pub (my mental note came in handy) and it was lovely. Inside was kinda crowded so we stood out in their little courtyard. It was such a great time, but I left early to skype with Dan because it was our four year anniversary. As soon as I got back to the house, it started to rain! Five minutes later I heard everyone else stumble in. Good thing it was so close!
SUNDAY
Today started out with a Royal London Walk led by another tour guide named Deborah Charles. She led us through Green Park where there are no flowers. Apparently, a bunch of nuns died in the park after Henry VIII turned them out of their monastary and that's why flowers don't grow. We saw Spencer House which belonged to Princess Diana's family since the 1700s until it was bought by financial companies but still perfectly preserved. I'm pretty sure you can tour it. We also saw the house in which Prince Charles resides when he's in town. unfortunately, he and the boys (William and Harry) weren't in. Then we made our way towards St. James's Park and watched the Changing of the Guard. It was really cool to see. They do it every day in the summer and every other day in the Winter. What was cool was that all of the guards are active military so they basically either get guard duty or they go to Afganistan. I'd rather have gurad duty, even though the tourists are really annoying. We saw Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and Parliament. Unfortunatley, my camera died before I could take a picture of the protestors camped out on Parliament Square.
I had Pizza Express for lunch and it was delicious. I got just a basic margarita pizza and a fanta for like 8 GBP. Then we had a crazy scavenger hunt and my group definitely got lost trying to find our way from Liceister Square to Covent Garden. We came in second I think but that's ok. We had our last meeting and got 74 GBP for food for a week and a half. Unfortunatly, most of that will probably be spent at the pub next Saturday during the World Cup. So excitied!
After the meeting, Tessa and I researched our trip to Liverpool then went to sit in Russell Square Park before it started raining. Then I warmed up Paella for dinner with a Stella Artois. Great night.
I am so tired! Tomorrow morning I have my first class-Media and Politics. Class is at 9 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. then our outing is until 1 p.m. I don't know what I'm going to do after but I'll probably just explore some and maybe go running, which I really need to do. And go to the store. Pizza for dinner tomorrow night! We have to eat it before it goes bad.
-APC
FRIDAY
Friday morning the rest of the group, those not interning, arrived to Madison House and everyone looked like zombies. That must have been how we looked when we first arrived! By this time, I felt like I'd been in London for a few weeks-not just a few days. It's crazy how familiar a place can seem even when it's really not. We had another brief orientation meeting basically going over everything we had already heard. The plan was to go shopping for some really cheap clothes after the meeting, but we didn't have enough time so instead Laura, Mary and I just walked towards the other side of Bedford Place (towards Russell Square) where no one had been yet. We walked past The Hotel Russell which is a gorgeous, grand hotel where many of the passengers of the Titanic spent their last nights. We found the underground station and continued to walk down Southampton. We found a nice little pub called the London Pub that I made a mental note of.
Then, the entire group took a west end walk right up the River Thames and caught beautiful glimpeses of the Eye, Big Ben, Parliament and St. Paul's Cathedral. Our tour was led by Rustin (our program director) and took hours!! I mean, it was interesting and really cool but my feet hurt so bad afterward! Everyone was so hungry by the time we got to the restaurant. We went to a place called Tas, it's Turkish. We had Turkish pizza. It wasn't good. First of all, dinner lasted 3 hours while we just sat there growing more tired by the minute. It was dark by the time we left the restaraunt and remember, the sun doesn't set til 9:30. Then we all walked across the Millineum Bridge towards St. Pauls and headed toward the Tube.
Mary and I were so tired, we checked out some videos from upstairs and watched a Brtish comedian named Catherine Tate. She's pretty funny-very British sense of humor. Then we just went to bed because we had to be up bright and early the next morning for more walking tours!
SATURDAY
9 a.m. came much too quickly as I tried to stay awake in the shower. Walking around ALL DAY in (surprisingly) sunny London really takes it out of you. Anyway, we rode the Tube to the east end of London. There we were met by our tour guide, the old and adorable Harry Jackson, who led us through the east end. The east end is..intersting. It looks like Harlem. Filled with Bangolie and Jewish families and markets. The east end is also infamous for Jack the Ripper. I stood in the exact place where his first victim was found dead. GROSS! The east end was also bombed mercilessly during WWII. However, many buildings were still left standing from the 1700s though they look much different and are used for much different things. We also walked past the Royal London Hospital which is where the Elephant Man was taken to be studied after his discovery across the street. His bones still remain in the hospital even though Michael Jackson tried to buy his remains for I think 1 million pounds. My feet hurt so bad after all of it.
From there it was a free evening so we had a group of about 7 and went to the London Eye! It was so cool to see the city from up above. We even found the area where we are living. I got tons of great photos that I should be uploading soon. Then we all headed to the same pub Mary and I had the other night because it was the only one we knew wouldn't be crowded on a Friday evening (because it's underground and easily missed-probably one of the best kept secrets in London). I had a burger this time and it was really good! I also had a pint of Strongbow (my new love) which is like a cider rather than an ale. It is delicious.
The general concensus for the night was that everyone wanted to go to a pub instead of a club because we had to get up early the next morning yet again. So we went over the the London Pub (my mental note came in handy) and it was lovely. Inside was kinda crowded so we stood out in their little courtyard. It was such a great time, but I left early to skype with Dan because it was our four year anniversary. As soon as I got back to the house, it started to rain! Five minutes later I heard everyone else stumble in. Good thing it was so close!
SUNDAY
Today started out with a Royal London Walk led by another tour guide named Deborah Charles. She led us through Green Park where there are no flowers. Apparently, a bunch of nuns died in the park after Henry VIII turned them out of their monastary and that's why flowers don't grow. We saw Spencer House which belonged to Princess Diana's family since the 1700s until it was bought by financial companies but still perfectly preserved. I'm pretty sure you can tour it. We also saw the house in which Prince Charles resides when he's in town. unfortunately, he and the boys (William and Harry) weren't in. Then we made our way towards St. James's Park and watched the Changing of the Guard. It was really cool to see. They do it every day in the summer and every other day in the Winter. What was cool was that all of the guards are active military so they basically either get guard duty or they go to Afganistan. I'd rather have gurad duty, even though the tourists are really annoying. We saw Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and Parliament. Unfortunatley, my camera died before I could take a picture of the protestors camped out on Parliament Square.
I had Pizza Express for lunch and it was delicious. I got just a basic margarita pizza and a fanta for like 8 GBP. Then we had a crazy scavenger hunt and my group definitely got lost trying to find our way from Liceister Square to Covent Garden. We came in second I think but that's ok. We had our last meeting and got 74 GBP for food for a week and a half. Unfortunatly, most of that will probably be spent at the pub next Saturday during the World Cup. So excitied!
After the meeting, Tessa and I researched our trip to Liverpool then went to sit in Russell Square Park before it started raining. Then I warmed up Paella for dinner with a Stella Artois. Great night.
I am so tired! Tomorrow morning I have my first class-Media and Politics. Class is at 9 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. then our outing is until 1 p.m. I don't know what I'm going to do after but I'll probably just explore some and maybe go running, which I really need to do. And go to the store. Pizza for dinner tomorrow night! We have to eat it before it goes bad.
-APC
Friday, June 4, 2010
Day 2 &3: Finding my way
My first few days have been packed with things to see and do!
I found out Wednesday that my interview with Can Of Worms would be Thursday at 3 p.m. so I had plenty of time to sleep in and try to find directions. Wednesday night, Laura Mary and I went to Ultimate Burger, where we got massive hamburgers and I ordered my first beer in London. It was so exciting! After dinner, we stopped my the grocery store to get some basics and then went back to the room. The strange thing was that it was like 9 o' clock and it was still bright outside! It looked like what 6 p.m. looks like at home. Needless to say, staying up until 11 or 12 to talk to my family and friends won't be a problem because I definitely won't be trying to go to bed when the sun could still blind me.
Yesterday (Thursday) I slept in so late! 11 a.m.! For those who don't really know, I just physically can't sleep that late normally. It was kind of a big deal to me. Then I got up and tried to map out the way to get to my interview. I figured I would go to Holborn station, change at Piccadilly and get off at Elephant & Castle. The tube was surprisingly easy. Everything was a breeze. I didn't have to wait for a train and I knew exactly where I was going.
Once I got out of the station was a different story. I gave my self 2 hours to get to my interview. And long story short, I was still five minutes late. I was trying my hardest not to have to use my map and look like a dumb American, but in the end I swallowed my pride and finally found my way.
Can of Worms is a very small publishing company that mostly specializes in travel books (like crazy stories like climbing Everest, not just general guide books) and childrens' books. They also publish books by request from organizations or schools. They don't do it for a lot of money which I think is kind of noble in a way. Anyway, Helen, my supervisor and probably the coolest person in London, told me I'll be doing publicity mostly. Writing press releases and emails, attending events and such. It's pretty exciting. I'm really nervous though because I'm just learning how to do all this and now I have to do it for a real company and I just don't want to mess up. I think if I just pretend I know what I'm doing, it will just flow from there. No worries.
Helen walked me to a different train station, one she said is not "f**king filthy" after my interview. Along the way, we discussed the weather (one stereotype about the British she said is completely true), American customer service, travel and alcohol. If this doesn't seem strange already, picture her (MY BOSS) wearing a short blue, flowy dress with tights underneath, and metallic combat boots. She looks young, maybe in her early 30s but still, this will be an interesting job.
My flatmate, Mary and I went to our first pub lat night. We ordered fish and chips and our first pints of Guinness. It was pretty good. Then we came back and watched Glee :)
Today, the rest of the group gets here and we have another orientation. Later this evening is a walk along the Thames as a group and dinner. After dinner, there is a party at Can of Worms that I think Mary and I will go to. It is to get to know everone in the "yard", or the surrounding shops.
I found out Wednesday that my interview with Can Of Worms would be Thursday at 3 p.m. so I had plenty of time to sleep in and try to find directions. Wednesday night, Laura Mary and I went to Ultimate Burger, where we got massive hamburgers and I ordered my first beer in London. It was so exciting! After dinner, we stopped my the grocery store to get some basics and then went back to the room. The strange thing was that it was like 9 o' clock and it was still bright outside! It looked like what 6 p.m. looks like at home. Needless to say, staying up until 11 or 12 to talk to my family and friends won't be a problem because I definitely won't be trying to go to bed when the sun could still blind me.
Yesterday (Thursday) I slept in so late! 11 a.m.! For those who don't really know, I just physically can't sleep that late normally. It was kind of a big deal to me. Then I got up and tried to map out the way to get to my interview. I figured I would go to Holborn station, change at Piccadilly and get off at Elephant & Castle. The tube was surprisingly easy. Everything was a breeze. I didn't have to wait for a train and I knew exactly where I was going.
Once I got out of the station was a different story. I gave my self 2 hours to get to my interview. And long story short, I was still five minutes late. I was trying my hardest not to have to use my map and look like a dumb American, but in the end I swallowed my pride and finally found my way.
Can of Worms is a very small publishing company that mostly specializes in travel books (like crazy stories like climbing Everest, not just general guide books) and childrens' books. They also publish books by request from organizations or schools. They don't do it for a lot of money which I think is kind of noble in a way. Anyway, Helen, my supervisor and probably the coolest person in London, told me I'll be doing publicity mostly. Writing press releases and emails, attending events and such. It's pretty exciting. I'm really nervous though because I'm just learning how to do all this and now I have to do it for a real company and I just don't want to mess up. I think if I just pretend I know what I'm doing, it will just flow from there. No worries.
Helen walked me to a different train station, one she said is not "f**king filthy" after my interview. Along the way, we discussed the weather (one stereotype about the British she said is completely true), American customer service, travel and alcohol. If this doesn't seem strange already, picture her (MY BOSS) wearing a short blue, flowy dress with tights underneath, and metallic combat boots. She looks young, maybe in her early 30s but still, this will be an interesting job.
My flatmate, Mary and I went to our first pub lat night. We ordered fish and chips and our first pints of Guinness. It was pretty good. Then we came back and watched Glee :)
Today, the rest of the group gets here and we have another orientation. Later this evening is a walk along the Thames as a group and dinner. After dinner, there is a party at Can of Worms that I think Mary and I will go to. It is to get to know everone in the "yard", or the surrounding shops.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
London Calling
So I was all set to go Tuesday morning. Packed. Prepared. Confident. Only to have my little world shattered by a Continental Airlines representative who called at 7:15 a.m. to tell me my flight from Norfolk to Newark had been canceled. All I could think was, "of course this would happen."
My dad, being the awesome super hero that he is, saved the day and booked me a flight out of Richmond with the same connecting flight to Heathrow. However, when I got to Richmond, I was able to get on a 12:55 flight (legit set to leave 20 mins. after we arrived). So my dad and I practically ran to security, said a quick but tearful (on my end anyway) goodbye and I headed off to start the biggest adventure of my life thus far.
The flight to Newark was ok. I just read The Perks of Being A Wallflower the whole time. It kept my mind off of the people I love.
Once I arrived at the airport, I experienced my first shuttle ride alone, my first flight board alone and my first gate searching alone. So I say at gate C92 for a good 5-6 hours and waited. In between calls from my dad, my mom, Sarah and Dan it was al I could do to keep from crying my little eyes out.
The flight to Heathrow was actually really good. I had a window seat and only a small Asian man who did not speak English very well in the aisle seat. I watched episodes of 30 Rock, The Office and The Middle and then fell asleep watching the movie Valentine's Day. Sleeping is never easy on a plane but I managed fairly well.
Finding my group was not a problem at all. But I was so tired! We took a coach to our new home, Madison House, and started to get acquainted with the place. Then we walked over to our classrooms a few blocks away at Florida State University's facilities. We all received Oyster Cards to ride the tube and a mobile phone, along with tons of great info. and maps.
I also had my first taste of food in London. At the airport, I got a Diet Cherry Coke and it tasted nothing like I thoought it would. Ew. Then at the meeting, we had sanwiches and grapes and some crazy soda. Yoga Bunny something. That was pretty good.
I have another meeting in a few minutes about my internship. I will find out when I need to go interview tomorrow! I'm so excited.
Tonight, I am going to the Eye with my flatmates and out to eat.
-APC
My dad, being the awesome super hero that he is, saved the day and booked me a flight out of Richmond with the same connecting flight to Heathrow. However, when I got to Richmond, I was able to get on a 12:55 flight (legit set to leave 20 mins. after we arrived). So my dad and I practically ran to security, said a quick but tearful (on my end anyway) goodbye and I headed off to start the biggest adventure of my life thus far.
The flight to Newark was ok. I just read The Perks of Being A Wallflower the whole time. It kept my mind off of the people I love.
Once I arrived at the airport, I experienced my first shuttle ride alone, my first flight board alone and my first gate searching alone. So I say at gate C92 for a good 5-6 hours and waited. In between calls from my dad, my mom, Sarah and Dan it was al I could do to keep from crying my little eyes out.
The flight to Heathrow was actually really good. I had a window seat and only a small Asian man who did not speak English very well in the aisle seat. I watched episodes of 30 Rock, The Office and The Middle and then fell asleep watching the movie Valentine's Day. Sleeping is never easy on a plane but I managed fairly well.
Finding my group was not a problem at all. But I was so tired! We took a coach to our new home, Madison House, and started to get acquainted with the place. Then we walked over to our classrooms a few blocks away at Florida State University's facilities. We all received Oyster Cards to ride the tube and a mobile phone, along with tons of great info. and maps.
I also had my first taste of food in London. At the airport, I got a Diet Cherry Coke and it tasted nothing like I thoought it would. Ew. Then at the meeting, we had sanwiches and grapes and some crazy soda. Yoga Bunny something. That was pretty good.
I have another meeting in a few minutes about my internship. I will find out when I need to go interview tomorrow! I'm so excited.
Tonight, I am going to the Eye with my flatmates and out to eat.
-APC
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Packing Begins
One week before I leave and I just started laying out clothes last night. Probably not the best decision.
According to Continental Airlines, I can have up to two bags that weigh less than 50 lbs. each. Yeah Right! I think the plan is for me to take the largest suitcase we own and then a much smaller one. I'm going to try and cram everything I'm taking into the big one and use the little one to bring back lots of great, CHEAP stuff!
So I have like 6-7 pairs of pants, 7-8 pairs of shorts, 6 dresses, 5-6 tshirts, 7-8 tank tops, 4-5 cardigans, 5 pairs of shoes and all the underwear in my dresser to pack. That should be enough, right? I mean, there is laundry but, apparently, doing laundry in England is like running your clothes through a car wash. I don't think they know what a gentle cycle is. This should be interesting.
After I finish my homework I have to do research for trips with the rest of the group. I think the general consensus is that we all want to make it to Dublin and Amsterdam. However, this might be a problem for me seeing as how I am strapped for money. But I think it's manageable if I just find the cheapest airfare, a hostel (or just sleep on the street) and basically just eat next to nothing. But it will all be worth it!
MAJOR NEWS: I, Amanda Paige Caskey, am making my dream come true. On June 27th at 12:45 p.m. at Hyde Park in London, England, I will attend a concert. And not just any concert. I will see....Sir Paul McCartney perform his hits from The Beatles, Wings and his solo career. Who's excited?!?! I think I might cry. No, I won't, but that's how totally psyched I am. So worth that 70 pounds.
Anyway, I've got a week left to go and then the madness begins. My greatest fear at this moment is getting lost in one of the airports. That's lame, but it is what it is.
I'll post finalized plans later in the week. PEACE!
According to Continental Airlines, I can have up to two bags that weigh less than 50 lbs. each. Yeah Right! I think the plan is for me to take the largest suitcase we own and then a much smaller one. I'm going to try and cram everything I'm taking into the big one and use the little one to bring back lots of great, CHEAP stuff!
So I have like 6-7 pairs of pants, 7-8 pairs of shorts, 6 dresses, 5-6 tshirts, 7-8 tank tops, 4-5 cardigans, 5 pairs of shoes and all the underwear in my dresser to pack. That should be enough, right? I mean, there is laundry but, apparently, doing laundry in England is like running your clothes through a car wash. I don't think they know what a gentle cycle is. This should be interesting.
After I finish my homework I have to do research for trips with the rest of the group. I think the general consensus is that we all want to make it to Dublin and Amsterdam. However, this might be a problem for me seeing as how I am strapped for money. But I think it's manageable if I just find the cheapest airfare, a hostel (or just sleep on the street) and basically just eat next to nothing. But it will all be worth it!
MAJOR NEWS: I, Amanda Paige Caskey, am making my dream come true. On June 27th at 12:45 p.m. at Hyde Park in London, England, I will attend a concert. And not just any concert. I will see....Sir Paul McCartney perform his hits from The Beatles, Wings and his solo career. Who's excited?!?! I think I might cry. No, I won't, but that's how totally psyched I am. So worth that 70 pounds.
Anyway, I've got a week left to go and then the madness begins. My greatest fear at this moment is getting lost in one of the airports. That's lame, but it is what it is.
I'll post finalized plans later in the week. PEACE!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Two Weeks Until the Beginning of an Adventure
Hello all!
As my first post for this blog, I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who will eventually be subscribing and reading this as I go about my studies and travels in London this summer. I know you all will be hanging on to my every word (sarcasm, get used to it) and I just want to let you know how much I appreciate the support. As a writer, there's nothing worse than no one caring about what you have to say. You all make it possible for me to want to keep writing.
Anyway, it's official. This time in two weeks I will be sitting in the airport waiting to board my plane (flight info. will be posted next week).
I just can't believe the time is actually here. I feel so many things right now; way too many emotions for one person to be feeling. I'm excited and happy about going out and being on my own for a while, yet extremely nervous and anxious about living in a foreign (in more ways than one) city. As mushy as it may sound, I'm also sad to be leaving my family, friends and boyfriend behind. It's the longest amount of time I've been away from any of them, not to mention the farthest distance.
So far I haven't actually done anything in preparation for this trip. I haven't started packing. I haven't even made a list! I'm worried about packing too much and not packing enough all at the same time. It's a very odd feeling. First things first, I need to go online and see how many bags I'm allowed to take and start there.
I'm thinking about packing 3-4 pairs of pants, 3-4 pairs of shorts, 10-12 nice tops, 5-6 tshirts, 4 cardigans, 5-6 dresses, a sweatshirt, all the underwear I own of course, flip flops, a few pairs of flats, and sneakers.
I honestly have no idea how to pack for international travel for two months! More packing details next week!
Well, I think that's about all for now. Next week I will post some more details about the trip and everything!
As my first post for this blog, I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who will eventually be subscribing and reading this as I go about my studies and travels in London this summer. I know you all will be hanging on to my every word (sarcasm, get used to it) and I just want to let you know how much I appreciate the support. As a writer, there's nothing worse than no one caring about what you have to say. You all make it possible for me to want to keep writing.
Anyway, it's official. This time in two weeks I will be sitting in the airport waiting to board my plane (flight info. will be posted next week).
I just can't believe the time is actually here. I feel so many things right now; way too many emotions for one person to be feeling. I'm excited and happy about going out and being on my own for a while, yet extremely nervous and anxious about living in a foreign (in more ways than one) city. As mushy as it may sound, I'm also sad to be leaving my family, friends and boyfriend behind. It's the longest amount of time I've been away from any of them, not to mention the farthest distance.
So far I haven't actually done anything in preparation for this trip. I haven't started packing. I haven't even made a list! I'm worried about packing too much and not packing enough all at the same time. It's a very odd feeling. First things first, I need to go online and see how many bags I'm allowed to take and start there.
I'm thinking about packing 3-4 pairs of pants, 3-4 pairs of shorts, 10-12 nice tops, 5-6 tshirts, 4 cardigans, 5-6 dresses, a sweatshirt, all the underwear I own of course, flip flops, a few pairs of flats, and sneakers.
I honestly have no idea how to pack for international travel for two months! More packing details next week!
Well, I think that's about all for now. Next week I will post some more details about the trip and everything!
-APC
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