I am really gonna try to start updating this more than once a week...

So, its 2 weeks into the trip. Man those two weeks have flown by. I am excited that its starting to get close to the time for me to come home, but at the same time, I am really enjoying London.

My work weeks have become a really nice routine. I wake up around 7, shower & get ready, head out at 8 to make sure that I am at work by 9. My tube ride consists of 3 lines: Central or District, Northern and Central. The ride usually takes me about 30 minutes in all, plus my mile long walk to Sloane Square. Its a good routine, I enjoy it.

On Wednesday this week, work got a little hectic. Stephanie (another intern at Bell Pottinger) and I had to help Chloe (also another intern, but from Stratford) with a six-month analysis report of how Bell Pottinger's services saved the client money that it would have spent on advertising in the publications that Bell Pottinger got their name in. It was hectic and stressful, but it gave me a look into another part of the PR world. I enjoy the fact that my internship is not as much writing as the internship at News and Information because I get to see the other part of public relations. I know it isn't all writing, so it gives me a little more confidence.

After work on Wednesday, our group went to see Billy Elliot, courtesy of Anglo American. I have to say that they play was good. I would have been a little more comfortable if I had known the storyline ahead of time, but overall the play was good. At one point, I felt like I had been dropped into Michael Jackson's playhouse. The scene was just slightly disturbing.

Thursday, we went to see the new Harry Potter movie. I will admit, I wanna read the books and see all the movies now. The movie was really good and everyone is telling me that the books are so much better than the movie because the movie didn't develop the characters as well. I'll have to borrow someone's books and find out for myself.

Yesterday was our group trip to Hampton Court. Personally, I enjoyed the trip because it gave me a chance to enjoy the beautiful gardens that are seldom planted anymore. We had a lot of fun--I love garden mazes. They're so much fun! It is much smaller than it used to be, but it is still fun to run around in! After we found the center of the maze and the exit, I really wanted to just keep running around in there like a little kid, just because it was so much fun! Afterwards, Erin, Laura, Jess and I went over to buy tickets for a theatre show that has ORLANDO BLOOM in it! Yes, that's right ORLANDO I-am-Legolas-and-Will-Turner-hottest-celeb-on-the-planet BLOOM. And the best part is that we got the 45 pound tickets for 15! I can't wait! =)

After buying those tickets and being giddy as schoolgirls, we went to Covent Garden, and I FINALLY bought my fork bracelet. It's awesome. Then, before heading home, Jess and I bought tickets for Wicked for 7 of us to see this Thursday. I also bought the book because Jessica HIGHLY recommended it.

I woke up this morning and happened to look out my window at my pretty view. That view now includes an up close and personal view of a crane. And now I look out my window, and the crane is gone. How does that happen?! (No, I am not hallucinating.) I hope to go wandering around Oxford Circus today to do some shopping for gifts for friends and family today, and maybe a little for myself as well. I have to keep in mind when buying all of my gifts that I have to be able to get them all home on the plane. I also need to clean my room and do laundry. Yay.

Tomorrow is our trip to Stratford upon Avon. I am excited. This is an exciting week ahead. Thursday is Wicked. Friday is Paris. Saturday is recovery. Next Tuesday is ORLANDO BLOOM. =)

Oxford and everything since July 4

So, on July 4, I did the British thing. Ignored the fact that it was July 4. I went to work (bitter because I knew all my friends back home were sleeping in and getting ready to bar-b-q for the evening. It definitely made me feel pretty homesick. It was nice, though, because my boss at Bell Pottinger sent all of the interns from the U.S. (there are 4 of us in the office) an e-mail wishing us a Happy 4th. I thought it was sweet of him. But, apparently some people in Britain decided that July 4 was a day to be down right mean to every American they came across...lucky me. On my way home from work, I apparently was not walking fast enough and got pushed into a light pole by some person. Not hard or anything, just kinda shoved out of the way. After I got home (obviously pissed), Jessica and I went to Waitrose to get some stuff for a spaghetti dinner and a bottle of champagne to celebrate the 4th and the fact that Jessica's internship sucks. While I was warming up the disgusting oven, our kitchen started to fill with smoke. There is so much crap burnt on to the sides and bottom of our oven that it smokes when heated. Quite annoying. So, instead, I made our garlic bread in the toaster--it was classy. Jessica, Jason, Lauren and I ate dinner while ranting about the various things in our internships and this trip that were pissing us off. We spent a lot of time laughing about it though, which probably helped our moods. Jessica, Rachel and I topped off the night by sitting around in our room and finishing off the bottle of nasty champagne.

July 5, marked 1 year until JR & I get married. YAY!!!!!!! I spend the day giddy as anything at work (and counting down to the end of the day) and then came home to talk to JR. We were able to talk for a little while, but then I had yet ANOTHER meeting to go to (I really hate meetings killing my evenings) and then went out to celebrate the 1 year mark with a good ol' hen night at a pub called Babushka's. It was nice. I spent too much and drank too much (lesson learned, never doing it AGAIN), but it was fun to have a night out with my friends in London.

On Friday (July 6), our group toured the Tower of London. It is definitely made up of more than a tower, but it was pretty awesome. During the tour (which was way too many people for one man's voice to reach), another tourist started to cuss at me for responding to questions that my chaperone was asking me about my cell phone. Britt came to my defense and began to basically kill the guy with kindness. She couldn't believe that the man just turned at me and started to cuss me out when I was being polite and responding to Britt's questions. And secondly, I wasn't even talking over the guy, he was finished saying the important things. The man apparently woke up with his panties in a bunch that morning. After the tour, we went to look at the crown jewels--which are AMAZING! I cannot believe the royals (past and present) have so many jewels that they wear! Honestly! I think one plate in the vault could buy the state of West Virginia! Afterwards, we went over to Piccadilly Circus to do some shopping and then over to Trafalgar Square for the first-ever Opening Ceremony for the Tour de France in London. It was amazing. We did not realize how many people were there until we left (after seeing and cheering on Team Discovery Channel of course). It was amazing.

Yesterday was our trip to Oxford. We spent the day wandering around the city and the various colleges that make up Oxford. I had previously thought that Oxford was only one, big, prestigious university. Turns out that it is actually made up of all these small colleges around the city of Oxford. It was a lonnnnnnng day. The city is nice. There are a lot of things to see. Harry Potter fans be jealous--I have been to Hogwarts. I have walked through the Great Hall. I have walked the same stairs as Harry Potter. Okay, so I didn't walk the EXACT same stairs...I walked through the places that inspired the locations in the movie. Its still awesome. That place, in case you were wondering, is Christ Church. It is a college and cathedral in Oxford and home to the largest quad in Oxford. Its really pretty. After walking around for the tour, we tried to go to lunch at The Eagle and Child pub, which is the place where J.R.R. Tolkien (genius behind the Lord of the Rings) and C.S. Lewis (genius behind The Chronicles of Narnia) met and discussed their work. Pretty awesome, huh? Well, it turns out that the place is pretty popular, so we couldn't eat there, but we did get to go in and have a look around. We went to lunch at a pub called O'Neils, where I was carded for being under 21 TO EAT. I couldn't understand that. I finally got up the guts to try the world famous Fish and Chips, which was really, really good. And I definitely got my money's worth of fish--I think they went for the largest piece they could find for me. After we ate, we walked around Oxford more and did a little bit more sightseeing. We tried to go up into the tower at the cathedral to see the view from up there, but there was a really long wait. Instead, we went to a couple of shops and to a museum that holds the blackboard where Einstein explained his theory of relativity.

After we got back to London, Eric, Jessica and I booked it over to the world's largest Apple store at Oxford Circus to get a new power adapter for Jessica's computer. On Friday night, the adapter started to smoke and spark and, essentially, died. She was REAL happy. And, on top of that, the IES dorm restricts what websites we can go to and so we could not look up the Apple website on my computer to see about a replacement. So. Jessica put in an emergency call to her mom, who was able to find out all the information we needed to know. We got to the Apple store before closing and Jessica was able to order the part that she needed. In the meantime, she had to buy a new adapter to use and bring that back to Chelsea with her since the part wouldn't be in for 7-10 days. But the good thing is that she can return the adapter she bought when the replacement part comes in and get a full refund for her money.

Once we left the Apple store, Jessica and I were craving Chinese food, so we made our way through Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square over to Chinatown. It wasn't all that great. The food we got was good for the price and tasted good at the time, but after it started to digest....well, lets just say I still don't feel too hot from it. We decided that that place is NOT the place to eat again. When we went to take the Tubes home, the Piccadilly line was backed up for some reason, so we decided to go around and take the Northern and District lines home. Later on, Eric came up and told us that there apparently was yet ANOTHER suspicious package left in the tubes and so the Piccadilly line had limited service. I was GLAD that Jessica and I went around.

Today is our first truly free day we've had since we arrived in London. Jessica and I took advantage of the day by sleeping in first of all. After we woke up, we got a few groceries and I made stir-fry and rice for her, myself and Eric. It actually turned out pretty well. We have spent the day relaxing and updating our pictures and blogs. Tonight, the group is going out to dinner at an Italian Restaurant near the apartment--I'm not turning down a free meal. I plan to spend the rest of the day getting caught up on some things and maybe getting a little laundry done after dinner tonight.

Internship Day 1

Today was a pretty good day. I was able to navigate my way to work through the tubes without getting too lost (although I did get a little confused and had a nice worker tell me 1- how to say the name of the station I was going to correctly and 2- how to get to said station). I found my internship location pretty easily and got to jump into the mix right away. I met the other interns- one of which lives in Alexandria! They're all really nice and we eat together, which makes it easier to relax in the new environment. The office itself is amazingly decorated-- very, very posh. The people there are really nice. In addition, they really want to give me some work experience so I can just let them know if there is anything I am interested in doing and they'll try to work it out for me!

When I got home at 5:50, Jessica told me that Dr. Stewart had gotten 6 tickets for a show at the Globe Theatre and that we had to leave at 6 if I wanted to go. I was really happy that she thought of me and had a ticket reserved for me in case I wanted it. We walked over the London Bridge (not the original since it is now in Arizona) and saw a rainbow over Tower Bridge. It was beautiful. The theatre itself was awesome. The show we saw was "Love's Labour Lost." It was really amazing to be able to watch one of Shakespeare's plays in style of theater they were originally seen in. I felt kind of bad for the people who had the standing space on the floor because it was raining (the theater has an open roof over part of it), but I'm sure they were happy to be there. The play itself was a little confusing at first, but eventually it started to make more sense as we read the program. The language difference (British English is VERY hard to understand if you aren't used to it) makes it hard to understand.

I think one of the funniest things about my entire trip thus far is the fact that even though I don't talk in a British accent, I have started thinking in one. As I type things on IM and in this blog, I literally hear myself talking with a British accent. I think all of us will be able to fake one pretty well by the time that we get home from London.

Its weird...I've only been in London for four days, but I feel like I've been here for much longer than that. As I start to get into my routine, I know that my days will fly by (which is good and bad at the same time). I figure that even if the trip flies by, I will have this blog and my pictures to serve as wonderful memories until I scrapbook the trip soon after I return. =)

A dreary day in London...

Today was definitely not the best of days for our group in London. We are all really getting frustrated with the way things have been going for us since we left Morgantown for London. We’ve been trying to make the best of the situations put before us, but it is really hard to stay positive when you are looking at everything around you and saying “how did I end up here and why am I staying?”

A group of us (Jessica, Jason, Greta, Erin, Lauren and myself) went over to Waitrose to do some grocery shopping (even though my kitchen is absolutely repulsive and usually filled with horny people who I do not know). On our way to Waitrose, we saw a bunch of paparazzi swarming around this one café. Since we are currently playing the part of the nosey American tourists, we had to stop in and see who they were making a fuss about. A couple of people in our group bought some pastries while a couple of us checked out who the famous girl in the back was. It was Kate Middleton—on again/off again girlfriend to the heir to the British Throne, Prince William. While it is not all as glamorous as it may seem to be, it is still pretty cool. She was trying to keep it as low key as possible and was wearing large sunglasses to conceal herself from the paparazzi. She was kind of asking for it though by spending the night with Wills last night after the concert in his mother’s honor (hey, I’m in Britain, I’m going to keep up with the British gossip if I can!).

After an interesting adventure in grocery shopping in an unfamiliar country, we went to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. Unfortunately, since it was being dreary London and raining, the event was cancelled. So we navigated our way back to the dorms, picked up some lunch and then relaxed until our meeting with Anglo American.

The meeting was informative, but seemed to drag on for a very long time. We were given tips for living in London and brief tidbits of information about our internships, but no real useful information to prepare us for what we are getting into as we start our internships over the coming days. We were given directions as far as getting us to through the Tubes to the general location of our internship, but we were not given any street directions, which led to a lot of very unhappy Mountaineers.

On top of that, apparently the internet is out in the entire building except for me. I am definitely not complaining that I have internet, I just wish that everyone else could have it so that we can all feel connected to the outside world in some manner. It was very hectic those first few days not being able to watch TV or read the news on the internet or communicate with our families. A lot of us had planned on using e-mail as our primary means of communication with our family.

Right now, the group is experiencing a lot of ups and downs and as a whole is riding the same emotional roller coaster with no sign of stopping any time soon. It is hard to look forward to things ahead when everyone around us is unhappy. A lot of the residents here do not understand why we do not like our living situation, but they do not know that we were led to believe that we were getting ourselves into something entirely different than what we have found. We are making the best of it. Soon, I am going to start cooking dinners in the kitchen and we will probably just eat it in one of the rooms or try to take over the common room (if it is not being resided in by one of the guys on the floor). Through all of the crap that we are going through, I am really happy that we are pulling together almost like a family and trying to be supportive of one another.

As for tomorrow, I am looking forward to my first day as an intern with Bell Pottinger. I am researching the company to learn about them, but there isn’t much to offer on their website about who they are and what they do. I am very excited though to get started.

Old Posts

Since we just got internet (FINALLY), I am posting all of my blogs as I have written them in Word. I'll add another blog update for today's blog in a separate entry.

July 1, 2007 – 12:10 p.m.

Battling homesickness is probably one of the hardest things for me to do. I hate being so far away from my family and JR. And then, with everything that is happening in Europe (bombings, terrorist attacks, etc), it makes me miss the comforts and security of home that much more.

I have done a lot of complaining since I got here and I have decided that now its time to change from looking at all the little negative things to seeing everything that’s positive. Our tiny dorm rooms (by far, not an understatement) have forced Jessica and I to become very comfortable with each other very quickly. She has already witnessed two breakdowns from me since leaving Morgantown, but has been incredibly understanding and willing to listen. I’m hoping that I do not have to subject her to further breakdowns on my behalf.

To get a feeling for our dorm rooms, here is what they are like. There are two beds, not even twin size on each wall. Between each bed there is maybe two feet of walking space. Behind my bed on the left side of the room is my wardrobe, which I was required to fit all of my clothes into—not too hard when I could only pack a certain amount to go on the plane. Beyond my wardrobe is my desk, which allows me to sit and see the city while I write.

Behind my desk is Jessica’s. She is also blogging for her trip to London, so we share a common bond of keeping people updated of our lives in London through the Internet. Her bed sits right beside her desk--it is also the same tiny size as mine. Her wardrobe is at the foot of her bed. It almost blocks the doors for the bathroom, but not quite. Beyond her wardrobe is the little “hallway” that leads to our door.

Our bathroom (or loo as they call it in Britain) is about the size of the bathroom in my parents’ RV. The shower is definitely the size of the RV’s bathroom. The toilet sits higher off the ground than American toilets, but doesn’t fill very high with water. The flushing mechanism (I guess you call it the flusher?) is on the wall near the toilet. We have a tiny sink (basin) to wash our faces and brush our teeth in. Every time we wash or brush our teeth, we risk hitting our heads on the vanity above us.

The funny part about our rooms is that we have to keep our key cards in the electric power switch to be able to have light for more than 20 minutes. It’s sad. I realize that they are trying to keep their costs low by not having American students keep the lights on all day long, but it’s still an annoyance we are learning to combat. We also found out upon arrival that we do not have wireless internet as we were led to believe from their website. We have to apply for internet access and then must buy an Ethernet cable from them. In addition, we have to either supply our own toilet paper or buy theirs. They sell their toilet paper at 2 rolls per pound. It is a bit of an annoyance, but one that is also being dealt with over time.

The neighborhood we are staying in reminds me a lot of Georgetown in DC. Every place has a historic elegance to it, but still remains a thriving community. There are charms of the place that make me feel like I am at home here, but the fact that I always look the wrong way before crossing the street reminds me that I am out of place here.

The city looks huge here. It’s amazing. I cannot even see everything in the city from my window and the vastness of it intimidates me. Chelsea is a small enough community that I am starting to feel comfortable in it. After our introductory meeting, we walked around a bit and explored the city. We walked through Chelsea, took the tubes (which are as easy to navigate as the DC Metro) to Piccadilly Circus and wandered around there for a while. Since it was raining, the West End was Brelly (Umbrellas in Britain) City. The number of people in the city made it difficult to walk through the city without being hit with a brelly from every direction.

Piccadilly Circus is very much like Times Square, except that it is not quite as urban. There is a nice little grassy area where people gather to listen to performers. It is the area where a lot of younger people hang out. Just outside of Piccadilly Circus is Haymarket Street, the place where an un-detonated car bomb was found the day we left for England from the States. I had forgotten about that tidbit of information while walking around there. Leicester Square is nearby Piccadilly Circus. It is just as busy and crowded.

I’ve decided to add a hero of the day section, just so I remember those who really touched me throughout the trip. Today’s is Jessica. She sat and listened while I had an emotional breakdown and did not judge me at all for it. It really meant a lot to me.

July 1, 2007 – 11:26 p.m.

Today has been much easier on homesickness. I am hoping that I sleep much better tonight than I did last night. I still have trouble talking to JR without choking up a little bit, but I know that this separation is making us stronger as a couple. I just hate not being able to talk to him whenever I want and I hate knowing that we are divided by an ocean for a month.

Most recent and funniest event of the day was the fact that Jessica and I went into our kitchen to inspect it for our forms we need to turn in for the rooms. We walked in and turned on the lights to find a girl and a guy having a little make-out session. We definitely embarrassed them, but we couldn’t help but be embarrassed ourselves. As soon as we got back to our room, Jessica and I started laughing hysterically and asking if that really just happened. It did. Yay for people hooking up in our kitchen.

Today we toured around some of the most famous landmarks in London. We started off by going through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace. I could not fulfill my goal of taking a picture with a guard while I goof off behind him because they are not outside the gate when the Royal family is not in house. I had to settle for getting a picture of a guard though the gate. While we were their Professor Klandorff told us a story about a time when a man jumped the gate a Buckingham, found the queen’s bedroom and talked with her. It took the man two tries to successfully do it, and, for the obvious reasons, created a huge security scare for the queen.

From the Palace, we walked down the British version of the mall (I say British version when comparing it to the National Mall in DC) to Trafalgar Square. We saw Nelson’s Column, a memorial dedicated to Nelson, who led the British troops to victory against Napoleon at Waterloo. Nelson himself was killed in the battle, but is still credited with the victory. At the base of the column are 4 statues of lions, which were made from the cannons of Napoleon’s ships. They’re amazing to see. Trafalgar Square is where many Londoners gather on New Year’s Eve to celebrate. It is also where many gathered on the day before Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding to celebrate.

After spending a few minutes in Trafalgar Square, we walked up Haymarket Street, the street where a car bomb had been found a few days before. You could sense some tension amongst people in the group who were not quite comfortable being near the scene of a potential disaster. We moved quickly up that street to escape that discomfort.

At the end of Haymarket Street is Piccadilly Circus and then Leicester Square, which we walked through on our way to Covenant Garden. I had imagined Covenant Garden to be a quiet garden, but it is actually quite the opposite. Instead of finding a beautiful garden of flowers, I found a bustling market place, which included vendors who made their own items and street performers. The group was allowed to explore for about an hour. Lauren, Katie and I went to a little restaurant called Ponti and ate there. I had a Jacket Potato with cheese and some garlic bread. It was delicious.

After we regrouped, we headed towards the Houses of Parliament. We walked past Trafalgar Square and close to the London Eye (which I have been DYING to get on since I found out I was going on the trip), but did not go on it. Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are beyond the London Eye, along the Themes River. Big Ben is not as large as I had imagined it to be, but is more impressive than I had ever imagined it to be. The detail of the buildings was meant to challenge the power of the church and to establish the Parliament as the ruling authority in England after the monarchy had been done away with. I do not even think that my pictures do the greatness of the buildings justice. The attention paid to each and every aspect of the buildings, whether they were meant to be noticed or not, is just beyond the magnificence of any skyscraper in New York or DC.

Across the street from Parliament is Westminster Abbey. The Abbey is closed to visitors on Sundays, for the obvious reasons, but we did manage to gain access to the building because they were having a thirty minute organ concert. The concert was called Pomp and Circumstance and today’s show was performed by the Assistant Organist. I have to say, if that man is the assistant, I cannot imagine how amazing those higher in the church than he is are. A few of us left the building with goose bumps because of how amazing the playing was. As for the building itself, I could not believe the magnificence of it. I was taken aback to the fact that I was sitting in the same room where Prince Charles and Princess Diana were married in, where all royalty is married in. The building is so old, but looking at it, you couldn’t imagine it has been standing for as many years as it has. It was amazing to see.

After the concert, Dr. Stewart treated us to dinner at the Ale and Pie Pub just down the street a little bit from the Abbey. They wanted us to have a taste of a real, traditional English pub. Luckily for us, no one was smoking in the pub since today was the first day that people were no longer allowed to smoke in pubs, courtesy of Parliament. The food took a long time to be brought to us, but it was delicious. I sat with Jason, Jessica and Erin for the meal. Jason, Jessica and I ate the lamb chops, which came with carrots, broccoli and new potatoes (small potatoes with just a little bit of skin on them). I thought about trying fish and chips, but decided that I would wait on that adventure for another time. The food was delicious. For desert (since the university was paying), I had Treacle pudding topped with custard. It was a very sweet and AMAZING. I savored every bite of it until I was not able to eat it anymore, and Jessica ate part of it to help me attempt to finish it off.

Afterwards, we took the tube back to Sloane Square and walked down Kings Road to our dorm. I sat in the 1^st floor lounge with Greta, Jason and Lauren to watch TV. We met two girls from Texas Christian University and watched the end of the Tribute to Princess Diana concert with them. It was an amazing concert. It is hard to believe that today would have only been her 46^th birthday. Her death seems like such a long time ago that it is almost ancient history, but she did not seem nearly that old when she passed all those years ago.

I am hoping that I can maintain a positive outlook on things to come and not fear for what may happen while I am out tomorrow. We are going to the grocery store (since our kitchen is disgusting) to pick up a few disposable dishes and some other necessities and then watching the changing of the guard. Afterwards, we have our introductory meeting with Anglo American so that we can be introduced to our internships, which we start on Tuesday. While I am kind of sad that I will not get to spend my days in London constantly playing tourist, I am excited for what I will learn working at Bell Pottinger. Since they are the largest PR firm in the U.K., I am confident that I will take home a lot more than good memories and pictures. I believe that I will have experience that will help my future.