29/3/13

Hello!

27/3

So you know, I was exhausted all throughout the day. I made it to work on time and got straight to work on the website. I answered a few emails and then got in touch with some potential vendors. I finished all of that around 1:00, where then I started working on finding a new phone contract.

Phone contracts here are weird. You pay to rent a the phone line. Then you pay for each call you make, usually a connection fee plus a pence per minute fee. So it is hard to really find a cheaper line because I have had to do some analysis on the types of phone calls we make (ya... there is 4 different types or so, charging different rates... it's an awful system) and I did not finish this Tuesday. I left work around 6:15, went home and did nothing. I think I was sleeping by 11:30

28/3

Work was pretty much the same today. Except I spent more time working on the phone contracts and I tried breaking it down, failed of course but tried. I did get to leave at 3:30 though because I had a meeting with a web designer at 4:00 at a coffee shop near Old Street Station. The meeting was interesting but I am not sure how it went. I mean, I know she was pitching me the idea, so it was nice being in the controlling seat, but now I have to make a decision, which I don't know what I want to do. I will end up making a decision late next week, so that will be quite exciting.

After work, I met up with Nicole and we tried finding a coffee near Chancery Lane. It was nearly impossible. Everything closed at 6:00, and we were looking at around 5:45. We ended up finding a place and staying and talking about an hour or so. It was really nice and we had a lot of good laughs. I got home around 7:30, so that wasn't too terrible.

At 8:30, we went to The Swan for some drinks. We had a group of 5 of us, so it was a nice, manageable group. We talked and again made lots of jokes, so it was a nice way to usher in a holiday (sort of, we still had one class)

29/3

I got a free porridge at McDonald's, so I scooped that up this morning. Then I went to the Tower of London because it was a compulsory event. It was much better than anticipated! We got a tour from a Beefeater, and he was hilarious. It is actually one of the most prestigious ranks you can achieve in the British military.

The White Tower- When this was used as a castle, this is where the King stayed

Sometimes you need a dragon made of armour.

The closest picture I could get to the Crown Jewels

After the tour, we got in the queue to go to the Crown Jewels. Once we did get to see them (the queue was long but moved very fast) we were amazed. They were truly fantastic. Just so ornate and beautiful! The main diamond was about 590 karats... so that was impressive. We were not allowed to take pictures in there.. or else we go to prison, so look it up on google.

After that, I had to leave early to make class at 2:00. I took the tube and made it there at 1:58. I was still so tired, I almost fell asleep during the movie. I felt bad. Once I got home, I laid down for an hour and then worked on work. I sent a bunch of emails for work... then for school. I got an email saying that I was chosen for an interview with Ernst and Young for their summer leadership program. I will keep my fingers crossed that it goes well. I find out about PwC tomorrow I hope. Other than that, now I am cleaning because mom comes tomorrow, so I need to be at Heathrow at 8:00. I guess I should go to bed now. Talk to you tomorrow!

Cheers!!

Week of 19/3 to 25/3/13

Hello all.

So I have been quite busy the past week. I have barely had time to sleep, let alone find time to blog or anything of that sort. I will try and give you the most comprehensive picture of my last week, but please excuse me if I forgot a few details.

Wednesday 19/3

I had work today. Seems very unassuming, I know, but I got to leave early. Before leaving, I spent a lot of time doing research on the website and I have made some good headway. I hope that I can finish it by the end of my time here.

The reason that I got to leave early was because I had an event that my boss wanted me to go to. It was an event with Urbano. Urbano is a business that deals with networking other businesses to each other. So what I had to do (I say it most begrudgingly [sic]) is to go to the Hard Rock Cafe across from Hyde Park. Now I didn't go to the restaurant part, but rather around the corner. After passing the Hard Rock Cafe Bar, there was an awning leading to a door. I entered and it lead me to the basement, which actually is used for VIP events held at the Hard Rock. They said that they have had guests hosting parties there ranging from Amy Winehouse to The Rolling Stones. There was a bar, booths, tables, and a large screen television.

So what the event was was a networking event. So I got some business cards and just started talking. People were extremely friendly and willing to talk to me, even though I was just an American intern and yadda yadda.... We got two free drinks for showing up and after about 15 minutes, they started making rounds with food. They had amazing food: chicken strips, ciabatta bread with ham or salmon, and the most delicious mini hamburgers. I had my fill of all. I actually met quite a few people and they emailed me over the past few days. Hopefully tomorrow I will have time to get back to them. It was a great experience though, getting to meet a bunch of people, working on my networking skills, and really just enjoying the business life in London.

Thursday 20/3

In case you forgot, Thursday is class day. So I had classes all day, which was quite draining. So at 5:00, I was so excited because the rest of the night I could just put my feet up and relax. Hahaha, no I can never do that. Matt, Leah, and I went to Hoxton Street to grab dinner. We stopped for Pizza, which was so tasty! Also, it only cost 3 Pounds, so no complaints there.

I sent them on their way at 7:00 and made my way to work. I was invited to join the trustees meeting. I didn't participate much, until they asked about all the budget work I have been working on and then I gave them an update about the website. There was a lady there who is not a trustee but she is thinking of becoming one. I ended up walking her to the train station because it is a dodgy area at night and I figured I should. She was originally from California, so that was nice to talk to her a little bit.

Then I went home to bed... Ahhhh still no. I hopped on the bus and headed to Liverpool Street Station. Why you ask? Because I had to pick up two Germans who would spend the weekend with me! Jana and her sister Elena flew in, so I collected them and we went back to my home. Once we met everyone, we set out for a pub around 10:30 with Matt. We got a drink, but it was late, so they kicked us out at 11:20. No worries though. After that, we decided to walk down to the Thames. We took a few photos and walked along the river for a little before walking home. I think we got to bed around 2 or 2:30, which was okay. I let them sleep in my bed for the night so they didn't have to get a room, and I slept on the floor. Which, the biggest problem I have found from sleeping on floors over the past few times I have done it is that I get so cold halfway through the night. No matter though, it all worked out and I survived.

Friday 21/3

After a wonderful night of sleep, we headed out around 9:30 to get breakfast. We stopped at this nice little cafe for some porridge and tea. I took mine with honey and banana. So amazing. After, it was a short walk to the British Museum, where we did a crash course around it, just hitting the cool stuff like mummies, Greek sculptures and 500,000,000 Riechmarks.

After that....hmmm...Ahh! We went back down to the river, to Waterloo Bridge I think. We walked across... hmm... we got to the south side of the river and ended up at a chocolate festival. We ended up getting cookies and authentic French nougat. Unbelievable. Like even better than normal French food. We then walked from the National Theatre, pass the London Eye and across Westminster Bridge, so we could take photos of us in front of Big Ben. Quite a bit of fun that was. We then scooped up a bus to Russel Square so I could drop them off at their hotel and I could start my next adventure.

At 3:00, we had manly tea. Why it was called that was because for our program, we had to go to a legitimate tea party, and 4 out of the 7 students in attendance were guys. Afternoon tea is amazing! First, we got as much tea as we wanted. Great start. The first course in tea is sandwiches. They are normally finger triangles, but for manly tea, we got rolls. Extra point in my book because I love rolls. After having about 4 of them, we were set loose on scones, jam, and clotted cream. I can't explain to you what clotted cream is, but it is quite delicious and I ended up having three scones. Whoops. Along with about a gallon of tea. I am not done though: cake followed the scones. For our cake, we were greeted with a three layer, lemon drizzle cake. I only had one piece of that because I didn't want to be a pig. For the last course, we had four different kinds of brownies. I was more than full by the time we left at 5:00. If you go out for tea, it is usually unlimited everything. They keep bringing you food until you tell them to stop, which never happens here normally with anything. It was a great experience.

I then went back to meet up with the Germans. We took the tube from Kings Cross (where their hotel was) to Leicester Square. We walked around and purchased tickets to a show, which I will tell you about a little bit later in the narrative. Then somehow... I don't quite remember why, but we took the tube to Regent's Park. We walked around for about 20 minutes, trying to get orientated and finally just popped into a pub for dinner. It was amazing. Jana got chicken and mushroom pie, Elena got cottage, and I got bangers and mash. Pub food is just so delicious and warming. It filled us up (even though I didn't need filling up). We then headed back to Kings Cross... I think. Sorry these details are a little fuzzy, we did a lot this day. I left them there around 10:15ish and went back myself to Woburn to hang out with everyone.

Somehow, I got talked into going to a dance club. I am still quite awkward, so I am not sure why I went. I did end up being a good time though. We got in for free because we were wearing college apparel, so a free night is never a bad night. There was a big group of us who went, so that was nice too. We got home about 3:30, and I got to bed around 5:45 because that is usually what happens when you are me. At least I got to sleep in my bed though.

Saturday 22/3

9:45 came quick. I meet the girls at their hotel at 10:15 and we began the day. Saturday was the long day, and I think both of them got quite tired by the end of it. I am trying to think of what we did in the morning. I am going through my Oyster Card history to try and jog my memory.

It says that we went to Oxford Circus. The reason why we did that was to get to Regents Street. Why that was was to go to Hamleys! Hamleys is the toy store of London. It has 6 floors of just toys, along with staff displaying select items and yelling in a British selling fashion. We spent about an hour or so there. After that, we walked to Green Park. We walked through Green Park to Buckingham Palace. So I have finally seen that place. It was actually kind of nice. I got to see a guard too, so that was sweet. I am hoping to take mom to see the changing of the guards. We shall see.

Then we took a bus to Covent Garden. I didn't know that it is actually something amazing. It was a really neat shopping center and market. We grabbed some tea there to warm up and then headed off to Tottenham Court Road.

As mentioned, we bought tickets to the theatre. We got tickets to We Will Rock You. It was a musical written by the band Queen, featuring music by the band. I had lower expectations for this show, but the girls wanted to go, so I mean my hands were tied. It was fantastic! Better than I could have wanted. The tickets were 34 Pounds, and I would say that that was a reasonable price for the quality of the show. So, advice-- go to everything with an open mind and maybe you will have a great time!!

After that we went and grabbed dinner... in Chinatown. It was the first time I was in Chinatown. It is much smaller than the New York version, but still just as intense. We ate at a buffet. It was all right food. Nothing too special, just Chinese. It was the first time I have had Chinese since coming here. Then we started walking home and ended up on Drury Lane. There is a real nice pub we found there about two weeks ago, so we decided to warm up there. I think we stayed for about 2 hours. We went back to Woburn to see what was going on around 10:15. Everyone was pretty much beat, so we just stayed in and played games with some of my friends until about 12:30.

Sunday 24/5

Again, 9:45 came early, even though I did get to bed around 3:00. We took the bus from Kings Cross to London Bridge. There, we took some pictures and then walked over and across Tower Bridge. We actually got some great pictures this morning. We returned on the south side to one of the converted wharfs (I looked it up, it could also be wharves, but I thought people would understand the first) and grabbed some coffee. It was right next to the PwC building. It was lovely warming up with the drinks.

We took the tube from London Bridge Station to Camden Town. Why? Camden Market of course. We explored the market for a solid two hours. Of course, we grabbed lunch too. This time-- Jamaican jerk chicken. Absolutely fantastic! We explored some previously unexplored (by me) stalls in the market. It is a huge market and it was quite enjoyable with those two. Also, I found where Abbey Road is, which is not too far from Camden Market I guess. Just a side note. I haven't seen it yet at least.

We took a bus (that stops at Abbey Road, if you go the other way) down to High Kensington. They shopped at TJ Maxx for a little bit while I headed over to Whole Foods to use their toilet. Then, we walked over to Knightsbridge and to Harrods. We spent about 45 minutes in there. Did you know that Harrods started selling airplanes in 1911. They honestly sell everything. No big deal.

We got dinner somewhere last night... ah yes! We went out and got a Sunday Roast! Both of them got roast beef and when I went up to order, they were out. I ended up with a vegetarian option. But no matter. It was still delicious (and of course I snagged a little bit of theirs). The best part of the meal was definitely dessert. We got chocolate cake with ice cream and hot fudge all over the top. Chocolate is much stronger here, so that was great. It filled me up and made me want to just sleep. However, that was out of the question.

We met Matt at the Swan at 8:30 for a couple drinks. We talked for a while, with Matt leaving a little earlier than we to go skype with his parents. Jana, Elena and I left around 10:30, and I just walked them back to their hotel. I got home around 11:30, where I got caught skyping mom. I think we finished talking to each other at 1:00 (?). It was really nice to talk to her though. Just to get a feel for what has been going on at home lately.

Monday 25/3

The girls wanted to pack, so I didn't meet them until 10:30. Then, we took the tube over to Marble Arch so we could stop at Primark. They shopped until about 12:30. They got a lot of things, and you could see the excitement at every display we saw. I actually enjoyed it, even though I didn't shop, help or offer advice. We then stopped at Forever 21, H&M, and Top Spin. Lunch consisted of a two course meal from Garfunkel's. It was above average. So nothing to complain about. Jana even gave me her leftovers, which will be eaten once this story is finished. We headed back to the hotel around 1:45 to collect their things and head to Liverpool Street Station. There, we grabbed a final cup of tea and said our goodbyes. It was bittersweet, but it was easier because we knew we would see each other in just over a month.

Which, I have about a month left of school here. Time has just flown by. I feel like there is too much for me to see and I just want to see everything. So this month will be crammed with everything and I will be home in two months. Wow.

Once they left at 4:30, I headed home and just laid in bed. Even now, I am completely exhausted. After this, like I said, I will have Jana's leftovers and watch a movie. Just to relax before going back to work tomorrow and starting to get ready for Friday.

IMPORTANT! I want you to go through this again... and know that it has been the coldest here that I have experienced thus far. It snowed Saturday real bad and the wind has been blowing at a solid 10 miles per hour or so. It has just been miserable. So make sure you pack warm when you come. Also, I don't remember the last time I saw the Sun.

Internship Journal Week 8

Luckily, things are becoming a little more atypical again, which I am come to enjoy. It really breaks up the monotony of work by getting up, going places, meeting people, and coming back to check emails. By doing everything, time flies by and you really feel accomplished after work.

On Tuesday, I showed up again at 9.30. After responding to some emails, we discussed the budget. We decided, after now about 5 or so weeks of thinking, that we just aren't going to apportion any of the costs besides what we have decided (1/5, 1/5, 3/5). This was decided because Karina talked to an accountant and she thought it was better not to. So with that, I deleted those pages. Then, I went and reconciled the current account. I reconciled it against everything  I put in for the Month of February. Once that was reconciled, I printed out a budget vs actual variance. With that report, I looked at our budget and put the final touches on it. Then I gave it to Karina, who changed one or two things (mainly for printing issues) and one I put that across the 4 sheets, I finished with it. In the afternoon, I worked a little on research for a venue for a seminar which Karina is chairing. I didn't get too far, and she kept inturrupting me with things to do (like go to the National Theatre and etc). No worries though. I left a little later though, so that was a little annoying, but I needed to finish a few things. I left around 7.10. I took the 242 bus home, which goes through the city but still drops me off at Holburn. It was nice changing up the routine, but it is quite annoying passing Liverpool Street Station, being it is so busy constantly.

Wednesday, when I got to work, Karina said she would be a little late. So I headed to the bakers and got some bread pudding. It was delicious. I ate it outside, so it was quite cold, but the food was filling so no worries there. At noon, we had a meeting with two women. I am not quite sure the purpose of the meeting, but I think it was to discuss getting a new trustee, along with helping with some networking things. the one girl was from America, so that was nice hearing that accent. I could pick out her California accent right away. In the afternoon, I talked to a web designer to get a quote. However, it was for naught, because their prices were too high


As I was finishing this, I was told that we didn't have to continue doing these after 28/2. So I am going to leave this unfinished. Ok.

18/3/13 (Canterbury, St. Patrick's Day)

So I have been quite busy over the weekend. Sorry about that, but it has been a great time. I hope from this blog post explains what I did well enough until I can get home and tell you more about this weekend!

15/3

So basically, I have figured out that it is every other Friday when we have an excursion. So, being last Friday we had none, this Friday we had to go somewhere. That somewhere was actually two places: Dover and Canterbury. So after getting on the bus at 8.30, we headed off to Canterbury. Now, this place may seem familiar because it was the location of the pilgrimage in Chaucer's story "Canterbury Tales." The point of the story was a bunch of pilgrims were headed from London to Canterbury by foot to see the cathedral there. Well, we got a chance to see the cathedral, and it was mighty fantastic. 

See? No joke.

We got a guided tour of the cathedral, which is now a part of the Anglican church. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the second highest official of the church (following the queen). The cathedral was a buzz because a new archbishop was about to be inaugurated this Thursday. So they needed to get it prepared, not only for the camera and the pomp and circumstance which surrounds that, but also the queen is attending so there needs to be a little extra protection. 

Here is a view from behind and in front of the alter. If you can see, there is a big rock chair that is around 500 or so years old, on which the archbishop sits. You can also see how huge the church really is. The tour was great, but the time spent in Canterbury was just as amazing, if not more.

Of course, I forgot to mention that I got separated from the group. This is a common occurrence during these excursions. So I have come to accept that I cannot be in a group. So I started wandering around by myself. First thing that I did was buy a crepe. It was just a plain sugar crepe, but it was 1) delicious and 2) only 2 Pounds.

After that, I walked down the high street until I came to the river, which was the unofficial end of the high street. So I turned around and started walking back, because I wanted to see all of it and I started in the middle of the street, so I only saw half.

I forgot to mention that it was another beautiful English day.

Anyways, I stopped into a bakery to get a cake. I got a carrot cake, which was only a pound. What this means is that I was happy that I got a cake, and was only eating sweets. I am a bad adult but boy was I in a good mood. After I ate the cake, I stopped into a little cafe. It was a local place with two adorable girls working. So I got a pot of tea and a croissant to munch on because I still was trying to eat cakes and desserts for all my meals because I am 5. Then one of the workers went on lunch break and had a huge bowl of soup that she was eating right next to me. So we started talking. She was a sweet girl. I finished my tea and croissant and left (after saying goodbye, of course). Then I finished walking up the street and started wandering off the beaten path. I found an art gallery with some of the most beautiful modern art that I have ever seen. If I was rich, I would have bought abut 70% of the works in there. Erik, check it out by clicking your name.

We boarded the bus at 13.45 to head to Dover Castle, a medieval castle constructed by William the Conqueror (a common theme throughout my travels). The weather took a turn for the worse, but that didn't matter too much because we got to see a castle!

That is an active door, which was shut after we entered.

This is the main keep, which is quite unlike German castles, but English castles
seem to be quite study and intimidating, instead of lavish. 

It was quite a cool castle. We walked around it for about an hour with a guide who was quite knowledgeable. 

By the way, did I say this castle was situated quite high above the town of Dover? Well as you can see, it towers over it. Which must have been impressive 700 years ago, as it is still impressive today. 

We got to go up to the highest point of the castle, which the wind was blowing harder than any of us expected (mind you, the wind was blowing so hard in the grounds of the castle, I had to do a little dance move when one particular gale burst nearly knocked me over). 

Just a mess, but it was great to be up there. Also, we both look exhausted.

After that, we took a detour which Mark or Jen have never done. We headed to the Cliffs of Dover National Park. It was more than amazing. The views were just breathtaking, even if the wind was whipping at us. It actually made us all cold, but being able to see what I saw was more than worth it. 

If you look hard enough, you will be able to see France. There were paths all along the cliffs, which I may just return to because they were that amazing. I honestly could have walked 5 or 10 miles along it, listening to the water . Oh and by the way, I was joking about seeing France. It is way too cloudy and foggy to see it. But on clear days, it is visible. So that is like twice a year. 

The bus ride home was a quiet one. Being in the wind and cold all day really drained everyone. So after a nice nap, we made it home for dinner. Matt, Jake and I ended up scooting out without a group (somehow) and we went to a pub down the road. I ordered a random ale and was so confused when I saw it was green. So that was quite surprising. Anyways, after that we went to Holburn and I finally got a Kebab! It was so delicious and we were so happy to eat it. 

16/3

We woke up early because we wanted to see some of the sights on our last free weekend. Matt, Leah and I left at 9.30 to head over to Hoxton Street, where I work. Once we got there, we went to get breakfast at a bakery. We couldn't decide between which one we wanted to go to, so we stopped at both. At the first one, I got a cup of tea, a smiley faced doughnut, and a mixed berry tart. It all came to 2.15! So supah dupah! After that, we went to the other bakery and I just got some bread pudding. That was only 50p, so even better! Breakfast for 2.65--not too terrible. 

We then took the bus down across the river to Borough Market. The whole market is situated under a bridge, and you can really hear when the trains go over. Also, the entire market is a food market! So we walked around and looked at all the amazing foods. Some things of note include: cheeses from around Europe, especially France; some of the freshest looking fruit and vegetables; a selection of beef, lamb, and pork cuts that were delicious looking; and finally (and most noticeably) an entire hog's head and about a dozen rabbits, freshly killed, fur still intact with bags on their heads collecting runoff blood. I actually took a photo of that:

The first rabbit shows it the best, in my opinion.

For lunch, Matt and I got a sandwich with wild boar and venison on it. Just fantastic. I will really miss the street food here, because it is so tasty. Also, it is much more exotic than what you get at Applebees (lamb, rabbit, we had a sample of duck which was great, boar, kangaroo, camel, etc). Then we took the bus home and I took the second most fantastic nap (Sunday's nap trumped it). That night, we didn't do too much, but it was still a good time. I got to bed around 1.30, so overall, a productive and quite fun day.

17/3

Upon leaving Woburn at 9.35, we headed to a pub for breakfast. We went to one not too far and we all got Full English breakfasts (eggs, sausage, bacon, beans, toast) and I a cup of tea. Then we walked back to Woburn to let the food digest for about 15 minutes. Around 11, we headed off to the lounge to start celebrating. At 13.00, we left for Trafalgar Square for the St. Patrick's Day celebration and parade. Even Princess Kate was there (I didn't see her though, too many people). We got a drink and had fun taking pictures and talking to people and shenanigans and whatever. 

Eventually, we left the square and headed to a pub. It was nice and warm in the pub and we posted up in one corner. There was a group of about 10 of us, so it was impressive that no one got lost. After about an hour or so in there, we headed off to Leicester Square. We went there because we were all starving. We got some Mexican food there. Nachos for a starter, pulled pork wrap for a entree and a pitcher of sangria split between some of us. After that, we were all so full, we got on the tube and headed home. This was about six. I got home and took a wonderful nap until 8.30. Then we hung out in the lounge some more before getting some snacks and calling it a night. I got to bed around 2.00, so all in all a successful St. Patrick's Day.

18/3

I met with Mark and Jen at 11.50 today just to talk about how the semester is going. I had no complaints, so it all seemed to go well. After that, I took the tube over to High Kensington to do a little shopping. I bought nothing there, but it was nice to see the fancy shops, posh women pushing their prams, and it was pouring so I was miserable. 

I got on the tube to head off to Primark on Oxford Street to get some clothes that I could actually afford. However, I got off at the wrong end of the street, because I screwed up Hyde Park and Regent Park. So after about a half hour walk in the rain (not sprinkle rain... full on rain) I made it there. I was quite miserable still because I was very wet. At least I had the hat on I got for Christmas, so I stayed a little drier that way. At Primark, I got 3 shirts, a jumper, a pair of shoes, an a pair of trousers for 35 Pounds. It was great! I then took the tube home, but got sidetracked at a bookstore. I ended up buying a book. I got The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I got it because I enjoyed reading The Hobbit so much. I expect that I will be able to find the time to finish it before too long. 

Now I close the night with relaxation before I go to work tomorrow. I should be home by 7.30 because of an event we are putting on. Nevertheless, no worries with that. Also, I got my religion paper back. It counts for 50% of my grade, because grading over here is a lot different. Anyways, I got an A on the paper. So score there! Ok hope to hear from you all soon!

Internship Journal Week 7

This week was a little more normal than most, which honestly I am grateful for. I can now imagine being a boss, and having to keep track of meetings, seminars, and a whole bunch of other things, so you almost forget that you have day to day work to do.

On Tuesday, I got in at 9.30. After a spot of tea, Karina and I went to work on the budget. We were having issues trying to figure out some of the costs to the building. After a while spent on that, I was tasked with researching a few things. They included phone contracts, internet providers, and more changes on National Insurance contribution. In the afternoon, after a late lunch, I worked a little on the website. It has proven a challenge because with our limited budget, we will probably have to deal with a freelance designer. The problem is that design agencies are the ones with all the websites. Karina had to go meet some people after work, so we got out promptly at 5.30, which was nice. I ended up taking the long route to the bus because it was so beautiful out.

Wednesday was more or less the same. We worked on the budget but I only worked on the website project for about an hour. The other time I was in work, I dealt with inputting paid out amounts into the system. It took a while but it all seemed to work out. I printed out some reports for Karina, and then left. Like I said, it was a very atypical week because it was so typical. Kim, Karina and I got talking around 4.30 and that was pretty much the end of my day. I left around 6.10, knowing that I had to do a little work once I got home because Karina changed some of the cells on the spreadsheet of the budget. I spent about an hour just making all four pages congruent. Nothing to big, but I wanted to get it done so she could look at it more on Thursday.

I have been talking to my mom about my internship and comparing it to my time at work. Still, one of the biggest things is that the ability to talk with your coworkers makes it a much more enjoyable workplace. I understand that most days, I leave for work at 8.40 and usually don't get back home much before 7.00. However, I don't have the hesitation that I did going to work as I do in the states (where I leave at 7.00 and am home at 4.45). I think a lot to do with it is that I can talk to my coworkers and not feel pressured to fit in as much work as I can plus an extra 15%. I will miss this aspect of work when I go home. 

Like I said, it was beautiful coming home from work. On the horizon is the city, and the lights against the
dark blue sky really was beautiful and inspiring. 

14/3/13

I am still dreading the day when I must work every day. Today, I got in at the required time of 9.30, no biggie. We had a meeting with someone, her name was Jenny. She seems really sweet. She is also married, mainly I am assuming this because she has a ring on her fingers. But I have been mistaken before.

I left early at 5.45 and took the 242 bus home. It still takes me to Holburn, so I have to walk about 10 minutes, but it takes me directly through the city. I wanted to see the sights on the way home. It was nice, I enjoyed seeing the tall buildings, the fancy people, and all the lights. I got back to my room around 6.38, where my roommate was sleep. So I left and hung out with Joey for a while. We gathered a small group and headed out to ULU. Most people were busy writing a paper that is due tomorrow. I finished mine last night at 1.45 am sharp! So we went to ULU and watched the first half of the football match. A whole bunch of nothing happened, so we headed back to Woburn (that and Joey needed to finish his paper). So the rest of the night I have been catching up on work. I have been a little behind since I spent the weekend away and work two days really drags it out of me. But I am nearly there, and should be caught up for the weekend. I hope you all have a happy St. Patrick's Day.

Oh, you will hear from me before then, but I just wanted to wish it to you now because I can. Cheers!!

13/3/13

Hello there

12/3

As I awoke this morning, I realized the two previous nights, I slept on much better beds. I was groggy and sore but managed to make it to the shower. I put on some warm clothes and headed to Trafalgar Square. The reason why I went there was because I wanted to go to the National Gallery. I did not wear warm enough clothes.

The National Gallery was overwhelming. It had some great pieces of art, but none outrageously famous. They, too had some lillypads. Still some of my favorite pieces ever. I have really come to like impressionism. That is enough of that.

I went to the National Portrait Gallery next. I enjoyed it a lot, and it offers you a great look into British history and the art is quite good. So you know, the portrait of Princess Kate is as rough as you would think. Probably the worst piece in there. But so be it, she has time to get a new one.

Then I went back here and relaxed and more importantly, warmed up. I planned out May, so I have a much better idea of what I am doing. Then I started doing some research, but mainly just talked in the lounge. It came back to bite me tonight.

13/3

Work was fun. I will tell you about it in my internship post (which I must do two. I am sorry). I got home by 7.15, so after an hour break, I started on my paper. Where I sit now, at 12:15, is ~1250. So only ~750 to go. I think I will work up until 1:00, then save the rest for tomorrow. I should be able to get a decent chuck of it finished by then. At least I would if I got off this blog. So cheerio!