Whoever said traveling around Europe was cheap, lied.

This sucks...£250 (almost $400) to go to Barcelona. Seriously?!


But I just saw the ultrasound for my first niece or nephew and it made my day :) except it looks like an artificial person...3D ultrasounds are weird.

The Merry Wives of Windsor

     I was never really a huge fan of Shakespeare because high school completely ruined it for me, but I guess I always enjoyed the stories, just not the act of reading it because I never comprehended anything. However, when Greg told me I should definitely go see a show at the Globe I figured why not, it closes in a few weeks because the roof is open, I might as well make the best of what's here right now.
    So last night we went to see The Merry Wives of Windsor, which I had heard of but literally knew nothing about. It was a beautiful night, a bit chill but no rain thank god. We bought standing room tickets for £5 and it was really cool to be standing right in front of the actors, although 3 hours of standing was not the most pleasant experience. Anyways, the play was fantastic, very funny anddd I actually understood what was going on (I'm a visual learner). So thank you, Gregory for encouraging me to go :) It was a great experience. Planning on seeing Wicked for the 3rd time pretty soon because it's the best show ever.

Oh and remember how I blogged about how excited I was that I bought tickets to 2 movies at the London Film Festival? Ya that's not happening, we're getting refunded because they messed up. Great work once again BU!

The lighting inside was terrible, sadly no good pictures.

In case you're interested...

If anyone is interested in sending me goodies I've really been missing mac & cheese...just saying.
I also miss my tall Uggs.
A puppy would be nice too (Sydney is not allowed).
"Casual but fashionable" clothes for my internship would suffice as well (I can always make a wishlist on Forever21 or something to help you out with that one).
.....soooo ya that'd be awesome, thanks!
(But for real on the mac & cheese and Uggs...and kind of about the clothes)

Here's my mailing address for all you eager readers out there:

43 Harrington Gardens
South Kensington
London
SW7 4JU
UK

Brighton

   We went to Southern England to Brighton today...about an hour train ride for £5 which was awesome! It was sooooo nice. It's a beach town with an awesome pier. We went on a roller coaster and it was absolutely terrifying because half of it was over the sea, but it was still really fun. Then we had chicken and chips and walked around the shops. Luckily it was a beautiful day but it is definitely getting colder, we were so spoiled with the nice weather until now...and we've had a good amount of rain recently.  Anyways, we also saw the Royal Pavilion which is where King George IV lived and it's Indian style, really cool building I wish we had gone inside but we didn't feel like paying. But the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery was right next to it so we went in there for a bit because museums are free in Europe. I only got 2 hours of sleep the night before, though, because people on my floor were wicked loud then I felt kind of sick all day/had a little bit of a fever but I'm feeling a little better after a nap and tylenol :) hopefully it's just the start of a cold or a 24 hour bug or something. Why do I have such a horrible immune system? Oh I also had a minor allergic reaction to something, probably Indian food because I'd never had it before...good times.

   So this is our last week of the first 2 classes so work is really piling up plus finals are next Monday and Tuesday...stressing out a little bit and chose not to go out tonight so I can hopefully get a lot of work done tomorrow. I'm going to try to switch my 3rd class (the one during my internship) to take an easier/more enjoyable one than a Seminar in Advertising Strategy because it's not counting as Saint Mike's credits...maybe the architecture class if I can even switch and if there's room.

A week and 3 days until Rome and Nice!!! (Side note: while we only get a 5 day break, my friends in Italy get a month...)

Bath & Avebury

Awkward solo shot of the day

    Today we went to Bath and Avebury and I am now obsessed with the countryside. It's awesome. I'm pretty pissed about the time we were allotted in Bath because I would have liked to have spent our whole day there. After a 2 and a half hour bus ride, we stood outside the Roman Baths for about 20 minutes waiting for our group to be allowed in, then we spent an hour plus going around the museum/archeology site. It was really cool but had I realized the lack of time we had I would have rushed through it. So basically, when we were done at the museum we had to go find lunch, walked through the abbey real quick, looked over the garden, and then we had to leave. We hardly got to walk around the little village that's there so I think we'll just have to see how much it costs to take a train and go back.

Sacred Spring (one of the Roman baths)

     An hour and a half later (because we missed the road) we arrived at Avebury. Very rural, sheep everywhere, cute little homes. We went there because there are gigantic stones placed in circle formations. It's not like Stonehenge, though, because the stones have not been sculptured. It was pretty cool and I saw 2 westies and a cairn :) but I definitely would have preferred to stay in Bath. Oh well! Now we're off to Soho in a bit to check out the area. It's going to be an early night though, I'm beat.

I'm so sick of cooking every night

Now I know how you feel, Mom. HA :) funny.

Week 3

   So I'm quite depressed because I missed the Patriots game Sunday to go to the Thames Festival. The festival was pretty fun, cool Latin music concert with a guy in a shimmery gold suit who later made animal noises as he walked by random people, good food, cool market. However, the fire works (which was basically our reason for going at night) were horrendous. They lasted 5-10 minutes and were behind a building...not well executed by the Brits.

   Back to football...the guys across the hall are Jets fans and were going to Sports Cafe, down by Piccadilly Circus, on Monday so I was like I need my football fill, maybe this will make me feel better about missing the Pats. This proved to be very false. I feel like a trader. Luckily they were also playing the US Open match so I watched some of that when I got bored. But anyways, it was cool for the guys because there were like 3 other groups of people from New York/New Jersey there to watch the game...I'll definitely be going back for the next Pats game.
   My friend Danielle and I left at half time because the game started at midnight therefore it was about 2am and we were tired. Then, trying to find the right night bus took us about another half an hour. The night buses here are SO confusing and the tube stops running at 12 and the bus drivers are not the least bit helpful, although you can't really blame them because they're dealing with drunk assholes all night.

                              

    I found out that during the internship phase, which starts Oct 11th or something, I will have my internship Tuesday-Friday and my one class on Monday from 9am-1pm. That is legitimately the worst scheduling I could have. Traveling is going to be a pain because I'll have to leave really late on Friday (work until 6) and come back late Sunday. Needless to say, I'm extremely disappointed about this.
    BU has been full of disappointments lately. Our internet goes in and out all the time and sometimes our computers just completely disconnect for no reason at all, which they keep saying they're going to fix (it's happened twice while writing this post). However, they might be replacing our window/the kitchen windows in a few weeks so that we can actually open them seeing as we're the only students who can't...wouldn't that be a treat? Now we won't smell like crap every time we walk into our kitchen, oh yay! Oh and for those of you who may be curious as to why our windows are sealed...it's because the fire escape is outside our window and if we were to open it during a fire, smoke would then roll out into it...so I guess they'd rather us be trapped in our room during a fire than make the fire escape smokey. Sorry I have a lot of anger towards BU right now.
    One good thing BU does is give us access to purchasing London Film Festival tickets in advance and for a very discounted rate. I bought a ticket to the opening night's film (aka lots of celebrities?) "Never Let Me Go," featuring Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan. I also bought a ticket to "The King's Speech," with Colin Firth <3 and Helena Bonham Carter. So they'll all be at those premiers. Plus, oddly enough, Will Ferrell has a film premiering there so I might go there just for the red carpet or whatever it's called because if I saw him my life would be near complete.
    Classes suck. Four hours of one class is really rough. Already have an essay due in a week, plus working on a project due in about 2/3 weeks. They apparently grade extremely hard here so that will be interesting. Learning a lot about the National Health Service here in the UK. It has its pros and cons, mostly pros but it is quite flawed in some areas. The US really needs to hop on board, I don't see how people can oppose making health care a right and ensuring everyone gets the care they deserve. But also, I don't understand how students here pay only around £3,000 to go to university yet we're paying around $45,000 in the US. Seriously messed up. I won't bore you with more details about any of this, just worth mentioning.
    On a happier note, we're going to Bath and Avebury for the day on Saturday so I'm very excited, they both look really cool. On another note, I'm really bummed about the clothes I brought. I have too many of some things and not enough of others,mainly because I didn't expect the weather to be so nice for so long. AND Greg told me not to bring my Uggs because nobody wears them here, however everyone wears them! If only he was a good brother and would bring a big suitcase when he comes over to bring me things I forgot and bring back things I don't want :) On the topic of Greg, I skyped with him, Steph, and of course Sydney over the weekend. She was rockin the head tilt when I said her name or whistled it was pretty funny. Obviously she was wagging her tail because she misses me so much. Now I'd like to skype with my puppies because I'm having dog withdrawal. So yea, those were my past few days/future plans. Hopefully this weekend will bring lots of goodness.

    In other news: It's Always Sunny premiers tomorrow and I have yet to find a website that will play videos in the UK/our house is such shit that the internet being messed up also affects  the web filtering system and blocks sites that shouldn't be (like photo sharing and video watching)...unacceptable.

Oops, sorry I rambled for a while and now this post is crazy long.

Notting Hill/Camden

   I just got back from Portobello Market in Notting Hill with Harriet. We went to lunch and walked around and it's beautiful. The buildings are so cute and it's a great location with an awesome market on Saturdays. Plus there's a pound store, like a dollar store, which I didn't expect them to have here and it actually has good stuff...I bought an umbrella because it randomly rains a lot. So I decided if I ever decide to move to London, I'm living in Notting Hill and buying an Aston Martin so I can fit in. I didn't get to see Harriet's place, neither of us were having the best morning, but she did invite me to a little dinner party she's having probably next week which was very nice of her.

   Last night was alright, we wandered around Camden because we didn't know where the place we wanted to go was. I may have sprained my big toe, but we got to play with an adorable dog so that makes up for it. Tonight we might be going to an ice bar which I've always thought would be cool to go to. Oh and I went grocery shopping again today. I hate it, I've spent so much money on groceries.

Random note: hulu doesn't work here, neither do network websites.....I can't watch Jersey Shore or Housewives of New Jersey. How am I going to watch Glee and Modern Family? I need suggestions because I cannot miss the Britney episodes.

Deep Thoughts

    I feel like I'm in the book 1984. The government has these CCTV cameras literally everywhere you go, it's a "Big Brother's Watching You" type of thing. I was really early for my internship so I walked around the Covent Garden area, which is a theater district, and really noticed how many cameras there are. It's insane

A sweet Paul Smith-themed Mini Cooper

   My internship is going to be amazing. I wish I could start it right now and not have classes. My interview wasn't really an interview at all, the woman, who was really nice, just told me basically what I'd be doing. I'll be there for their sample sale (his expensive clothes for cheap prices) and for fun Christmas stuff and press releases for the Spring/Summer 2011 line. Oh and Paul's in and out of the office a lot, it's no big deal. The hours are 10-6, four days a week, so I don't have to be up too early! And it's very casual, like jeans and flats casual, so I only need to do a little shopping :)

Apparently we get homework?

   So this was our first week of classes. My "Contemporary Issues in British Welfare" professor is hilariously awkward. There are 11 girls in my class. Kind of boring so far because he's just been lecturing and I was falling asleep the 2nd day, I felt really bad...but then he gave us a break and I ran to Starbucks for a delicious frappaccino (Greg keep your comments to yourself) and I was set for the next 2 hours. Britain has free health care for everyone so we're taking a field trip to a hospital in a not so great area sometime soon which will be interesting/probably quite depressing. Oh but he did invite us all to a class pub night so I've got that going for me.
    My marketing class is good, I really like the professor and the subject is interesting. Already had a lot of reading and have been assigned a big project due in 3 weeks. We took a field trip today to the Museum of Brands, and it was in Notting Hill which I hadn't yet been to and it's beautiful there, can't wait to meet Harriet there Saturday. Anyways, the museum had different ads/propaganda/packaging from the 1880s until now...really cool. The 90's had some Spice Girls stuff which is always exciting. So now we have to write a paper on trends in the ads, I'm doing mine on how advertisements portray what a woman's role in society "should be".

   Onto more exciting things...my interview with Paul Smith is tomorrow, pretty nervous/excited about that. I went to the British Museum with a friend and it was awesomeeee. I think Greg, Mom, and I may have gone there but I don't fully remember? We only made it to the Egyptian and Greek/Roman exhibits. I can't understand how they made such humongous things in such incredible detail. The museum has a total of 94 exhibits, so we have a ways to go.

   Then last night we went to "Fashion Night Out" on Oxford Street hoping to see celebrities and designers and get free stuff, like the ads said, but we ended up getting there too late and basically missed most of the activities and free stuff and saw zero celebrities. It was still fun and we discovered a lot of inexpensive places to shop, yay! Then today, after my field trip, I went to the Museum of Natural History and it was also AMAZING. Dinosaurs, mammals, ecology exhibits...right up my ally (and Greg's because there was a whale/dolphin section).
 
    Housing update: my roommate and I cannot stand living in a basement anymore so we requested to be moved to a regular floor if there are any openings. Maybe on a regular floor they'll even let us open the windows so we don't smell every time we go into our stifling hot kitchen! BU has been disappointing me a lot lately. However, the maintenance man did fix our fridge so now our food isn't going bad, we still have to request to be reimbursed some for all the spoiled food. Pisses me right off. Well, off to spend more money on my Tube pass...159 pounds (approx. $263) a month for the student pass. Great deal...?

One Week Down...

   So we didn't go to the Natural History Museum because it was a Saturday and it was absolutely packed and some of the people I was with didn't want to go to an art museum, SO we went to the science museum which is also across the street and is also free. However, I was pretty unimpressed by it. I guess I was expecting it to be similar to the Museum of Science and less about the history of technology basically.
   We did go to Harrods though! I bought two fantastic items (as some of you may have seen on our family video chat)...a notepad with a West Highland Terrier on it, they had stuffed animals too but Lou's cuter anyways, AND I got my future niece/nephew their first stuffed animal! We went through a couple of other departments and I forgot how amazing the decorations are in each of the rooms there.
   One of the girls on my floor and I tried taking the tube to go shopping today, but a bunch of the lines are under construction in preparation for the Olympics and we didn't know how to go. So we stayed around here again, definitely itching to explore other areas...but it did rain today for the first time I've been here so I guess it was good we were close.
  Our first week of classes starts tomorrow, not looking forward to that at all. I don't see how 4 straight hours of "Contemporary Issues in British Welfare" can possibly be enjoyable.

  Well, time to go make some dinner. We're doing a twilight ride on the London Eye tonight, very excited!

First Weekend

   I miss Alliot and my unlimited meal plan. Being a real person and going grocery shopping sucks, I already have to go back and spend more money.
   Anyways...I'm pretty beat. Slept in for the first time today which was amazing, but still not feeling so well. We had a program wide party at a club last night which was really fun, and apparently it's acceptable for the staff to drink with us. Got back at 5am after searching what felt like all of London for the correct bus to take back, never doing that again.
   On another note, I've realized how glad I am that I didn't go to BU. Aside from my roommate and a few others, the girls seem quite unfriendly, especially in comparison to most people at Saint Mike's. But, I keep making connections with people in my program to people at home or at school, small world.

   The British keep getting annoyed with us for walking on the wrong side of the sidewalks and aisles. It's funny, I never thought about the fact that people would walk on the same side as they drive. Oh and cars/buses don't stop for you if you're crossing the street, almost got hit a few times but it's all good...AND I experienced my first protest yesterday. Hasidic Jews with signs saying something about how they don't support what's going on in Israel. Cops were all surrounding them, generally not something you'd see in Medfield or Colchester...still waiting for the big rallies Greg's told me about, though.
   I guess I should mention academics too? Well, I had my first class yesterday morning, it's my "core" marketing class. The professor is awesome, she's Irish, and we have it Wed/Thurs for 4 hours each day which is a struggle, and then our electives are Mon/Tues for the same amount of time.
   I have an interview with Paul Smith next week which I'm very nervous about, I hope they accept me. Even one of the women who works at internship placing was impressed that I was assigned to their press office, so it's definitely going to be a great experience.
   Now I'm off to either the V&A or Natural History Museum (both are right across the street from my building...and FREE) then we're going to Harrod's so I can make myself feel bad about not having enough money to buy anything in that store.






(p.s. If you haven't already seen, I posted a bunch of pictures on Facebook...I think I should be a photographer, some of those shots are pretty damn good.)

The Beginning!

   Well, after sleeping for maybe 20 minutes on the red eye to London, I arrived safely at Heathrow, split a cab to Kensington, and unpacked a bit just in time to be thrown into orientation (I still haven't finished unpacking because we have no storage space in our tiny flat). My roommate and I are getting a long great, but we have bunk beds which is never fun...hopefully maintenance will be taking them down soon. Oh and we're in the basement so our view is of the fire escape.

   On the first day of orientation, we took a walking tour of the neighborhood and it's beautiful. Very expensive area, everyone drives Bentleys, Maseratis or, my personal favorite, Aston Martins. The second and third days of orientation consisted of lectures about British culture/politics/economics...all of which would have been interesting if it wasn't 9am, feeling like 4am, right after taking a red eye flight. Poorly planned if I do say so myself. I managed to stay awake for the interesting ones but I was out cold for the rest of them...oh well.

   We've generally stayed within walking distance of our building for shopping and what not, but yesterday my roommate and I took the tube to Westminster and saw Big Ben, Parliament, the London Eye, and all that fun stuff, got flashbacks of Mom and my visit to Greg.

   Then today we took boat tour down the Thames...I was expecting a boat cruise so I was a bit disappointed because it wasn't a big party like I had hoped, but still a great time. We then walked around Greenwich for a while, it was a very cute area with little boutiques and a nice market place. Then we walked up a huge hill to the Royal Observatory and overlooked the City of London. In that same place, you can stand on the Prime Meridian of the World, which is at zero degrees longitude. Oh and we went into Queen's House, where Elizabeth I and two other queens lived...very cool.

  We've been to a couple pubs/bars and a club (don't worry, Dad, we stay in groups) and I have gotten minimal sleep so now I'm getting a cold which sucks but I always get sick so I guess I should have seen it coming. Going to bed early tonight, I have my first class tomorrow 9-1, that's four hours...not sure how I'm going to make it through that but, we have every Friday off until our internships start which is awesome for traveling!

Sorry this was a long/boring post but now I don't have to email everyone and you can just read this if you want to! :)