I can't believe I've already been here two weeks. I feel like even though I'm here for two months, it's not even close to enough time to do everything I want to do.
This weekend was incredibly amazing, however. Friday I went dancing with some girls from the program at this club where they play mostly American music, so that was fun. Yesterday, we took buses to Stonehenge and Bath. We spent about an hour at Stonehenge, where they have a complimentary audio tour that gave the history and interesting facts. It was really neat and definitely worth seeing. In Bath, we ate lunch at an authentic Italian pizza place (they spoke Italian) and I had an amazing mushroom pizza. Afterwards, we toured the Roman Baths. The baths are surprisingly intact, and they have remnants from the original building. The highlight of the day, however, was the Thermae Bath spa. It was 22 pounds for a two-hour session. The top floor was a rooftop pool from which you could see amazing views of Bath. The second floor had four different steam rooms: mint, eucalyptus, frankincense (!!!!?), and lavender, as well as foot baths with jets and bubbles, and a mineral shower. The first floor was an indoor pool with a current like a lazy river and a hot tub in the middle. It was definitely worth the money-- it was one of the most relaxing and memorable things I've ever done in my life.
Today, I slept in for the first time since being in London-- only until 10am, though-- and went to Camden Market with my roommate and another girl on the program. There was an innumerable number of shops and stands; I got almost all of my souvenir shopping done, and I got a few cool things for myself, too. It was incredibly crowded, so I'm glad I got to see it but I don't plan to go back.
Tonight, it's early to bed to rest up for the work week. This Thursday I'm going to see SPAMALOT (yay!). I'm still trying to figure out plans for Friday (the 4th of July)-- it's going to be the first time in years that I haven't been at the beach with my family, sad. Saturday, hopefully, the Harry Potter tour is going to work out; I'm going to try to book it Tuesday. Saturday night is a "Night on the Town" sponsored by the program. Sunday, I'm going to try to make it to the Tower of London, since we didn't go today, to ride the London Eye, and go to Tate Modern Art Gallery. So much to do, all the time. No wonder I'm exhausted.
Sunday 29 June 2008
Tuesday 24 June 2008
Today!
So, they let me off work today at 3:30 because they ran out of things for me to do-- which was completely fine with me because it was a beautiful day and all I'd been doing was labeling envelopes. I took the Tube to Oxford Circus for the first time & went to TopShop, this ridiculously cheap but amazing store (think Forever 21 but much, much cuter stuff). I spent a reasonable amount of money-- less than I would have in the states-- and I love what I got. I decided I'm only going shopping three times while I'm here: once in June, July and August. Two more to go. If I spend the same amount of money the next two times, my bank account will have nothing to worry about. Amazing.
Tonight, we're having spaghetti for dinner (yay) then we have a seminar with an inspirational speaker, Oliver Hicks (I think), who is going to attempt to row solo around the world starting this October. Then lots and lots of sleep. I hope the weather's as nice as it was today (like 75) for the rest of the time I'm here.
Tonight, we're having spaghetti for dinner (yay) then we have a seminar with an inspirational speaker, Oliver Hicks (I think), who is going to attempt to row solo around the world starting this October. Then lots and lots of sleep. I hope the weather's as nice as it was today (like 75) for the rest of the time I'm here.
Monday 23 June 2008
Tegan & Sara
Tonight, I saw my favorite band, Tegan and Sara, at a music venue called Shepherds Bush Empire in east (I think) London. It was a huge place with a capacity of 2,000 people or so. I was on the front row of the first balcony-- there were three. I had a great view, and they played for over an hour. After the show, we went to the stage door to see if we could catch them coming out. Instead, they stuck their heads out of a first story window and sang "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper, who they just toured with in the US. It was just as memorable as meeting them would have been.
Work is going well. Today, I started updating their contact database-- it will probably take weeks. At least I get to sit at a desk all day instead of running errands all over the place like last week.
And today on my lunch break, I finally went to the Post Office to exchange more currency. I bought postcard stamps so maybe you'll get one soon. I also got my first piece of mail today; thanks Dad.
Today, I said I was cold at work and one of my co-workers told me to put on a "jumper." A jumper. Apparently, that means sweater in England English. Other fun phrases I've discovered include car park, queue, scarper (sp?), and loo. I'll add more later.
Work is going well. Today, I started updating their contact database-- it will probably take weeks. At least I get to sit at a desk all day instead of running errands all over the place like last week.
And today on my lunch break, I finally went to the Post Office to exchange more currency. I bought postcard stamps so maybe you'll get one soon. I also got my first piece of mail today; thanks Dad.
Today, I said I was cold at work and one of my co-workers told me to put on a "jumper." A jumper. Apparently, that means sweater in England English. Other fun phrases I've discovered include car park, queue, scarper (sp?), and loo. I'll add more later.
Sunday 22 June 2008
My First Full Weekend in London
This weekend has been amazing.
Saturday from 10am-3pm we took a double-decker bus tour of London. It was chilly and kind of rainy so it wasn't ideal, but we saw EVERYTHING from Big Ben to The Tower of London to Tower Bridge, and about every other famous landmark in London. The pictures are posted at the link below.
pictures!
Saturday night, we took a train to a town called Guildford in Surrey to see "Potted Potter." The point of the play is for two guys to act out all seven of the Harry Potter books in seventy minutes. It was absolutely hilarious and definitely worth the trip. It was also neat to get out of London for an evening and see some of the English countryside.
Today, Caitlin and I woke up kinda early so we could get a full day in London. We went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard at 11:15 this morning. We ate lunch in a cute pub called The Princess of Wales, and I had an amazing stuffed baked potato. After lunch, we went to The National Gallery (admission was free!) and saw works by Rembrandt, da Vinci, Monet, Michaelangelo, Degas, Cezanne, Seurat, Raphael, Botticelli, and Van Gogh. It was AMAZING. Afterward, we had traditional afternoon tea at a really nice hotel overlooking Buckingham Palace. I had peppermint tea and the scones were delicious.
I am exhausted and completely not excited about going to work tomorrow. After having so much free time, spending the whole day for five days in a row inside sounds like the worst idea in life. Oh well.
Saturday from 10am-3pm we took a double-decker bus tour of London. It was chilly and kind of rainy so it wasn't ideal, but we saw EVERYTHING from Big Ben to The Tower of London to Tower Bridge, and about every other famous landmark in London. The pictures are posted at the link below.
pictures!
Saturday night, we took a train to a town called Guildford in Surrey to see "Potted Potter." The point of the play is for two guys to act out all seven of the Harry Potter books in seventy minutes. It was absolutely hilarious and definitely worth the trip. It was also neat to get out of London for an evening and see some of the English countryside.
Today, Caitlin and I woke up kinda early so we could get a full day in London. We went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard at 11:15 this morning. We ate lunch in a cute pub called The Princess of Wales, and I had an amazing stuffed baked potato. After lunch, we went to The National Gallery (admission was free!) and saw works by Rembrandt, da Vinci, Monet, Michaelangelo, Degas, Cezanne, Seurat, Raphael, Botticelli, and Van Gogh. It was AMAZING. Afterward, we had traditional afternoon tea at a really nice hotel overlooking Buckingham Palace. I had peppermint tea and the scones were delicious.
I am exhausted and completely not excited about going to work tomorrow. After having so much free time, spending the whole day for five days in a row inside sounds like the worst idea in life. Oh well.
Wednesday 18 June 2008
My First Day of Work
So today was my first day of work. After showering and breakfasting, I made the 45-minute commute across London to Patricia McMahon Photography. It's a short walk, a medium-length tube ride, and a long walk or short bus ride. And very tiring.
There are four account managers, one receptionist and Patricia herself in my office. It's only two rooms, both with a couple desks and workspaces. Today, I did everything from updating photographers' portfolios to calling modeling agencies for updated model directories to looking through a photographer's portfolio and then find magazine advertisements that were similar to his work. It was really neat to see all the photographs; between all the photographers (Patricia represents 8 or 9) they've photographed countless celebrities (Simon Cowell, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Mischa Barton, Kirsten Dunst, Amy Winehouse, etc.) and had works published in Vogue, GQ, Elle, and tons of other magazines. One photographer takes pictures for movie posters, including Wedding Crashers, Elf, Disturbia, Spiderman, High School Musical, and lots of others.
The website is www.patriciamcmahon.com if you want to look at the online portfolios yourself.
I'm pretty sure there is a photo shoot tomorrow, and Patricia said she would take me with her! So exciting.
I'm definitely staying in tonight to get some sleep; I hope I get used to this full-time work schedule thing quickly so I still have energy to see more of London in the evenings.
The only thing getting me through this very long week is Saturday's double decker bus tour of London with lunch at a really cool local restaurant. And Saturday night, I'm going to see "Potted Potter" (a Harry Potter parody play) with my roommate and a few other people from the program in Surrey. I'm sure it will end up being one of the highlights of my trip, haha.
There are four account managers, one receptionist and Patricia herself in my office. It's only two rooms, both with a couple desks and workspaces. Today, I did everything from updating photographers' portfolios to calling modeling agencies for updated model directories to looking through a photographer's portfolio and then find magazine advertisements that were similar to his work. It was really neat to see all the photographs; between all the photographers (Patricia represents 8 or 9) they've photographed countless celebrities (Simon Cowell, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Mischa Barton, Kirsten Dunst, Amy Winehouse, etc.) and had works published in Vogue, GQ, Elle, and tons of other magazines. One photographer takes pictures for movie posters, including Wedding Crashers, Elf, Disturbia, Spiderman, High School Musical, and lots of others.
The website is www.patriciamcmahon.com if you want to look at the online portfolios yourself.
I'm pretty sure there is a photo shoot tomorrow, and Patricia said she would take me with her! So exciting.
I'm definitely staying in tonight to get some sleep; I hope I get used to this full-time work schedule thing quickly so I still have energy to see more of London in the evenings.
The only thing getting me through this very long week is Saturday's double decker bus tour of London with lunch at a really cool local restaurant. And Saturday night, I'm going to see "Potted Potter" (a Harry Potter parody play) with my roommate and a few other people from the program in Surrey. I'm sure it will end up being one of the highlights of my trip, haha.
Monday 16 June 2008
Picture Website
I will be posting ALL of my pictures from London at this website:
Pictures! yay!
This one is my favorite so far.
My First Typical Tourist Day
I have never been so tired in my life. I went on a Tube run with my adviser Mat this morning around 11am to find my job. Turns out I have to walk 10 minutes to the Tube stop, ride the Tube for 10 minutes, then ride a bus for 10 minutes, then walk about 5 minutes to get to my office. At least I don't start work until 10am.
Afterwards, I met up with some other people in the program and we took the Tube to Charing Cross Road. We saw EVERYTHING: foreign embassies, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, The London Eye, Parliament, The Stable House (where Princes William and Harry live, in addition to some Duchess and some other royal people), Westminster Abbey, and the Thames River. I took lots of pictures on my new amazing camera; I'll try to post them later. We went to The Queen's Gallery (it was 8.50 pounds to get in), where we saw works by Rembrandt and Caravaggio, and they had a special exhibit of the early sketches of Leonardo Da Vinci. We also saw furniture and paintings dating as far back as the twelfth century, as well as the Royal Crown Jewels.
As this is one of our only free days (no work or scheduled activities), I'm really glad I spent the whole day out sightseeing. I also went by the cell phone store to add minutes to my phone, so it's finally activated so I can make calls. Tonight we have our first group dinner, and after that I'll probably go to sleep early since tomorrow is my first day of work.
#1 bad thing about London so far: the showers. There is only one temperature, scalding hot, and you have to press a button every sixty seconds to keep water flowing.
#2: Almost all drinks are served room temperature, without ice. Even water. I've only seen ice in a drink one single time since I've been here.
#3: The whole wrong-side-of-the-road problem. I always look the wrong way for cars before crossing the road. And people drive faster and crazier than anywhere I've ever seen.
I'll probably be adding to that list as the summer goes on; however, everything else is amazing and I couldn't be happier to be here.
Afterwards, I met up with some other people in the program and we took the Tube to Charing Cross Road. We saw EVERYTHING: foreign embassies, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, The London Eye, Parliament, The Stable House (where Princes William and Harry live, in addition to some Duchess and some other royal people), Westminster Abbey, and the Thames River. I took lots of pictures on my new amazing camera; I'll try to post them later. We went to The Queen's Gallery (it was 8.50 pounds to get in), where we saw works by Rembrandt and Caravaggio, and they had a special exhibit of the early sketches of Leonardo Da Vinci. We also saw furniture and paintings dating as far back as the twelfth century, as well as the Royal Crown Jewels.
As this is one of our only free days (no work or scheduled activities), I'm really glad I spent the whole day out sightseeing. I also went by the cell phone store to add minutes to my phone, so it's finally activated so I can make calls. Tonight we have our first group dinner, and after that I'll probably go to sleep early since tomorrow is my first day of work.
#1 bad thing about London so far: the showers. There is only one temperature, scalding hot, and you have to press a button every sixty seconds to keep water flowing.
#2: Almost all drinks are served room temperature, without ice. Even water. I've only seen ice in a drink one single time since I've been here.
#3: The whole wrong-side-of-the-road problem. I always look the wrong way for cars before crossing the road. And people drive faster and crazier than anywhere I've ever seen.
I'll probably be adding to that list as the summer goes on; however, everything else is amazing and I couldn't be happier to be here.
Sunday 15 June 2008
London!
I arrived in London yesterday afternoon to chilly but sunny weather and a really nice, large dorm room. Last night we had a welcome dinner, and then I went to Piccadilly Circus, which is similar to Times Sqaure, with some friends from the program. I love the city already; it's very clean and the people are friendly and helpful with directions. Today we had lunch and orientation to our area and the program, and later we're planning to go out to eat with the girls that live in my flat. The time difference is starting to hit me so I'm going to take a nap this afternoon. My first day of work is Tuesday, and tomorrow a staff member is going to show me how to get there so I won't get lost. Overall, everything is going wonderfully and it seems like this is going to be an amazing summer!
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