Where to begin. These past 3 weeks have been some of the most eventful times of my life. Every single day was packed with exciting new experiences. I feel like I didn't waste a single minute of my time. All the things I had heard about how studying abroad will change your life forever is absolutely true. Hell, this experience felt life changing within the first 48 hours of arriving over seas. And I still have another 3 weeks to go.
It's hard to put into blog format how rewarding this trip has been for me. It without a doubt gave me a greater perspective and insight into culture and society in general. Living on the other side of the world will do that to you. This trip has also given me a stronger sense of independence. Even though I was with other friends/students most of the time, the fact that I was doing all of this without my parents (I mean without them physically, financially they are the reason why I'm here) gave me a feeling of accomplishment and adventure that I've never felt before. I also acquired a wealth of new knowledge about British history, media and lifestyle. I learned what its like to live in a big city and became very well acquainted with public transportation (perhaps a little too acquainted at times). This city living experience was significant to me since I have had plans for years and years to live in a big city such as New York or Chicago after I graduate. This trip has completely reinforced the fact that I know I want to live in a big city sometime in the future.
Lastly, I think the people on this trip have made a profound impact on me. Before studying abroad began, I was only really friends with Rob - everyone else I was acquaintances with or didn't even know at all. Now after 3 weeks, I can honestly say that I've made at least 10 legitimate new friends here. They've each helped me grow socially. Seeing as with your with the group every single day, you bond rather fast with these people and almost instantly make connections. It has been a wonderful time spending such an amazing trip with equally amazing people.
Here's to another 3 weeks.
Tuesday 9 June 2009
Monday 8 June 2009
Day 18: Parliament, Most Epic Dance Party of my Life
Recap:
- Took a tour of Parliament in the afternoon. Parliament was really nice, but our tour guide was a little cold. I got yelled at for attempting to take a sip of water. Theres too much authority in that place. Haha.
- That night some of us ate a really nice Italian place near ULU. Some of the best Italian food I've had in a while actually, and it was in London - interesting. Then we embarked on which turned out to be on probably the most fun night of the entire trip. The whole group met at the bar/club at ULU and it broke into the biggest dance party I've seen in years. It felt like a wedding reception or something. The place played a lot of American classics such as "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Shook Me All Night Long" which really got us all revved up. I bet the other Londoners at the bar were thinking "I didn't know Americans could rage like that" hah. There was some drama towards the end of the night but everything worked out.
Thoughts:
- I know I've said this before, but I need reiterate how great everyone on this trip is. I really, really like nearly everyone in the group and I think we all have became closer than we ever thought we would have. It seems as though I can't imagine a better collection of people to take such a journey with (Insert "awww" audience track from episode of Full House).
- Even outside of our group, I have run in to hardly any rude Londoners. Sure at first glance most them seem unhappy and have a "do not disturb me" look. But once you engage in conversation with, you will sure learn this is not the case at all. After all, the UK are our America's greatest allies (dumb analogy).
- Took a tour of Parliament in the afternoon. Parliament was really nice, but our tour guide was a little cold. I got yelled at for attempting to take a sip of water. Theres too much authority in that place. Haha.
- That night some of us ate a really nice Italian place near ULU. Some of the best Italian food I've had in a while actually, and it was in London - interesting. Then we embarked on which turned out to be on probably the most fun night of the entire trip. The whole group met at the bar/club at ULU and it broke into the biggest dance party I've seen in years. It felt like a wedding reception or something. The place played a lot of American classics such as "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Shook Me All Night Long" which really got us all revved up. I bet the other Londoners at the bar were thinking "I didn't know Americans could rage like that" hah. There was some drama towards the end of the night but everything worked out.
Thoughts:
- I know I've said this before, but I need reiterate how great everyone on this trip is. I really, really like nearly everyone in the group and I think we all have became closer than we ever thought we would have. It seems as though I can't imagine a better collection of people to take such a journey with (Insert "awww" audience track from episode of Full House).
- Even outside of our group, I have run in to hardly any rude Londoners. Sure at first glance most them seem unhappy and have a "do not disturb me" look. But once you engage in conversation with, you will sure learn this is not the case at all. After all, the UK are our America's greatest allies (dumb analogy).
Day 17: British Media, Windsor Castle, Drunk Old Men etc
Recap:
- Had another really good lecture about British Media by Dr. Alex Seago, who was hilarious and intelligent. I seriously wanted to ask him if he had a comedy tape out and where I could purchase it. He discussed many of the differences between European and American culture, society and media.
- Headed to Windsor castle for the afternoon. This was another sight that I had seen the previous summer with my family, so I couldn't get that much out of it. It was still really cool to see such a grand place as well as the intimidatingly mechanical castle guards. One of them almost slipped and fell and it could of been one of the top 5 funniest moments of the entire trip.
- That night we went to our Goose again where we ran into some interesting characters. And by interesting I mean blackout drunk, 40 year old men in business attire. And this was at like 8 o'clock. One of them went into the womens bathroom and stayed in there for about 30 minutes. Another one advised Justin to be a male stripper. It was clearly a little uncomfortable to be around.
Thoughts:
- During our British media lecture, we talked a lot about British newspapers and what kinds of people read certain ones. It was interesting to see how prominent newspapers still are in the UK, while they are slowly becoming a dead species in the US.
- I cannot believe anyone doesn't think the Beatles are the greatest band of all time. Even if its Lacey.
- I encountered a weird moment in Starbucks in Windsor when I asked for a frappucino and they said they had no coffee, just cream. Really? A Starbucks that doesn't have coffee? Thats like going to McDonalds and them saying "no, we don't sell meat, just bread".
- Had another really good lecture about British Media by Dr. Alex Seago, who was hilarious and intelligent. I seriously wanted to ask him if he had a comedy tape out and where I could purchase it. He discussed many of the differences between European and American culture, society and media.
- Headed to Windsor castle for the afternoon. This was another sight that I had seen the previous summer with my family, so I couldn't get that much out of it. It was still really cool to see such a grand place as well as the intimidatingly mechanical castle guards. One of them almost slipped and fell and it could of been one of the top 5 funniest moments of the entire trip.
- That night we went to our Goose again where we ran into some interesting characters. And by interesting I mean blackout drunk, 40 year old men in business attire. And this was at like 8 o'clock. One of them went into the womens bathroom and stayed in there for about 30 minutes. Another one advised Justin to be a male stripper. It was clearly a little uncomfortable to be around.
Thoughts:
- During our British media lecture, we talked a lot about British newspapers and what kinds of people read certain ones. It was interesting to see how prominent newspapers still are in the UK, while they are slowly becoming a dead species in the US.
- I cannot believe anyone doesn't think the Beatles are the greatest band of all time. Even if its Lacey.
- I encountered a weird moment in Starbucks in Windsor when I asked for a frappucino and they said they had no coffee, just cream. Really? A Starbucks that doesn't have coffee? Thats like going to McDonalds and them saying "no, we don't sell meat, just bread".
Sunday 7 June 2009
Day 16: Tate Modern, Bob Craigness, Wicked
Recap:
- Took a long trek to the Tate Modern, which was the nicest modern art gallery I've ever been in. Even though I didn't "get" some of the art there (a glass display of 3 vacuum cleaners for instance), theres was still plenty of awesome work to check out. The Tate also had one of the most best gift shops I've ever seen. Seriously, it should have been its own store.
- Received a lecture on WWII from the fountain of knowledge aka Bob Craig and then we headed to the Imperial War Museum. This museum was spectacular and definitely one of my favorites of the trip. They had a terribly sad yet immensely important Holocaust exhibit on the top floor which I checked out.
- At night, we had Wicked. Before the play started, I foolishly spent $9.50 on a Jack and Coke. I was pretty upset about it. Since I already saw Wicked last summer at the exact same place with the exact same cast, I wasn't as floored by the performance as everyone else was. Don't get me wrong, it was still an amazing show. The song "Gravity" could be a #1 hit on the radio instead of all the other crap on the airwaves these days.
- Took a long trek to the Tate Modern, which was the nicest modern art gallery I've ever been in. Even though I didn't "get" some of the art there (a glass display of 3 vacuum cleaners for instance), theres was still plenty of awesome work to check out. The Tate also had one of the most best gift shops I've ever seen. Seriously, it should have been its own store.
- Received a lecture on WWII from the fountain of knowledge aka Bob Craig and then we headed to the Imperial War Museum. This museum was spectacular and definitely one of my favorites of the trip. They had a terribly sad yet immensely important Holocaust exhibit on the top floor which I checked out.
- At night, we had Wicked. Before the play started, I foolishly spent $9.50 on a Jack and Coke. I was pretty upset about it. Since I already saw Wicked last summer at the exact same place with the exact same cast, I wasn't as floored by the performance as everyone else was. Don't get me wrong, it was still an amazing show. The song "Gravity" could be a #1 hit on the radio instead of all the other crap on the airwaves these days.
Day 15: Westminster Abbey, BBC, Nightlife
Recap:
- Visited Westminster Abby in the morning. Even though I had already been there the previous summer with my family, it was still a spectacle to see once more. I swear that it has to be the most architecturally detailed place ever created.
- After grabbing lunch at ULU, we headed to BBC for our guided tour. This was one of the things I was looking more forward to and I'm happy to say that it didn't disappoint . Although I wish the tour could of been a little longer, the BBC headquarters was really cool place to see. I also learned how crazy Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey and Prince really are.
- That night we went out to this new bar called Kiss the Sky for Meredith's birthday celebration. It was smaller and more low key than the places we've usually been going out but it was still a great time. There was live acoustic music as well as a really talented dude on the electric violin. I was going to go up and play but unfortunately the night was all booked up. I ordered a drink called "Sea Breeze" and it was definitely one of my most embarrassing moments of this trip.
Thoughts:
- On BBC, it was nice to do something directly media related. I think everyone in the group payed close attention to the tour and the surroundings since we are media/communication's majors after all.
- I'm missing my guitar more than any other object right now. Its been like an itch I can't scratch. I somehow want to find a place where I can rent one for the remainder of the trip.
- Kiss the Sky was probably the place where I most felt like I was really part of the London culture. One of musicians that played that night told us that he didn't play his two Anti-American songs because we were there. How nice.
- Visited Westminster Abby in the morning. Even though I had already been there the previous summer with my family, it was still a spectacle to see once more. I swear that it has to be the most architecturally detailed place ever created.
- After grabbing lunch at ULU, we headed to BBC for our guided tour. This was one of the things I was looking more forward to and I'm happy to say that it didn't disappoint . Although I wish the tour could of been a little longer, the BBC headquarters was really cool place to see. I also learned how crazy Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey and Prince really are.
- That night we went out to this new bar called Kiss the Sky for Meredith's birthday celebration. It was smaller and more low key than the places we've usually been going out but it was still a great time. There was live acoustic music as well as a really talented dude on the electric violin. I was going to go up and play but unfortunately the night was all booked up. I ordered a drink called "Sea Breeze" and it was definitely one of my most embarrassing moments of this trip.
Thoughts:
- On BBC, it was nice to do something directly media related. I think everyone in the group payed close attention to the tour and the surroundings since we are media/communication's majors after all.
- I'm missing my guitar more than any other object right now. Its been like an itch I can't scratch. I somehow want to find a place where I can rent one for the remainder of the trip.
- Kiss the Sky was probably the place where I most felt like I was really part of the London culture. One of musicians that played that night told us that he didn't play his two Anti-American songs because we were there. How nice.
Day 14: Parliament and what not
Recap:
- Received a lecture on Parliament and Politics by Graham Brady MP. The lecture was interesting at times and a little dull at others. It was still really cool to just be inside of Parliament and Big Ben. It seems like one of those buildings that I never thought I would be able to go inside of.
- Had another lecture about the European Union at ULU. This lecture was very interesting for a few reasons. First off, I had no idea what the European Union was nor did I know much about European whatsoever, so the lesson turned out to be very informative. The professor was really cool too - he spoke to us in a way that was funny, realistic and intelligent. I think he made a good connection with all the students in our group.
- We then had to rush to catch a train to Hampton Court Palace. Once we got there, we did a few random things like take a tour of the maze (I was little disappointed by the maze since for some bizarre reason I thought it was gonna be like the maze from The Shining - not the case). We didn't stay too long since we were all a little tired and worn out from tours and British History.
- A bunch of us went out to Goose for dinner and had a fun time as usual. We talked about things such as Biggie vs. Tupac (Biggie) and Aliens vs. Ghosts (Aliens).
Thoughts:
- I really wish European history was more incorporated into the educational system back in the States. The lecture on the European Union made me realize how little I know about Europe. There should be a General Education requirement for Radford on Europe.
- Received a lecture on Parliament and Politics by Graham Brady MP. The lecture was interesting at times and a little dull at others. It was still really cool to just be inside of Parliament and Big Ben. It seems like one of those buildings that I never thought I would be able to go inside of.
- Had another lecture about the European Union at ULU. This lecture was very interesting for a few reasons. First off, I had no idea what the European Union was nor did I know much about European whatsoever, so the lesson turned out to be very informative. The professor was really cool too - he spoke to us in a way that was funny, realistic and intelligent. I think he made a good connection with all the students in our group.
- We then had to rush to catch a train to Hampton Court Palace. Once we got there, we did a few random things like take a tour of the maze (I was little disappointed by the maze since for some bizarre reason I thought it was gonna be like the maze from The Shining - not the case). We didn't stay too long since we were all a little tired and worn out from tours and British History.
- A bunch of us went out to Goose for dinner and had a fun time as usual. We talked about things such as Biggie vs. Tupac (Biggie) and Aliens vs. Ghosts (Aliens).
Thoughts:
- I really wish European history was more incorporated into the educational system back in the States. The lecture on the European Union made me realize how little I know about Europe. There should be a General Education requirement for Radford on Europe.
Monday 1 June 2009
Second Weekend: PARIS! To Be Continued...
Like the weekend in Amsterdam, I'm just gonna pack my entire weekend in Paris into one epic blog. It was one of the coolest weekends of my life.
Recap:
- Took the EuroStar train and arrived in Paris around 3. Immediately went on a great bus tour through the city. Once the tour got into the heart of the city my thoughts were "Wow this is the nicest city I've ever been in" (Rome was #1).
- Checked into our hotel which was only a few blocks away from the Eiffel Tower - AMAZING. We found out that the rooms cost $550 a night to stay in, so we somehow got some ridiculously good group discount since the entire trip cost about $700. Quite a step up from staying in Bobs Youth Hostel only a week ago.
- Had a superb dinner on Friday night with the entire group. One of the best meals I've had in years. Completely splurged and spent 35 Euro but it was completely worth it. For my main course I had roasted duck because I've always wanted to say "Oh, the duck was splendid". Now I can.
- After dinner, we bought cheap wine and headed to the Eiffel Tower. The spectacle of the Eiffel Tower at night is truly incredible. It doesn't even seem real. It was just great to drink with friends near one of the most famous monuments in the world.
- On Saturday, we bought 2 day museum passes and went to the Louvre which was obviously incredible. To call that place gigantic would be an understatement.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Recap:
- Took the EuroStar train and arrived in Paris around 3. Immediately went on a great bus tour through the city. Once the tour got into the heart of the city my thoughts were "Wow this is the nicest city I've ever been in" (Rome was #1).
- Checked into our hotel which was only a few blocks away from the Eiffel Tower - AMAZING. We found out that the rooms cost $550 a night to stay in, so we somehow got some ridiculously good group discount since the entire trip cost about $700. Quite a step up from staying in Bobs Youth Hostel only a week ago.
- Had a superb dinner on Friday night with the entire group. One of the best meals I've had in years. Completely splurged and spent 35 Euro but it was completely worth it. For my main course I had roasted duck because I've always wanted to say "Oh, the duck was splendid". Now I can.
- After dinner, we bought cheap wine and headed to the Eiffel Tower. The spectacle of the Eiffel Tower at night is truly incredible. It doesn't even seem real. It was just great to drink with friends near one of the most famous monuments in the world.
- On Saturday, we bought 2 day museum passes and went to the Louvre which was obviously incredible. To call that place gigantic would be an understatement.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Day 10: Kew Gardens etc.
Recap:
- Had a relaxing morning for a change. Rob and I took our time to make up for the shortage of mornings where we could take our time. Showed up at AIFS to go over details for our Paris trip (!) and to discuss our blogs and proposals.
- Visited Kew Gardens. Had a pint before hand because it seemed that flowers would be better to look at with a little bit of a buzz. This turned out true. The garden was in fact really nice however the tour guide was a little dull. It was just one of those things I wanted to observe, rather than listen. We were able to make it to the tree top walk way just in time which was sweet. We also saw a Peacock which was really cool until it let it this horrendous scream. I came to the conclusion that it was possessed by Satan.
- Went back home early and spent the night in for a change. It was pretty casual day.
- Had a relaxing morning for a change. Rob and I took our time to make up for the shortage of mornings where we could take our time. Showed up at AIFS to go over details for our Paris trip (!) and to discuss our blogs and proposals.
- Visited Kew Gardens. Had a pint before hand because it seemed that flowers would be better to look at with a little bit of a buzz. This turned out true. The garden was in fact really nice however the tour guide was a little dull. It was just one of those things I wanted to observe, rather than listen. We were able to make it to the tree top walk way just in time which was sweet. We also saw a Peacock which was really cool until it let it this horrendous scream. I came to the conclusion that it was possessed by Satan.
- Went back home early and spent the night in for a change. It was pretty casual day.
Day 9: Stonehenge and BATH
Recap:
- Visited Stonehenge. This was something that I was really looking forward too however I must say I was a little disappointed. The weather was miserable and my umbrella kept flipping inside out. Not tight. We couldn't get as close to the stones as I would of liked too. Regardless, it was still cool just to be there, I just wish the weather wasn't so apocalyptic.
- Visited Bath which was beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Italy, like a more compressed version of Rome. Toured the Bath museum and went on a walking tour with the one and only Bob Craig.
- Took us a while to get back into London because of insane traffic. Once we got back, a bunch of us headed to a new pub/restaurant called Goose. The place was nice and had cheap food and drinks. Mostly everyone was watching the Champions League Soccer final between Man U and Barcelona, but ironically soccer is the only major sport I don't care about.
Thoughts:
- It was interesting to see how much Europeans care about soccer or futbol over here. During the game, I looked behind me to find literally every single person in the pub just staring intently at the TV screen above. None of them even talked, they just watched. Londoners don't mess around when it comes to soccer.
- One of the best things about this whole trip is getting to know and spending time with the people your on it with. Most of us have all gotten really close in a short amount of time. This aspect on this journey is definitely going a lot better than I expected.
- Visited Stonehenge. This was something that I was really looking forward too however I must say I was a little disappointed. The weather was miserable and my umbrella kept flipping inside out. Not tight. We couldn't get as close to the stones as I would of liked too. Regardless, it was still cool just to be there, I just wish the weather wasn't so apocalyptic.
- Visited Bath which was beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Italy, like a more compressed version of Rome. Toured the Bath museum and went on a walking tour with the one and only Bob Craig.
- Took us a while to get back into London because of insane traffic. Once we got back, a bunch of us headed to a new pub/restaurant called Goose. The place was nice and had cheap food and drinks. Mostly everyone was watching the Champions League Soccer final between Man U and Barcelona, but ironically soccer is the only major sport I don't care about.
Thoughts:
- It was interesting to see how much Europeans care about soccer or futbol over here. During the game, I looked behind me to find literally every single person in the pub just staring intently at the TV screen above. None of them even talked, they just watched. Londoners don't mess around when it comes to soccer.
- One of the best things about this whole trip is getting to know and spending time with the people your on it with. Most of us have all gotten really close in a short amount of time. This aspect on this journey is definitely going a lot better than I expected.
Sunday 31 May 2009
Day 8: Long Day
Recap:
- Had to wake up ridiculously early in Amsterdam to catch our flight back to the UK. Actually got a good nights sleep considering the apocalypse like thunder storm that was raging outside my hostel window. And that I was sleeping in a hostel.
- By 10 am, I had already taken a plane flight, bus rides, and 2 different trains. Needless to say I was pretty exhausted at this point.
- Arrived at AIFS early for our lecture on British History. The lecture was fine because it was Bob (the most intelligent man in London) giving the lecture.
- Did a guided tour of the Victoria and Albert museum. This was honestly the least interesting tour we had taken thus far. This was probably due to having such a hectic morning.
- Rob and I had to rush back to our homestay to get ready for the Shakespeare Globe Theater performance. After making good time the tube, we found out that our bus decided to not to run on this day. As a result, we spent about another hour trying to get to our house which is only 10 minutes away. I took a 25 second shower and we were able to make the performance just in time at 7:30.
Thoughts:
- The Globe Theater show was actually better than I expected. Although the show didn't really contain my type of humor, it was still entertaining and a unique way to spend an evening. The theater itself was indeed very neat. I can definitely appreciate the production value of something like that.
- Had to wake up ridiculously early in Amsterdam to catch our flight back to the UK. Actually got a good nights sleep considering the apocalypse like thunder storm that was raging outside my hostel window. And that I was sleeping in a hostel.
- By 10 am, I had already taken a plane flight, bus rides, and 2 different trains. Needless to say I was pretty exhausted at this point.
- Arrived at AIFS early for our lecture on British History. The lecture was fine because it was Bob (the most intelligent man in London) giving the lecture.
- Did a guided tour of the Victoria and Albert museum. This was honestly the least interesting tour we had taken thus far. This was probably due to having such a hectic morning.
- Rob and I had to rush back to our homestay to get ready for the Shakespeare Globe Theater performance. After making good time the tube, we found out that our bus decided to not to run on this day. As a result, we spent about another hour trying to get to our house which is only 10 minutes away. I took a 25 second shower and we were able to make the performance just in time at 7:30.
Thoughts:
- The Globe Theater show was actually better than I expected. Although the show didn't really contain my type of humor, it was still entertaining and a unique way to spend an evening. The theater itself was indeed very neat. I can definitely appreciate the production value of something like that.
Wednesday 27 May 2009
First Weekend: I Amsterdam
So I spent Saturday afternoon until Tuesday morning in Amsterdam and I decided I'm going to just compress this eventful weekend into one ultimate blog post.
Recap:
- Flew on EasyJet airlines for the first time which was actually a little better than expected. They were nicer than Ryan Air aka Greyhound Bus in the Sky. The flights there and back felt like we were in the air for literally 18 minutes (was actually 40 minutes).
- Arrived in Amsterdam around 5:30 on Saturday afternoon. Went to find Bob's Youth Hostel and get checked in. Staying in this hostel was officially the oddest place I've ever slept in in my entire life. More on this below.
- Explored the city of Amsterdam to a great extent. Went to a few parks, the marketplace, the I Amsterdam statue, Red Light District (obviously) checked out the outside of the Anne Frank House and Van Gough museum and a bunch of other interesting things.
- Met a bunch of interesting (to say the least) people at the lounge in the hostel we were staying in. One of the people we met was this crazy Brit named Stuart. I decided to nickname Stuart "Wikipedia" since he seemed to have bottomless knowledge of literally every thing in the universe. He used percentages a lot. Unfortunately, I only believed a small percentage of what came out of his mouth. He was actually pretty cool, and we used him as our personal tour guide for one of the days.
Thoughts:
- Amsterdam really is as crazy as people say it is. Its craziness is actually almost underrated. The first night we got there a few of us experienced a little bit of culture shock because it really is a strange place.
- The food there is a bit weird. It seemed like every thing was made up of really bizarre combinations - like salami and cream cheese or cucumber and eggs. I actually ate at a McDonalds there (sue me) and the chicken sandwich was good but the fries tasted like styrofoam. You win some, you lose some.
- Like I said above, Bobs Youth Hostel was the oddest place I've ever slept in in my life. Hostels are just odd in general. Sleeping a room with total strangers every night is definitely a unique experience. The shower in the hostel looked like a chamber I would be killed in. Aside from this, it was overall a rewarding time. I tried not to complain at all and just thought to myself "your going to remember this trip for the rest of your life, so just enjoy it".
- Even though I thoroughly enjoyed Amsterdam, I do not think I would have liked to spend more than 4 days there at a time.
Recap:
- Flew on EasyJet airlines for the first time which was actually a little better than expected. They were nicer than Ryan Air aka Greyhound Bus in the Sky. The flights there and back felt like we were in the air for literally 18 minutes (was actually 40 minutes).
- Arrived in Amsterdam around 5:30 on Saturday afternoon. Went to find Bob's Youth Hostel and get checked in. Staying in this hostel was officially the oddest place I've ever slept in in my entire life. More on this below.
- Explored the city of Amsterdam to a great extent. Went to a few parks, the marketplace, the I Amsterdam statue, Red Light District (obviously) checked out the outside of the Anne Frank House and Van Gough museum and a bunch of other interesting things.
- Met a bunch of interesting (to say the least) people at the lounge in the hostel we were staying in. One of the people we met was this crazy Brit named Stuart. I decided to nickname Stuart "Wikipedia" since he seemed to have bottomless knowledge of literally every thing in the universe. He used percentages a lot. Unfortunately, I only believed a small percentage of what came out of his mouth. He was actually pretty cool, and we used him as our personal tour guide for one of the days.
Thoughts:
- Amsterdam really is as crazy as people say it is. Its craziness is actually almost underrated. The first night we got there a few of us experienced a little bit of culture shock because it really is a strange place.
- The food there is a bit weird. It seemed like every thing was made up of really bizarre combinations - like salami and cream cheese or cucumber and eggs. I actually ate at a McDonalds there (sue me) and the chicken sandwich was good but the fries tasted like styrofoam. You win some, you lose some.
- Like I said above, Bobs Youth Hostel was the oddest place I've ever slept in in my life. Hostels are just odd in general. Sleeping a room with total strangers every night is definitely a unique experience. The shower in the hostel looked like a chamber I would be killed in. Aside from this, it was overall a rewarding time. I tried not to complain at all and just thought to myself "your going to remember this trip for the rest of your life, so just enjoy it".
- Even though I thoroughly enjoyed Amsterdam, I do not think I would have liked to spend more than 4 days there at a time.
Friday 22 May 2009
Day 4: Amsterdam Tomorrow!
Recap:
- Had to wake up very early around 8 a.m. to get to the Tower of London tour at 9:45. We thought we were gonna be really late, but it turned out that we were of the first ones there. The Tower of London tour was awesome and we had this intimidating yet great beefeater tour guide.
- Journeyed around for a bit looking for a place where like 10 of could all eat. We finally got to this pretty cool pub and I had fish and chips. Conclusion: fish and chips are not that good.
- Came back home at an early time around 3 and took my first nap in London, which was phenomenal. Also decided that I am going to write my class research paper on comparing advertising in the UK and US. Thats a pretty broad subject but by the time I write it it will be more narrow and to the point.
- Right now I'm about to take a shower and then head downtown to pre-game at a bar and then going clubbing or something. Should be really fun. Oh and a bunch of us are flying out to Amsterdam tomorrow at 3!
Thoughts:
- Even though I previously been to the Tower of London last summer, the second time through it I was able to get more out of the experience. Like I said our tour guide was really charismatic and funny and I was able to learn a good amount about the Tower.
- On fish and chips. Yeah its just not that good. I'd rather have burger and chips, or sandwich and chips or even chips and chips. It's just not a very tasty combination.
- Overall today was a little more relaxing since we only had a half day of class (just the Tower of London tour) and then we were free for the weekend. It was nice since the past few days have been so crammed with plans that it's been a little overwhelming at times.
- I'm obviously very excited for Amsterdam for various reasons. Should be quite an adventure.
- Had to wake up very early around 8 a.m. to get to the Tower of London tour at 9:45. We thought we were gonna be really late, but it turned out that we were of the first ones there. The Tower of London tour was awesome and we had this intimidating yet great beefeater tour guide.
- Journeyed around for a bit looking for a place where like 10 of could all eat. We finally got to this pretty cool pub and I had fish and chips. Conclusion: fish and chips are not that good.
- Came back home at an early time around 3 and took my first nap in London, which was phenomenal. Also decided that I am going to write my class research paper on comparing advertising in the UK and US. Thats a pretty broad subject but by the time I write it it will be more narrow and to the point.
- Right now I'm about to take a shower and then head downtown to pre-game at a bar and then going clubbing or something. Should be really fun. Oh and a bunch of us are flying out to Amsterdam tomorrow at 3!
Thoughts:
- Even though I previously been to the Tower of London last summer, the second time through it I was able to get more out of the experience. Like I said our tour guide was really charismatic and funny and I was able to learn a good amount about the Tower.
- On fish and chips. Yeah its just not that good. I'd rather have burger and chips, or sandwich and chips or even chips and chips. It's just not a very tasty combination.
- Overall today was a little more relaxing since we only had a half day of class (just the Tower of London tour) and then we were free for the weekend. It was nice since the past few days have been so crammed with plans that it's been a little overwhelming at times.
- I'm obviously very excited for Amsterdam for various reasons. Should be quite an adventure.
Day 3: Dream Internship
Recap:
- Woke up and left at 10:30 a.m. for my intern interview with the XK8 Organisation at 12 p.m. I knew I was gonna get lost on my way there, but I didn't know that I was gonna redefine the word "lost" itself. I got lost in every section of traveling there. On the bus, the tube, and in the streets walking around. More on this below.
- Fortunately once I finally arrived to my interview, it went great. The two guys I'm gonna be working for (Jeff and Rob) are two just straight up rocker dudes promoting concerts in the London area. Again, more on all of this below.
- After the interview, I had to get to the British Museum for a guided tour, but of course I got really, really lost trying to walk there. I finally arrived just in time for the tour, which was pretty cool. The only drawback was that all of the objects and artifacts there sort of looked the same and all had the same vibe to it. But then again the museum also contained the most epic looking ceiling I've ever seen in my life. Hopefully when I get some more time I can put a picture of it on here (as well as a bunch of others).
- Post British museum, we walked to the British Library, which was brief but breathtaking (I never thought I would use library and breathtaking in the same sentence, but this one was). We went into this room which contained tons and tons of prestigious literary works including the Magna Carta, original Mozart works, the original Alice in Wonderland and of course, original Beatles lyrics. I wanted to call my dad just to ignite him with pure jealousy when I was just a foot away from the original hand written lyrics of "Yesterday" written by Sir Paul McCartney.
- That night about 10 of us went out to O'Niels again and had a really good time. The only negative was that there was this bartender who clearly did not like Americans, or did not like me anyway. Whatever.
Thoughts:
- On the subject of getting lost, the most confusing aspect of London is the arrangement of the street signs. They are just really small signs that are placed on random parts of buildings parallel to the street. I'm also convinced the street names change almost every block, since that is the way it appeared on my map, which I blame 100% for making me so lost.
- A little more about my interview. I am basically going to promoting various concerts and club nights throughout London through means of creating flyers and internet marketing, (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter etc.) I'm also going to get to attend a lot of these concerts and hopefully get a better sense of what the music industry is really like. I feel like this internship is perfect for me since I already have had experience doing these types of things for North Avenue. Plus the fact that I absolutely love the marketing aspect of music. Additionally I got the sense that I would really actually applying my knowledge and skills to this internship, and not just fetching co-workers coffee or tea. I'm ecstatic about my internship placement especially after going through such a God-awful process to obtain a UK entry visa. But that's all done now and it's all good.
- Really only the consistently bad part of this trip so far is how long to it takes to get back home from most parts of London. It usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour and this involves being a jam packed tube and waiting for buses to come. It's just a pretty tedious process that can wear you down very easily after doing so much in one day.
- Woke up and left at 10:30 a.m. for my intern interview with the XK8 Organisation at 12 p.m. I knew I was gonna get lost on my way there, but I didn't know that I was gonna redefine the word "lost" itself. I got lost in every section of traveling there. On the bus, the tube, and in the streets walking around. More on this below.
- Fortunately once I finally arrived to my interview, it went great. The two guys I'm gonna be working for (Jeff and Rob) are two just straight up rocker dudes promoting concerts in the London area. Again, more on all of this below.
- After the interview, I had to get to the British Museum for a guided tour, but of course I got really, really lost trying to walk there. I finally arrived just in time for the tour, which was pretty cool. The only drawback was that all of the objects and artifacts there sort of looked the same and all had the same vibe to it. But then again the museum also contained the most epic looking ceiling I've ever seen in my life. Hopefully when I get some more time I can put a picture of it on here (as well as a bunch of others).
- Post British museum, we walked to the British Library, which was brief but breathtaking (I never thought I would use library and breathtaking in the same sentence, but this one was). We went into this room which contained tons and tons of prestigious literary works including the Magna Carta, original Mozart works, the original Alice in Wonderland and of course, original Beatles lyrics. I wanted to call my dad just to ignite him with pure jealousy when I was just a foot away from the original hand written lyrics of "Yesterday" written by Sir Paul McCartney.
- That night about 10 of us went out to O'Niels again and had a really good time. The only negative was that there was this bartender who clearly did not like Americans, or did not like me anyway. Whatever.
Thoughts:
- On the subject of getting lost, the most confusing aspect of London is the arrangement of the street signs. They are just really small signs that are placed on random parts of buildings parallel to the street. I'm also convinced the street names change almost every block, since that is the way it appeared on my map, which I blame 100% for making me so lost.
- A little more about my interview. I am basically going to promoting various concerts and club nights throughout London through means of creating flyers and internet marketing, (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter etc.) I'm also going to get to attend a lot of these concerts and hopefully get a better sense of what the music industry is really like. I feel like this internship is perfect for me since I already have had experience doing these types of things for North Avenue. Plus the fact that I absolutely love the marketing aspect of music. Additionally I got the sense that I would really actually applying my knowledge and skills to this internship, and not just fetching co-workers coffee or tea. I'm ecstatic about my internship placement especially after going through such a God-awful process to obtain a UK entry visa. But that's all done now and it's all good.
- Really only the consistently bad part of this trip so far is how long to it takes to get back home from most parts of London. It usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour and this involves being a jam packed tube and waiting for buses to come. It's just a pretty tedious process that can wear you down very easily after doing so much in one day.
Thursday 21 May 2009
Day 2: Reality
Recap:
- Woke up easily around 8 a.m. and was immediately excited since I was no longer jet lagged and felt locked into the London time zone.
- Got orientated at AIFS where everyone is really nice and they have a pub located on the first floor. Never thought I would be taking classes in the same building I will also be drinking in.
- Went on a great bus tour of Central London and St. Paul's Cathedral and I probably took over 100 pictures. But about only 4 of them contained human beings, the rest are of various buildings, sights, bridges etc. It was all spectacular.
- Came back and got ready to out to a new bar a little further away from where we were staying. It was a lot of fun, everyone here is awesome.
- Figured out how to use the tubes and bus stops for the most part. The best seat on the bus is the the second floor first row of seats because it feels like you own the street and that you are the director of all traffic. That probably makes no sense unless you have sat in this type of seat.
Random Thoughts:
- London bathrooms (or "toilets" as they call them here) and European bathrooms in general are all tight and unique. A lot of them look like something out of Stanley Kubrick movie. If I ever get rich someday I'm going to convert all my bathrooms to a European style.
- The advertisements here are a lot more poignant, attention getting and just overall better than U.S. advertisements in my opinion. Since there is less censorship in Europe, advertisements are allowed to be more risque, but even the ones that are not racy are still very effective.
- For some reason its funny to me when I hear little UK children speak in their British accents. It seems like they're faking it or something, but obviously they are not and I am just weird.
- I think that my homestay's townhouse smells like Five Guys, which is odd since there are zero Five Guys restaurants on this entire island.
- Woke up easily around 8 a.m. and was immediately excited since I was no longer jet lagged and felt locked into the London time zone.
- Got orientated at AIFS where everyone is really nice and they have a pub located on the first floor. Never thought I would be taking classes in the same building I will also be drinking in.
- Went on a great bus tour of Central London and St. Paul's Cathedral and I probably took over 100 pictures. But about only 4 of them contained human beings, the rest are of various buildings, sights, bridges etc. It was all spectacular.
- Came back and got ready to out to a new bar a little further away from where we were staying. It was a lot of fun, everyone here is awesome.
- Figured out how to use the tubes and bus stops for the most part. The best seat on the bus is the the second floor first row of seats because it feels like you own the street and that you are the director of all traffic. That probably makes no sense unless you have sat in this type of seat.
Random Thoughts:
- London bathrooms (or "toilets" as they call them here) and European bathrooms in general are all tight and unique. A lot of them look like something out of Stanley Kubrick movie. If I ever get rich someday I'm going to convert all my bathrooms to a European style.
- The advertisements here are a lot more poignant, attention getting and just overall better than U.S. advertisements in my opinion. Since there is less censorship in Europe, advertisements are allowed to be more risque, but even the ones that are not racy are still very effective.
- For some reason its funny to me when I hear little UK children speak in their British accents. It seems like they're faking it or something, but obviously they are not and I am just weird.
- I think that my homestay's townhouse smells like Five Guys, which is odd since there are zero Five Guys restaurants on this entire island.
Day 1: Jetlag Dillusions
Recap of the day:
- Flight went smoothly and got in around 6 a.m. (London time). Virgin Atlantic airlines was really, really nice but I couldn't sleep at all.
- Rainy bus ride to AIFS center where Rob almost had a hunger starvation breakdown.
- Chilled at AIFS and took care of some basic things such as getting a new cell phone, taking out pounds and eating lunch.
- Rob and I couldn't go to our homestay until around 4:30 so we basically had to sit in the AIDS computer lounge and fight off Jetlag for 6 hours. It was some of the weirdest hours of my life (since we were all running on zero hours of sleep).
- Finally arrived at our homestay, met our homestay mom, showed us around her amazing townhouse and settled in there.
- Went out to eat at this pretty nice Italian place where the service was terrible but then again thats how it is in the UK.
- Met up with some of the girls at this awesome bar called O'Niels which is probably the coolest bar/pub I've been in. It was gigantic.
- Went to bed around midnight since I had not slept in over 48 hours. Word.
Thoughts:
- I didn't experience much culture shock because of the fact that I had been to London the summer before for a few days so I at least knew what to expect in a general sense.
- One aspect of London that confused was the English accent. They all speak way too fast at times and it is difficult to understand. I usually always ask "what's that?" after they speak to me.
- I love pub culture because it almost like the anti-college house party scene. This pleases me because I was starting to get really worn out on college house parties (unless they were thrown at our house of course).
- Like I mentioned above we were all experiencing rediculous jet lag so I can probably say that today was the least enjoyable day I'm going to have on this trip. Regardless, it was still a sweet day.
- Flight went smoothly and got in around 6 a.m. (London time). Virgin Atlantic airlines was really, really nice but I couldn't sleep at all.
- Rainy bus ride to AIFS center where Rob almost had a hunger starvation breakdown.
- Chilled at AIFS and took care of some basic things such as getting a new cell phone, taking out pounds and eating lunch.
- Rob and I couldn't go to our homestay until around 4:30 so we basically had to sit in the AIDS computer lounge and fight off Jetlag for 6 hours. It was some of the weirdest hours of my life (since we were all running on zero hours of sleep).
- Finally arrived at our homestay, met our homestay mom, showed us around her amazing townhouse and settled in there.
- Went out to eat at this pretty nice Italian place where the service was terrible but then again thats how it is in the UK.
- Met up with some of the girls at this awesome bar called O'Niels which is probably the coolest bar/pub I've been in. It was gigantic.
- Went to bed around midnight since I had not slept in over 48 hours. Word.
Thoughts:
- I didn't experience much culture shock because of the fact that I had been to London the summer before for a few days so I at least knew what to expect in a general sense.
- One aspect of London that confused was the English accent. They all speak way too fast at times and it is difficult to understand. I usually always ask "what's that?" after they speak to me.
- I love pub culture because it almost like the anti-college house party scene. This pleases me because I was starting to get really worn out on college house parties (unless they were thrown at our house of course).
- Like I mentioned above we were all experiencing rediculous jet lag so I can probably say that today was the least enjoyable day I'm going to have on this trip. Regardless, it was still a sweet day.
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