Average Day at Work

So yesterday I walk into work and I get handed a really cool task. The company I work for has been designing a large banner and some other promotional materials for use at conferences, events, etc. I've been helping out, and they take my feedback seriously, which as an intern is really cool. Seeing as how their main target market is American & Canadian students, they listen to what I have to say (especially when it comes to things like Facebook and stuff like that.)

I got handed a camera and told that they needed a picture of London for the banner. I had a few hours to run around the city and snap as many pictures as I could. I was given a few specifications (horizontal, colorful, something depicting "iconic London.") I don't think I've ever been more excited about a work project, so far. I'm not a master of photography, so I was challenged to actually take a quality picture (the four photo majors that I live with would laugh pretty hard at some of the ones I took.)

I felt like a contestant on a reality show. I had a simple point-and-shoot camera, a few hours, and the limited knowledge of London that I've gained in a few months here. I had a deadline to meet: my boss wanted to send the banner to the printer that afternoon. PRESSURE! Of course, I wanted lots of options to turn in, so I BOOKED IT around the city. I'm a pretty fast walker, I can navigate the tube well, and I consider myself pretty good at weaving in and out of traffic (people, bikes, busses, cars...I only almost got hit once!)

So I basically spent the whole day running from place to place taking pictures like a tourist. I went back to a few places that I had been before that I think of when I think "London." When I went to Buckingham Palace it was actually almost time for the changing of the guards, which I hadn't seen yet. I stuck around, and it is actually a much bigger ordeal than I expected. Got a few pictures there, and then it was back to pounding the pavement.

It was a beautiful November day in London: sunny, and not too cold. I wanted to share a few of the pictures I took.


Changing of the guard


I like the Eye peaking out...


This one took some work. Had to position myself properly, wait for a bus, and hope I timed it right. A few tries later, and once enough people gave me funny looks for squatting, I got the shot!

I Amsterdam

This weekend I went to Amsterdam with all of my flatmates. We were all really excited for this trip, mainly because it was the first thing we booked, but we booked it really far in advance. It has been staring back at us from our calendar for months. Finally, the weekend came! As soon as I got into the city I realized that my camera was dead, so I had to rely on my friends' cameras. I'll post a few of my favorite pictures once they upload their pics, but for now, I have nothing to show from my trip.

While in the city, we just walked around and explored. It's a fairly small city, so it wasn't a problem to get to where we wanted to be. We played on the well-known "I Amsterdam" sign, which is great for pictures. We also toured the Anne Frank house, which was bigger than I expected. It was unfurnished, so I bet when there were eight people and some furniture in there it quickly got a lot smaller. We also planned on touring the Heineken brewery, but we were a little slow getting there and that plan fell through. So we basically spent the rest of the day exploring the Red Light District (which is exactly how you would picture it) and some other well known areas in the city.

The next morning we woke up in time to catch part of the Christmas festivities that were going on that day. Santa came in on a boat, and there were a LOT of people there to see it. I was shocked at the number of people that were dressed up; both kids and adults. It was really cool. Anyway, Amsterdam was a lot of fun. I wouldn't say it was my favorite European city that I've been to, simply because there just isn't as much to do there. But all in all, I still had a great weekend.

The main thing I was excited about was getting the stamp in my passport. I've had layovers in Amsterdam before, but I've only left the airport for short periods of time. This was my first real visit of the city, so the first time I actually counted the passport stamp. This one is significant because it brings my count of countries I've visited up to ten. (United States, Canada, South Africa, Mozambique, Ireland, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Greece, Netherlands) I can't believe that I am only 20 years old and I have been to ten countries across three continents. I count myself very grateful for the opportunities that have given me the ability to travel as much as I have at such a young age. With that said, I'm aiming for 20 countries by the time I am 25.

Countries I'd like to visit: (in no particular order)
-China
-Japan
-Australia
-Spain
-Brazil
-India
-Thailand
-New Zealand
-Costa Rica
-Morocco
-Germany
-Denmark

And basically everywhere else in the world.

Sometimes I Play "Grown-Up"

It's weird being back from Fall Break. But after being in London again, I think "you know, this whole London thing is working for me." I enjoy taking the tube to class, despite the frequent strikes. I enjoy always having something to do, or just hanging out in my flat. Before I got to London I played with the idea of coming back at some point; I already knew I would love it. Now that I am here, I do love it, and I have been seriously looking into graduate programs here. I had already researched a few before getting here, and I've actually even toured a couple and talked with admissions counselors. I really think that if I keep at it and keep in the direction I am going, graduate school in London can be a much more real possibility.

Speaking of grown up things, I haven't really spoken about my internship placement, mainly because getting it wasn't as smooth as an administrative task as I was hoping it would be. Anyway, I am happy to say that I'm an intern at a student resource company for academic, volunteer, and internship placements around the globe. I handle a variety of marketing tasks including restructuring their Facebook presence, which is really cool, and some other neat stuff. I even get to write on their blog from time to time, and they just published my first post!

I want this opportunity again. I want to come back to London on another level, not just as an undergrad student for one semester. The other day, one of my professors here asked me how I was finding London. All I said was "I want to come back," and she said "all the good ones do." I really took that seriously.

Fall Break

And just like that, it came and went. My whirlwind tour of three European cities in one week is behind me. I just got back yesterday, and I've taken the weekend to readjust to life in London. Midterms being over is a relief, but the last seven weeks of the semester are filled with research papers, group projects, finals, and a lot of other stuff. Luckily I have my weekend in Amsterdam two weeks from now as something of a breath of fresh air.

But let me tell you, fall break was amazing. I had such an appreciation for each place that I visited and the different quirks that I discovered. I think ultimately I had a fall break that was very fitting to what I wanted. I got to hang out with my flatmates and fool around in Paris, spend some time pounding the pavement solo in Milan, and meet up with some other friends in Athens (including two studying at an SU center in Florence, so it was cool to see them.) Here's the full low-down of my break.

Paris: Saturday, Sunday, Monday
The first day of fall break was BY FAR the worst. I had a very early flight from London on Saturday, and of course I missed it. I used to pride myself on the fact that I've never missed a flight before. Even if I've been behind schedule in the past, I always find a way to bypass the security line, run faster through the crowd, or do something to make sure I get my butt in that seat. But this time, I get to one of the security checkpoints in Heathrow, and I was turned around. I was too late. After some talking and some research, I discovered that the best plan was to go home for a few hours and then take a train later that day. A minor setback in hindsight, but I already felt like break was ruined.

Once I arrived in Paris I got to the right stop off of the metro and found my hostel quite easily. Now, I was supposed to meet people under the Eiffel Tower at around 1pm, and by this point it was already 6pm. I had contacted one of them while on the train and told them that I would find their hostel and meet them there. This proved to be quite the challenge. Armed without a map or any knowledge of the French language other than what I remember from middle school or the foreign exchange student that my brother had, I set out on my quest. Paris is a confusing city. Once I found them, I was exhausted. So were they, though, so we had a chill night.

The next day we did the big tourist stuff, of course. With such little time in each city, tourist stuff is pretty high on the list, since I've never been to Europe. In line at the Louvre we ran into four people from Syracuse, NY including two alums of SU. What a small world! The inside of the Louvre was even more exciting.


There she is!

Lunch break. French bistro. YUM! After that we ventured to the Eiffel Tower. When I first saw it, I was taken aback. It was actually there in front of me, and not on a screen. Sure, it looks the same, but the experience was just something I hadn't felt before. It was actually RIGHT THERE!


See? It's RIGHT THERE!

Next stop: Notre Dame. Yeah, that was cool too. But the best part was a guy we met there. We saw this man with an arm covered in birds. We saw that he was feeding them something out of his hand, and we wanted a part in it. All we had on us was a brownie, so we crumbled it and I quickly stuck out my hand filled with pieces of a messy brownie. The birds didn't seem to even notice. The guy saw me though, and grabbed my arm, brushing the brownie chunks off. He yelled at me, (in very broken English) and then poured me a handful of rice. Within seconds I was covered. He then proceeded to show us a card showing that he was in the armed service during World War Two, and he told us that he loved America and that he shot a bunch of Germans. I wish I could have learned more about this man.

After that, my friends had to leave for their next city, but I still had a night and a day in Paris. They had gotten there a day before me, so I wanted to take a day on the other end to myself. They left for Germany, and I had the night in Paris. I decided that I loved the Eiffel Tower so much that I wanted to go back. The first time we were only there for like 15 minutes, and I wanted to do more. I climbed the stairs as high as you can, freezing the whole way. I thought it was AWESOME, though. The view of the city is indescribable.


Here's a view looking at the "inside" of the Eiffel Tower.

After that, I just wandered around. That's my ideal style of travel; just wander around looking at things of interest until I realize that I'm completely lost and miles away from my original starting point, and then find my way back. It's a lot of fun, but in Paris in the middle of a Sunday night without a map it can be a challenge. After a decent amount of aimlessly walking around, I found my way home and got some sleep.

The next day I did something that I just couldn't resist. I'm such a Disney geek at heart, so I just could not pass up the opportunity to go to Disneyland Paris. I told myself that if I was satisfied with my day in the city on Sunday that I would go to DP, but that if I thought that I was missing something that I would do a second day in the city. I loved day one, so I wanted to do something else.


The entrance to Disneyland Paris

I have been to Disney World a few times, both as a child and more recently, but this was so new to me. A lot of the attractions have similar ride tracks, but the styling and theming of the park is just so different. DP also has a few unique attractions, and my favorite part was definitely seeing these for the first time. (They have a Finding Nemo roller coaster that is really well-done.) As a big fan of all things Disney, and a marketing major, I was just really intrigued by how Disney presents their ideas to a European audience. The park was also advertising some Halloween theming, but there was very little actually in existence. I was disappointed to see that only some areas of the two parks that make up Disneyland Paris had any Halloween theming, and what was there was kind of lackluster. Some areas had Christmas stuff already, and that just made me mad. Other than that, I had a great day in the parks. I did some research beforehand and found that most visitors agree that you need more than one day to truly appreciate Disneyland Paris. I completely disagree. It's easily accessible on the Paris metro, and if you are a good planner you can fit it all into a one day timeframe. You just have to be ok with keeping a very fast pace all day, along with using fast pass and hopping between attractions, shows, shops, restaurants and the two parks quickly.


The castle at Disneyland Paris


Milan: Tuesday

I had a very early flight to Milan the next morning. I had some trouble getting to the airport, but I gave myself WAY more than enough time to get there. I was not going to miss another flight. Once I got into Milan and found my hostel, I was ready to see another city! Milan is different from most Italian cities in that it's mainly just a big "industrial" city. But a big industrial city is always good for one thing: SHOPPING! I went to a huge flea market and then the biggest shopping area in the city. I spent pretty much the whole day doing this, but I didn't buy a single thing. I was so proud of myself. My credit card was happy with me too; a nice day of relaxation for it. This was until dinner, where I had DELICIOUS gluten free pasta and tiramisu. I don't think I've ever had tiramisu in my life because of my allergies, so this was really exciting for me. I had a lot of fun exploring this city too, but luckily I had the aid of a map this time. Milan was actually pretty easy to navigate, so I was able to get the most out of my day.


Milan Cathedral/Duomo (best shopping area in the city)


Athens: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

Flew to Athens in the morning and met up with one friend who is also studying in London and two friends who are studying in Paris. It was nice to see them! That night we explored the Acropolis and had a great Greek dinner. We then got caught in the biggest rainstorm I've seen in months. And I saw the brunt of South Africa's wet season this summer, so this is saying a lot.

The next day we went with a group of people from our hostel on a bus trip to Napfoli, a beautiful city with castle ruins, beautiful swimming areas, and just a quant city feel, as opposed to the HUGE METROPOLIS feel that Athens radiates.


The castle ruins in Napfoli

The next day we explored the city of Athens more in depth, including some shopping, some watching break dancers in the city center, and some other sites. We saw the temple of Zeus, a few great collections on the history of the marathon & ancient Greek theatre, and lot of other really cool stuff.


Me and Athens

That night it was time to say goodbye, so we celebrated the fact that we can legally enjoy the city in our own special way.


Jess, Mel, and me in Athens

The next day was the flight back, which felt a lot longer than it really was. Maybe that had to do with the fact that I was surrounded by children. But now I am just looking forward to enjoying the "back 9" of my time here in London. I was told that this semester will move way too fast, and the people who told me this were absolutely correct. Fall break felt like a blink.

Getting Down to Business

I've been making an effort to increase the amount of time I'm spending studying...which isn't a challenge. Like I said before, it seems really strange to me that midterm time is already here. I have all my midterms this coming week, so I might not blog again until I get back from fall break which is immediately after midterms. I have four midterms, then one day to pack, and then I leave for Paris, Milan, and Athens. I haven't even started to look at things that I want to do in these cities. I kind of forgot to, mainly because I usually have lots of time when I go to another country, so my style is to just go right in without a plan and figure things out authentically and on my own. I probably should go into fall break with a plan, though, because I have such a short time in each city and so much I want to do. I'm only in Milan for about 24 hours! It's going to be such a whirlwind of Europe, and I'm so excited since I've never been here before.

So if I don't write again until November, it's because I'm either studying for or taking my midterms, or I've left for fall break without the time to blog.

10 Days Gone By...

Woah - I just realized I haven't blogged in 10 days. That's the longest break I've had from it; guess I haven't been up to many antics. Last week I made an effort to go to some classic London tourist things that I hadn't seen yet. You can tell that the weather here is BEAUTIFUL!


Big Ben


London Eye


A view from the River Thames: I walked down the riverside for a couple miles and envisioned my office right in between the two taller ones.

I also visited the Tate Modern art museum. It was really interesting, but I only had a couple hours there before I went to the National Theatre for a backstage tour. That theatre is REALLY cool, and we get to see one of their shows this week.

Aside from that, things are pretty much the same here. I feel very settled into this city, and being here is really reaffirming some potential plans for the future. I'm also VERY excited for fall break in two weeks. But that means that I have midterms to get through first...it seems like some of my classes haven't even really gotten off the ground yet, and I already have midterms. Ridiculous.

More Shows

My Theatre in London class saw "Avenue Q" this week. While it wasn't really "British theatre," it was interesting to see their take on it. The script and some of the lyrics are changed from the New York version, usually just changing the American pop culture references to British ones. I actually got most of them too, so I was proud. The show did lose some of its charm, though, as I just thought it wasn't taken as seriously as it is in the states. Sure, it's puppets singing about sex, alcohol, and life's bigger problems, but it had an actual message. And in London, it's just a bunch of naughty puppets. Still funny, but different.

I just got back home from another Friday night show in the West End. I'm enjoying this whole concept of just jumping on the tube, getting of at a stop downtown, and running around trying to find a ticket to anything. This time was more of a struggle, though, and I didn't end up getting a ticket by 730, when most of the shows start. Luckily I found one show that started at 830. It was "Mamma Mia," which I've never actually seen before. It's been around forever, and it's in so many different places, but I just hadn't gotten around to it, yet. I haven't even seen the movie because I've been waiting to see the musical. I managed to snag a really cheap ticket last minute, and I actually had a decent seat. The show was everything I expected: An overdone splash of frills and color, a thin plot line with random ABBA songs strewn in, all complete with an audience that sings along. But overall, it's a fun show that MAKES you want to sing along (but I didn't.) There were two girls next to me who had come to celebrate a birthday. I was talking to them briefly before the show, and then they invited me to have champagne with them at intermission. We became fast friends.

Check out my last post, where I saw "Love Never Dies" and The Saturdays in concert!