Life Really is in the Fast Lane.

Time is flying... this is day 20.

Since it has now been 12 days since my last post I figure if you are reading you may want an update.

So here's some highlights from the past couple weeks:
Before my internship started I had a week of non-stop London touring because I only had two commitments on my calender- 1 class and 1 meeting with my internship.

Class was dreary but my meeting with Aqueduct went really well!  Jon took us (the interns) to an 'American' restaurant which was so funny! Dinner style with milk shakes, fries (not chips), burgers, Caesar salad, and Cajun chicken (what!? that one though me off).

The rest of the week was filled with some shopping, viewing changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, and going to the Portobello market.  This market was amazing!  I cannot wait to go again!  So much artistic jewelry, clothing, art work, and food! I had an amazing strawberry and Nutella crepe and bought some really fun rings.

Then Saturday afternoon a couple people and I decided why not go on a day trip to Cambridge... so we booked a train for 9 am Sunday.

So the next day I woke up, walked the whole 5 minutes to the train station, stood on platform 8 at Kings Cross (so close to platform 9 and 10 Harry Potter fans!), and boarded my first train since I was about 10.

It was so nice to get out of the city, as I looked out my train window seeing the rolling greenish blue fields roll by... it could not have been more beautiful! Once we arrived at the Cambridge train station we hopped off and tried to find a map... failed.  So proceed to wander.  We needed food so we found a cafe to get coffee and breakfast and compose a plan.

First we found our way to the Cambridge Botanic Gardens and spent a good 2 hours walking around and exploring the massive garden.  Even in the middle of winter it was absolutely gorgeous.

After the Gardens we ventured to the heart of Cambridge... so we wandered to what we hoped was town... turns out we have a good sense of direction!  Because we stumbled upon the St Peters college which we later learned was the original Cambridge College, but now the university is made up of 13 colleges in Cambridge.


While we were walking more and more toward town we were approached by a company offering a deal on punt river boat rides... so we decided why not!  And it was a great decision!  We say 9 of the 13 colleges and several of the main famous bridges (including the bridge of sighs... which is famous because students would walk across it to their exams... similar to the Venice bridge of sighs were prisoners would walk across to their deaths... I suppose). 


The tour left us freezing and hungry so we stopped for some lunch.  This is when I had my first authentic fish & chips... and I am now obsessed!  It is actually a wonderful dish and I love everything about it! 

The next week it was time to start 'real' life in London.  Tuesday I started my internship!  It is great, I love the people, there's free coffee, and the workspace is awesome... so modern and open for collaboration.  The people are so creative and fun.  It's a different dynamic than the ad agencies I've seen in the US because Aqueduct is almost all men. But it's great because the first day of work the interns were given real work for the client making a compile book of digital works for a major client.  It was awesome to show this book to the team and see them bounce ideas around!


Following a long week of work, Thursday, a bunch of us went to a club to celebrate Dean's birthday!  It was really fun, bottles were lite on fire and brought out to him to celebrate!

The majority of the rest of the weekend was relaxing, while I booked my weekend in Paris for next weekend and for Dublin the following weekend.  I am getting really excited for Paris... and will gladly take any suggestions for what to do in either of these places :)

But for since I was in London, of course I needed to explore a little more... its such a big city there is so much to see!  So I went to the Borough market for some delicious food... where I had a wonderful chai tea and veggie burger sandwich with sweet onion sauce, yum!

 
After the market we headed to London bridge, then realized we actually wanted to see tower bridge because the London bridge burnt down in the London fire so it was just a road.  But the Tower bridge was the classic landmark and very cool.  We then walked around some more and found an adorable, kind of modern, tea shop... so we stopped for afternoon tea... and I loved it!  The British are on to something with this tea thing!

That evening we ventured to the area of London known for Indian food.  The restaurant workers literally stand outside and offer you deals to get you to work there... delicious Indian food, free round of drinks, and 20% off... I'd say yes please!

After dinner we left that area pretty quickly... didn't feel like the safest... so we headed to central area in the West End where China Town is.  It was crazy busy with people going out and well decorated for the Chinese New Year!

Well that's it for now!  I have a busy week ahead of me of classes, work, and traveling to Paris (first full week since I arrived)!  Life in London is just buzzing by!

Now I'm in London.

Its taken a week but I finally have it in my head that I am actually in London!  You'd think that I would have realized that this foreign country that drives on the wrong side of the road is in fact London the moment I stepped into the street but it took seeing London's greatest and most well-known landmarks to actually realize that I am living in the city of Big Ben, Parliament, the London tower, the giant ferries wheel, and the list goes on and on.

Sunday I went to the British Museum for my first taste of cultural experience in London.  Yes I had explored Thursday, Friday, and Saturday but it was more running errands, shopping, going to markets, getting lost, wandering around, and getting over the sleep deprivation from the jet lag.  The British museum was incredible! So many exhibits with so much culture from all over the world.  It is far too much to take in in one day, but I saw quite a bit from ancient Greece and Egypt to Japan through the ages to Chinas pottery over time.  And my favorite exhibit... the Africa one.  The Africa one just had such unique art one of my favorite pieces was this "tree of life" made out of old weapons symbolizing the wars the country has gone through and violence that it has had.

After the museum we went to a place outside that was suppose to have fish and chips but really it was just super tourist store but hey I still got a fish sandwich.

Even this experience wasn't enough to make me realize I was in London, so after a lazy Monday of shopping and settling in, I wanted to do the whole tourist thing. So I set off to see the "real" London.  We take the tube to Westminster and step out of the station and right in front off us literally is Big Ben!  Walk a couple steps and its Parliament (and of course outside Parliament is the Occupy "Wall Street" people... yes Bloomington not only did this strange movement make it to small hippy towns it also made it overseas... congratulations.) And across the street is Westminster Abbey... amazing! So we wander around the area and meet a security guard who is kind enough to suggest a tour route for us so we set out to Buckingham Palace followed by Trafalgar Square. The Square was a really need place right outside the Gallery. 

The culture in London is amazing but I was lucky enough to get to see the VIP Club treatment also this weekend. Saturday night through Dean's cousin who is a club promoter in London a large group of people from the Arcadia program were invited to the VIP list and table at Amika in Kensington. This was like nothing I have ever seen... drinks at least 10 pounds a piece (obviously I'm not gonna buy that!) and people dresses so nice.  The club had a classy ambiance and was decorated impressively.  But it was pretty neat being at a VIP table, how often are you in London at a prime club in a VIP table?  Once in a lifetime experience.

So I am continuing on my exploration of London this week there is an unbelievable about to see I will never see it all, but tomorrow I take a touring day off and get to meet with my internship company and I have to attend my first class with all the other Indiana and Wisconsin students.  However, I am very much looking forward to meeting the Ad Agency, and getting into a more normal pattern, after all this business is still part of the London experience for me!

Arrival.

What a whirl wind these past three days have been!

I arrive in the airport make it through the border and through a panic of not being able to find my bag to the red shirted Arcadia greeters. We walk outside to be greeted by London with pouring sideways rain!

After loading a bus and making the 40 minute drive to nido we checked in and walked into our tiny room. The room while smaller than my dorm room does have a little bathroom and a pleasant surprise of a little kitchen! We briefly unpacked and set out to find hangers and towels. You would not believe how hard it is to find hangers! After 3 days I finally found some.

We had a brief welcome orientation then headed to a little pub that was super cute and chill. About 15 of us sat in a little lofted area and relaxed for an hour or so.

Yesterday was the first time it hit me... I am in London! We walked to school for orientation and people watched as much as possible. One question that is puzzling is if they drive on the left side should you walk on the wrong side also? I have yet to come to a defined conclusion on that one.

However I do know that in the tube you walk on the left and that you have to stand to the right on an escalator or people in a hurry get very mad at you!

So using my new tube transportation skills today as my third day I went to a touristy area of London called the west end very much near Oxford street where all the shopping is. It reminded me of Hollywood in some places because it was so touristy and also New York City a little.

I also ventured off by myself to do some grocery shopping which was overwhelming with fast pace shoppers and different brands. I ended up with pb&j, pasta and sauce, and instant coffee... Can you get more American? Then walked home finally beginning to understand what direction to look when crossing the street in order not to get hit by a bus... Success.

Waiting.

Luggage packed. Travel plans ready. Documents gathered. And the waiting sets in.  Just under 24 hours from right now I will be on the plan to... well New York... but that will kick off the trip to London!  And after 16 hours of travel I will arrive alone in a foreign airport... but at least its English this time!

Nervous? No. Anxious? Absolutely. Excited for something new. But still a little uneasy about going somewhere I know so few people and emerging into a different culture for the first time. Just the sheer fact that when I finally work my way through the airport and hopefully collect my luggage and find the Arcadia sponsored bus and hop on- we will be driving on the wrong side of the street... in the left lane.