Camden and Chinatown

Time is sure flying by here across the pond that I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I'm going on my third week being in London.

I feel like after the first week of packing in tourist activities I've been slacking on going downtown to see different museums or just walk around so I'm making a pact with myself to make the most of my free time.

This week though I definitely checked a few sights off my list including the Camden Street Market and Chinatown.

Me and my friends took our first bus ride last Sunday to the Camden Street Market and let me just tell you this market was unlike any market I have seen before. When I think of markets I think of cutesy little vintage clothing stands, pastries, and other delectable things. But this market was a recreation of the gothic paradise known as Hot Topic....market style. There were people covered in tattoos, with spikey hair from every color of the rainbow, sporting platform leather boots with chains. (I think you get the picture)

While it was a little intimidating at first it was exciting to get to see such an alternative community out and about. Even though its not a place I would go shopping I would definitely go back for some serious people watching.

As it is also Chinese New Years this week (Shout out to Maxine Loh!) my internship office had a dinner Thursday night in Chinatown. I should note how crazy it is to me that I can say I've now been to Chinatown in London before I've been to Chinatown in Chicago. I had some time to kill before dinner so it was fun peaking into all the different shops and walking around under the lit lanterns and decorations for the New Year.

I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't nervous about this dinner because I definitely was. I hadn't gotten to know too many people from the office that well at this point so I really wasn't sure how it was going to go. I forced myself after the first five minutes to get over being shy. It was really nice getting to know them outside of the office and let me tell you they know how to have a good time.

After dinner, in true English fashion, we headed over to the pub down the street. When I went to enter the pub the "bouncer?" asked me how old I was and to see my ID. I thought this must be some kind of trick. I started to question if the drinking age really was 18. But my 20 year old ID got me in just fine....crisis averted.

The pub was packed to the brim and lively. But I would say the place was dealing with some kind of identity crisis for if there was a top 20 chart for the  worst American songs ever made this pub was blasting it...on repeat.

The fun I had at dinner definitely continued on into the pub. I couldn't help but smile as I felt so adultlike going for a drink with people from work. I guess its just a taste for what I can look forward to when I join the real world after college!

A blustery day trip to Stonhenge and Bath

Today was a long day packed with sightseeing!

Me and my study abroad group met at the bright and early hour of 8am to make our way to Stonehenge and Bath for the day. I had gone to Stonehenge last year when I was in London on vacation with my family but didn't get to Bath then so I was definitely excited to see a new part of England.

When we left London I thought we were actually going to have a pretty nice day weather wise but I was sadly mistaken. As soon as I got off the bus at Stonehenge I felt as though I had been sucked into a wind tunnel. Trying to take pictures and listen to the audio guide while your eyes are watering up and getting your hair blown all around made it really difficult. It also made it hard to appreciate the amazing site that is Stonehenge as getting back onto the warm bus was more of my concern at that point. So I guess I can say I'm lucky that I had been there before when I had the willpower to actually listen to audio guide and not race around the stones.

The bus ride then to Bath was  really enjoyable. We got to see much of the countryside of England which included cute little cottages, pastures, and lots and lots of sheep.

When we made it to the town our tour guide was nice enough to keep the walking in the hurricane winds to a minimum and rather showed us much of the town from the bus. We all got out though at the Royal Crescent which was a massive and beautiful building. This one building alone has 30 houses and 114 giant Columns (at least so the back of my postcard tells me).

Afterwards, we were only allowed an hour of free time to explore the city before we had to make our way to the Royal Bath House. The one hour really wasn't that much time to do any major sightseeing which was a bummer. Though I should mention, me and my friends had the traditional Cornish Pasties for lunch as our tour guide had suggested. I would describe it as basically  a calzone with steak and potatoes inside which was pretty good. But the fact that it was warm was much appreciated. We then stumbled upon the Jane Austen Museum and were again bummed out that we really didn't have enough time to go into the museum and make it back to the baths in time. We did however get to sneak into the Abbey for a little bit of time. The church was absolutely gorgeous both inside and out so I was happy that we decided to take a peak in even if it was only for a few minutes.

The highlight of my day was without a doubt being able to see the ancient Roman Bath. I learned that this bath house is the only ancient one left in the entire world that is still filled with water. We were allowed to sit on the edge of the water just as the Romans once did, making it that much more fun to take it all in. The interesting end to the tour was being able to taste the hot spring water. It reminded me of tasting really bad well water. So while it was really pretty to look at the water, stay away from drinking it!

Getting into the "study" part of study abroad

Well folks I guess the whole study part of study abroad is officially underway here. These last few days of experiencing my first classes in London have been filled with mixed feelings about how classes are structured here across the pond. I've walked out of one class feeling like I've just been babied for three hours, to thinking wait am I supposed to teach myself this, to this class seems like it's actually going to be fun.

The class structure here definitely has its differences from what I am used to back home. All my classes meet only once a week for three hours and are for the most part divided between a lecture and seminar which is more discussion based.

My first class this week was my Personal and Professional Development class that correlates with my internship. The class does not seem like it will be too difficult as it is basically just about reflecting on what we are all learning at our respective internships. The class is all study abroad students so I didn't really feel like I was getting a true University experience on my first day with that class.

But Wednesday I definitely got a taste of what it is like in a regular class here. Hearing everyone sitting around me in  my Advertising and Promotional Culture class speaking with a British accent seemed like a good sign to me. It started off with a normal lecture and then moved into the seminar. The seminar portion of the class was oddly just spent dividing up seminar paper topics amongst the class. My topic is "Advertising and the Media" which seems a little vague to me but I guess I'll have to make it work. When I looked through the syllabus I was surprised to find that there are only suggested readings for the course, not required textbooks, and the future lecture topics are mostly guest speakers coming in to talk about random topics related to advertising.

I was told before I left for London that the classes are more so about independent learning which I'm definitely finding to be true. I guess it's just one more thing to get used to.

Yesterday I had a long day of class from 10 - 6 (with a break in between of course). I started off my morning with Creative Writing in London. I've been particularly excited about this class as there are planned excursions and just the fact that I get to write about London.. I don't think it gets much better than that! My first assignment believe it or not is to ride the bus to the end of the line and back and write about my experience. I'm not exactly the most creative person so I'm hoping to learn a lot from this class. I then had my sociology class after that which I also think I'm really going to enjoy. The teacher was very engaging and just overall seems excited about what she's teaching.

Enough about classes! I've been able to squeeze some fun into this week too. Tuesday night my study abroad group and I went on a Jack the Ripper tour around the east side of London. It was really interesting hearing the history of the neighborhood and murders with some gross details in between. It was a little creepy coming back to an empty room that night so I may or may not have slept with the bathroom light on....

And I have to give a shout out to my friend Vethina who found last minute tickets online for the Broadway show Chicago last night. The tickets were only 15 pounds and the seats weren't bad at all. I had never seen the movie or show before and I absolutely loved it...and appreciated the irony of seeing Chicago....in London.

First Day at TogoRun PR

Yesterday I played freshman in college all over again as I went into the city to have a trial run at getting to my internship and my classes located at the Regent Street Campus. Google Maps has become my best friend since being here so I was able to find both locations fairly easy. My internship office is located on "The Strand" literally right next to the famous Savoy hotel and a few minutes walk from Covent Gardens, so not a bad location if you ask me.

Over the next 12 weeks I'll be interning for TogoRun PR which is a small PR agency that specializes in health care and pharmaceutical PR. They have offices located in London, New York and Washington D.C. Their  parent company is Fleishman Hillard which is a very well known and respected PR firm so I definitely get the feeling that I'm at a great place.

 When I arrived there this morning I was greeted by 12 new smiling faces eager to help me get acclimated to my new job. They start off every Monday with a team meeting to go over what needs to be done for the week and delegate tasks. They even invited me to the office party in Chinatown happening next week for Chinese New Years so I'm already excited for that!
I've been placed on the Bristol Myers Squibb account which is a global pharmaceutical company. I honestly came into this internship not knowing too much about health care and pharmaceutical companies so I think this is overall going to be an interesting learning opportunity. The BMS team at Togo is currently working on an educational, interactive PDF resource for people with hepatitis B. Its a big project so I definitely think I'll be spending a majority of my time on it.

Later in the afternoon I headed over to the Fleishman Hillard office right down the street to meet with someone from HR. I was happy to learn that they seem to really want to make sure I get the most out of my internship. The HR staff expressed their willingness to set up a meeting or coffee for me if I'd like to get to know someone from a certain account to learn more about what they do.

O and how can I forget, I received the great news that my internship will pay for my lunch and monthly Student Oyster Card (aka UPASS) that cost me a hefty 112 pounds today! *Insert jumping up and down with excitement here*

I start my first day of classes tomorrow so I'm really anxious to see what the class structure will be like here. I realize I haven't been in school in almost 2 months so this is going to be interesting!

Touristy Adventures

I've officially made it to the one week mark here in London!

It is still such a strange feeling to realize that my time in London has merely just begun. I keep thinking I need to be in tourist mode and go go go and get to all the sites but in reality I have a whole 5 months here to experience it all.

But today was definitely a tourist day. As part of my study abroad program we all got tickets for the London Sightseeing Bus Tour. It was a really great tour that allowed you to hop on and off at all the different tourist stops. Me and my friends were not about to brave the cold and sit on top of the bus so we made due with the view from the lower level.

It was nice getting to hear different facts and such about different spots around London. We started our tour at Picadilly Circus and made our way towards Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace. On the way we saw the hotel where Kate Middleton stayed before the wedding and lots of famous people's houses including Margaret Thatcher, Andrew Lloyd Weber and my favorite J.K. ROWLING!!! It may or may not have been dangerous for the tour guide to tell us where her house is because she may or may not find me waiting outside to meet her...

We stopped at Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards but realized that we arrived too late to get a good view. We stayed for a little bit just to see the guards make their way inside the gate but decided we'll check it out again when we plan our timing better.

We got back on the bus and found ourselves by the Thames River where we were able to use our tickets to take a sightseeing cruise down the river. Before we got on the boat we stopped and grabbed lunch at McDonalds. The menu was very much the same but I had to chuckle when I got a little book as my toy in my Happy Meal...I don't think that would fly in the states. But I did realize that that they did have a Cadbury McFlurry on the menu so you can bet I'll be trying that when the weather gets warmer here.

The boat cruise we took was really nice and relaxing! We made our way down the Thames from the London Eye all the way to Greenwich which is right outside of the London city proper. The city was extremely cute and quaint. We visited the market which was filled with vintage shops and delicious looking food. We were on a time crunch to take the last boat back  so we weren't able to see too much else of Greenwich but I can assure you we'll be going back.

A touristy day can not be completed without a touristy purchase so this ladies and gentlemen is my solar powered waving Queen.

221b Baker Street

So I was about to begin this post complaning about the cold weather I've experienced here in London these last few days but since I hear it is snowing at home I guess I'll take that back!

Yeserday started off as a sunny day here in London. When I walked out the door I was so tempted to go back and get my sunglasses but that proved to unfortunately be unnnecessary. I have come to notice that it does actually get (kinda sorta) sunny here but it comes in spurts.

Me and some girls from DePaul started off the day by going to the Sherlock Holmes Museum. To my surpise the museum was actually located at 221b Baker Street, the same address as where his office was located in the books/movies. The museum was so detailed that I actually started to ask myself, "wait I thought he was a fictional character"...which he unfortunately was incase you were wondering. No detail was spared throughout the museum which really makes me want to read the books now as I've only seen one of the movies.

The museum is located right next to Regents Park so we decided to take a walk through after the museum. The park was just so beautiful even with most flowers not in bloom. I can definitely see myself going jogging through the park when it gets warmer, which I'm hoping comes sooner rather than later!

Later last night the Education Abroad Office hosted a boat cruise down the River Thames. It was really nice to see some of the big sites from the boat but after about 5 minutes of a 3 hour boat ride there wasn't too much to see. They had dancing on the boat which was pretty entertaining but the DJs really didn't understand the meaning of transitioning music. I'm pretty sure I heard the Spice Girls classic "Tell Me What You Want" right after Journey's "Don't Stop Believing."

A glimpse into Harrow

These last few days have had their trying moments to say the least. I've come to find that getting sleep in my flat is going to be quite hard to come by. The people that live in my cluster of rooms are quite the night owls to say the least and really know how to party...till 5am with music so loud my bet literally shakes. Blasting club music 5ft away from your room while jetlagged is no fun. I'm trying to remain positive but it's a work in progress.

Today I allowed myself to sleep in after last night's attempt at getting some sleep. I hadn't really seen any of the Harrow Campus besides my dorm since I arrived so I figured I might as well check it out. I found the gym which I was really excited about because I knew running would definitely help relieve some of this added stress I've been dealing with. When I went inside I discovered that the gym is probably 1/10 the size of DePaul's gym with maybe 5 cardio machines and a hand full of weights. But hey a workout is a workout so it felt good to start running again!

Later in the afternoon I had my internship orientation with the coordinator from Westminster. She basically just went over what to expect having an internship and what I need to do in preparation for my first day. When I had my individual appointment with the internship coordinator she said I should be very happy with my placement with TogoRun as it is a very well known and respected PR firm in London so I'm looking forward to getting started.

On a side note, here are some pictures I took of the Harrow Campus and my dorm room. My room is a work in progress as I still need to get some more decorations for the walls but its a good start. :)

Registering for classes and wandering around London

Today was another fun and busy day here across the pond in London.

I had my class registration appointment at 9:30 this morning at the downtown Regent Street Campus. I was a little stressed out about getting my classes all situated since I was having a hard time finding a fourth class for my schedule that counted towards my degree at DePaul, in the right time slot and  located at the right campus.

I took the tube all by myself for the first time this morning which I honestly enjoyed. It was kinda empowering to see that I could figure out how to get there myself and not manage to get lost. Plus I got to feel like a local student just on their way into the city.

My advising appointment went much smoother than I thought it would go. I was able to reorganize my class schedule a little bit so I'm now taking Advertising and Promotional Culture, a Sociology class, my internship class and Creative Writing about London. I'm most excited for my creative writing class as there are excursions included in the class such as to the theater and museums!

After my advising appointment me and a few friends just wandered around the city for most of the day. We knew we wanted to make our way over to Big Ben but it was quite the long walk. I've honestly come to enjoy just wandering aimlessly here as you never know what you're going to find. Each street has something completely different and exciting from the last. From Oxford Street we made our way to Trafalgar Square and then to the House of Parliament. I think it finally hit me that I'm really studying abroad in London once I got to see Big Ben up close. We then went inside to hear the House of Lords speak. There surprisingly weren't too many members of Parliament present but I definitely enjoyed seeing the ornate designs inside the Parliament building and of course count how many people were sleeping (believe me there were quite a few). I'm hoping to see the House of Commons speak one time while I'm here as I know they usually cover more interesting and important issues.

It was a long day so me and my friends all just made it back to our dorms. Tomorrow I have my general internship orientation with the coordinator from University of Westminster.

 Things are finally starting to fit into place which is definitely getting me excited for getting into a routine here.

Cheers!

This girl made it to London...and finally has a working computer!

I've made it to day three here in London still a little jetlagged, overwhelmed and mostly excited to be here!

I arrived bright and early Saturday morning at Heathrow Airport where I met my study abroad advisor to arrange a taxi ride for me and other students to get to our dorm at the Harrow Campus. I was a little anxious when I got in the cab as I really wasn't sure what my new home for the next five months would be like as I knew going into this that it would be outside of central London.

When the taxi pulled up in front of my dorm I met another CEA advisor who helped me get settled into my room and gave me and a few other girls from the program a tour of the neighborhood. When I initially saw my room my spoiled American self was a little taken aback. The bathroom is quite tiny and looks about the size of my closet and my closet probably will only hold a fraction of all the clothes I've brought. On the bright side, I have a single room and get to share a common kitchen area with my "flatmates." I've met three of them so far and they're all from England and seem very nice so I'm really excited to get to know them.

Anyways, the neighborhood around my dorm feels very much like a suburb. There aren't too many restaurants I've found walking distance from my dorm besides Subway. I have a feeling I'll be "eating fresh" this semester. But there is a giant grocery store close by called Sansbury, which I've already had to take multiple trips to. Maybe I'll actually have to learn to cook? *GASP*

Yesterday I had my study abroad orientation where we took a walking tour around one of the downtown campus. I saw the premiere for the movie War Horse being set up and I even heard Prince William and Catherine were attending so I need to start figuring out when those two will be making more public appearances! Afterwards, I enjoyed my first afternoon tea and loved all the little finger sandwiches, desserts and of course the tea.

There is so much more I wish I could post about but I really need to get my classes situated for registration tomorrow. I'm so glad I have my computer up and running now and I can't wait to keep you all updated with my new experiences in London!

London's Calling

Sitting here in my cyclone of a room in the burbs I still can't believe I'm really and truly setting off to London tomorrow, yep that's right tomorrow!.It would be really nice though if the closeness of my departure would sink in a little faster so I would actually get some of this clothes in a suitcase....

As you can all guess, packing for five months really isn't possible. Since I'll be interning while I'm in London I made sure my work attire gets top priority for getting in my suitcase. After that I've pretty much been trying to keep my clothes basic as I'm pretty sure I can bet I'll be doing some shopping while I'm there (more like 100% positive).
Besides from my packing I'm pretty much all set for my London adventures.With everyone at DePaul back in class and having to say my goodbyes I'm getting more and more anxious to get settled in and get somewhat of a routine going for my time in London.

I'm landing in London Saturday morning where I'll be meeting the director of my study abroad program at the airport. Me and my two ginormous suitcases will then make our way to my dorm and get checked in, like the first day of college all over again. Afterwards I'm going to have some major shopping to do as I have to buy my bedding, towels and other odds and ends that I'm sure I will forgot at home. I know I definitely don't want to be spending my first night using all my clothes as blankets.

The following week is filled with orientation events to get to know other students, getting a schedule finalized for my internship and of course registering for classes.

I truly can't wait to keep you all up to date on my experiences in London. Thank you so much to everyone for all the support and well wishes.

Cheers to the trip of a lifetime!