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.