Take me home, country roads...

Well, the day has finally came and went. I am officially back in America. I still can't believe my study abroad experience is over. I feel like it didn't even happen. When I see my friends for the first time, they all ask me to tell them stories and adventures, but honestly, I can't think of any off the top of my head. The whole experience was like one GIANT adventure. The only response I can give them is, "I had the time of my life. It was hands down the greatest experience I've ever had. And that's about it." It sounds lame and cliche to say, but it's true. I left London with no regrets, and that was one of my goals. So overall, I think my study abroad experience was a major success.

I promised I would discuss the departure party, so here it goes. It was a FABULOUS night. Everyone was dressed up and looking classy. There was awesome music, nice snacks, and amazing drinks. Overall, the vibe of the whole night was uplifting. Everyone was in such a great mood, despite the fact that we knew it was our last night together. I danced, I sang, I laughed, and I may have even cried by the end of the night. We all got free t-shirts as well. They are so funny! On the front, it says "I did it in London." Then, on the back it says, "CAPA Study Abroad Program Spring 2009"....and then it lists all of the other countries that you can study abroad in. I love the fact that our CAPA shirts are just a little bit dirty...haha. We ended our night at a dance club, but we didn't really stay there long. It was kind of beat. Oh well...

The next day (my final full day in London) we decided to all ride the London Eye. It was a great way to take in the city of London one final time. The weather was absolutely beautiful! It had to be the warmest and brightest day in London thus far. Everyone was laying in parks, strolling the streets, eating ice cream...it was just so sweet. The Eye was really cool. I took some amazing photos from the top. At night, we all went to our favorite pub and had one final pint together. We were all pretty tired, so we didn't last too long. We shared our favorite moments, laughed, and eventually cried. These people are a part of me now, so when leaving them, I felt like I was leaving that part of me with them. It was hard. Really hard.

Fortunately, the ache in my heart started to fade when I woke up the next morning realizing I was returning home. My REAL home. I was going to be seeing my family and friends for the first time in months. It felt so good. The flight was pretty smooth. Not too much turbulence. I just watched a couple films to pass the time. I can't explain the feeling of seeing my family after getting off of the plane. To my own surprise, I actually cried. I've never cried due to happiness before. It was strange. I was really exhausted, so we went home right away. And when I say we went home, I mean we went HOME, to my own bed, in my own house, with my own parents. The feeling couldn't get any better...

So I guess this means good-bye for now? It's been an amazing journey, and I hope by reading my blogs, you all felt like you were on the journey with me. I shared my best and my worst moments with you. I have to admit, my heart hurts a little writing this. Ending my blog means the experience is OFFICIALLY over. At least I have the memories. The memories I will NEVER forget. By ending this, I closing one chapter of my life. But where one chapter closes, another chapter begins. Here's to the next chapter in my life...may it be as good as the last...

Never was good at saying good-bye

I hate this. You know, I thought that by April 25th I would be READY to go home. In a way, I guess I am ready to see my family and friends, but it's just that I don't want to say good-bye to my new friends. It's weird. For some reason, it took us 12 weeks to finally fall into a groove with one another. We now have assigned roles in the group (the joker, the smart one, the nice one, etc.). It feels natural now being with them. Why did it take so long to reach this point? It's like we finally reach a natural state of friendship, and then we have to leave one another. I don't like it. I don't like it one bit.

Tonight is the departure party thrown by my school. We are all getting dressed up, there is a buffet, and afterwards we get free admission to a club. I AM STOKED. It is going to be loads of fun. I actually went out and bought a new dress for the occasion (I'll post a picture of it after tonight). I'm sleeping over my friend's flat again so I don't have to worry about catching the last tube home. I'm so excited. We're going to get dolled up together and everything. Wow, I sound like such a little girl...Oh well, I'm excited and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

What I'm NOT excited for is saying goodbye at the end of the night. Fortunately, I think a lot of us are going to be riding The Eye together tomorrow afternoon, so we can say our bye's then. We figured riding the Eye on our last day in London was a good way to take the city in ONE LAST TIME. It's such a tourist thing to do, but it just seems right. Speaking of tourists, it's really funny how angry I get at tourists in London now. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE, and they tend to stand in the most inconvenient places, such as right in front of the tube stop, or in front of an escalator. SO ANNOYING. It's funny how I get mad because technically I could be considered a tourist. But in reality, I considered myself a London citizen the past few months. I lived here, not vacationed here. I think that's why leaving is going to be so rough; I'm not leaving vacation to go back home. I'm leaving one home to go back to another...

Well, my blogs will be winding down soon, like my study abroad experience is. But I'll be sure to write a couple more about the departure party, saying bye to friends, and my trip home. Until then....

Greenwich, laying in the park, a hot sun....my best weekend.

So this past weekend, I basically had the BEST WEEKEND EVER! I didn't do anything too exciting or vigorous, but I think that's why I enjoyed it. Friday, Matt and I went to the Temple Church (from the DaVinci Code), took pictures, and then just walked around London for a little bit. Friday night, I slept over my friend Susanna's flat so that we could all stay out late and not worry about catching the last tube home. We went to a pub called Waxy O'Conners. It's the place we went to on my birthday. AMAZING time. My friend Brittany and I fell in love with the bartender, and I'm pretty sure he knew it. He had dimples like you've never seen before...Alas, we had an awesome time at the pub. Lots of friends, lots of laughs, and lots of memories were made....

Saturday ended up being the best day of the weekend. We all woke up at a pretty decent time and took a boat ride down the Thames to Greenwich. It was a BEAUTIFUL day. No jackets necessary, which is rare for London. Of course the first thing we did when getting to Greenwich was stand over the Prime Meridian. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is the line that splits the eastern and western hemispheres. It also has the most precise clock in the world. So that was really cool. We then walked through a park with lots of beautiful pink flowers, children laughing, and boys playing football. Since it was so beautiful out, we all decided to lay in the park and enjoy the weather. BEST MOMENT EVER. Our friend Bentley put his ipod on, and we just all laying in a circle on our backs and watched the sky. Sounds corny, but it was truly the best moment ever. For the first time, we all relaxed and soaked in the fact that this was it: we had one week left in London together....These are moments we won't have again for a very long time, and maybe never again. To mark this occasion, Bentley played "Come sail away" by Styx. Hilarious but touching. At night, we all just went to a pub and shared a few drinks to kick off our last week together. Sentimental things were said, but I'm sure more cute moments will be had on Thursday at our departure party. It will be bittersweet to say the least....

So that was my best weekend. I have to say, last week, I was ready to pack and leave. Now, after this glorious weekend with friends I love so much, I'm really sad to leave. I truly had the time of my life, and I'm not sure I'm ready for that to end...

PS: here's a little tid bit that one of our CAPA directors sent all of us in an email. You may find it as funny as I did:

#21 Brit Bit – You know you’ve lived in London too long when...
You don’t even bother looking out of the window when you get up in the morning to check what the day is like. You know it is overcast.
You believe that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday are all good nights for drinking. Sunday day is also entirely reasonable.
You can’t remember what ‘customer service’ means.
You start to accept queuing as a way of life.
You are on to your 6th umbrella and your second overcoat.
You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.
The UK west of Heathrow is still theoretical to you.
You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you.
Your idea of personal space is no one actually physically standing on you.
You think Hyde Park is "nature".

You know you’re gonna miss it...

You know what, Debbie? I think I really am....

Where was I during the G20 protest????

So as you all probably heard, London held the G20 summit this year, which sparked many protests in the London city. Protestors were announcing that they were going to be attacking bankers and any corporate people. Now, recall to where I said my internship was: AIG. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I was RIGHT in the heart of the G20 protests, where any normal person was told to avoid.

I walked into work earlier that week, and noticed that everyone was wearing street clothes (jeans, hoodies, sneakers, etc.) So I asked my supervisor what's up, and she said for safety reasons, we were allowed (and advised) to wear street clothes to work so that we blended in with the public. They were scared that we would get targeted when going to work if we wore our normal business attire. While this kind of excited me because I got to dress down for the week, another part of me grew scared....Was I going to get hurt this week????

So Wednesday was what I like to call JUDGEMENT DAY. Many of my friends told me to avoid going to work because it was the main day of protests, and police were saying things could get extremely dangerous. And besides, the protests were going to be happening basically right outside my office. However, being the nosey and curious girl I am, I decided I would go and check things out. It was so weird! My street was completely blocked off except for like a million police officers patrolling. Then, as I'm about to turn the corner to go to my building, I LITERALLY walk RIGHT into a march of abou 60 anarchists, all dressed in black, screaming, and ready to start trouble. I just kind of kept my head down and pushed my way through. While they did not do anything harmful around me, they ended up destroying property and several banks. I ended up being sent home early because my boss feared things could get worse. Luckily, things remained pretty calm the rest of the day. Only one man died, and that was due to a heart attack.

So basically, I come to London to find a once in a lifetime experience/adventure, and I end up being right in the middle of a landmark event....kind of cool, huh?

Let's flashback to Ireland...

Hey you crazy kids! Sorry for the major absence, but my computer unfortunately broke after my Ireland trip, so I was unable to blog. I have some free time, so let me fill you in on some odds and ends...

So Ireland...my native land. I just KNEW that I would fall in love with the country. However, I did not know the series of unfortunate events that would fall upon me during my trip. While I was angry when they happened, I can't help but laugh at them now. I guess that's something my new friends taught me while studying abroad; there's no reason to get upset about things when you can just get a laugh out of it. It's all part of the study abroad experience...

Alright, so when I bought my plane ticket, I somehow got charged for priority seating, which only means I get to board the plane before anyone else. It was going to be a hassle and expensive to fix, so I just kept it. So at the airport, I'm going through security, and my bag is pulled aside. Turns out, one of my liquids fell out of its baggy, and so they had to tear my bag apart looking for terrorist objects. In the meantime, they threw out my hairspray. After packing my bag (while the rest of my friends scream TERRORIST at me), we all head to board the plane. My friends decide to yet again make fun of me by calling me THE RICH AMERICAN WHO BOARDS PLANES BEFORE THE COMMON FOLK. It was all laughs, and then I get to the gate. The lady doesn't let me on. Turns out, no one stamped by boarding pass. HOW DID I GET THAT FAR WITHOUT SOMEONE NOTICING?!?!? I had to hold up the line while she called her supervisor, who then informed her that I was in the clear to board. EMBARRASSING. So we get to Ireland and everything is all fine and dandy. Life is good. I got to see my friend Ashley from Ursinus which was AWESOME. I REALLY missed her. On Saturday, we went to Dublin. Dublin was alright, but I prefer the countryside of Ireland. We toured the Guinness factory and basically saw the whole city. THEN...I try to find a necklace. Now, the boys wanted to kill me at this point. They wanted to leave, but I wouldn't unless I found a necklace that my Dad said he'd pay for my birthday present. So I finally find a necklace I like, and as the guy is putting it in the box, the charm falls off, hits his shoe, and bounces to God only knows where. I DIDN'T GET TO BUY THAT NECKLACE. FIGURES. Luckily, I ended up buying a prettier necklace in Galway (where my friend Ashley is studying). Here is the BEST part of our luck: on Saturday night, we went to this nightclub. We're dancing, singing, and having the time of our lives, when all of a sudden.......THE SECOND FLOOR COLLAPSES ON US!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it! The roof just...COLLAPSED!!! Fortunately, none of my friends were hurt. We just kind of grabbed our things and ran out. When we got back, my friends just laughed and said that the roof only collapses when Helen Ann is in the building...I'm beginning to think they're right.

This is a very abridged version of my Ireland trip, but my mishaps are what MADE the trip for me. My friends said I should write them down and turn them into a book, because adventures like this only happen in an alternate reality. We still laugh about it until this day....

Wales and my 21st Birthday!!

Hi everybody! I realize it's been awhile since I've written, but I've been really busy the past 2 weeks. I don't think I've written about Wales, so let's start there, shall we?

Now, I have to be honest. I was not EXTREMELY excited to go to Wales. I mean, I was happy that I was going, but not as excited as going to Paris and Amsterdam. Maybe because I knew I was staying in the UK? I'm not entirely sure. The important part of this story is that I was WRONG. Wales was absolutely AMAZING! I could not have been more far off in judging...
The first place we went to was a Roman Amphitheater. So cool! We stood in the middle and took photographs where soooo many years ago, Gladiators fought. Our bus then took us to

Caerphilly Castle (pictured above.) I probably had the most fun there because my two friends and I (also pictured above) ran around the castle screaming 'we are under attack!!!" and "someone throw me a bow and arrow!" We got PLENTY of weird stares by other tourists, but who cares? We had the time of our lives...The next day we went to the Big Pit Coal Mine. AMAZING. We got to suit up in full out coal mining gear, and go down at least 700 feet into the mine. At one point we turned our lights off on our helmets and stood in the dark. SCARIEST THING EVER! I almost ran away, but then I realized, "Where would I go?" Anyways, it was an amazing experience. Something I'll always remember, much like my entire trip abroad. We finished our trip at Tintern Abby. It was really neat seeing it up close and personal because I've read Wordsworth's poem like, A THOUSAND times in all of my literature courses.

So that was basically my weekend in Wales in a nutshell. I also will take this time to announce that I TURNED 21 ON ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!!! It was an awesome birthday. My friends bought me a cake and we all hit up an Irish pub. INSANE. I just wish my family had been there...this was the first birthday I did not get to see them at all. Thanks to all of you who sent cards and/or skyped me on my birthday. I TRULY appreciate it. It made my birthday all the more special. Thank you and I love you.

Ok, well I'm off to finish some more homework and things before bed. I have a long day of work ahead of me tomorrow. Oh! I thought I should add that I've received an A on every paper I've handed in so far this semester! Mom and Dad - BE PROUD! LoL. Ok. I'll update you all soon about my newest adventures I've yet to have...

I'd like an order of Sheep stomach and guts. And why not a side of dry blood for desert?

Hello everybody! So I just got back from visiting my friend Mat (Ursinus Alumni) in Scotland. AMAZING times. Let's start with Tuesday, shall we?

Matt and I boarded our train from Kings Cross at about 10:30am. I never realized how long 5 hours was until I was forced to sit still for that long on a train. Luckily, I bought another Twilight book, so I had my fantasies about handsome vampires to keep me occupied. I also attempted to sleep on the train considering the week ahead of me was going to be jam packed with events. Finally, at about 3:00pm, we arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland. Mat was waiting for us at the station. We were all so excited. For the first time in awhile, we each had a touch of America. A touch of Ursinus College. A touch of HOME.

We had to walk to his flat, which I thought wouldn't be too bad. I've been doing nothing but walking the past few months, so I thought my legs were rock solid. Unfortunately, my London legs were not prepared for Scotland. London is mostly flat land. Scotland? Scotland is NOTHING but hills. If you know me at all, or even my mother for that matter because I'm sure I get it from her, you will understand that I OVERPACK FOR EVERYTHING! So put this image in your heads: Helen Ann lugging a very large suitcase uphill in the rain. Yes, you are allowed to laugh. I still do. Mat's flat was very nice. He has 3 roommates: 1 boy from Iran and his girlfriend, and another boy from Scotland. They were all super nice, and treated us as if we were friends already.

Wednesday, Matt and I woke up at the break of dawn to catch a bus tour of Scotland. The bus left at 8am and did not return back to Edinburgh until 8pm. Do the math. It was a 12 hour tour!! We saw EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING that was in Scotland. My favorite part of the tour was the Highlands. I've never seen anything like it in my entire life. The snow covered mountains were absolutely breath-taking. We even got to step off the bus and take pictures outside in the snow! I also saw some Harry Potter filming sites and Sean Connery's house. The history of the people of Scotland was also fascinating.

The tour ended with a boat ride of Loch Ness. I had my camera on at all times, just waiting to catch a glimpse of the Loch Ness Monster, also known as Nessie. Alas, there was no Nessie...this time. But the boat ride through the most beautiful lake and mountainside was well worth it anyway!

Thursday, we went to Edinburgh Castle. It was really cool, but honestly, I'm getting castled out. Those are words that I never thought I'd say, but it's true. LOL. Since I've been in Europe, I've seen COUNTLESS castles and churches. They are all beginning to look the same to me. However, I also decided that my future husband is going to build me a castle to live in. It's official. He has no other option.

Friday, we said goodbye to Mat and his flatmates. It was bittersweet; a part of me wanted to get back to London to relax, but the other part of me did not want to lose the comfort of home that Mat brought to us. On the train ride home (another 5 hours), Matt and I both agreed that we felt a little homesick for the first time in awhile. If that's how I felt after leaving Mat, I don't even know what I'd feel like if my parents came to visit and left again....

To wrap things up, today I took a Beatles tour around England. It was so cool!!! I got to see sites where A Hard Day's Night and Help were filmed. I also saw different apartments that the members of the band lived in, where some of them were married, and where they wrote certain songs. My favorite part of the tour was Abbey Road. I got to see Abbey Road studios, where most of their albums were recorded. Last but not least, I saw the crossing from the Abbey Road album. It was hilarious watching everyone (including myself) attempting to mimic the picture while crossing the street. There are no traffic lights around there, so you just have to pray that the cars stop for you. They were not happy drivers, but they dealt with us crazy Beatles fans...

Well, I'm off to go do some homework now. I'll update you all later!

Oh!!! I guess I should explain the title of this blog. Well, my first meal in Scotland was QUITE interesting. I was asked to sample Haggis, which did not taste TOO bad. I then found out that it was sheep stomach, intestines, liver, and all that gutsy jazz. I then sampled Black Pudding, a favorite desert of the Scotish. EW EW EW. It tasted HORRIFIC. I then asked what was in it. DRY BLOOD. I kid you not. I ate DRY BLOOD from a sheep. EW EW EW. I'm sick thinking about it now....

I said I was up to trying new things when studying abroad. I did not mean becoming a vampire...

Oh hey Amsterdam and Bruge...

Hello ladies and gents!! I'm back to report on my adventures in Bruge and Amsterdam this past weekend. Now I'm sure all of you have heard stories from one time or another about what happens in Amsterdam....to see it in real life is a WHOLE different story. For most people, what happens in Amsterdam stays in Amsterdam....

I am not one of those people. LOL.

So let's start from the beginning, shall we? Thursday night, I went to see the Taming of the Shrew with my Shakespeare class. While the play is VERY famous right now in London, I was not really a fan. The acting was WAY overdone, they tried too hard to get laughs, and not to mention that the play was over 3 hours long! So by the time the play ended and I FINALLY got home, it was close to midnight. Keep in mind that I have to be up for Amsterdam at 4 am...Yea, not fun.

Friday, 4am, my alarm goes off, and a "not so happy" Helen Ann rolls out of bed, gets dressed, and heads out the door to walk 15 min to the station, carrying my big travel bag. You know, I learned on the Paris trip not to carry so much, but for some reason, my bag was STILL heavy!!! I didn't even pack that much!! Boggles my mind, I tell ya...But any who, I walked to the station, met up with Matt at his station, and took the tube to the station from which CAPA was getting a coach. We all boarded the coach at about 6:15am, and started the journey of eternity to get to Amsterdam.

Mind you, England is an island. We are in a coach bus. As you probably guessed by now, we took the ferry to get to France. We grabbed the ferry right next to the white cliffs of Dover. Boy were they pretty! They were like one giant mass of chalk. So cool. And this ferry... This ferry was like a cruise ship!!! I felt like I was VIP or first class or some nonsense like that!!! I almost didn't want to get off! But alas, the time came for us to get off, and board the coach, yet again, to go to Bruge. After about a 2 hour coach ride, we reached the city of Bruge. If you've ever seen the Colin Farrel movie "In Bruge," DO NOT LISTEN TO HIS CHARACTER!!! Bruge is an amazingly beautiful city. I was immediately in love. Not to mention, I had some Belgium chocolate and Belgium waffles!!! Not the fake deal that you get on the boardwalk...this was the REAL thing. So yummy in my tummy...

After leaving Bruge, we finally reached Amsterdam. I never realized how pretty Amsterdam was! The city is basically just several circles, outlined by the canals. We took a boat tour so we got to see the full effect. So beautiful. Like most European cities, the buildings were old and fabulous. Of course, at night, my friends and I ventured into the Red Light District to see what the hype was all about. BOY WAS IT SOMETHING TO SEE!!! I couldn't believe my eyes!! Everything you heard about Amsterdam exists, and more...let's just leave it at that. On Saturday, we visited some authentic Dutch towns, where some of the civilians still wear clogs. So cute!!! It was really cool getting out of the city and seeing the simple life of Holland. I was very impressed.

Sunday morning, my friends and I woke up VERY early and checked out of the hotel in order to get in line for the Anne Frank house. We made it JUST before the rush. Let me just say that no place has ever moved me so much as this house. I cried my eyes out. I was so overwhelmed with the tragic history of the house. I walked the stairs that they walked, walked through the secret passage behind the book case, and up the tiny stairs to the secret annex. In the living room, where they ate and some people lived, you could see the pencil marks on the wall of when Mr. Frank measured the heights of the children. We then walked into Anne's room, where all of her original pictures on her wall still hung on the same wallpaper. Of course they were behind a glass case, but it was still so touching. For the first time it hit me: Anne Frank was a normal teenage girl like I was. Looking at her pictures of celebrities, I envisioned my bedroom walls at 13, with pictures of Aaron Carter flooding from the ceiling to the floor. In each room, there were quotes from her diary as well. I couldn't help myself but cry. I didn't want to leave. If I had the chance to go back, I would. I HIGHLY recommend that everyone does this at least once in their lifetime...do yourself the favor. In the museum attachment, we saw video interviews with Mr. Frank, artifacts, pictures, updates on what happened to the members of the family, and last but not least, Anne's REAL diary. It was all so overwhelming...I'm getting chills now thinking about it.

Well, to sum up the rest of the weekend, it took us about 10 hours to finally get back to London. We ended up watching a million episodes of Family Guy on the bus, which made the time go by faster. Of course the tube I needed to catch was suspended for the weekend, so I had to catch a bus back to my homestay. I finally got home at about midnight, and then immediately starting writing my midterm paper. (Don't freak out; I had the paper outlined and almost written on the bus. I just had to type it haha) I handed the paper in today while touring the Globe Theater with my Shakespeare class. Good times...

Well, next week is Spring Break. I'm going to visit our friend Mat from Ursinus who is getting his Phd in Scotland. So excited!!!! I'll talk to you then, unless something exciting happens before then....which it could. I am in London.....

Paris and Professor Snape

Hey everybody! I know it's been a longgggg time since I've written, but once again, my life has been crazy busy. But a good busy. So I'm going to take you back to about a week ago, and start from there...

Ok. So every Tuesday I go to see a play at night for my Living Theater in London class. We see some GREAT shows, and the best part about them is that they are free for me to attend!!! How awesome is that?!?! So last Tuesday, we went to see a play called Damascus at the Tricyle Theater in Kilburn. Now, while I LOVE theater (hello, I'm minoring in it), the constant travelling to the different theaters at night after a long day of classes is kind of dreadful. However, this night turned out to be EXTRA special. So I walk in to the theater, and immediately notice how small it is. The front row was completely free (you could pick where you wanted to sit), so my friends and I decided to try it out. As we are sitting there, one of my friends casually turns to us and says "So did you hear who is in the audience?" Naturally, we responded "other than the rest of our class, no. Who is here??" And she smiles and says, "Professor Snape." My jaw dropped. Now, for those of you who do not know the character Professor Snape from Harry Potter, let me inform you of the actor: Alan Rickman. He has been in countless big time films, such as Harry Potter, Love Actually, Sweeny Todd. The list goes on. So when she said his name, I immediately jumped up and said "Where?!?!?" Embarrassed, my friend pulled me back down and told me to casually look to the back of the theater, where he was sitting. THERE HE WAS. He was just sitting there with his wife, waiting for the show to begin like everyone else in the theater. I made up my mind that I would meet him during intermission, which I did. He was very nice. I told him I appreciated his work, and he smiled and thanked me. I let him go after that because I could tell he just wanted to enjoy his night with his wife, instead of dealing with crazy Harry Potter fans like myself. So alas, I met Alan Rickman. TOP THAT PEOPLE!

Now on to Thursday...Thursday, I had to say goodbye to my new friend Marie-Lou. She returned to France this past weekend. I was very sad about it because I knew the chances of seeing her again are pretty slim. Unless I visit France in the future, or she comes to America. Who knows, maybe if we keep in touch it could happen one day....Let's cross our fingers. She's a great girl and I'm glad to have met her.

Last but not least...PARIS. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I spent Valentine's Day weekend in Paris. It ALMOST tops meeting Alan Rickman. Haha. Seriously though, Paris was amazinggggggg. We arrived early Friday morning. We took the Euro Star, which is the train that goes under the water from London to Paris. It only took us 2 hours to get there. Pretty impressive. I was extremely ill with a sinus infection the entire weekend, but I didn't let that ruin my time there. I saw EVERYTHING. And I mean EVERYTHING. The Louvre, Arch de Triumph, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Mona Lisa, Van Gogh and Claude Monet exhibit...the list could go on forever. It was so much fun. Very exhausting, but fun. The best part was seeing the Eiffel Tower light up and shimmer at night. I have never seen anything like that in my entire life. My heart almost stopped in awe. Positively mesmorizing. Apart from all of the tourist attractions, it was interesting to test my French skills with the locals. I surprised myself in how much I remembered. I was able to help my group of friends get around. I even got into an argument with a lady at a shop who gave me the wrong food and was trying to force me to eat what she gave me!!! I got an applause for that one...major props. We did a bar crawl at night with other CAPA kids which was A LOT of fun. I got to meet some more locals and see the French night life. Alas, at the end of the weekend, I was ready to go back to London...my home away from home.

So far, nothing big has happened since Paris. I did a lot of fun stuff at my internship. I'm beginning to work on projects and things, so I really feel like I'm a part of the HR team now. It's cool. My work actually means something now. I'm not just filing and doing pointless tasks; I'm updating systems and creating new programs for the department. Really cool.

Well, I probably won't blog again until after this weekend, which is my trip to Amsterdam and Bruge!!!! I'll fill you in on all of the juicy details after that. Until then, be safe, enjoy life, and I miss you all....

turning a over a new leaf...

So it's been at least a week since I last wrote, and boy, was it an eventful week! I guess I'll start off with my biggest news: I moved into a new home. Things were not going as I had planned in my previous home, I was not really happy, and I just decided that it would be best for me to remove myself from the situation. On the positive side, I moved into an AMAZING new home stay. They are a couple in their 60s, and they live in this BEAUTIFUL 3 story home. They have the cutest little kitty named Cutie, who I just asbolutely adore!!! He makes me miss the number one kitty in my life, though...my Tootsie. My room is awesome; I have a wrap around desk, lots of shelves, and a huge closet. The house itself is pretty cool because it is very old fashioned; there are not normal locks on the door. Every door has it's own key. It's so cool. The meals are FABULOUS!!! Tonight, I even tried Brussels sprouts!! They refuse to let me make any of my own food. They even pour me my cereal in the morning...I'm like a princess. I'm so spoiled....I wonder if I can get my Mom to continue this act of behavior when I return home......

Saturday I toured the Tower of London, which was so cool. It was weird being in the same spot where people such as Anne Boleyn were beheaded! We then went to where they keep the Crownded Jewels, where I also watched a video of The Queen's Procession. Very interesting.

Sunday, I went to Oxford, which is famous for the University. Funny fact: Oxford University is actually made up of like 35 different colleges. Interesting, I know. We got to tour a lot of them, which left me feeling very jealous. And I thought Ursinus had cool architecture?!?! These colleges were breathtaking. Absolutely amazing. And here comes the best part....

HOGWARTS!!!! Yes, ladies and gentleman, I got to tour Hogwarts. Ok, maybe it's not the REAL Hogwarts, but it's the college that they based Hogwarts off of. They even filmed many of the scenes on the campus. If you have facebook, please take a look at all of my pictures. You won't believe your eyes. Especially the dining hall. I honestly thought I was going to turn my head, and Harry Potter was going to be eating with Ron next to me. It was so cool. By far, the BEST part of the trip. I think our Tour Guide new that, too....haha

On a different note, I thought I would tell you about my interesting morning on my way to work. So I get up and leave an hour and a half before I have to be in work. It only takes me about an hour to get to work, but I always leave early in case there are any problems with the tube. This morning is case in point. So here I am, walking all casually into the station, with my itunes going, ya know, doing my thing...and I see that there are an abnormally large amount of people waiting for the District Line on a Monday morning. So I look around, and see that the sign says there is severe delays, and part of the District Line is suspended. So I took my headphones out to hear if there were any announcements. To my surprise, a man, with the most calm and apathetic voice, gets over the loud speaker and declares, "This is an update. There is severe delays and suspensions on the District Line, due to a person intersepting the train between Earl's Court and Embankment." A PERSON INTERSEPTING A TRAIN?!!?!? So here I am, IN COMPLETE SHOCK AND HORROR, and I look around in a panick to see how people react. To my dismay, I see people throw their arms up in disgust and say things like "Man, now I'm going to be late to work!" WHATTTTTTTTT????!!!!! I'm on the verge of tears, thinking of a poor person ending their life, and the rest of London is pissed about being late to work. I couldn't believe my ears. You know what, I think I should add this to my blog about things that puzzle me about London....whew...I don't get it!

Well, I'm off to bed. I had a very tiring weekend, I have a presentation tomorrow in my Shakespeare class (wish me luck!) and I have an even longer week ahead of me.

Oh, by the way, did I mention that I'm going to Paris this weekend?!?!?! Yea, be jealous.

Looks like I brought American snow with me...

Wow. So I'm not sure if any of you have read the paper or watched the news today, but London got hit HARD with snow. As in 8 inches and still accumulating kind of hard. While this may not sound exciting to you, let me fill you in on a little fact about: London has not seen a snowstorm like this in 18 years. I WATCHED HISTORY TODAY!!! Now, I LOVE snow, but after this morning, I decided it's not meant to be in London. And here is why...

So, I wake up at 6:50 am this morning to get ready for work, ya know, do my normal thing. I look out the window, but I couldn't really see much because of the way my windows are. However, I remembered hearing that it could rain or snow, so I put on my rain boots for extra precautions. I had work at 9 am, so I left the house at 7:30 to get to the station. I open the door, and BAM! There is like 5 inches of snow! I couldn't believe it! London was a sea of white fluffyness! At this point, I'm still pleasantly happy, so I trudge my way to the station. While I was walking, I realized that none of the sidewalks or streets were paved...weird. Kind of made my walk difficult, but I'm always up for a challenge. Unfortunately, I still was unaware of the IMMENSE challenges ahead of me...

I finally get to the station. I'm freezing. My feet are already numb (yes, even with the boots). I then see that my platform for my train is closed off. Hmm. I look up at the information screen, and alas, my train is not working due to the weather. So I quickly looked to see what other trains were operating and where they were headed. I finally find one, I get on with about 1/4 of London inhabitants, and suffer my way to another station. I get off, and immediately find a travel safety person to help me. I've already given up on trying to figure my way around by myself...He told me which station to head to, but I would have to walk about 10 blocks to get to my work. Not happy about the walk, but at least I'll make it to work. I called my boss to tell her I'd be late, but there was no answer...odd.

I get off at the station, and have NO IDEA where I'm going. I walk left, right, up, down...name any direction and I walked it. After asking some nice old lady for directions, I finally reached my work. I quickly ran upstairs, only to find that NO ONE from my department came into work that day!! Can you believe it?!?! Since I had no one to give me orders of what to do, I was told to go home. Ugh. So I trudge my way back to another station, take the train to the farthest destination it could go, only to find that no other transportations were heading farther from there. I had no way of getting home. No bus, no cab, no train. NOTHING. Enter panic and frustration....finally, a cop told me that I would have to head BACK into central london, which is where I started, and hop on a different train which will take me home. After 3 hours of switching one train to another with loads of people stepping on my feet, I made it home. Bliss at last.

To help ease my anger from the morning of hell, I went outside to build a snowman with Indiana and Marie-Lou. It was a work of art, I'll tell ya. Facebook pictures don't do her justice. We then went to a park where we had a snowball fight. I felt like a kid again. It was wonderful. You know what else was cool? While I'm used to snow, everyone else here is not. It's like I'm watching people experience something for the first time in their lives...it's mind blowing. After playtime, we went inside where Davinder made us hot chocolate, and we watched tv and did homework. A nice way to end the day. Now the question still remains...if London has not seen snow like this in 18 years, why all of a sudden????

Helen Ann is in London, and she loves her snow. That's why.

"Only in London..."

Hey everybody! I know it's been awhile since I wrote about my adventures, but have no fear!!! I'm here to tell many a tales about the past few days. Fasten your seat belts, enjoy the ride...

So I had my first full week of work. It kind of flew by. Thursday was exciting because I was finally put into the computer system, which meant I could receive and send emails, and book meetings on my electronic calendar. I also made this cool signature thing that I put in all of my emails. Sounds pretty simple, but it was VERY exciting for me. haha.

Friday, Matt and I decided to check out Harrods, which is the big famous department here in London. It puts Macey's to shame. This place was AMAZING!!!!! I couldn't afford anything put a keychain there, but it was still so beautiful to see. Matt went to the men's section to see if he could find any Ari Gold suits (from Entourage). Of course we found some...this place was so high class!! Eventually we got overwhelmed and decided to leave and tour some of the city. Matt tried a Krispey Kreme donut for the first time in his life. HILARIOUS! We ended up walking much further into London then we expected, and we stumbled across some cool monuments and memorials. Check out my facebook for pictures. Friday night, Matt, Ryan and I took out my roommate Marie-Lou to a pub. We ended up bumping into crazy British Stewart again. It was hysterical. Awesome night.

Saturday I went shopping in Notting Hill with Marie-Lou. We went to some kind of market for a bit, and then we checked out Westfields Mall, which is the largest mall in Europe. IT'S SO HUGE!!!! I didn't even know where to begin shopping! We only stayed there for a little bit because Matt then called us to go out to dinner with him and other CAPA students. We went to this adorable little Italian restaurant. VERY YUMMY!! I decided to be classy, and I had a glass of wine...with my burger...ok, maybe I'm not THAT classy...LOL. After dinner we went back to their flat, where we met some new CAPA students. It was really nice. We all then (about 10 of us) went to a pub in Picadilly Circus. Matt, Marie-Lou and I only stayed for a little bit because we had to catch the tube home.

Now THIS is funny...as we're waiting for the tube, Matt and I were discussing how we miss our families back home. Then, a group of girls tapped me on my back and asked "excuse me, are you Americans studying here?" We said yes, and then they explained that they are students from Penn State, who are actually studying in Spain, but were visiting in London for the weekend!!! THENNNN....Matt asked if they knew this girl (his neighbor from home) and it turns out that one of the girls was her roommate!!!! HOW CRAZY IS THAT?!?!?! How does that happen??? Only in London, my friends...only in London.

Today was kind of boring. I just did homework and watched tv all day. Marie-Lou made a french meal for dinner. VERY delicious. Ok, I'm off to skype my girls Carolyn and Caitlin back at Ursinus...oh I miss them.

London puzzles me...

Throughout my days here in the UK, I come across certain things that puzzle me about London. Each time I find something, I think, "Geez, that would be funny to write about." So here they are...some things that puzzle me about the land of London.

1.) EVERY girl here wears heels. Like, it's always raining, everyone has a 100 gazillion mile walk to wherever they need to go...why the heels???? I don't get it.

2.) Everyone is always in a hurry. I know it's a city, but where are they always rushing off to? Like, the train comes every 5 minutes. Why the hurry? The FUNNY part about it is that while I was questioning myself about this today, I CAUGHT MYSELF RUSHING WITH THEM!!!

3.) No one talks or makes eye contact on the tube. I'm a sociable person. I find this very hard to deal with.

4.) It's always raining. Seriously. It's not just a myth, people. It's real.

5.) The tube closes at 12:30 typically. It's the major form of transportation in London. Why close it so early?

6.) The drinking age is 18, yet they card you when you don't look 21 years or older. I don't know about you, but my looks didn't change THAT much from 18 to now. And you can drink at 18, so why card to see if you're 21???

7.) OBAMA-MANIA. Now, I love the man and all (I voted for him), but seriously, he's on the cover of EVERY magazine here. And about trivial things, such as "Obama can dance!" and "Obama has a long day ahead of him." Like, he's everywhere. The Brit's are OBSESSED!

8.) While on the topic of newspapers, why do they post nude pictures in the public Metro?? Seriously people. There are young children on the tube!! I'm sure they shouldn't be seeing Gwyneth Paltrow's boob!

9.) This city is the absolute CLEANEST city I've ever seen! I don't know how they do it! There are hardly any trash cans available either (due to bomb threats). It's like the magic cleaning men come out in the middle of the night and work their tricks on the streets. It's wonderful!

10.) Last but not least, the food. While it has a reputation of being pretty bad, I have had little problems with it. What puzzles me is that while the portions are so small, I'm rarely hungry afterwards! It's amazing! It's like a diet without any effort!

That, ladies and gents, is my "puzzle me" facts for the day. I'm sure to find more within my stay here in London. Keep an eye out!!!!!

...and so I'm a working girl.

Hey Everybody! My internet in my homestay crashed last night, so I'm in the computer lounge at CAPA. I really hope the internet gets fixed soon...it's my only connection to the outside world. LOL.

So yesterday I started my internship. Boy was I nervous! This was my first time working at a REAL job...with a desk...and important work to be done...I left my house 2 hours early just to make sure that I arrived on time. Needless to stay, I got there WAY too early, so I stopped at a Starbucks, got a coffee, and read the Metro (a free newspaper they have here). Although the Metro isn't QUALITY news, it still entertained me a little. I then decided I'd just go to my internship early. It'll set a good example of my work ethic...When I first walked in, I got a visitor's badge and was told to wait in the lobby until someone came to get me. A young man, dressed in a nice tie and suit, working at the receptionist desk came over and asked me if he could get me coffee or tea. When I said "no thank you," he realized I was American and new right away that I was the new intern. He was so excited! He showed me the cafeteria, where they have a FREE starbucks machine. We chatted about America until Shahina, my Supervisor, came to get me. Shahina is 23 and beautiful. She's so sweet, and I can tell that I'll learn a lot from her. She showed me around the building, and I then went into the office of the main HR Manager, Cathy Wade. I can tell I won't be dealing much with Cathy because she's too important to deal with interns. While I'm filing, she'll be on the phone with other HR's in Dublin, New York, Hong Kong, etc. She's super nice, though. She told me the history of AIG Investments (oh yea, I'm with AIG Investments, not Insurance..oops haha), and she gave me an overview of what I'll be learning. They are going to include me in meetings, and will assign me projects so that I feel part of the HR Team. Very exciting.

For the rest of the day, I did mostly payroll work. I made labels for the payroll slip folders, which are divided into 4 sections: Investments, Real Estate, Engineering and Correspondence. Afterwords, I verified that those employees who were supposed to have deductions or bonuses were given the appropriate amounts. In the process, I learned about different benefits that certain employees receive, such as a Car Allowance, Gym Allowance, and ticket allowances. Because I was not set up in the system yet, they couldn't give me BIG responsibilities to do, so Shahina moved my chair next to her desk, and I watched what she did. I learned A LOT about maternity leave, and the certain laws and benefits that go a long with that. I also found out that I'll be a crucial part to helping improve and update their date system, which will fall under Organizational Development. Of course, with everything going on in AIG at the moment, I was given a brief lesson on "redundancy," or "laying off" as the U.S. calls it. Apparently in the UK, they are not allowed to let people go immediately. They are given several weeks of notice, which include plenty of meetings with the HR Director about possible alternative solutions, etc. Very interesting. Unfortunately, I have a feeling I'll be seeing a lot of that over the next 3 months...

So that was my work day. It wasn't much, but I learned A LOT. When I came home, Marie Lou asked me if I would go out to a pub with her on Friday, and then go shopping with her Saturday. Of course I said yes. It will be so much fun! I've been waiting to shop....Well, I'll check in later with breaking news and updates. Until then...

I have a new obsession, and it's a city called Bath

Hey everyone! I know it's been a while since I've blogged, but I've been SOOO busy the past few days. I guess that's a good thing, right? I'll start with Wednesday's events and go from there...

Ok, so Wednesday I had my theater class for a second time. We just talked about different plays we've seen recently. It was fun. Then I went on a huge book hunt around London for Shakespeare plays. Who would've thought that it would be such a difficult task?!?!? I went to a millionnn book stores before I finally found the plays that I needed. I'll tell you, that Shakespeare man is one popular fellow! haha...Afterwards, I went to my internship class, which was sooo much fun. Because we haven't really started our internships yet, we just played trivia games about the UK. HILARIOUS! I didn't realize how sheltered I was from other cultures....

So Thursday afternoon I had my International Business course. Surprisingly, I think I'm going to enjoy this class. I recognized one of the other students in there, so I sat with him. The professor said that he does not believe in tests, so we'll only have 2 case studies to do. HOW COOL IS THAT?!?! He also wants to teach stuff that has to do with what's going on in the world right now, so we'll be focusing less on textual issues, and more on real life issues. It should be fun. After class, that kid, Mike, and I called Matt and his roomate Nick to go out to dinner. I finally had fish and chips!!! It was soooo yummy!!! We then went back to Mike and Nick's apartment to meet their other roomates, and see where the other CAPA students are living. Their apartment was so nice! They said they lucked out, because a lot of other students were put in smaller apartments. We all then went out to a pub which is near their apartments, where we had the luck of meeting John and his lady friend....We think John and his lady friend were homeless, which is kind of sad, because they were the nicest people. Very drunk, but nice. His lady friend (we never got her name) thought I was from Australia. LOL. They were good folk.

Friday I had to wake up at 6 am to go to the Stonehenge and Bath (look at my facebook photos!!) It was so much fun!!! I couldn't believe I was standing 15 feet from the stonehenge. It was unbelievable. And Bath...Bath is the most beautiful city I've seen so far. The history of the city is just overwhelming. Most of the buildings are in their original condition, which was so cool to see. A lot of movies are filmed there, such as Vanity Fair, because the city looks like it did hundreds of years ago. I also saw Nicholas Cage's new apartment he bought. He also bought a castle not too far away from Bath...you know you struck it big when you can buy a castle. Enough said. We then went to the Roman Baths, which is what the city is named after. These were places where the Romans used to bath. Afterwards, you could drink water from the bath. We were told it tastes like rotten eggs; hence, I refused to drink it. Matt and the guys, however, sucked it up and tried it. It apparently makes you live longer and heals you. The other girls we were with (all from Mississippi...soooo cool) refused to drink it as well, so I didn't feel left out. When we got home from the trip, we all went to a little pub where we met a British guy named Stewart, an Irish girl named Carolyn, and a Swedish girl named Emily. It was so interesting hearing what their countries are like. Stewart was a character. I'll never forget that man...

Well, I'm off to get ready and go to Westminster today with Matt. We're going to do tours of Parliament, the Big Ben, and things like that. Maybe we'll even ride the London Eye???? I can't wait...

email to my mother

This was an email that I sent to my mother this morning:

Hey Mom,

So I just finished my first class (Intro to Shakespeare) and now I'm just relaxing in the computer lab until my next class. It's kind of a drag because my Shakespeare prof says we probably won't ever last the entire 3 hours, so we get out early. But my next class is only 2 hours later, so I can't go too far. I guess when things pick up and I have more assignments I can do my homework in the downtime. I just ate some lunch and now I'll just email and facebook until class...I had burger king for lunch because it's close by: I'm starting to think my stomach isn't used to American food now. All I had was a whopper and I feel like my stomach is going to explode. Davinder's healthy Indian cooking is doing me some goood...haha

My Intro to Shakespeare class is AWESOME! There is about 18 students, most of which are male, surprisingly. I met two girls who sat next to me, both of them named Rebecca. The one girl actually said she heard of me already from another student that I met at a pub. When I introduced myself, she goes "Do you live in a homestay, and they cook you Indian food?" I was like, "yea...why?" and she responds, "Because my friend Darron came home talking about you saying how cool of an experience you're going to have here!" I'm glad I made a good impression. I also met this REALLY cute boy who is an English Major at Pitt. He also did some theater here and there. He's really nice.

My Professor, boy, is he hilarious! He's very energetic and passionate about Shakespeare. He's kind of old, but really laid back. Because I got to class early after my police speech, I had the opportunity to introduce myself and talk with him. He seemed to take a liking to me, which is great. He talked A LOT about Shakespeare and how the theater itself will play a huge part in our lectures, so I'm excited about that. He's already booked us a tour of the Globe Theater, and we will be going to see some Shakespeare plays in the city. HOW COOL IS THAT?!?! Also on a good note, most of the plays on the Syllabus that we have to read, I've already read. So I have an upper hand on that. We already signed up for 10 min presentations on characters from certain plays; I signed up for the character that I wrote a 10 page research paper on last year. So hopefully my paper is still saved on my computer, and I can just use that information. LET'S CROSS OUR FINGERS THAT IT'S STILL THERE BECAUSE THAT WILL SAVE ME SOOOO MUCH WORK! He also gives opportunities for extra credit, such as re-writing a scene from a play. If he likes it, we get to become director, cast the rest of the class in the play, and perform it! I love this teacher...he knows JUST what I like.

Davinder and I had a good talk, just the two of us this morning. She was asking about you guys ( you and dad), and she says she can tell how much I miss you from the way I talk about you. So feel loved, Mom. Haha.

Ok, well I'm going to facebook now for a little. OH! Mrs Seibert must've read my blog, and she said she's in Human Resourcing too! So I asked her if she could help me get a summer internship where she works, and she's going to look into it!!! Wouldn't that be nice?!?!

Ok, for real this time. I'm going to go. I'll talk to you both later tonight. LOVE YOU!!!


BABYDOLL


So after I sent this, I watched some of President Obama's Inauguration in the CAPA lounge. Then I went to my Living London in Theater class. My professor is OLD, but really sweet. There is virtually no homework in the class. It just consists of us seeing plays every Tuesday evening and discussing them on Wednesday morning. I'm beginning to adore CAPA....

I get a desk?!?! yippy!!

So today, I had my interview for my internship at AIG Insurance. Boy, was that overwhelming. But we'll get to that later...Let's start with yesterday's adventures, shall we?

So yesterday (Sunday), Matt and I decided we were going to find where our internship sites were so that we were not late today for our interviews. Finding my site was a piece of cake; we simply hopped on the District Line (tube) and took it right on in to Monument Station. When we walked out of the station, we immediately realized where we were. WE WERE IN DOWNTOWN LONDON. This part of London is hopping with excitement and big businesses. We looked to our left, and to our great surprise, was the monument for the Great Fire of London. It is made out of one of the only surviving columns from the Great Fire. And there it was, only 10 feet from us. We could not believe our eyes. I realized then that I lucked out with my internship already. We soon discovered that we were also close to the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. I scored big time.

After finding where the location of my internship was, we then hitched the tube to Matt's internship site, which was Zone 5. I'm going to break down my blog here and give a lesson on London: There are 6 Zones. We live in Zone 3 on the other side of London. My internship is in Zone 1, the heart of London. Matt's internship is in Zone 5, the outskirts and poverty part of London. On this particular day, the tube was not going to Matt's station. Therefore, we had to figure out the bus routes to his internship site. This process ended up taking us forever and a half. Seriously. It was interesting though, seeing the OTHER side of London that many tourists never get to see. Eventually, we called it quits and headed home. I got such a good workout that day. All the walking here better get me ready for bathing suit season if you know what I mean...

Later that night, we joined just about every other American in London at an American Sports Bar to watch the Eagles game. It was PACKED LIKE SARDINES! But it was very fun. I met more CAPA students and bonded with other Philly fans. Even though the Birds lost, it was an amazing night.

So this leads us to today. First, Matt and I woke up bright and early to hand in our trip forms to CAPA. We ended up joining every trip offered this semester, which includes: weekend trips to Paris, Amsterdam, Oxford and Whales. These trips were EXTREMELY cheap, and they include transportation, 3 star hotels, and food. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!?! We are extremely excited. I can't wait. Want to know the best part? The Paris trip is Valentine's Day weekend. Yea, top that! LOL.

After all of that, I headed to my internship interview. Wow. THIS was overwhelming. It's a HUGE corporate office with lots of businesses people doing real life business things. I'm in the REAL world now...who would've thought?!?! I found out that I have my own desk with a computer and phone!!! I feel so important!!! I'm in the Human Resource Department, so my boss says that she hopes I'm friendly and chatty because they like those people in their departments. Obviously this women doesn't know me. If she talked to my mother, she'd know that I never shut up! I think I'll fit in well there. I'm just nervous about all of the work I'll be doing. It seems VERY professional and I'm new to this. Oh well, that's why it's an internship. I'm learning...

Alas, I'm going to call it quits for the night. I have a police talk at CAPA early in the morning, and then I have my first 2 classes. It will be QUITE the day again. And so the madness begins....

"I hope you can swim. If not, don't fly US Airways..."

Hey everybody! So yesterday was a MUCH better day than the one before. CAPA took all of us on a sight seeing bus tour which was AWESOME! Our tour guide was hysterical and really knew his facts. Think, what do you see when you hear the word "London?" Is it the Big Ben? Buckingham Palace? Tower Bridge? The Eye? Well, take all of those sites and more, and THAT'S what I saw on this tour. It was absolutely breath-taking. Now, we could only get off of the bus for the Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, and St. Paul's Cathedral. Oh, that was a beauty. Did you know that when London was bombed during WWII, everything around St. Paul's Cathedral was destroyed, excpet for the actual cathedral? They say it's a symbol of England's strength and pride, and in my opinion, one heck of a miracle. He also showed us where all of the celebrities live, where certain movies such as Notting Hill were filmed, and where the Royal Family like to party. Because we only got to stop for 15 minutes at these locations, Matt, Ryan and I decided we are going to go back sometime soon so we can spend more time there. Once I figure out how to post pictures on here, I'll put them up so you can see everything.

So later that night, the boys and I went into Picadilly Circus to hopefully meet up with some other CAPA students. However, we found out that they were heading to the Electric Birdcage, which is a club. After standing in line for some time, we were told that we were unable to enter the club because the boys has sneakers on and I was not wearing heels. Are you kidding me?! I wanted to tell that bouncer that HE should try walking around a city in heels...not fun. So after getting kicked out of line, we decided to find an American Sports Bar that we could go to tomorrow (which is actually today, Sunday) to watch the Eagles game. Fortunately, we found one right in Picadilly Circus, so we're extremely excited that we can still show and support our Philadelphia pride. Should be loads of fun. Well, I'm off to meet Matt at the station. We are going to find both of our internship sites today so that we can make our interviews tomorrow on time. LOL. Wish me luck!

PS: The title of this blog is a quote that our tour guide bus driver said as we were about to cross the Tower Bridge. Apparently the bridge can open from time to time and he was making a joke about us knowing how to swim, which then turned into a joke about the plane that landed on the Hudson River. Nice.

throwing hysterical fits helps?

Wow. It has been a CRAZY past 2 days. It's about 2:00 am here on Saturday morning, and I'm JUST getting time to blog. I had quite the adventure tonight, but we'll get to that later...

So Thursday consisted of orientations with CAPA. I figured out my commute to CAPA fairly easily. I have a 10-15 min walk to the nearest TUBE underground stations. I take that to the next stop, which is Matt Nixon's closest underground. I then get off there, meet with him, and we hop on the next train to CAPA. It's good because I have someone to talk to on the train. HOWEVER, British people DO NOT talk on the tube!!! I am so surprised!! Everyone keeps their heads in their newspapers or looks up towards the ceiling. It's so weird! Naturally, I'm always the loudest person on the tube, so I get a couple stairs per day from people who want me to shut my mouth. But what can I do, I like to socialize...I guess I'm "American" that way...

So at CAPA, I had my Internship orienatation. It was funny. I kind of felt like a baby with some of the things they were teaching us ( I mean, dressing appropriately on our interview day seems a given to me...haha) but other things were fascinating. Apparently, I have to learn how to make a good cup of tea in order to be successful in the office! They have frequent tea breaks. Looks like I have some more learning to do...

The other Orientation was nice because it taught us important things about London culture, such as tipping being not important (wish I knew that when I tipped the cab driver...) They also gave us major safety tips, such as which cabs to take and which cabs to avoid. There are some unlicensed cabs that are driven by criminals. We have to check the lisence plate of each cab to see if they are legit or not. Kind of scary. But makes sense. This orientation was very clutch.

Later that night, I met up with the other 2 Ursinus boys and we checked out a college pub. We belong to Imperial University here, so we can join their activities and get their perks, such as discounts at student pubs. We went hoping to make British college friends, but alas, no luck. Everyone was very close to one another, and TRASHED beyone belief by the time we go there. So we went to a restraunt bar and met some older locals, and then went home.

Today (Friday), Matt and I went to the National History Museum. Boy do I have some good pics to put up! This museum was not only HUGE, but it was also free!!! My favorite word! We ate at Burger King for lunch because we were a bit homesick already. Guilty as charged. Hey, you move across an ocean where people operate differently and you don't know a single person!! It's hard!!! Nonetheless, I'm having an amazing time. It's all about the learning experience...

Which leads me to tonight. So we had a CAPA reception dinner at a pub in central London. We met a large group of students, and we eventually went to a nearby pub in order to meet locals. (We're all about meeting British people here...haha) So I had a blast at this pub called The Castle. I met loads of people and got major advice from some fellow Brits. It was awesome.

Unlike my ride home. So, I took the tube back to our normal stations. Everything was going fine. I then walked out of my station and saw that the bus that stops near my home was RIGHT there, almost like it was waiting for me! So I hopped right on. A girl noticed my enthusiasm, and sat next to me. We got talking about this and that (mostly America), and before I knew it, I PASSED ME STOP! I ran up to the driver, who basically told me tough luck. He dropped me off at the nearest bus stop that could take me back to where I needed to go. This stop I call MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. So, being the drama queen that I am, I cried. I walked up and down the street screaming in a fit of fear. Here I am, an American girl, LOST in the middle of nowhere. Poor Matt stayed on the phone with me until someone else came. This someone else was a bus driver. Not MY bus, but a bus driver. He was going to leave me, until he saw my tears. He sighs, "Oh please don't cry! You're the second American girl to cry on me! I'll help you. Don't worry!" MY HERO. He took me on his random bus and found another bus stop for me. He then got off of his bus and waited for the new bus to pick me up. In the meantime, another man came up to us and sat next to us. He recongnized my American accent, and asked why such a pretty American girl would be crying. The bus driver told him my story, and he agreed that he would not leave me until he also knew I was on the right path home. I'll never forget these men for the rest of my life. They were my angels.

Alas, I made it home after a bus transfer and a 10 min sprint back to my homestay. I then skyped my parents so they could hear my story and calm me down. This was about a half hour ago. So, on that note...I'm going to call it a night. Tomorrow I take a double decker tour with the other CAPA students....to BUCKINGHAM PALACE, THE BIG BEN, AND MORE!!!! Stay tuned....

And so it begins...

Guess who's in London?!?!?! You got it! ME! I have just completed my very first day in London, and naturally, I HAVE to blog about it! Since I will be sharing all of adventures throughout these 3 months and 10 days (who's counting?) , I decided that I will share EVERY detail of my travel to get here. And so it begins...

Saying goodbye at the airport was not how I imagined it all along; it seemed a bit rushed, and my emotions were all over the place. I could not decide whether to just quickly say bye to my parents and skip the mushy crying, or hold on to them for dear life, knowing it would be my last time touching them for a long time. I decided to go with the latter. Letting go of my parents was hands down the hardest thing I have ever done thus far in my life...but I haven't experienced my first underground trip to the city yet. LOL.

After waiting an extra 45 minutes to board the plane, Matt, Ryan (another Ursinus student) kissed the United States goodbye and finally got on the plane to begin the adventure of our lifetime. British Airways has awesome planes; we had our own television screen in front of our seats, blankets, pillows, headphone, and a sleeping mask. It was great. I listend to my ipod, and then tried to sleep. I finally started to go into a deep sleep when BAM...something jolted me, along with many others, almost out of our seats! Turbulence. Not one of my favorite things. Luckily, I fell asleep again and did not wake up until it was almost ready to land. In typical London fashion, the sky decided to sport rain clouds, midst and fog, so our plane had to hover over the airport for a while. Matt also did not get to see London from the air as we had hoped. Regardless, we landed, got our bags, and hailed a cab. The cab took us to our homestays, and my nerves too hold of my body.

My home is a flat, located on the first floor. It has 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, toilet room, and wash room. My room is the daughter's (Indiana's) room. However, I will be moving out of this room in February when the other French student moves out, and I'll be taking her room. Davinder, my host mom, is amazing. She is so sweet and funny, and I can tell she loves having abroad kids around her all of the time. She immediately showed me the closest railway station and underground, and we even went shopping for a little while in town. (No, Mom, I did not buy anything yet...I'm being thrifty haha)

The rest of the day, I unpacked and got to know the family more. They were fascinated by MY accent. YES YOU HEARD IT! MY ACCENT! haha. The daughter, who's 15, kept making me repeat words, as she giggled herself to death on the couch. She told me I talked "cute." I'll take that as a compliment. Right now, I'm watching the daughter's favorite soap opera on the television. I can tell we're going to be great friends. The french student also told me that she could not wait for me to arrive because she wants me to go out with her in the town. She's been waiting for a girl to bond with. I feel like I'm in high demand here. Maybe this place isn't so bad....haha.

Well, tomorrow I begin my orientation. I have a tour of some of London, and then a tour of my internship. Should be exciting! I'm going to walk with the French student to the underground station in the morning because she has to go to work the same time as my orienatation. Works out perfectly! Well, jet lag is setting in...perhaps I'll close my eyes...