LONDON: Days 25-28

My job:
Not much has really happened so far this week.  Because I didn't have to work at my internship last week (my boss Tom was on holiday) I volunteered to work 2 extra days this week.  This means I am working Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday with a day of class in the middle.  SO BUSY!  This is technically against the rules because it goes against my VISA limitations of working a maximum of 20 hours/week, but I don't mind.  It's a lot of work though.  I'm not just a stupid intern who gets assigned one or two clerical assignments and then spends the rest of their time checking their Facebook.  My boss gives me a lot of assignments which keep me very busy all day (sometimes I even forget to take a lunch break and he has to remind me) and he even told me that he is going to be away again towards the end of October but he wants me to come in and take over ALL the responsibilities of his job.  This is incredibly scary to me.  But I have about 3 more weeks of practice before I have to do that. 

Some information about my internship:

• I work from 9:30am-6pm.
• I have a 1 hour lunch break, which usually involves me buying a sandwich/coffee and sit on some benches by a local park and read.
• I mostly respond to emails, fill out spread sheets, run errands, watch submitted short films and give my opinion on them, manage parts of the website, and make phone calls (I HATE MAKING PHONE CALLS.  Tom had me make a phone call to this film company asking for the rights to show a film of theirs in our upcoming film festival.  I practiced what I was going to say and had to learn how to dial a European phone number.  I felt very prepared yet put on the spot but in the end when I made the phone call the woman who answered only spoke a sentence of angry German to me and then hung up!  WOMP WOMP.)
• The boss of the entire company, though not the person I work directly for, was just honored with being #98 out of 100 of the most powerful people in film in the UK according to The Guardian.
• The company, according to Tom, is in great economic danger and so most of the people who I met when I first started have since been fired.

I also really like the people I work with!  They are all pretty young and really nice and they occasionally ask me to join them at the pub after work for a quick drink.  I mostly go out with Dan and Tom, and twice now a quick drink has turned into a 3 hour drinking session which always seems to get me a bit drunk!  It's so embarassing to get drunk in front of your boss who doesn't get as drunk as you.  I always think that beer is like water and I drink as much as everyone else around me (especially when they buy you rounds and the beer is free!) which is never a good idea.  I don't do anything crazy like stumble or pee on myself, but I definitely just don't ever stop talking.  So, I don't plan on drinking more than a SINGLE beer with them from this point forth.  I need to be a classy American.


Non-work related item of relevence:
Some maintenance staff came over today and told us that we have a mold problem in the flat.  This is not something we find shocking.  Our flat is disgustingly damp.  My towel never dries and even this morning I had it on my head swami style to dry my hair and I smelled something funny.  Turns out it was the towel!  It smells like moldy body odor.  And I only have the one towel thanks to my limited packing.  I may have to buy a new one while I'm here.

LONDON: Days 21-24

Wednesday
CLASS DAY!  2 classes each for a total of 6 hours of class.  They aren't difficult classes but they have yet to really draw me in yet or get me excited.  For my creativity and innovation class we went to Brick Lane for a field trip.  Part of our tuition went to an organized meal at a Pakistani restaurant.  We ate delicious things like curry, naan, samosas, chicken tandoori, cucumber salads, mago lassis etc.  The spicyness helped to clear up my sinuses but after we got back to the flat and took a nap I felt SO MUCH WORSE.  I had to endure my British Cinema class with a case of the sniffles.  I was that girl who jept obnoxiously coughing and blowing her nose while the professor gave his lecture.  OOPS.  But overall, a good day.

Friday
This week has mostly been spent being sick and doing absolutely nothing except watch re-runs on Law & Order: SVU on my laptop.  Caitlin helped me feel better by buying me medicine, AKA coca cola flavored gummie candy.  So when I started to feel a little bit better and I heard that one of the guys in our program could get everyone's name on the guest list to a fancy club, I jumped at the chance to go!  The great part about it was that it was a bonding experience for me because EVERYONE went!  So I was able to hang out with people I don't normally hang out with.  The club was called Cafe de Paris and when we arrived (in a huge, obnoxious American group) we went in the special VIP line and didn't have to pay any fees to get in!  Our names were on a list!  So fancy...

The club itself was VERY touristy, which was to be expected since it is in Picadilly Circus (the equivalent of NYC's Times Square).  It was big and plush and resembled an old cinema/circus.  Really nice.  And since I wasn't drinking I spent a total of £0 for the whole night!  SCORE.  I just danced and talked with the flat mates.  There was a live cover band that played songs from Queen, Journey, Green Day etc.  I actually completely lost my voice from screaming along to the music/screaming at the band to "PLAY BON JOVI!" (which they never did.)  It was SO much fun.

When we got back from the club, a bunch of us changed into pajamas and sat around in the kitchen drinking tea, eating toast, and laughing about the night.  It really was a good time.  I'm glad I got to hang out more with the girls on my floor, the 4th floor girls (Danielle, Allison, Michelle, and Ashley-they all love Harry Potter just as much as I do) and the Cellar Dwellars (Justin, Fornwald, and Zack-who all wore suits to the club).

Now I am re-cuperating by drinking lots of tea with lemon and talking to friends from home online.  P.S. HAPPY BELATED 20th BIRTHDAY TESSA LAW!

WOO LONDON I LOVE YOU!

London: DAY 22

I AM SO SICK IN LONDON!  IT IS TERRIBLE!  I CANNOT BREATHE!

But isn't it weird that British orange juice has white squirrels on the box?

LONDON: Days 18-21

SUNDAY
Sunday was London's annual Curry Festival at Brick Lane.  I really do love that neighborhood.  It's filled with vintage shops, indian restaurants, and cheap baegels.  We walked around there for a few hours, freaking out about how delicious the foods smelled, how interesting the people were, and how lovely the stall merchandise was.  I bought a giant fluffy pork dumpling, spiced Moroccan vegetables with cous cous, and a Guarana (a popular Brazilian soda that I became addicted to during my summer in Sao Paolo circa 2001).  SO DELICIOUS!!!

MONDAY

Monday I was sick.  Just a little 24 hour cold. But regardless, I spent the entire day drinking orange juice, stuffing my face with food, and watching Skins.  This show is basically Britain's answer to Degrassi.  Full of drama and ridiculousness.  I watched seasons 1 & 2 during winter break, after my cousin Emma introduced it to me.  Seasons 1 & 2 are brilliant.  The cast was fabulous and the characters were tragic and beautiful.  Season 3 is nothing compared to the amazingness of it's predecessors.  You can watch all 4 seasons on youtube for free and I recommend everyone do so.

TUESDAY
Tuesday I felt better.  So after doing my homework and skyping with Adam, I dolled myself up and went for a walk.  The weather was SOOOO sunny and lovely.  I walked down High Street Kensington and browsed the shops.  There was a sale at Claire's so I bought a bejeweled headband for £3.  I also splurged a little bit on a new pair of headphones.  The thing with this purchase though, is that it was a necessity.  In the last year, my 2 best pair of headphones have broken.  I also have little baby mouse ears, which don't fit the stadard sized headphones that Apple practically gives away like candy.  I had been borrowing Christine's headphones, but they really just hurt too much to always have to use.  And so, this purchase was a necessity.  Unfortunately, I could only find one place on my whole 2 hour long walk that sold headphones: Urban Outfitters.  And that meant that my headphones were expensive.  Stylish! but, expensive.

(Behold, the purchases of the day!)

Now I am sitting in the common room, eating my microwavable Indian food (cauliflower, fennel, potatoes, tomatoes, in a spicy saag sauce) and browsing the internet.  Good day.

London: Days 13-17

Lock Tavern

Before ever even coming to London I fantasized about what it would be like to have "my place", i.e. my own pub, bar, boozer etc.  I kind of imagined it being like The Winchester in Shaun of the Dead where you have a tab and the bartender knows your name and your drink of choice and you only have to walk around the corner from your flat to get there.  I've come to discover, that this doesn't really exist unless you're a seedy old guy in a seedy part of town.  Especially in the hoity toity neighborhood where we are.  Most of the pubs are uptight or have creepy bartenders or are super expensive and touristy.  However, even though I do not have the exact "my place" experience, I still think I have found A place that I really enjoy going to.  This place is called The Lock Tavern and we totally came across it by accident on our second day here.  It truly is an awesome place, though a little bit expensive.  On Thursday Christine, Fornwald, Pat, Chris and I went to a free DJ session by Mumford and Sons at "our place."  It was actually pretty fun.  They played pretty popular music and even though not a whole lot of people were dancing, we still danced and had fun.  Also, apparently Laura Marling was there (though I didn't see her) because she is dating one of the guys in the band.  I LOVE LAURA MARLING.  

High Tea
I saw my childhood friend Layla twice this week.  She really is quite a character.  The first time we met up we just walked around my neighborhood and ate sandwiches.  But the second time we hung out I met her in her neighborhood to go back to Bea's of Bloomsbury.  Once again, delicious scones and tea.

Notting Hill
Walked around Notting Hill today with Caitlin and Christine after a failed attempt to go to a friend;s rugby match and a second failed attempt to experience London's Open House event (basically a lot of archtectural structures are open for free to the public one weekend a year).  We took photos in phone booths, ate gelato, browsed book shops, and explored Marks & Spencer.  Marks & Spencer has the NICEST packaging ever.  We ended up finding these really interesting wines and cheeses.  My wine is called Lemony White Spicy Mulled Wine Zesty Fragrant and it is recommended that you serve it warm with a slice of orange.  Tonight we're going to attempt to dress fancy and have a wine and cheese tasting by the Thames river...but knowing us, we'll probably just drink wine and eat cheese in our pajamas while watching British television.

Archangel
Last night we attempted to go out to a club with other people from our program for the first time.  And it was actually pretty fun!  The club was right around the corner from our flat and they played pretty good music and we just had a crazy dance party for a few hours.  However, when I say they played pretty good music I mean they played music that I liked to rock out to in middle/high school, i.e. Panic! at the Disco, Blink-182, Something Corporate etc.  But those DJ ladies looked at me like a crazy person when I went to request bands like Outkast, Major Lazer, Dexy's Midnight Runners, and Bon Jovi.  HELLO!?  Best bands to dance to EVER.

 

It must seem like I go out and drink all the time according to this blog, but I assure you that this is not the case.  I am more of a dancing machine than a beer guzzler.

LONDON: Personal Reflections

 (This is a pensive post, so here is a pensive picture of me near the London Eye/Big Ben.)

Everyone kept telling me, "Oh London!  How wonderful!  You're never going to forget this experience!"  But I never really thought about how much I was going to reflect on this experience or how it will indeed be something I never forget.  I mostly just thought about how much fun I was going to have.  Lately I have had more time for reflection on the matter.


Since coming to London, I've been feeling a little disconnected from everyone else.  Not just native Londoners but even from my close friends in the program.  I wasn't quite sure why.  I blamed jet lag and culture shock.  But those things are behind me now, for the most part.  Maybe I was just being too judgmental or over thinking things.  I didn't really want to meet new people on my own because it had been so long since I had had to make that effort.  These days, my mutual friends introduce people to one another!  But in London, I have no mutual friends outside the program and I wanted to meet some real Londoners.  But I found people didn't want to come and talk to me unless I already knew them.  Was I being standoffish?  Do I look mean?  I went on my artist's date yesterday and decided to think about things.  An artist's date is an assignment for my Creativity and Innovation class.  It is where you take 2 hours ut of your day to just be by yourself and explore your inner-self while exploring the city... I realized that I really like to be by myself.  Mostly this consists of me sitting around the house in my pajamas while everyone else is out doing things.  But for my artist's date I decided to get out of pajamas and walk down the street to check out the local library.  I ended up spending about 4 hours there reading, browsing, signing up for a library card (it has dinosaurs on it!) etc.  And while I was there I kept thinking about the past 2 weeks.  I realized that as a New Yorker and Philadelphian, I naturally give off "don't come near me" vibes as a survival mechanism.  As a 4'11 girl in a big city, you need survival mechanisms!  And by having this natural inclination to appear unapproachable, I was appearing unapproachable.  So I made the conscious decision right then and there to be more approachable.  And it worked!  When I came back from the Library I sat with some of the girls from my flat who I don't usually talk to and we had some pretty fun conversations.  And later that night I went out with some friends and a couple of real Londoners struck up conversations with us!  It was a small step for me!  By the time this trip is over I will have created a built in switch in my brain that will allow me to be approachable or unapproachable at will.

There are still many things to think about and questions to ask.  For instance, I'm here with some of my closest friends from home.  Would this experience be better if I was going solo and had to meet all new people?  I'm in an English speaking country, would the experience be more fulfilling if I were to attempt to learn a foreign language?  I am currently in a serious relationship back at home.  Would I be enjoying myself more or less if I were single? 

Whenever I ask myself those questions, I always have to remind myself that everything happens for a reason.  I am in London right now because I am supposed to be here.  It is a good city to be in and to learn how to live in it.  It is good to be away from the people you love because it makes you love them even more.  At this point I don't know if I want to learn to fit in or stand out (though I have been asked for directions 3 times now, so I guess I look like a native).  3 months isn't a whole lot of time to become a full on Londoner, so why try too hard to fit in when I can just be myself and do my thing?  I just want to have fun and enjoy myself this semester.  When the homesickness comes and all I want is to be cozy and warm in my bed from home while my cats crawl all over me, I will just travel!  I already have plans to go to Amsterdam with my roommates and even 1 new friend from our flat.  And when Adam visits in 35 days/11 hours/45 minutes, we're going to Paris!  And there are possible trips to Germany and Italy somewhere over the next few months.  I'm fighting homesickness and despair with my natural born wanderlust.  It's going to be awesome.

So I guess what I've learned so far is that every experience is determined by your own attitude when going into it.  I am deciding to have a good time while I'm here.  That doesn't mean I have to have a good time all the time.  But I am going to have the best time I can have overall because it's my decision to have the best time.

Photobooth Pics: London Edition

Us being pretty.

Us being babies.

Us feeling so sick.  We think we are dying.

Us with something in our eyes.

CREEPER.

Us straight cheesin'.

Us being Ugly. (My favorite part is Caitlin's face.)