Monday, September 28, 2009
To My Loyal Followers...
I know I've been slacking, but I have good reasoning. For one, I've been having computer issues and I can't upload photos because they get deleted. Second, nothing too interesting has happened in the last few days to post about. I promise I'll update again soon, but who really wants to hear about me going to classes in between lunch at Whole Foods?
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
:)
I didn't want to say anything until it was official, but I am now NO LONGER the only person who wasn't going to have a visitor in London. KELLY JUST BOOKED HER FLIGHT!!!! I'm so over the moon right now its 1am and I am just not going to sleep I'm that excited!!!!!!!!
Class Trip to BanglaTown
Yesterday afternoon, we hopped on the tube and headed toward Liverpool Street. This is where we met our British Life and Cultures professor who was waiting for us outside the station. The trip was to expose our class to the East End of London, where there is a huge Indian and Bangladeshi population. From the tube station, we walked through narrow winding streets that might as well be considered alleyways with little shops and pubs tucked away so that only a knowing local would be aware of their locations. I felt kind of dumb as I was wearing a backpack and carrying my camera. Oh well, I am a tourist. Our professor was fairly knowledgeable about the area and gave us an informative walking tour from the station all the way to Brick Lane, which was essentially the epicenter of Banglatown. Up and down this one street was shops and restaurants completely dominated by people of Bangladeshi descent. Although, I couldn't help but think that if I was Bangladeshi, I would probably find it offensive to be living in a neighborhood called Banglatown...but our professor explained to me that they embraced the name and created lucrative businesses in the densely populated neighborhood. We finally got to the restaurant and since there was about 25 of us, they gave us the entire top floor to ourselves. Let me just say, at this curry house I had one of the best eastern meals I might have ever had. It was really really nice because FIE was paying for lunch and there was no set menu or anything. Included in our "paid for lunch by FIE" was any starter we wanted, any meal costing under 10 pounds, a plate of naan, and either a pint of beer, a glass of wine, or a lassi - which was a yogurt based drink from India. I opted for the Cobra beer. I ended up getting great food and was pretty full afterwards.
We all dispersed from there and went back to Kensington to rest up for a few hours. Around 8pm, the five of us made a great fried rice / stirfry thing for dinner. After we cleaned up, Brian, Emily, and I walked over to Imperial to meet up with a bunch of people to go out for Paige's birthday. I got my usual snakebite and I'm convinced it was a lot stronger last night because when we left, I had only had about two and I couldn't walk a straight line. We all made our way to Piccadilly to the Sports Cafe (which was ironically directly across the street from TigerTiger haha). It was nice to be in an American-themed place with big screen tvs and a loud crowded bar. Brian and I basically split a pitcher of LIIT and we all just had a really great time celebrating with Paige who is now "no longer a baby" haha. I left around 1:30 with Em and Alyssa to catch the N9 back home. The bus picked us up and we walked right to the back and I ended up sitting across from this guy in a suit. We talked and he said that he works for the new A&F in London so we had a common job right there. He was just coming home from the "runway party" and I had no idea what he was talking about so when I asked he said he was invited to the Burberry show that night in London and was just getting back from the runway party. He then told me that VB told him to "lose the tie" and so he did. He said she was really funny and basically spent the night hanging out with her and the hubby. I just sat there mouth hanging open. And that was my night. ONE DEGREE OF SEPARATION PEOPLE! I'm getting closer.
We all dispersed from there and went back to Kensington to rest up for a few hours. Around 8pm, the five of us made a great fried rice / stirfry thing for dinner. After we cleaned up, Brian, Emily, and I walked over to Imperial to meet up with a bunch of people to go out for Paige's birthday. I got my usual snakebite and I'm convinced it was a lot stronger last night because when we left, I had only had about two and I couldn't walk a straight line. We all made our way to Piccadilly to the Sports Cafe (which was ironically directly across the street from TigerTiger haha). It was nice to be in an American-themed place with big screen tvs and a loud crowded bar. Brian and I basically split a pitcher of LIIT and we all just had a really great time celebrating with Paige who is now "no longer a baby" haha. I left around 1:30 with Em and Alyssa to catch the N9 back home. The bus picked us up and we walked right to the back and I ended up sitting across from this guy in a suit. We talked and he said that he works for the new A&F in London so we had a common job right there. He was just coming home from the "runway party" and I had no idea what he was talking about so when I asked he said he was invited to the Burberry show that night in London and was just getting back from the runway party. He then told me that VB told him to "lose the tie" and so he did. He said she was really funny and basically spent the night hanging out with her and the hubby. I just sat there mouth hanging open. And that was my night. ONE DEGREE OF SEPARATION PEOPLE! I'm getting closer.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Stonehenge & Bath
Today we woke up at the bright and early hour of 7am to be outside for the coach pickup at 8am to be whisked away for a day of touring Southern England. Our first stop was at Stonehenge and about another hour down the road was the ancient town of Bath, which is now a thriving micro city chock full of Burger Kings and Gaps. But what was left behind of the beautiful Gregorian architecture was like nothing I had seen before! Anyway back to Stonehenge, it was a little anti-climactic I have to say because it was literally on the side of the road and all of a sudden it was just … “Wow there is Stonehenge, exactly how it’s been in all the pictures I’ve ever seen of it.” Don’t get me wrong, it was amazingly cool to be standing next to a monument dating back more than 5,000 years, but this trip was allllll about Bath for me. At first, it reminded me of Mont Treblant, the small resort town my family went to in Quebec a few years ago. Driving over the rolling green mountains of southern England and then all of a sudden, this huge bustling town that is now the home of Nicholas Cage, Johnny Depp, as well as the late Jane Austen. The town is famous for being the site of Roman bath houses (where it got it’s name) and for the hot bubbling springs that fed the baths way back when. What was amazing was that the museum that we visited that boasted artifacts and relics from the time was literally build on top of and around this original bath house that existed thousands of years ago! The water was still bubbling and running through the various pools and such. I was curious to the water’s actual temperature so I knelt down to feel it and I nearly burnt my fingers. I was impressed with this historical site and that’s a rarity.
After we were done with the museum, we ate lunch in one of the mews at a pub, which was delicioso. I got a hamburger and tried a new kind of cider because it’s pretty sad that all I drink here is basically Strongbow. After lunch, we walked around the city, took hundreds of pictures because we were granted the most glorious day as it was mid 70’s and sun all day. I picked up a souvenir for my mom, which was great to find – a 185 million year old chamber of nautilus fossil that they found buried beneath the city of Bath when it was covered by a vast ocean. As soon as I saw it, it just screamed Laura Mindell so I bargained and got it for 5 pounds. Needless to say, I was very proud of myself.
Instead of the bus that the school provided there, we took a train back to London and got there in half the time. The train was nice because we went a different route than the journey to Bath so I got the watch the English countryside rush past my window. It was an amazing and exhausting day.
With just two hours to rest in between getting back from Bath and going out to dinner, I uploaded all my pictures from the day and posted them online. For those of you without a Facebook, the pictures can be seen on the Smugmug account here → http://jodymindell.smugmug.com/Other/Bath-and-Stonehenge/9687703_ajfYF/1/654451116_ap7Dc
I just took a few of my favorites to be posted here on the blog page. Cheers!
After we were done with the museum, we ate lunch in one of the mews at a pub, which was delicioso. I got a hamburger and tried a new kind of cider because it’s pretty sad that all I drink here is basically Strongbow. After lunch, we walked around the city, took hundreds of pictures because we were granted the most glorious day as it was mid 70’s and sun all day. I picked up a souvenir for my mom, which was great to find – a 185 million year old chamber of nautilus fossil that they found buried beneath the city of Bath when it was covered by a vast ocean. As soon as I saw it, it just screamed Laura Mindell so I bargained and got it for 5 pounds. Needless to say, I was very proud of myself.
Instead of the bus that the school provided there, we took a train back to London and got there in half the time. The train was nice because we went a different route than the journey to Bath so I got the watch the English countryside rush past my window. It was an amazing and exhausting day.
With just two hours to rest in between getting back from Bath and going out to dinner, I uploaded all my pictures from the day and posted them online. For those of you without a Facebook, the pictures can be seen on the Smugmug account here → http://jodymindell.smugmug.com/Other/Bath-and-Stonehenge/9687703_ajfYF/1/654451116_ap7Dc
I just took a few of my favorites to be posted here on the blog page. Cheers!
Friday, September 18, 2009
So I ran into a Royal, dropped my glasses, and broke my phone
Not in that order and not what you think. Let’s start a few days back…
I was Skyping with Kel when she told me to just look into prices of the hostel around the corner because she now might be interested in a visit. I hung up with her and called Mel because she told me a few days earlier that she wanted to do the same thing for when Will is coming over Thanksgiving. I told her I was going to get prices and would she like to take a walk down the street. Within three minutes we were out the door on this beautiful sunny afternoon, walking toward the end of the block with the hostel on the right and the brand new wing of the Natural History Museum on the left. We were across the street from the entrance of the museum when we saw a black Bentley waiting at the bottom of this long set of stairs, the doors at the top of the stairs were wide open (as were the doors to the Bentley). A few yards away from the car were at least 8-10 people with cameras as a crowd began to form. We kind of just shrugged and moved on. Walked into the hostel, got price quotes and left. At this point, we are walking back toward Metrogate and we pass the museum again. I noticed that the size of the crowd had grown considerably and there were now police and security everywhere. I had seen this scene play out many times in NYC and LA, I knew we were about to see someone. We walked up to one police officer and asked what was going on. Mel said to him “This kid thinks Victoria Beckham is about to walk out” to which he responded “Do you really think I would be standing here wasting three hours of my life on Posh? I thought we exported her to you guys (the U.S.)” He then told us, “Don’t worry, you will recognize who it is.” At that moment, we turned around to flash bulbs going off and at the top of the stairs stood Prince William. How London-abroad-experience was this? Of course it’s the one time that BOTH Mel and I forgot to bring our cameras so I have no pictures, but I’m still kicking myself, that would have been an awesome memory to have captured. Instead, I found a news clip from that afternoon that I have included for you to watch. WE WERE RIGHT THERE!!!!!!!!!!
That night, we had a welcome reception on behalf of FIE. It was seemingly lame at first, but they gave us two free drink vouchers at the door so it better than I thought. Interestingly enough, while waiting in line to get myself a Strongbow, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and it’s a kid that I used to tutor with back in high school! He was also on my program from Marist. Small world, right? For the rest of the night, everyone just hung out, danced, and then we left when it broke up around 10 or 11. Twas a fun night.
As for my next few days, I’m just really tired of talking thinking about it so I’ll try my best to keep this brief. The following two days consisted of my Blackberry malfunctioning and me paying some creepy man too much money to fix it for me, two doctors appointments on opposite sides of London (both of which I got no answers and they both charged me a lot of money because I’m American and don’t have a GP in this country), me having to walk in pounding rains for the entirety of one of those days because there was no tube/buses in that part of Kensington so that was awesome being soaked for 6 hours straight. On top of all this, I came to a painful realization that 1) all the contacts that I brought with me to London won’t be of any use since I basically have to wear glasses for the next few months and 2) I’m spending so much money without realizing it because of this exchange rate. I just bailed on evening activities that night and laid in bed. Literally, my only salvation was the new high speed Internet in our building so I watched Greek, uninterrupted by buffering. It was glorious. Ok, that’s that, moving on now.
Two nights ago, I wasn’t really feeling in the mood to go anywhere, but Rebs convinced me to go to this club in the financial district because they were having some “hipster” party or something. Right up her alley! Not knowing what to expect (or wear for that matter), I just got ready in 2 seconds and we went to Imperial across the street to just hang out until they closed and then we would go into the city. At the bar, we met 4 other FIE people from AU and the six of us decided to go. We got all the way to the other side of London and then we never got into the club because you needed VIP wristband or 1000 pounds. We ended up just taking two cabs back to the West End and wound up at O’Neill’s again (that Irish bar I’ve been going to a lot in Piccadilly). You know your going to have a great time when you go there so we went inside. On the top floor was the band again so I got really into the music and began jumping with the crowds. Little did I know, jumping into a mosh pit does sometimes lead to your glasses (only form of vision for the next two months in London) falling off your face and disappearing onto the floor. Let’s just take a step back here to assess my situation: I’m in a dark bar. There are at least 80 people around me who are drunk, belligerant, and wildly jumping around. I lost my glasses and am basically blind to the world. I begin to have a bit of a panic attack thinking that they have been crushed by hundreds of feet. The only thing I think to do is get on all fours and try to find them so that’s exactly what I did. Feeling around in spilt beer and broken glass from pints that have been dropped, I can’t seem to find them anywhere. Some guy come up behind me and violently picks me up thinking I was just drunk and had fallen and couldn’t get back up. After explaining to him that I couldn’t see, he literally did the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me. I think he felt my panic so he stood up and yelled for the band to stop, for the people to be quiet and stop jumping. He then announced that “THIS KID LOST HIS SPECS. EVERYONE GET ON THE GROUND AND WATCH WHERE YOU STEP. LOOK FOR A PAIR OF GLASSES!” All of a sudden, some random guy rises out of the crowd holding my glasses that were somehow come out of the ordeal without a scratch. I ran over and threw my arms around this guy and thank Jesus that I didn’t have to walk home without my vision. This is just going to turn into my best abroad story…
Speaking of glasses, I just got a new pair because I’m not in love with this current pair that I’ve had since high school. Since I can’t wear contacts for a while now, I wanted to get a nice new frame so I decided on the Ray Ban Wayfarer. No haters please, they don’t look bad on me so hey, why not?
Well that’s basically my life up until now. Tom, our friend that we know from back in DC who is the president of AKPsi at GW is arriving in London in about two hours from his study abroad program in Paris. He’ll be here for the weekend so that should be fun! Going to get myself out of bed now and outside on this Friday! Cheers!
I was Skyping with Kel when she told me to just look into prices of the hostel around the corner because she now might be interested in a visit. I hung up with her and called Mel because she told me a few days earlier that she wanted to do the same thing for when Will is coming over Thanksgiving. I told her I was going to get prices and would she like to take a walk down the street. Within three minutes we were out the door on this beautiful sunny afternoon, walking toward the end of the block with the hostel on the right and the brand new wing of the Natural History Museum on the left. We were across the street from the entrance of the museum when we saw a black Bentley waiting at the bottom of this long set of stairs, the doors at the top of the stairs were wide open (as were the doors to the Bentley). A few yards away from the car were at least 8-10 people with cameras as a crowd began to form. We kind of just shrugged and moved on. Walked into the hostel, got price quotes and left. At this point, we are walking back toward Metrogate and we pass the museum again. I noticed that the size of the crowd had grown considerably and there were now police and security everywhere. I had seen this scene play out many times in NYC and LA, I knew we were about to see someone. We walked up to one police officer and asked what was going on. Mel said to him “This kid thinks Victoria Beckham is about to walk out” to which he responded “Do you really think I would be standing here wasting three hours of my life on Posh? I thought we exported her to you guys (the U.S.)” He then told us, “Don’t worry, you will recognize who it is.” At that moment, we turned around to flash bulbs going off and at the top of the stairs stood Prince William. How London-abroad-experience was this? Of course it’s the one time that BOTH Mel and I forgot to bring our cameras so I have no pictures, but I’m still kicking myself, that would have been an awesome memory to have captured. Instead, I found a news clip from that afternoon that I have included for you to watch. WE WERE RIGHT THERE!!!!!!!!!!
That night, we had a welcome reception on behalf of FIE. It was seemingly lame at first, but they gave us two free drink vouchers at the door so it better than I thought. Interestingly enough, while waiting in line to get myself a Strongbow, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and it’s a kid that I used to tutor with back in high school! He was also on my program from Marist. Small world, right? For the rest of the night, everyone just hung out, danced, and then we left when it broke up around 10 or 11. Twas a fun night.
As for my next few days, I’m just really tired of talking thinking about it so I’ll try my best to keep this brief. The following two days consisted of my Blackberry malfunctioning and me paying some creepy man too much money to fix it for me, two doctors appointments on opposite sides of London (both of which I got no answers and they both charged me a lot of money because I’m American and don’t have a GP in this country), me having to walk in pounding rains for the entirety of one of those days because there was no tube/buses in that part of Kensington so that was awesome being soaked for 6 hours straight. On top of all this, I came to a painful realization that 1) all the contacts that I brought with me to London won’t be of any use since I basically have to wear glasses for the next few months and 2) I’m spending so much money without realizing it because of this exchange rate. I just bailed on evening activities that night and laid in bed. Literally, my only salvation was the new high speed Internet in our building so I watched Greek, uninterrupted by buffering. It was glorious. Ok, that’s that, moving on now.
Two nights ago, I wasn’t really feeling in the mood to go anywhere, but Rebs convinced me to go to this club in the financial district because they were having some “hipster” party or something. Right up her alley! Not knowing what to expect (or wear for that matter), I just got ready in 2 seconds and we went to Imperial across the street to just hang out until they closed and then we would go into the city. At the bar, we met 4 other FIE people from AU and the six of us decided to go. We got all the way to the other side of London and then we never got into the club because you needed VIP wristband or 1000 pounds. We ended up just taking two cabs back to the West End and wound up at O’Neill’s again (that Irish bar I’ve been going to a lot in Piccadilly). You know your going to have a great time when you go there so we went inside. On the top floor was the band again so I got really into the music and began jumping with the crowds. Little did I know, jumping into a mosh pit does sometimes lead to your glasses (only form of vision for the next two months in London) falling off your face and disappearing onto the floor. Let’s just take a step back here to assess my situation: I’m in a dark bar. There are at least 80 people around me who are drunk, belligerant, and wildly jumping around. I lost my glasses and am basically blind to the world. I begin to have a bit of a panic attack thinking that they have been crushed by hundreds of feet. The only thing I think to do is get on all fours and try to find them so that’s exactly what I did. Feeling around in spilt beer and broken glass from pints that have been dropped, I can’t seem to find them anywhere. Some guy come up behind me and violently picks me up thinking I was just drunk and had fallen and couldn’t get back up. After explaining to him that I couldn’t see, he literally did the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me. I think he felt my panic so he stood up and yelled for the band to stop, for the people to be quiet and stop jumping. He then announced that “THIS KID LOST HIS SPECS. EVERYONE GET ON THE GROUND AND WATCH WHERE YOU STEP. LOOK FOR A PAIR OF GLASSES!” All of a sudden, some random guy rises out of the crowd holding my glasses that were somehow come out of the ordeal without a scratch. I ran over and threw my arms around this guy and thank Jesus that I didn’t have to walk home without my vision. This is just going to turn into my best abroad story…
Speaking of glasses, I just got a new pair because I’m not in love with this current pair that I’ve had since high school. Since I can’t wear contacts for a while now, I wanted to get a nice new frame so I decided on the Ray Ban Wayfarer. No haters please, they don’t look bad on me so hey, why not?
Well that’s basically my life up until now. Tom, our friend that we know from back in DC who is the president of AKPsi at GW is arriving in London in about two hours from his study abroad program in Paris. He’ll be here for the weekend so that should be fun! Going to get myself out of bed now and outside on this Friday! Cheers!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
We Had THE Most Amazing Day Being Tourists!
Buckingham Palace. Parliament. Westminster Abbey. Big Ben. River Thames Waterfront. One Day. Gotta love it!
This morning, I set my alarm for 9am and the three of us were out the door by 9:30 Buckingham Palace-bound! We got tickets online to see the Royal Summer Opening of the palace state rooms. With our admission tickets, we saw nineteen staterooms, a bunch of beautiful gowns worn by Queen Elizabeth over the past 60 years or so as she travelled to countries around the world. From those countries, she was presented with a plethora of elaborate gifts and offerings that were also on display. It was unbelievable. The tour was guided by the cute little British voice in my headphones as I wandered through the palace. Room after room of gold, silver, silk -screened walls, ornate sconces, carved ceilings and crown moldings. Marble statues lined the halls and priceless paintings hung on the walls of her Majesty's predecessors. I think my favorite part was in the yellow drawing room, they pointed out this one floor to ceiling mirror with a wooden carved table underneath it, but this was no normal room fixture, the entire part of that wall swung open like a secret door to reveal the Queen's private living space behind it. I thought that was really really cool. It was something that I know we will never forget, so if you get a chance, I HIGHLY recommend seeing the interior of her Majesty's London residence.
Afer we exited the back of the palace and meandered through the 30 acres of Royal gardens in the back, we found the street again and made our way toward the River Thames. On the way, we past Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Parliament. Luckily, we had the most glorious day which made for fantastic photos. We stopped when we hit the river's edge and just sat as we watched the London Eye make revolutions. It was so amazing and peaceful. We were fairly tired so we took the tube back to Kensington and now I'm here uploading a bunch of photos to facebook. Going out to dinner and then the bars later!!
Here are a few of my favorite photos from this afternoon!!
This morning, I set my alarm for 9am and the three of us were out the door by 9:30 Buckingham Palace-bound! We got tickets online to see the Royal Summer Opening of the palace state rooms. With our admission tickets, we saw nineteen staterooms, a bunch of beautiful gowns worn by Queen Elizabeth over the past 60 years or so as she travelled to countries around the world. From those countries, she was presented with a plethora of elaborate gifts and offerings that were also on display. It was unbelievable. The tour was guided by the cute little British voice in my headphones as I wandered through the palace. Room after room of gold, silver, silk -screened walls, ornate sconces, carved ceilings and crown moldings. Marble statues lined the halls and priceless paintings hung on the walls of her Majesty's predecessors. I think my favorite part was in the yellow drawing room, they pointed out this one floor to ceiling mirror with a wooden carved table underneath it, but this was no normal room fixture, the entire part of that wall swung open like a secret door to reveal the Queen's private living space behind it. I thought that was really really cool. It was something that I know we will never forget, so if you get a chance, I HIGHLY recommend seeing the interior of her Majesty's London residence.
Afer we exited the back of the palace and meandered through the 30 acres of Royal gardens in the back, we found the street again and made our way toward the River Thames. On the way, we past Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Parliament. Luckily, we had the most glorious day which made for fantastic photos. We stopped when we hit the river's edge and just sat as we watched the London Eye make revolutions. It was so amazing and peaceful. We were fairly tired so we took the tube back to Kensington and now I'm here uploading a bunch of photos to facebook. Going out to dinner and then the bars later!!
Here are a few of my favorite photos from this afternoon!!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Bloody Good Night Out
So I realized yesterday that the two pairs of dress pants that I got at the Zara in DC before I left for the summer that were meant for my internship in London are not in London. I think I remember packing them, but I don't remember unpacking them or seeing them at the hotel the first week or anything. I'm hoping that they were mistakenly packed in the Florida boxes or something because I hate to think that they were stolen. After class yesterday, I went to the Zara down the street here and got a pair of dress pants to make up for the fact that I was slacking. Class by the way...I really don't love this theater class. I don't know what I was expecting, but it was not this. Way over my head material. I would much rather take a business class, but of course I am barred from those because I'm in the comm program. I just feel really out of place in the class and for 6 hours a week, I'd rather enjoy what is being taught.
Speaking of British theater! Last night, we went to see Blood Brothers in the West End. Its the only show that we all get to see as a group that was organized by our abroad program, so the tickets were waiting for us in our welcome kits last week. We had great seats, row F orchestra to be exact. The show was classified as a musical, but only because it had "music" in it. It was definitely no happy Broadway show I'm accustomed to seeing at home. It was about these two brothers who were separated at birth and their mother can't afford to raise them both so she gives one baby away to her boss/neighbor. The mother has separation issues and basically follows her other son around for years to come as to not lose touch with him. He doesn't know that she is his mother though. It was very Deep End of the Ocean... Anyway, the two brothers become friends without knowing they are related and grow up together, end up fighting over a girl and in the last scene they both are in a heated argument over the girl and before one gets to shoot another one, a police officer kills them both. End of show. Curtains. It was terribly depressing and no one was really sure why we saw this show, but the acting was great. Not exactly the mentality we wanted as we were leaving the theater, but to lift our spirits we decided to go out! A group of about 10 of us walked over to Leicester Sq/Piccadilly and were assaulted by a bunch of different club promoters trying to get us all to come to their "very special" clubs at "very special" prices. We finally bargained with one promoter from Sound to let the guys in for five pounds each and the girls in for free. We thought that was a good deal and so we went to the top floor of this huge lit up building (after going through metal detectors and a good pat down???) and we were the only one there. It was us, the bartender, an empty dance floor, and a wall of LED lights. The club was owned by Christian Audigier and just like his trashy clothing lines, you can see why no one wanted a part of this place. After buying drinks and being disappointed with said drinks, we peaced. We ended up at this three floor irish bar called O'neills that Paige remembered going to so we all went there. THIS PLACE WAS SO MUCH BETTER!! cheapppp drinks, a bar on each floor, and on the top floor was a live band doing covers of songs from the Killers, Franz Ferdinand, and Jet. They were unbelievable. After we left O'neills, we went to KFC and I got about enough food for 3 people and we ended up getting pushed out because we stayed way past closing. Oops! We left around 2am and found a bus back to Kensington since the tube closes here at midnight. Such a fun night with great people.
Loving London!!!!
Pictures to come!
Speaking of British theater! Last night, we went to see Blood Brothers in the West End. Its the only show that we all get to see as a group that was organized by our abroad program, so the tickets were waiting for us in our welcome kits last week. We had great seats, row F orchestra to be exact. The show was classified as a musical, but only because it had "music" in it. It was definitely no happy Broadway show I'm accustomed to seeing at home. It was about these two brothers who were separated at birth and their mother can't afford to raise them both so she gives one baby away to her boss/neighbor. The mother has separation issues and basically follows her other son around for years to come as to not lose touch with him. He doesn't know that she is his mother though. It was very Deep End of the Ocean... Anyway, the two brothers become friends without knowing they are related and grow up together, end up fighting over a girl and in the last scene they both are in a heated argument over the girl and before one gets to shoot another one, a police officer kills them both. End of show. Curtains. It was terribly depressing and no one was really sure why we saw this show, but the acting was great. Not exactly the mentality we wanted as we were leaving the theater, but to lift our spirits we decided to go out! A group of about 10 of us walked over to Leicester Sq/Piccadilly and were assaulted by a bunch of different club promoters trying to get us all to come to their "very special" clubs at "very special" prices. We finally bargained with one promoter from Sound to let the guys in for five pounds each and the girls in for free. We thought that was a good deal and so we went to the top floor of this huge lit up building (after going through metal detectors and a good pat down???) and we were the only one there. It was us, the bartender, an empty dance floor, and a wall of LED lights. The club was owned by Christian Audigier and just like his trashy clothing lines, you can see why no one wanted a part of this place. After buying drinks and being disappointed with said drinks, we peaced. We ended up at this three floor irish bar called O'neills that Paige remembered going to so we all went there. THIS PLACE WAS SO MUCH BETTER!! cheapppp drinks, a bar on each floor, and on the top floor was a live band doing covers of songs from the Killers, Franz Ferdinand, and Jet. They were unbelievable. After we left O'neills, we went to KFC and I got about enough food for 3 people and we ended up getting pushed out because we stayed way past closing. Oops! We left around 2am and found a bus back to Kensington since the tube closes here at midnight. Such a fun night with great people.
Loving London!!!!
Pictures to come!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Yesterday and Today
YESTERDAY: went 14 stops and two transfers on the tube to get to the IKEA in Edmonton. It was fairly far, but well worth it. Mel basically went to town and got everything that she could possibly need for the next three months. I got a new duvet/duvet cover because my bed is beyond uncomfortable so what I'm going to do is sleep on the duvet that come on the bed and use my new one as a blanket. I did it last night for the first time and it was far more comfortable so I'm happy.
Oh, quick update on my eyes. Two days ago, I had that doctor's appointment on Kensington High and he told me I had some sort of viral thing in my eye so I have these new eyedrops that I have to take every two hours for the next 48 hours. Oh and it has to be refrigerated. Talk about impractical. Anyway, I have a follow up on Monday to see how I'm doing. If it hasn't helped, I'm being referred to like an optic surgeon or something. Hopefully, it won't come to that. I just want to get my lasik now instead of later.
Moving on!
After IKEA, we got back, went to the gym and I ran a few miles before heading to Whole Foods to get a loaf of bread. I was waiting for Mel who was still back at the gym and it was a really nice night out so I decided to plop down on the side of the street and just hang out. A homeless man came up and basically tried to befriend me so I moved. I was singing when Mel finally walked up and found me. We all made a nice asian noodle stir fry dish for dinner and then Rebs and Mel came to hang out with my roomies and I in our room for a bit before going to bed.
TODAY: First day of classes. At 9am, we had Media in Britain, where I'll learn about British magazines, TV, etc. We have a scheduled field trip to BBC Studios (where my prof used to work). That should be really fun! After that class, we signed up for the trip to Stonehenge and Bath in southwest England. Can't wait for that one either! I had about an hour lunch break before my second class, British Life and Cultures. In this class, we have field trips to London's East End, Parliament, various restaurants, Shakespeare's Globe theater, and museums. This class will be awesome! Since the class is 3 hours long, and the subject matter is about British culture, what better way to spend our 20 minute break in the middle of class than at the pub across the street! We had a quick pint and then back to class. Cheers!
Going to the gym now for my first yoga class. The classes are free so why not try them all, no? We are going out for Indian food tonight too. Should be amazing.
Oh, quick update on my eyes. Two days ago, I had that doctor's appointment on Kensington High and he told me I had some sort of viral thing in my eye so I have these new eyedrops that I have to take every two hours for the next 48 hours. Oh and it has to be refrigerated. Talk about impractical. Anyway, I have a follow up on Monday to see how I'm doing. If it hasn't helped, I'm being referred to like an optic surgeon or something. Hopefully, it won't come to that. I just want to get my lasik now instead of later.
Moving on!
After IKEA, we got back, went to the gym and I ran a few miles before heading to Whole Foods to get a loaf of bread. I was waiting for Mel who was still back at the gym and it was a really nice night out so I decided to plop down on the side of the street and just hang out. A homeless man came up and basically tried to befriend me so I moved. I was singing when Mel finally walked up and found me. We all made a nice asian noodle stir fry dish for dinner and then Rebs and Mel came to hang out with my roomies and I in our room for a bit before going to bed.
TODAY: First day of classes. At 9am, we had Media in Britain, where I'll learn about British magazines, TV, etc. We have a scheduled field trip to BBC Studios (where my prof used to work). That should be really fun! After that class, we signed up for the trip to Stonehenge and Bath in southwest England. Can't wait for that one either! I had about an hour lunch break before my second class, British Life and Cultures. In this class, we have field trips to London's East End, Parliament, various restaurants, Shakespeare's Globe theater, and museums. This class will be awesome! Since the class is 3 hours long, and the subject matter is about British culture, what better way to spend our 20 minute break in the middle of class than at the pub across the street! We had a quick pint and then back to class. Cheers!
Going to the gym now for my first yoga class. The classes are free so why not try them all, no? We are going out for Indian food tonight too. Should be amazing.
Tourist Overload
Here are a few pictures that I forgot to upload on here from our tour of London a few days ago! This city is beautiful. I'll update again later on today..
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Getting My Ass Kicked
This morning I woke up and walked to Boots to see if I could find myself an eye drop for redness because my awesome contact irritation thing is back. There was nothing but like eye "brighteners" and things like that. I've noticed that the British fascination with eye brightening products is like ours with teeth whitening. There was a huge section of the pharmacy of things to make your eyes "sparkle". Anyway, I was unsuccessful and the guy told me to see a doctor. Of course I'm all the way over here and I'm having a medical issue already. Ugh. Later in the day, I walked into an eye care place on Kensington High and made an appointment for tomorrow morning so I'm looking forward to that. I can't do 4 months with these glasses!
At noon, our class at the gym began. Mel and I were basically the only people in the class so it was pretty intimidating to have this British instructor on top of us for an entire hour. He really worked us though, I was exhausted after the class was over. It felt good though, its been a while since I was at the gym, so it'll be nice to get back into shape. After the gym, we walked to Mark and Spencer's for lunch and I had a really great salmon and cucumber sandwich on whole wheat bread and a tub of blueberries. I got a pair of trainers for the gym and a really cheap backpack to hold my books for class, and then I went back to Metrogate. After I showered I turned on the TV (we only get 4 channels here. Anyone who knows me knows that I am dying) I've never watched it in my life, but that ABC show Ugly Betty was on. I was so happy to just watch American television, it was great!
I'm now just in the basement of our building in the PC lab trying to kill some time. I have no plans for tonight and I don't want to go out-out, but I do want to leave the building. I hate the nights here, I still get really sad. They say that absence makes the heart grow stronger, right? I just try to keep that in mind.
At noon, our class at the gym began. Mel and I were basically the only people in the class so it was pretty intimidating to have this British instructor on top of us for an entire hour. He really worked us though, I was exhausted after the class was over. It felt good though, its been a while since I was at the gym, so it'll be nice to get back into shape. After the gym, we walked to Mark and Spencer's for lunch and I had a really great salmon and cucumber sandwich on whole wheat bread and a tub of blueberries. I got a pair of trainers for the gym and a really cheap backpack to hold my books for class, and then I went back to Metrogate. After I showered I turned on the TV (we only get 4 channels here. Anyone who knows me knows that I am dying) I've never watched it in my life, but that ABC show Ugly Betty was on. I was so happy to just watch American television, it was great!
I'm now just in the basement of our building in the PC lab trying to kill some time. I have no plans for tonight and I don't want to go out-out, but I do want to leave the building. I hate the nights here, I still get really sad. They say that absence makes the heart grow stronger, right? I just try to keep that in mind.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
New Ventures and Friends
I know I've been slacking on keeping up with this, but we've only been at FIE now for two days and I've been really busy. We live (in what we learned yesterday) in South Kensington, the most exclusive and expensive area code in all of Europe. I knew it would be nice, but this place puts Beverly Hills to shame. In our neighborhood their are 70 million dollar homes owned by various Royals of other countries and at the end of my street is Kensington Palace, where Princess Diana lived. Her place is huge, but nothing really pretty to look at. We took a walking tour of Kensington today and saw many famous residences and historical sights. It was really a nice morning walk. In about two hours, around 2pm, we have a scheduled bus tour around London. Thankfully, we'll be sitting and getting off for "snaps" as they call photos here.
Last night: was feeling EXTREMELY homesick, but pushed myself to go out anyway. Really glad that I did! A bunch of us went to the university bar across the street where if you are a cardholder (and we all are bc it came in our welcome package) you literally got about 80% off at the bar. So instead of 8 pounds, a drinks was a little more than 1 pound. Very good deals when I am loosing money because of this exchange rate. At the bar, we met a bunch or really cool kids from Temple U. in Philthy. We talked with them for awhile, found out they were headed to Archangel, a bar/club on Kensington High Street, and we joined! On the way, we stopped at their flat. They are also in our FIE program, but aren't in Metrogate so it was interesting to see another form of student housing. There were about 20 people living behind one locked main door and then just a long hallway of just huge dorm style rooms with various hall bathrooms and huge kitchens and meeting rooms. Think Anderson 6 as one apartment. It was crazy, I would have liked to have lived there. I love my room though. I bought a few pillows at Mark and Spencer's yesterday to make a little nest for myself and I slept like a baby last night so that was a good investment.
I'm gonna walk to get a panini at a small shop down the street in a few minutes and then off on the bus trip around the city! Hopefully I'll feel less homesick as the days go on. There is just no Chipotle or Kelly here. :(
Last night: was feeling EXTREMELY homesick, but pushed myself to go out anyway. Really glad that I did! A bunch of us went to the university bar across the street where if you are a cardholder (and we all are bc it came in our welcome package) you literally got about 80% off at the bar. So instead of 8 pounds, a drinks was a little more than 1 pound. Very good deals when I am loosing money because of this exchange rate. At the bar, we met a bunch or really cool kids from Temple U. in Philthy. We talked with them for awhile, found out they were headed to Archangel, a bar/club on Kensington High Street, and we joined! On the way, we stopped at their flat. They are also in our FIE program, but aren't in Metrogate so it was interesting to see another form of student housing. There were about 20 people living behind one locked main door and then just a long hallway of just huge dorm style rooms with various hall bathrooms and huge kitchens and meeting rooms. Think Anderson 6 as one apartment. It was crazy, I would have liked to have lived there. I love my room though. I bought a few pillows at Mark and Spencer's yesterday to make a little nest for myself and I slept like a baby last night so that was a good investment.
I'm gonna walk to get a panini at a small shop down the street in a few minutes and then off on the bus trip around the city! Hopefully I'll feel less homesick as the days go on. There is just no Chipotle or Kelly here. :(
Thursday, September 3, 2009
NEW HOME!
Here are pics of my new room in London! I think its the biggest room in the building that I've seen. Then again, there are three of us. We even have our own bathroom which is a plus! My roommates Matt and Brian both go to AU and are really cool guys. The only thing that is not that great is the lack of storage space. I think everyone is feeling that way...
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
I Joined A Club
Mel and I joined the Club Kensington gym about two blocks from our building today. They had a nice three month deal for us abroad students. Can't wait to get back into shape, this summer killed me.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
A Comfortably Classy Tea at Harrods
Today we ventured over to Knightsbridge to visit the infamous Harrods department store. We went with the intention of solely exploring the store and the new area that we hadn’t previously seen. It’s my new favorite area of London. It was beautiful and upscale and much more visually appealing than Bayswater. We walked from the tube a few blocks to Harrods, which was basically like Macys Heralds Square. I just realized that I relate everything back to NYC! It’s my point of reference, oh well. We walked into the store and it (once again) reminds me of the Saks on 5th. Everything was just glowing and immaculate, it was just so pristine. We made our way from the doorway through the various halls of food where there was a formagerie room, a chocolate room, an imported foods room, a tea and coffee room. It seemed to go on forever. You really didn’t appreciate the size of the store until you went inside. It was huge. We basically skipped the next three floors because we were starving, but vowed to work our way back down after our tea. We arrived on the top floor of the store and walked into the Terrace Bar at the Georgian Restaurant where we were greeted by a pianist playing various tunes from the Sound of Music. It was kind of cliché, but a lot of fun. Overall, the whole experience was extremely elegant and I can’t wait to go back. We ordered the Traditional English Afternoon Tea that included a variety of English teas (so Mel and I ordered the Victorian rose petal and Rebs opted for the green mint), and a tiered presentation of scones, miniature pastries and five or six different kinds of delicious finger sandwiches. The woman at the Clinique counter recommended this restaurant if we wanted the authentic English experience and we were so happy we listened to her!
After we left Harrods we did some more damage at the surrounding stores in Knightsbridge and on Oxford Street. I was pretty thrifty though, I got a really nice jacket for $17 American and a dress shirt for $11 American so… not to worry Mom!
After taking my first double decker bus way farther past Hyde Park than we wanted to go, we got out in a not-so-great area and reversed our route back up the street. The bus was fun, and free because of our tube pass.
Possibly joining the Kensington gym tomorrow? We shall see, I thought it was a lot more expensive than it actually is. Ohmygod South Park is on again. Brits just love this dumb show apparently.
After we left Harrods we did some more damage at the surrounding stores in Knightsbridge and on Oxford Street. I was pretty thrifty though, I got a really nice jacket for $17 American and a dress shirt for $11 American so… not to worry Mom!
After taking my first double decker bus way farther past Hyde Park than we wanted to go, we got out in a not-so-great area and reversed our route back up the street. The bus was fun, and free because of our tube pass.
Possibly joining the Kensington gym tomorrow? We shall see, I thought it was a lot more expensive than it actually is. Ohmygod South Park is on again. Brits just love this dumb show apparently.
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