Update: Still Alive

I haven't gotten a chance to write too much lately because I've been in Barcelona and Amsterdam...and I've got final projects due this week and finals next week. Expect a bunch of pictures from my travels in the next week, though.

Continuing to be a Huge Tourist

All I need is a fanny pack and shorts pulled way too high. Actually, I'm going to be a huge tourist in Barcelona this weekend. I just checked the weather (and then converted the temperature into Fahrenheit because I still haven't gotten used to the metric system) and it's about 80 degrees (Fahrenheit) there. So maybe I will have to invest in some ugly shorts.

SO...here are a bunch more pictures of my host city before I leave:

My friends and I (plus about 30 other people in my program and one poor family that had to deal with us) went on a bike tour of London. I heard driving in London was bad....but biking with tons of people over bridges, through traffic, and tourist attractions is no tip-to-tip tour down LBI. But I did get a few nice pictures....

Can't ever get enough Parliament pictures. Am I right?

I call this the Buckingham BMX [or trying to get around to the palace carrying bikes].

Oh, and what do you know...I ran into another semi-celebrity. This is Josh Peck from movies such as The Wackness or hit Nickelodeon shows like Drake and Josh (he was Josh). My friend took the picture during an enticing conversation in which I realized that he was not actually acting very hard in The Wackness at all. Here's a hint....

"That's dope."
-Josh Peck



So I ALSO saw my first castle ever (unless you count that time I went to Medieval Times in New Jersey). It was, of course, the most incredible thing I've ever seen (although Medieval Times was awesome and involved jousting).





We had a lovely tour guide who told us a story of the (extremely obese) King Henry VII and how, on his way to be buried with all the other royals at St. George's Cathedral, his body exploded in the casket. Also it was beautiful inside.




We also visited Eton College. Which reminds me of how confusing the school system is here. College is something like high school, Uni is community college (I think), and University is college/university. Also what we call private schools are called public schools, and in all of these schools they all talk funny (like Fronce [France] and paster [pasta]).

So in this public college (aka private high school)...this is their school uniform:
With tails. On Saturdays, too.


There was a huge fair on the River Thames last weekend and at the end there were fireworks. I realized I'm completely spoiled and that all the fireworks displays I regularly attend at home are the most expensive displays in the US [unless you could the bi-weekly fireworks that my neighbors in Allston set off around midnight...something Dad can attest to from his one night stay].

London didn't disappoint.

Three Cheers for Unpaid Internships

I just got back from my interview with CDP-Travis Sully today, so my position there is finalized. I met with one of the Account Directors and the CEO (!), and then I was shown around the office. There are only about 20 people there, so it's really small. But that means that I'll get to do a bunch, especially because they have a bunch of big clients (including Canon and the Wii online channels). I'm starting there in the middle of October as soon as my first two classes are done and I'm definitely excited.

I've got some work to catch up on tonight and then I'm going to World's End, a pub that Charles Dickens used to go to. Plus there's a club underneath and every Friday is 80s night. London's weird like that, but it's always interesting.

Oh, and lastly I experienced my first football game on Wednesday. England was playing Croatia and for some reason it was an important came. When England won, I heard the dirtiest football chant ever. And this is coming from a girl whose unofficial school song is "F*** them up; F*** them up; BU SUCKS!" If you want to see the song, look up one that starts with "I wanna be a Barrow ranger." The best part was that one guy was just screaming the lines and everyone else knew the lines and sang it back to him.

I can't believe I've only been here for ten days! Last night I was talking to someone and estimated that I've been here for about three weeks...that's how long it feels like I've been here (also I'm terrible at time perception).

I took a few pictures of where I live so you can see the supreme posh-ness of the area (Orlando Bloom down my street).
My hotel-ish room and my roommate Zeny.

This doesn't look too weird at first....but I really have no idea how to get warm water from our bathroom sink.


Outside the dorm. It's so much nicer than any dorm at Boston University and.....


....it's right across the Museum of Natural History. This museum is GORGEOUS and....

....Fashion Week is going to be here next week! That's one of the buildings being set up.



Last week I went to a club for the first time ever, because that's what these Brits do on weekends. I went to a few more this weekend, but I definitely like the pubs and bars around here better. All of the venues play a lot of American music and some of it is comedically outdated (I heard "Momma Mia!" and "Drop it Like It's Hot!" within an hour at one place).

On Sunday I went to Brighton, the place where Mom stayed while she was in England. All I can say is that Dad must have been pretty swell if he got her to come back to the US after she lived there. The town is so cool...but a little weird. In one little shore town there's....



.....an Imperial Pavillion, which was a house of King George the Somethingth...



....a really cool pier with carnival rides.....

a beach with pebbles, not sand...


and a bunch of little vintage shops and mainstream stores around the town. We only had a little time to walk around, but I did find Mom's old house...



While I was there, I managed to play around with my camera enough to take some art-sy pictures, too.





Last night I went to see the Josh Hartnett play, Rain Man. I had pre-opening night tickets and the play was actually postponed until next week because it wasn't quite ready yet. So, as I had heard, Josh was terrible. He forgot his lines at least 3 times. Overall, though, it was still really fun to see him in a play.

Now I'm off to my UK/Europe Relations class, which is actually really interesting. My professor is an older Brit who frequently mentions "the Frogs," their official registry of over 300 types of cheese, and the numerous scandals of the EU members.

No Labor Day, but there is a Labour Party...

So that means no barbecues for me this week. BUT I did do a whole bunch of British-y things on Labor Day like.....


Paddington Station....no bears

The stereotypical Big Ben photo

Westminster Abbey







So THEN I went to the premier of Rock n Rolla, a new Guy Richie movie. My camera decided to run out of batteries right around here, which resulted in hilarious photos....


Gerard Butler when asked to say "THIS IS SPARTAAA!!!!!"


The most scandalous dress I've ever seen





Yup, saw Madonna and Guy Richie on my second day in London. Typical.









London's pretty sweet (other than the fact that I can barely get an internet connection). They're very accommodating for us foreigners and their Coke tastes better than US style.

#1 reason I'm still alive.

I started one of my classes today. It's so weird to be back in school again, especially here. It's so hard to sit in class when you've been out all night when you're in London.

My semester is split into two parts: 5 weeks of 2 classes and 8 weeks of an internship while I take one class. I was placed in an agency called CDP London, a 30-person agency ranked in the top 20 British advertising agencies and one of the top 10 British advertising agencies in terms of creative. Today was my first day of British marketing class (wooooooo.) and tomorrow I have a British Political Science class. Clearly these classes are just interferences, but I'm dealing so far.