Tate Modern and Borough Street Market

As I couldn't wait to take my creative writing in London class here I honestly have been kinda disappointed in the lack of focus on LONDON within the class! We meet once a week for three hours and up until this week we had yet to leave the classroom (besides our brief trip to observe the street).

This week though we finally left the white wall box and went to the Tate Modern and Borough Market. Even though I am not the biggest fan of modern art I was excited to just get out of the class for a change. We were allowed to spend a few hours wandering around and write about what "inspires" us.

I've come to realize that classes here are so much more relaxed regarding guidelines and rules so this whole go with what speaks to you thing has been kinda difficult. I was able to find a few pieces that were on the more normal end of the spectrum of art and wrote back stories on the characters in the paintings. It was kinda fun to think about what inspired the artists to create such works of art and wonder if it in anyways resonated with what I had just come up with.

After the museum we made our way over to the Borough Market which was located close by and right along the Thames. We had THE perfect day for the trip as it was sunny and pushing 60 degrees! It really doesn't get much better than that in London. Our Professor told us to walk around and observe people to get ideas to write a dialogue. But lets not kid ourselves when you leave 10 students to walk around a food market during lunch time observing people really wasn't our main concern if you could believe it. Me and a few friends from the class checked out all the interesting and unique foods from the different vendors. We quickly learned that taking advantage of  free samples was a nice way to avoid paying for lunch..and quite delicious too I might add! We sampled about five different kinds of cheese, olive oil, and lots of delicious desserts.

This weekend I'm trying to focus on getting ahead on my homework as my mum is coming to London on Monday! I am so excited to show her around where I live and do some touristy things. We already have afternoon tea scheduled (pinkies up!), seeing the Broadway musical Matilda, and other odds and ends sorts of things.

P.S Happy belated Pancake Day from London!

A wee little weekend trip to Scotland

This past weekend was filled with lots of plaid, haggis, and a monster too which means one thing...I went to Scotland!
I met with my study abroad group at King's Cross train station Friday morning where we departed for Edinburgh. It was so pretty seeing the country side of England from the train. After a four hour ride we arrived in the city of Edinburgh. We made sure everyone knew we were tourists as we met our crazy tour guide dressed in a kilt where he directed us to our hostel. I was a little anxious to see what the hostel was like as I knew this was going to be my first of many hostel experiences. The hostel ended up being really quite nice and clean so no complaints there!
After we dropped off our things our tour guide took us for a walking tour around Edinburgh. The town was absolutely beautiful. The architecture of all the buildings and the castle perched up on the hill made you feel like you were in a post card. After our walking tour  my friends and I made our way to the cemetery in Edinburgh. Yes this might seem like an odd stop but the cemetery was actually where J.K. Rowling got inspiration for many of her character's names in Harry Potter. We were on a mission to find Tom Riddle (aka Voldemort) as I remember reading that he was buried in this cemetery. It took awhile to find the grave but we did it..along with other American tourists.

The Harry Potter fun continued as we then went to the Elephant House cafe where J.K. Rowling is known to have written much of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and other Harry Potter books. Being the crazy fan that I am it was such a cool experience walking inside and seeing pictures of her writing in the very cafe that I was in.

Afterwards we went to the local pub called the Last Drop which is appropriately named as it is located right next to the place where people were hung in the city. Now while in Scotland you must do as the Scottish do and that means one thing...eat Haggis. My grandpa warned me that it was going to be quite disgusting but I had to try it anyways. I was told at the restaurant that its "lamb oatmeal"(which I now know is a nice way to put what I was really eating). But I was pleasantly surprised that I really enjoyed it so much that I even ordered it for dinner again the next day.

The next day we were up bright and early for our 2 day trip through the Highlands. We made our way by first stopping at Sterling Castle. Our tour guide said it's the most important castle in Scottish history but then again he seemed to think everything done in Scotland was the most important whatever. I'll definitely say though that the castle was gorgeous and had beautiful views of the town.

Afterwards we were off into the mountains. We spent a majority of the time on the bus just driving through but I can't even begin to describe how beautiful it was. The moment was slightly cheesie as our tour guide played Scottish music the entire ride but it felt like I was in a movie listening to the classic tunes while driving on the tiny narrow roads.

We stopped in the town of Loch Nes for the night. It was such a quaint and cute little town. And while I went to bed in Loch Nes I woke up in Narnia. This picture is the view from my hostel window that morning (not too bad huh?).

As I didn't think the Highlands could look any more beautiful the snow was the chery on top! We spent the rest of the day making our way back to Edinburugh. The group and I made a few stops on the way as we visited a battle field, a national park and I even got to see some hairy coos (hairy cows as we would say).

I had such a fantastic weekend that I can't wait to do more traveling and expereince so many different cultures while I'm abroad!

Internship Happenings

It's so hard to believe how fast time flying by here and that I'm already in my 5th week of my internship.

Things at work had gotten a little dull I guess you could say these past few weeks. But after speaking with my supervisor May I realized that I needed to put forth more of an effort to get to know others better and make the initiative to ask for bigger tasks.

So this week I have already made an improvement. I initiated grabbing breakfast with Mary, an Account Supervisor in the office. She suggested the Embankment Cafe that is located right by the river where I could get a "proper English breakfast." Having never had the traditional breakfast I found it quite good but the conversation was even better. She spoke about her career path and being married to one of the top journalists for the U.K. newspaper The Guardian, which I found quite cool. My initiative to get to know her better helped me in the office as well as she invited me to sit in on a client call. She even asked me if I would be willing to lead one of the "lunch and learn" sessions in the office about my experience in social media. I was quite flattered and I'm really excited for the opportunity to share my past experiences with everyone.

Yesterday I also got to experience something new and exciting at the office. I attended my first media audit where one of our clients, Eli Lilly brought in journalists and healthcare professionals to talk about future campaign ideas regarding lung cancer. It wasn't exactly the most exciting or uplifting topic but it was great being able to hear the journalists and PR professionals bounce around their ideas. I love having those aha moments that remind me that PR is for me and last night was definitely one of those nights.


On a side note I had to add a picture of this fantabulous PR student by Cadbury in Covent Gardens. Who doesn't love a giant chocolate egg?

Seeing Daniel Radcliffe with my own two eyes!

As I have never and I repeat never been the rebellious type I can officially say that last Thursday was the first day EVER that I played hooky...sad I know.

Well if you wonder what brought upon this sudden urge to be a rebel...two words. Daniel Radcliffe.

My friend Karina, who interns for a movie company here in London, found out about a Q&A event happening at the Apple store on Regent Street where Daniel Radcliffe and the producers from his new film Lady in Black would be speaking. I freaked out over the idea that I would be missing class but pulled myself together and realized, when else in my life will I get the chance to see Harry Potter himself!

We arrived at the Apple store about two hours before the event as we weren't really sure how much seating would be available. The line for the event wasn't that long when we got there which lucky for us meant that we would be sitting in the second row in the theater!

The Q&A was set to start at 5 so when 5:10 came around the entire crowd was on the edge of theirs seats anticipating when he would come out. We all kept staring at the door waiting and wondering and before I knew it Daniel Radcliffe was literally two feet in front of me and I mean two feet. We were so close to the stage I had to pinch myself as it truly felt like I was dreaming.

I must say that he was very well dressed and was a lot more attractive in person. He seemed to keep his head down a lot which I thought was kinda odd but I guess if you're HARRY POTTER and you have crazy fans I might be a little hesitant to make eye contact with people too.

During the Q&A they played multiple clips from his new film Lady in Black. It was a little odd seeing him transform from playing a teenage character in Harry Potter to a father in the new film. The movie wasn't necessarily on my to see list before I went and saw him but I guess you could say that it is now.

If you would have told me a month ago that I would see the one and only Daniel Radcliffe while I was abroad in London I'm pretty sure I would have straight up laughed at you. I recall jokingly putting seeing him at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum on my "To Do List" but I'll have to say this was so much better and a moment I'll never forget!

A Day Trip and some Flatmate Friday Fun!

So I'll admit I've been slacking on keeping up with my blog posts. I guess you could say the STUDY part of study abroad is starting to catch up with me as I have my first major assignment (worth half my grade) due Wednesday!

I definitely made room for some fun last week though as I took a day trip with a few friends and also enjoyed my first "Flatmate Friday."

On the day trip, my friends and I went to Warwick Castle, Stratford-upon-Avon and Oxford. It was an action packed day but it was great to see so many different parts of England.

Warwick Castle was absolutely beautiful. The design and architecture of the castle made me want to suit up in my armor and go jousting.

We were able to tour the states rooms and walk along by the river which was really nice. My friend Vethina though kept insisting that she wanted a castle just like this one but I hated bursting her bubble that we weren't on an episode of House Hunters. I guess a girl can dream!

After touring the castle we made our way to Stratford-upon-Avon known for being home to William Shakespeare. We were able to go inside and tour the home he grew up way back when. It was really surreal to step back and think that the man behind so many world famous plays and stories grew up here. All the Tudor style houses were adorable and I absolutely loved the town.

The last stop on our tour was Oxford. We went in Christ Church College which is part of Oxford University but most importantly where the filmed scenes from the first two Harry Potter films. Even though I had been to Oxford before the excitement of it all definitely still got to this Harry Potter nerd!

The picture below is from the dining hall of Christ Church College where the filmed the great hall scene. *cue me freaking out*

As I mentioned that last week was filled with lots of school work and such it was nice to have a fun night with my flatmates last Friday. My flatmate, Billie got all the ingredients to make homemade pizzas. It was such a movie moment as we all hung out in the kitchen making the pizzas and then playing cards for hours afterwards. It was so simple yet so much fun! But since everyone in the flat takes turns making "Flatmate Friday" dinners I need to up my cooking game since those pizzas were so delicious!