This past week has been a whirlwind of classes, pubs, taking pictures, emotions and overall a bunch of walking! Monday was my first day of classes - I had my Learning through Internships class, which is only an hour and a half, and pretty easy. Mainly, we just need a class to accompany our internship in order for it to count for credits. Over the semester we will talk about what makes up companies, talk about our personal internships and write some reflective papers along the way. My professor is british and seems pretty chill. He went on a 10 min ramble about the name Jordan (which was a guy in my class’s name) and how if you asked someone here about the name Jordan, they would associate it with a very beautiful nude model. I could tell after that, that he’s going to be a talker! As well that day I had my 20th and 21st century art class. The professor is a british lady who seems quite sweet and exactly how you would imagine an art professor to be. That class seemed interesting and not very hard as well. Every other week we actually get to go to an art museum instead of having lecture (of course we have to write a short paper on a few pieces), but that sounds easier than having lecture every week!
Tuesday I had my interview in the morning and then my “Understanding Modern Britain” class in the afternoon. My interview went well and my supervisors seem very helpful and sweet (see my previous intern post!). My professor for my British class is actually Canadian (but she's lived in London for 15 years, so has a subtle accent) and is really good as well. She talks very proper and seems to know anything and everything about the UK. I was happily surprised to find out that we go on excursions for that class as well, which sound really cool. For example, one of the trips is taking a boat tour down the Thames river and then eating at a restaurant at the end! The whole idea of the class is that although London (and the UK) is a growing and modern city, it preserves the history that has lasted through the ages. I like the premise of the class, but she repeated that same idea over and over - so I hope the class isn’t to repetitive. That night I got to stop at Kings Cross station, at the Harry Potter 9 3/4 platform. I was quite excited and there was even a staff there waiting to help you choose a house scarf and to take your picture! They had a little gift shop as well, which I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a picture with some wands :)
Tuesday I had my interview in the morning and then my “Understanding Modern Britain” class in the afternoon. My interview went well and my supervisors seem very helpful and sweet (see my previous intern post!). My professor for my British class is actually Canadian (but she's lived in London for 15 years, so has a subtle accent) and is really good as well. She talks very proper and seems to know anything and everything about the UK. I was happily surprised to find out that we go on excursions for that class as well, which sound really cool. For example, one of the trips is taking a boat tour down the Thames river and then eating at a restaurant at the end! The whole idea of the class is that although London (and the UK) is a growing and modern city, it preserves the history that has lasted through the ages. I like the premise of the class, but she repeated that same idea over and over - so I hope the class isn’t to repetitive. That night I got to stop at Kings Cross station, at the Harry Potter 9 3/4 platform. I was quite excited and there was even a staff there waiting to help you choose a house scarf and to take your picture! They had a little gift shop as well, which I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a picture with some wands :)
Some of my flat mates and I were very hungry that night and decided to treat ourselves and go out. Our favorite pub so far is “Sir John Oldcastle” which has awesome meal deals throughout the week - that day we got a stake, chips (french fries), veggies and a pint of beer for 8 pounds! Can’t pass that up. After, we also stopped at “The Jerusalem Tavern” which is a very old pub right in our neighbor hood. It was more geared for older customers and I wasn’t really a fan of the layout but the authenticity and seeing how old it was added to the experience.
Wednesday I had my “Theatricality” class with a very enthusiastic british professor. He kind of reminds me of Ricky Gervais. Of course he’s an actor/director so his lectures (if you can call them that!) are pretty entertaining. That night my flat mates - Becca, Erin, Tara - and Kate from flat 5, and I went down to Millennial Bridge and walked along the Thames River. It was so beautiful and it was fun to go out and walk around without having to go to a pub or restaurant all the time (because who has the money for that!). We found a path that led right down to the river and even went in and picked some stones - which I know we never would have been able to do if we were on a guided tour. Plus lots of photo stops on the way.
Wednesday I had my “Theatricality” class with a very enthusiastic british professor. He kind of reminds me of Ricky Gervais. Of course he’s an actor/director so his lectures (if you can call them that!) are pretty entertaining. That night my flat mates - Becca, Erin, Tara - and Kate from flat 5, and I went down to Millennial Bridge and walked along the Thames River. It was so beautiful and it was fun to go out and walk around without having to go to a pub or restaurant all the time (because who has the money for that!). We found a path that led right down to the river and even went in and picked some stones - which I know we never would have been able to do if we were on a guided tour. Plus lots of photo stops on the way.
Thursday was a free day! I woke up late, relaxed - watched some “Made in Chelsey” on TV, which is pretty much like a London version of “The Hills”. Quite hilariously scripted drama, but I love seeing everyone speaking in british accents. After getting a late start I headed over to the Natural History Museum and just walked around my myself. I don’t really mind doing stuff by myself, and it was kind of a test to let myself walk around and try to find locations on my own. The building itself is hugenormus and so beautiful - very cathedral-like. I only toured a few exhibits including the main dinosaur exhibition, a body exhibit and some animal features. Later we stopped by the Sherlock Holmes pub, but didn’t get to stay and have a drink because it was so packed. My original plan was to stay in for the night, but some of my roommates had friends over and were all pre-gaming before going to a club that I got exited and decided to go along! It was my first club experience here, so I was pretty curious. It was actually pretty fun, the club itself wasn’t super amazing and I probably wouldn’t go back, but the company was entertaining.
Friday was another day off, except for an hour orientation with my internship at 1 in the afternoon. Again, had a late morning and went straight to Whittington to have a really easy orientation. I met the girls I will be working with and it seems like we will get along really well. After, I met up with some girls from flat 5 at the National British Museum. I showed up a few hours after they arrived, so I only got to see a few exhibits with them before they wanted to leave. That night I went out again with the crowd from 5 and some other Kamen boys. We went to O’niells, which is a bar (vs. a club) but was really upbeat and was mainly a dance atmosphere. The bottom floor was a restaurant, the middle/balcony floor was a bar + played radio hits and the top floor was a live band with a big dance floor. This has probably been my favorite club/bar so far, and I got to dance all night!
Saturday was the big CAPA field trip. Starting at 8 in the morning we left to go to Stonehedge and Bath and returned by 6. Our tour guy was interesting and the ride to Stonehedge really didn’t feel that long. I finally now understand the history behind these big rocks and why they are so special. Initially I thought that it was a big deal because we didn’t know how the stones ended up there, but now I know that they are important because they are over 5,000 years old! I guess we don’t really know why this stone arrangement was built in the first place, but the fact that they have lasted this long and the different beliefs/ideas behind it is quite interesting. When we got to the site, the sun kept peeking through the clouds and made it truly a beautiful site to see. I can’t even wrap my head around the fact that they were here apprx. 2,000 years before Jesus. Thats just crazy. Then, just an hour away we arrived in Bath. Bath is such a beautiful city, when we were driving up it reminded me of how Italy would look, with all the old architecture pushed together along hillsides. The roman bath itself was quite pretty and just seeing something so old, yet so preserved it really cool. I had to laugh because the tour guide was saying that the Romans use to believe the bath water held healing powers, and the day before my flat mate Tara burned her hand on her straightener. When we got to the bath, and we were touching the water, she put some water on her wound and was like “it will heal me!” only to have one of the guys working there reassure her to wash her hands after because there are birds and rats who poop in there and the water hasn't been filtered. We were pretty much convinced after that, she was going to get an infection and Tara couldn’t help laughing at the fact she put this gross water on her wound. We actually got to taste the filtered bath water, which was pretty iron-y and kind of tasted like blood. We got to eat in this cute cafe after the tour, and then headed on the bus for our 3 hour return ride (in which pretty much everyone fell asleep).
Friday was another day off, except for an hour orientation with my internship at 1 in the afternoon. Again, had a late morning and went straight to Whittington to have a really easy orientation. I met the girls I will be working with and it seems like we will get along really well. After, I met up with some girls from flat 5 at the National British Museum. I showed up a few hours after they arrived, so I only got to see a few exhibits with them before they wanted to leave. That night I went out again with the crowd from 5 and some other Kamen boys. We went to O’niells, which is a bar (vs. a club) but was really upbeat and was mainly a dance atmosphere. The bottom floor was a restaurant, the middle/balcony floor was a bar + played radio hits and the top floor was a live band with a big dance floor. This has probably been my favorite club/bar so far, and I got to dance all night!
Saturday was the big CAPA field trip. Starting at 8 in the morning we left to go to Stonehedge and Bath and returned by 6. Our tour guy was interesting and the ride to Stonehedge really didn’t feel that long. I finally now understand the history behind these big rocks and why they are so special. Initially I thought that it was a big deal because we didn’t know how the stones ended up there, but now I know that they are important because they are over 5,000 years old! I guess we don’t really know why this stone arrangement was built in the first place, but the fact that they have lasted this long and the different beliefs/ideas behind it is quite interesting. When we got to the site, the sun kept peeking through the clouds and made it truly a beautiful site to see. I can’t even wrap my head around the fact that they were here apprx. 2,000 years before Jesus. Thats just crazy. Then, just an hour away we arrived in Bath. Bath is such a beautiful city, when we were driving up it reminded me of how Italy would look, with all the old architecture pushed together along hillsides. The roman bath itself was quite pretty and just seeing something so old, yet so preserved it really cool. I had to laugh because the tour guide was saying that the Romans use to believe the bath water held healing powers, and the day before my flat mate Tara burned her hand on her straightener. When we got to the bath, and we were touching the water, she put some water on her wound and was like “it will heal me!” only to have one of the guys working there reassure her to wash her hands after because there are birds and rats who poop in there and the water hasn't been filtered. We were pretty much convinced after that, she was going to get an infection and Tara couldn’t help laughing at the fact she put this gross water on her wound. We actually got to taste the filtered bath water, which was pretty iron-y and kind of tasted like blood. We got to eat in this cute cafe after the tour, and then headed on the bus for our 3 hour return ride (in which pretty much everyone fell asleep).
Sunday I was so tired from going out the past few nights, and going on the tour yesterday I slept in and decided to forego a walking tour CAPA was hosting (which turned out to be a good idea because it was raining the whole morning and turned out to be kind of a bust). In the afternoon Gracie (from flat 5) and I went to Oxford Circus and walked the strip! Our goal was to stop at Primark, and of course after waking around and stoping in other stores (apple store, Gracie got some cute red rain boots at a shoe shop as well) we finally found it at the VERY end of the strip. It was worth it though, everything was so cheep and although we didn’t want to buy clothes we bought cute London pajamas, some underwear with the tube map on it, necessity hair brushes/mattress toper, jewelry and a wallet for me. It was pretty much a shopping day because we also stopped at Boots and Sansbury for some food and toiletries.
I’m going to try and do weekly posts from now on, so I’ll try to stick to my word!! xx
I’m going to try and do weekly posts from now on, so I’ll try to stick to my word!! xx
