This week has been pretty typical. I didnt have any huge adventures on Sunday and I have been running around like a crazy person between work and classes and homework and plays for my theater class. I guess Harrods just had a huge sale so work was pretty busy this week. We usually get maybe 2 pages per account of sales for an entire weekend, this week we had about 10 per account. It was crazy and took all day long to put the orders into the system, but because Im such a great little worker and got it all done by 5 pm they let me go a half hour early on Monday which was very nice of them. I was getting really excited because fashion week is coming up in London and I kept hearing people in my office talking about "tickets", and I was assuming that it was for a show, but so far I have yet to be invited to anything.
On Tuesday I went to a play for my Theater in London class. It was an Irish play called Greta Garbo goes to Donegol at the Tricycle Theater. It was good and very interesting, and there was a naked man in the first scene that our professor failed to warn us about before hand, but I think in all it was pretty good, and the tiny theater it was in was very cute.
Wednesday was crazy because I have class in the morning then work and then back to class until 730 pm. My morning class is with one of my roommates, but she is late to absolutely everything. So when i saw her get out of the shower at 9 am (where we would usually be leaving around 930 am) I knew it was a lost cause and I told her I would meet her there because I had to print something out before class. It was a good thing I did leave her behind, she ended up being a half hour late to an hour long class. So I feel bad when I leave her behind, but at the same time she really bothers me when she makes me wait, soooo I think Ill be going class without her from now on. Wednesday was also exciting because I got to an an errand for work to Harrods and Harvey Nichols. It was very exciting, especially since I hadn't into either store yet. Harrods is probably about 10 miles of walking if you went into every room, so of course I got lost, but I was with my friends like Dior and D&G, so I wasn't too sad about it.
On Wednesday night, my roommates and I decided that we wanted to go to Imperial College, where we have access to their student union and can join their clubs and stuff. Well Wednesday nights is pound fifty beer night, so we heard it is usually a good time with a bunch of college aged kids. We have had enough of the bars and pubs in our area where the scene seems to be more 50+. It was a lot of fun and we met a bunch of people who were international and British students, and we decided that it would be nice to go back again sometime. It also didn't hurt that the bus to get home is right outside the gates of the school, so we didn't have to walk our usual 2 miles to get from here to there.
Last night we went to a pub called The Shakespeare. It was close and maybe more 30+ rather than the areas usually 50+ places so we had a few drinks and just sat around a talked. It was very cute, but the drinks were around 3.50, which is 5 or 6 dollars each, but that's probably the best deal in our area.
This morning is what I am really excited about. We found out that the theater near us is played Wicked right now and we also found out that students can go the morning of a show and get front row tickets for 25 pounds (usually 60+) so thats what we did and tonight I will be sitting front row at Wicked. We are all pretty pumped. When we were buying the tickets though, some group of women came up right behind us and they were at the next window trying to do the same thing, and I guess we got the last ones, so we told them we were sorry and they said well did you come all the way from Northern Ireland to see it! and we just said no we came from America, they looked embarrassed and shut up and walked away sad but I didnt feel bad because they were kind of rude and I wanted my tickets.
The sun us out today, which is rare, so were probably going to try to take advantage of it and head out to see a castle or something. We have made it a goal of ours to go on an "adventure" each Friday, since none of us have class or work. Today's adventure : Castles!
We are also all getting very excited for our trip to Ireland that we booked a couple weeks ago. The trip started out as a nightmare because of some stupid errors on my part, which included booking the wrong weekend. But it is all starting to work out and we will be shipping out on the 4th after class. Were staying in Dublin with our roommates grandparents, but I plan on seeing Mike Star and Ryan while I am there and that should be great!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Stonehange and Bath
On Friday my program hosted a free trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Stonehenge is the very old site of some very big stones that were brought from miles away to this very hilly place in Great Britain, and no one really knows why anymore. It was very cool to look at because the rocks are something like 20 feet tall and on our tour I found out that this specific type of rock isnt found anywhere near where they are located, actually over 20 miles away. They said that it would have taken over 60 men over one year to move just one rock. And there are a lot of them. And the area around it is made up of all hills and valleys. So I decided to go with the idea that the aliens did it. It could have been a site for religious practices or some kind of calender, They arnt sure anymore. There are also all of these huge boulders stacked on top of the other huge boulders and they are kind of carved to fit together and it looks all very intricate for people from over 5000 years ago. I guess some people say there is no way that the illiterate people of that time could have put together anything this detailed, so I guess it was the aliens. Well it was raining (of course) so we only stayed for about an hour and left to continue on the Bath.
Bath is this city in Great Britain founded by the Romans because when they were exploring they found these natural hot springs and decided that it was holy. So they built their summer home there (basically) and it was very "posh" for any of the Romans to be seen there. I did find out one interesting fact about it. It was uncovered by the britains at some point becuse after time the land around it kinda of filled it in. Well it brought the city back to life and was made very popular to the English when Queen Ann visited it because she had heard that the water had healing powers and she wanted to cure he gout! So I guess she drank 2 liters of the water everyday and soaked in it for a couple hours and it helped her gout. (Sorry Nanny, I wasn't able to find any bottled Bath water to bring home for you) I did however have a glass of the hot spring water, which was interesting. There is the pump that still operates and they allow you to have a drink of the water which contains 23 different minerals. My friend said he thought it tasted like he was drinking rocks but I didn't think it was that bad. Its kind of weird tho because on the pump you can see all the mineral deposits on the faucet. So you know its all in there. We also found this very old very cute candy shop, so I went in to ask if they had any "plain" chocolate. I guess its what the English eat (its somewhere between dark and milk chocolate) It was awesome so a bought two bars and ate an entire one while I waked around Bath. oops.
I guess the town recently applied to have a new spa built in Bath and they were granted it. So now they have this very nice and new spa that uses the natural springs (which heat the water to about 90 degrees) and you can spend the day at the spa there. So my roommates and I are looking into prices because it seems like something we wouldnt hate to do hahaha. Bath was beautiful but it was raining the entire time, so after our 2 hour walking tour and just being out in the rain with no where to go for a few hours we were happy to get back on the coaches and come back to London.
The next day we woke and decided that it was a good day to go to a market. So we went to Camden market. Its supposed to be this large market area that has food, jewelry, clothes, and hand made crafts. We got a late start but we heard it was open till about 6 so we figured we would have enough time. We found a way to get to the closest tube stop and went on our way. Well were on the tube about two stops before ours and the train stops in the tunnel. We sat there for about 10 minutes before the guy comes on the announce system and says that the train will be terminating at the next stop and everyone has to get off. I thought it was weird but I always hear so much about how the tube always shuts down and there are always down lines on any given day. So we get off and decide we can just walk the rest of the way. Were going up the lifts to get out of the station and my roommates tell me that they were having little freak out sessions on the train when it stopped because yesterday the UK raised its terrorism alert from substantial to sever. I was thankful I didnt think of this when we were down in the tube because I would have freaked out too. So we exit the tube station and there are cops everywhere with bomb sniffing dogs that are smelling everyone who exits the station. So then I started to get a little worried. I went up to a cop and asked him what direction the market was in, thinking that if something was wrong with it he wouldn't point me in the direction of the danger. He politely told me it was about 400 yards on the main road. So we decided they must have it under control and we went on to the market. The market was very cool and I decided that we should go back a few more times before we leave. I found this hat that I really liked but being half of my father, wouldn't pay for it unless I brought down the price to just above half. He wasnt having any of it and I left hat-less. (Im going to go back and get it next time) I bought a scarf for 3 pounds (about 5 dollars), a ring for 2 pounds and a pair of earrings for 1.50 pounds. So I thought the day was a success.
Were getting pretty cold and hungry and we werent even half through the market but we decided that we will save it for another time. Plus at this time its starting to get dark and all the weird people were crawling out of the cracks. (I saw a mad with so many piercings on his face I wasnt sure of his skin color!) We started walking back to the tube station we came from and we start seeing all of these buses that said "replacement rail services". Soi asked on of the still many police officers what was going on and where to go and he said that the chunk of rail near us has been suspended and to get on a bus going to Euston so that we can get home. So we found the right bus stop and get on the bus and go to Euston and find an alternative route home. It wasnt too bad for us but while in the station we find out the half of the rails have been suspended in the city and we were a little on edge until we exited the station thats about a 10 minute walk from our flat. We turned on the news to look for something that had happened but I guess nothing did. The tube is still about half down right now but as far as I know nothing has happened. And we have been told to keep going about as usual, but to just be "more aware". I guess the "severe" here is the same as the US"orange", which we have been on and off of for years, so I'm not too worried. (Family members don't freak out). Cheers!
Bath is this city in Great Britain founded by the Romans because when they were exploring they found these natural hot springs and decided that it was holy. So they built their summer home there (basically) and it was very "posh" for any of the Romans to be seen there. I did find out one interesting fact about it. It was uncovered by the britains at some point becuse after time the land around it kinda of filled it in. Well it brought the city back to life and was made very popular to the English when Queen Ann visited it because she had heard that the water had healing powers and she wanted to cure he gout! So I guess she drank 2 liters of the water everyday and soaked in it for a couple hours and it helped her gout. (Sorry Nanny, I wasn't able to find any bottled Bath water to bring home for you) I did however have a glass of the hot spring water, which was interesting. There is the pump that still operates and they allow you to have a drink of the water which contains 23 different minerals. My friend said he thought it tasted like he was drinking rocks but I didn't think it was that bad. Its kind of weird tho because on the pump you can see all the mineral deposits on the faucet. So you know its all in there. We also found this very old very cute candy shop, so I went in to ask if they had any "plain" chocolate. I guess its what the English eat (its somewhere between dark and milk chocolate) It was awesome so a bought two bars and ate an entire one while I waked around Bath. oops.
I guess the town recently applied to have a new spa built in Bath and they were granted it. So now they have this very nice and new spa that uses the natural springs (which heat the water to about 90 degrees) and you can spend the day at the spa there. So my roommates and I are looking into prices because it seems like something we wouldnt hate to do hahaha. Bath was beautiful but it was raining the entire time, so after our 2 hour walking tour and just being out in the rain with no where to go for a few hours we were happy to get back on the coaches and come back to London.
The next day we woke and decided that it was a good day to go to a market. So we went to Camden market. Its supposed to be this large market area that has food, jewelry, clothes, and hand made crafts. We got a late start but we heard it was open till about 6 so we figured we would have enough time. We found a way to get to the closest tube stop and went on our way. Well were on the tube about two stops before ours and the train stops in the tunnel. We sat there for about 10 minutes before the guy comes on the announce system and says that the train will be terminating at the next stop and everyone has to get off. I thought it was weird but I always hear so much about how the tube always shuts down and there are always down lines on any given day. So we get off and decide we can just walk the rest of the way. Were going up the lifts to get out of the station and my roommates tell me that they were having little freak out sessions on the train when it stopped because yesterday the UK raised its terrorism alert from substantial to sever. I was thankful I didnt think of this when we were down in the tube because I would have freaked out too. So we exit the tube station and there are cops everywhere with bomb sniffing dogs that are smelling everyone who exits the station. So then I started to get a little worried. I went up to a cop and asked him what direction the market was in, thinking that if something was wrong with it he wouldn't point me in the direction of the danger. He politely told me it was about 400 yards on the main road. So we decided they must have it under control and we went on to the market. The market was very cool and I decided that we should go back a few more times before we leave. I found this hat that I really liked but being half of my father, wouldn't pay for it unless I brought down the price to just above half. He wasnt having any of it and I left hat-less. (Im going to go back and get it next time) I bought a scarf for 3 pounds (about 5 dollars), a ring for 2 pounds and a pair of earrings for 1.50 pounds. So I thought the day was a success.
Were getting pretty cold and hungry and we werent even half through the market but we decided that we will save it for another time. Plus at this time its starting to get dark and all the weird people were crawling out of the cracks. (I saw a mad with so many piercings on his face I wasnt sure of his skin color!) We started walking back to the tube station we came from and we start seeing all of these buses that said "replacement rail services". Soi asked on of the still many police officers what was going on and where to go and he said that the chunk of rail near us has been suspended and to get on a bus going to Euston so that we can get home. So we found the right bus stop and get on the bus and go to Euston and find an alternative route home. It wasnt too bad for us but while in the station we find out the half of the rails have been suspended in the city and we were a little on edge until we exited the station thats about a 10 minute walk from our flat. We turned on the news to look for something that had happened but I guess nothing did. The tube is still about half down right now but as far as I know nothing has happened. And we have been told to keep going about as usual, but to just be "more aware". I guess the "severe" here is the same as the US"orange", which we have been on and off of for years, so I'm not too worried. (Family members don't freak out). Cheers!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Viva la London
Hello all! I had my first week of classes this week, we sort of. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays will be very busy days for me between work and classes but I decided that its worth it to have Thursdays class 2-5 and then nothing on Fridays and the weekends so that I can travel. On Friday I am going to Stonehenge and Bath. I am very excited. We are just going for the day. We have to be at the bus at 7 am and well be getting back around 8 pm. So its all day. I'll let you know how it goes. This week was a lot of fun and exciting with work and everything was new. Today I had class til 5 and then my roommates and I went to a grocery store near where our classes are held. we bought our for the week with our meal stipend of 40 pounds, which is starting to prove very very helpful. We have been splitting everything so it was about 15 pounds for the week. Then we were STARVING because no one had eaten all day. Mairead knew about this mexican restaurant that was a few stops up on the tube. They had happy hour deals where we could get a "jug" for 10 pounds, which is about 6 drinks, and buy one get one free meals. I love mexican food so I was very excited and it was great! We stayed for a while just talking over drinks and we found out the place actually turns into a club later on in the night and we promised the manager that we would come back when we didn't have to wake up at 6 am. We have been trying not to eat out a lot since it will end up costing so much, but I definitely loved this place and plan on going back. (plus we didnt get any stares from random bald men here)
I realized today that I forgot to mention something about my first night out in London. We were talking back from a pub pretty early and I saw an animal cross the street, upon further investigation i realized it was a fox and I screamed and ran away. What in the world is a fox doing in the CENTER of one of the largest cities on earth????? I was very confused and I thought it was worth sharing.
That's all for now...cheers!!!
I realized today that I forgot to mention something about my first night out in London. We were talking back from a pub pretty early and I saw an animal cross the street, upon further investigation i realized it was a fox and I screamed and ran away. What in the world is a fox doing in the CENTER of one of the largest cities on earth????? I was very confused and I thought it was worth sharing.
That's all for now...cheers!!!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Workin Girl
So I had my first few days of work this week, and they were very nice. On Monday I had my "interview" (and in typing that I found out the key boards are different here and the quotations marks are actually on the number 2 key and the little at sign (@) is by the enter key...weird). ANYWAYS, I got there and they were like oh hi! here is your desk I'll come tell you what your going to be doing. And so my job actually started a day earlier than I thought it would, which I was fine with. My work, DeKeyser (a fashion PR company that does like buying for designer labels like Rock and Republic and Bailey 44) is above a store called L.K. Bennett, and I actually have to walk into the store to get upstairs. (So not shopping for a few weeks has just got that much harder.) Well the company used to have a large studio over on New Burlington St., but the queen or someone decided that the street needed to be re renovated and so they had to move out temporarily, which they did right after Christmas. So everyone in the office is actually split up between my location and another place down the street and around the corner. My office is all the accounts and I'm not sure what the other building is. Well its small and is one room with maybe 10 people in it and then a floor downstairs I have yet to see. My boss is Dayana and shes very nice. I believe she is the buyer since I have been mostly filling out purchase orders and learning all the codes for things like dresses vs pants and creating these data card things from the stores. She said that on Monday and Tuesdays that's usually what she does but she has a meeting with someone who shes going to buy things from tomorrow and hopefully I will be able to come with her and see how that goes.
The only real story I have about my office is that this morning was the first time i had to show up early in the morning (yesterday they told me 11:00am) so I get there at 9:27 (since she told mt the office opens at 9:30) and the store was locked and so i decided to go explore a little around the shops and neighborhood, (which I found out that the Vogue House is like right up the street and I nearly pooped my pants about) so I sat outside watching all the Vogue people walking in and out of the building for a few minutes and went back and the store was still closed. I did this until almost 950 when I decided there must be another way they forgot to tell me about to get inside. So I decided that I would stand there and drink my coffee and watch for someone that I met yesterday to start walking up the street and I could look like I was just getting there too....well this woman comes up, walks right past me and just knocks on the store door...they unlock it and let her in. So I followed her...all the way up to the 5th floor where she turned around and asked me if I needed any help. And it turns out the the only one in the office that I didn't meet yesterday due to her being sick, was the woman who walked by me. So i felt kind of dumb. But that's not all my fault right?
Well that's all I really have about that. I think I could possibly still be jet lagged since last night I was about to pass out at 730 pm. Hopefully that will end soon and I will be grabbing a drink with some of my roommates and friends from the program tonight after my class ends around 6. I'm also sorry I cant put up more pictures, I am on a computer at the CAPA center...Ill put more up later. Miss everyone!
Internesting fact of the day: Paper is a different size over here. It is a little bit skinnier and about a inch and a half longer...I had to buy new folders because nothing they give us fits in anything I brought. weirddddd
The only real story I have about my office is that this morning was the first time i had to show up early in the morning (yesterday they told me 11:00am) so I get there at 9:27 (since she told mt the office opens at 9:30) and the store was locked and so i decided to go explore a little around the shops and neighborhood, (which I found out that the Vogue House is like right up the street and I nearly pooped my pants about) so I sat outside watching all the Vogue people walking in and out of the building for a few minutes and went back and the store was still closed. I did this until almost 950 when I decided there must be another way they forgot to tell me about to get inside. So I decided that I would stand there and drink my coffee and watch for someone that I met yesterday to start walking up the street and I could look like I was just getting there too....well this woman comes up, walks right past me and just knocks on the store door...they unlock it and let her in. So I followed her...all the way up to the 5th floor where she turned around and asked me if I needed any help. And it turns out the the only one in the office that I didn't meet yesterday due to her being sick, was the woman who walked by me. So i felt kind of dumb. But that's not all my fault right?
Well that's all I really have about that. I think I could possibly still be jet lagged since last night I was about to pass out at 730 pm. Hopefully that will end soon and I will be grabbing a drink with some of my roommates and friends from the program tonight after my class ends around 6. I'm also sorry I cant put up more pictures, I am on a computer at the CAPA center...Ill put more up later. Miss everyone!
Internesting fact of the day: Paper is a different size over here. It is a little bit skinnier and about a inch and a half longer...I had to buy new folders because nothing they give us fits in anything I brought. weirddddd
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Wanted to put up a few pics for all that are interested :)
My roommate Erin and I
Found my Street....
Wanted to put up a few pics for all that are interested :)
Tower Bridge
Buckingham Palace
....More to come sooooonnnn....Ill try to find a way to get more up at once...maybe an album or something...cheers!
My roommate Erin and I
Found my Street....
Wanted to put up a few pics for all that are interested :)
Tower Bridge
Buckingham Palace
....More to come sooooonnnn....Ill try to find a way to get more up at once...maybe an album or something...cheers!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Things that have surprised me...
1. NO ONE talks or looks at one another on the Tube. (Our program advisers actually told us not to talk when we are traveling on the Tube)
2. There are more Mercedes, BMWs, Porsches, and Ferraris parked on the side of the street than other cars combined ( I was told this was due to the wealth of the area in which I am living, but it makes me feel like I am not living in real life)
3. It is considered unlady like for a woman to order a pint at a pub. (I am supposed to order half pints)
4. pubs close at 11pm
5. The very center of the city (where I am living) is very quiet. The more loud and upbeat areas are in a circle around the very rich bubble that I live in.
6. I just heard someone on BBC news talking to a skiier about how there is "too much snow" for skiiing and snowboarding and now I think this country is insane (just kidding..kinda)
2. There are more Mercedes, BMWs, Porsches, and Ferraris parked on the side of the street than other cars combined ( I was told this was due to the wealth of the area in which I am living, but it makes me feel like I am not living in real life)
3. It is considered unlady like for a woman to order a pint at a pub. (I am supposed to order half pints)
4. pubs close at 11pm
5. The very center of the city (where I am living) is very quiet. The more loud and upbeat areas are in a circle around the very rich bubble that I live in.
6. I just heard someone on BBC news talking to a skiier about how there is "too much snow" for skiiing and snowboarding and now I think this country is insane (just kidding..kinda)
Ello' Mate!
So now that the jet lag has started to subside I have started to come out of my sleepy fog and start to enjoy the things around me. I have 4 flatmates in 3 bedrooms. There is one single, which is a good size, and two doubles, one of which looks to be about half the size of the other, and that small one is of course where I ended up. My flat mates are Jenn, Mairead, Caroline, and Erin and we have all been getting along very well so far. but let me start from the beggining...
ARRIVAL
I got into to London around 730 am, the airport seemed very large (or maybe our plane was just parked on the opposite side of immigration because it seemed like I had to walk miles to get there) but going through customs and immigration was no problem at all. I don't even think the guy who stamped my passport looked at me before he sent me right through to baggage claim. Which Im fine with, one of my flat mates got stopped for 25 mins of questioning, having to show more papers and documents saying why she was there, so I guess I just got lucky. Well once I got to baggage I waited about and hour and a half for my bags. I guess it had snowed about a centimeter so they were about to give up and shut down the airport. I know that one kid on my program was actually sent straight on through to Rome because they couldn't land the plane in London....whimps.
The next 24 hours were a fog...
After getting some sleep I was feeling much better and ready to see some of the city. We had orientation at the center, which is about a 20 min commute through the city..and we did not get lost :) after our two hour lecture that was basically about not getting into cars that are not LICENSED cabs and not getting pick-pocketed we were let go. (One of my classes is 3 hours long, and that lecture made me very worried for how I'm going to stay awake that long listening to one professor.)
After that we had the day to ourselves, so my flatmates and I decided to grab some lunch at a small pub near the tube station. I got a burger and it was yummy (I know, not very adventurous) but after that we did some shopping around for some essentials, like a phone and toothpaste. and we also went to what they consider a larger grocery store. It was in fact about the size of a 7-11 and half of that was wine. I guess there is a larger one near where our classes are and were going to try that one sometime soon.
After that we took some naps and decided that we should try our hand at some London nightlife. We went out to a pub down the street to grab something to drink with some of the other flats in our building, and got a lot of stares from all the old bald men in suits. But besides that it was generally a good time. I hope the staring stops eventually. I feel like if I talk anywhere people just stare for a minute, which I did not expect. Well pubs close around 11pm, which I also did not expect, so we just came back to our flat and decided to do more research for tomorrow.
So far things have been going well..I have yet to take even one picture and I have not seen anything of interest, like Buckingham Palace, which is down the street...or Big Ben ( I am convinced that we can see it from our window but we haven't had a clear evening yet to confirm that)...I'll keep you posted.
OK ill stop boring everyone with my rants. I miss everyone at home...COME VISIT!
ARRIVAL
I got into to London around 730 am, the airport seemed very large (or maybe our plane was just parked on the opposite side of immigration because it seemed like I had to walk miles to get there) but going through customs and immigration was no problem at all. I don't even think the guy who stamped my passport looked at me before he sent me right through to baggage claim. Which Im fine with, one of my flat mates got stopped for 25 mins of questioning, having to show more papers and documents saying why she was there, so I guess I just got lucky. Well once I got to baggage I waited about and hour and a half for my bags. I guess it had snowed about a centimeter so they were about to give up and shut down the airport. I know that one kid on my program was actually sent straight on through to Rome because they couldn't land the plane in London....whimps.
The next 24 hours were a fog...
After getting some sleep I was feeling much better and ready to see some of the city. We had orientation at the center, which is about a 20 min commute through the city..and we did not get lost :) after our two hour lecture that was basically about not getting into cars that are not LICENSED cabs and not getting pick-pocketed we were let go. (One of my classes is 3 hours long, and that lecture made me very worried for how I'm going to stay awake that long listening to one professor.)
After that we had the day to ourselves, so my flatmates and I decided to grab some lunch at a small pub near the tube station. I got a burger and it was yummy (I know, not very adventurous) but after that we did some shopping around for some essentials, like a phone and toothpaste. and we also went to what they consider a larger grocery store. It was in fact about the size of a 7-11 and half of that was wine. I guess there is a larger one near where our classes are and were going to try that one sometime soon.
After that we took some naps and decided that we should try our hand at some London nightlife. We went out to a pub down the street to grab something to drink with some of the other flats in our building, and got a lot of stares from all the old bald men in suits. But besides that it was generally a good time. I hope the staring stops eventually. I feel like if I talk anywhere people just stare for a minute, which I did not expect. Well pubs close around 11pm, which I also did not expect, so we just came back to our flat and decided to do more research for tomorrow.
So far things have been going well..I have yet to take even one picture and I have not seen anything of interest, like Buckingham Palace, which is down the street...or Big Ben ( I am convinced that we can see it from our window but we haven't had a clear evening yet to confirm that)...I'll keep you posted.
OK ill stop boring everyone with my rants. I miss everyone at home...COME VISIT!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
We're Flyin'
So the journey begins. I am waiting in Logan Airport, who I am very thankful for because they now offer free internet (yayy), for my flight to start to bored in 2 hours. Why here so early? My mother thought there was going to be traffic INTO Boston during evening rush hour...sorry mom, you were wrong. Anyways, I am very excited to be leaving and making my way "across the pond" to wine and dine with all the fine English people. I was hoping to have a concrete list of things and places I wanted to do and see, but I feel like there is so much that making a list now would just be setting myself up for failure. I do have a few personal goals however.
1. Don't get pick pocketed.
2. Don't spend more money than I have to my name
3. To write in this blog often (once a week is optimistic)
4. For at least one person other than my mom and dad to read this blog
5. To not get too homesick
6. See the queen
I figured thats a good list of things for now. Don't want to get too ahead of myself.
Right now I'm worried about being tired when I get to London. Hopefully my adrenalin will kick in since ill be waking up and getting ready for a day of orientation at 1 am Boston time. Ew. I am suppose to head to my apartment where I will be met by someone from my program and they will start our day and hopefully leave me to shower, since I hate airplane smell.
My only real news so far is the the freugalness has started and despite having one $309 on some birthday scratch tickets (given to me by Miss Erica Willis) I did not upgrade to premium economy, which offer much larger leather seats that recline "a lot" (according to the guy at the counter), for $350. I almost did as a birthday presant for myself, but I figured that the money will be going somewhere better eventually...hopefully. Maybe on the way back ill have some extra cash left that I can blow away on some first class tickets ;)
p.s. For all of you who are heading over to study abroad...the exchange rate in the airport blows, so dont plan on changing your money here like I was.
1. Don't get pick pocketed.
2. Don't spend more money than I have to my name
3. To write in this blog often (once a week is optimistic)
4. For at least one person other than my mom and dad to read this blog
5. To not get too homesick
6. See the queen
I figured thats a good list of things for now. Don't want to get too ahead of myself.
Right now I'm worried about being tired when I get to London. Hopefully my adrenalin will kick in since ill be waking up and getting ready for a day of orientation at 1 am Boston time. Ew. I am suppose to head to my apartment where I will be met by someone from my program and they will start our day and hopefully leave me to shower, since I hate airplane smell.
My only real news so far is the the freugalness has started and despite having one $309 on some birthday scratch tickets (given to me by Miss Erica Willis) I did not upgrade to premium economy, which offer much larger leather seats that recline "a lot" (according to the guy at the counter), for $350. I almost did as a birthday presant for myself, but I figured that the money will be going somewhere better eventually...hopefully. Maybe on the way back ill have some extra cash left that I can blow away on some first class tickets ;)
p.s. For all of you who are heading over to study abroad...the exchange rate in the airport blows, so dont plan on changing your money here like I was.
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