Thursday 1/26 until Sunday 1/29

Thursday I dont have any classes so I go to my internship all day.  I went in on the very crowded morning tube and got there.  It is an easy place to get to once I figured it out the first time.  This time at my internship we were working on a bathroom.  We went and talked to the builder at the site of the bathroom and then looked at floorplans as to what has to be done.  The next step was to figure out what tile to use for the floor and part of the wall.  After going to a few standard tile places we went to a Moroccan tile place.

Patterned Tile

All the cool tiles!

We then went and worked on spreadsheets to figure out what can be done and when it will all be in.  It was a great day!  These tiles were just amazing!  I then looked at fabrics some and
learned different brands of fabrics.  She then gave me a ticket to an antique show in Chelsea and let me go for the day.  Thursday evening we ( Becca, Laken and I ) went to a bar called O'Neils.  It had live music and was really unique.

Me infront of the Tower of London

Friday we went to the Tower of London and then a tour of Westminster Abbey.  The tour guide for the Tower of London was amazing and told us about the history of the place and all about the culture of living in the tower of London.  We saw all my crowns ( the queen gave them to me) with various diamonds and stones in it.  After meeting Lee for lunch with all my friends after that, we went to the most amazing building in the world.  We went into Westminster Abbey.  We did a guided tour inside and I was in awe.  I have never seen such a beautiful building in my life.

Becca, Laken and I on the boat

That evening ( Friday) I met up with Lee to go to have a drink with his company.  It was nice meeting them all.  We then met up with my friends and were with them all night.  We were so tired because we were moving all day.  Saturday morning we woke up and went on a cruise down the Thames to Greenwich where we spent the day.

View of me infront of the city

When we got there we went up a massive hill to the Prime Meridian line and it was a beautiful scene of the city!  There was also a museum of the clocks and the first clocks there.  That was very interesting. 

The rest of Saturday we went to the market and to the naval museum there.  

On the Prime Meridian Line

When we got back I went and had dinner with Lee.  We went to a restaurant called 36 and had a nice meal.  By this point I was a standing zombie, I was exhausted!  

Today we had a free day.  It is the Chinese New year so we went into Trafalgar Square to see the festivities.  It was a little disappointing because we expected vendors and a lot of food.  We stayed for a while and then decided to go to Spittlefields market in the East End.  This was ppointed out on our tour of the east end but we got too cold to go then.  It was a farmers market and had vendors.  It was really good!  We have been trying to get out as much as possible and do as much as we can.  

I made a list of things I want to do before I leave and I have already done some of them!  I had a great weekend and I am ready to start my second week!  

I gave in today and had to buy ice cream, it is much more expensive here but I was craving it....( i charged that one to mom and dad's cards, thanks guys!)

We had the realization that we have to start doing homework...the rest of this evening will be spent doing some homework.  It isn't much work but we do not have much time to do it so it seems like more than it is!    

I am going to go!  Hope the states are going well and I think it is supposed to snow soon here...not looking forward to that!

first few days of classes

So Monday, classes started.  I usually will do my internship on Monday morning but she didn't want me to come in.  I had theater class at 3:30 until 5.  Usually our classes are class session then outings but theater is different because we have our class then a show later.  Our teacher had gotten into a bad skiing accident a few weeks ago and broke her pelvis bone in 2 places, so she couldn't come to our building to teach.  We went to her house, which was pretty far away but it was worth it.  It is the most adorable house and I loved being there!  It was so fun!  Right after that we went to see our first show.  We saw the LadyKillers.  It is a play which is a comedy.  I had to watch the movie the night before and it was a bore, but the show was amazing!  It was so great! They served ice cream in intermissions which was cool!  The set was the most intricate set I have seen ( other than wicked).  It was so detailed and they made it amazing.  I cant even explain it, it was just detailed and great.  That was a long day, but a great day!

Tuesday, I had 2 classes ( British Media and Society and Culture by Design)
Class started at 9 and we had class from 9 until 10:30 where we learned about media and stuff.  We then went to the British Museum and focused on communication among different cultures.  This outing was from 10:30 until 1.  My next class started at 2, it was culture by design.  Our professor was a JMU graduate who did the Semester In London program then moved to London.  He is a really cool and is going to take us to awesome places.  Our outing was in Camden, it is a very cultured and rock and roll part of London.  It is full of clubs at night and cool shops.  We had the assignment to find 10 things that we can only see in London, 10 things we can find anywhere, and 10 things we have never seen before.  Although we did do this assignment, Becca, Laken and I also found some nice shoes to buy!  It was a great way of exploring different parts of London and observing things.  They had a really nice craft fair going on, so we explored all around that.  Classes here are not too bad!
Last night we went to dinner at a crepe place to say bye to Rusty ( our head guy in charge of us when we were at JMU).  He came to move us in and now is leaving.  I had a dinner/savory crepe which had spinach cheese and zucchini.  It was pretty good but i think i would have liked the sweet one better.

Today, I went to my internship this morning and then had class this afternoon.  I went to my internship studio and then we went to her house ( they had to move out because it flooded).  They are redoing it to rent out the house and bottom basement flat.  It is in the city of Chelsea.  The commute from my place is about 20 minutes so it is not bad.  We went to her place and talked to the builders and she showed me around the basement.  We talked about what had to be done and what I will be helping with.  Then it got amazing, she brought me to her house ( they are trying to sell it) and gave me a tour around.  I fell in love with this house!  It was an amazing combination of old traditional work and functional lifestyles.  She tried to preserve all the original fireplaces and floor and lighting.  It was the most amazing house ever.  The floor in the raised eating area attached to the kitchen had intricate tile work done in glass.  It was stunning.  Hopefully I will get to go back and I will take pictures but I was blown away.  She taught me all about the processes of preserving the historical aspects of house and how that works ( similar to the HOA).  She was so informative.  She then took me on a walk around Chelsea ( we took the long way back to the studio).  She told me all the history about the place, from what parts were bombed in WW2 to famous people who live in houses there.  She is full of so much knowledge!  I had a wonderful morning.  I went grocery shopping right after that then headed back here.  To my surprise our power was off.  I was so angry because I had just bought all this good food I was excited to make myself a nice lunch and I ended up having to eat cereal and milk.
I had art history this afternoon where we learned about Medieval art and focused some on Early Renaissance art.   Our outing for this class was the National Gallery.  My teacher is so knowledgable and loves the arts.  It was nice to hear her opinion on some pieces.  I saw a few pieces that I had studied in depthly which was very cool to me!  I learned alot more about some artists.  We then ( being in Britain) had to stop for tea in the gallery).
This evening we had meetings to go over the week and some logistical things.  Then I came back and made dinner for Lee and I.  It was tasty!
I have been having so much fun and been moving non stop.  This is my first chance to sit and relax for the past few days.

Life is great here!  I have made amazing friends :)
Drinking my body weight in tea!!

orientation weekend

So I left off Friday afternoon...
Friday afternoon we went on a walk of the west end.  Instead of all walking with a tour guide they split us up into a few groups and we all went different ways from our place and the end was trafalgar square.
  My route we passed a market where there was a really cool street performer.  We explored our way to trafalgar square where we met everyone.  We then ventured to the National Theater where we had some tea and listened to a performer then went to dinner at Wagamamas ( a Japanese restaurant).  I brought a few people to a traditional british pub to meet lee's friends.  They loved talking to all the British people.  We had a fun time just talking about different cultures and stuff.
Saturday we had a busy day.
We started off the morning with a orientation about the place, the Madison House.  It told us about laundry, classes, schedules and logistical things. After that we had a walk around our neighborhood to find new things in the place we were living.  We found restaurants, grocery stores, cool historic landmarks and other places.  A cool fact about around here, we have the Russell Hotel right down the street from us.  This hotel was the hotel that a lot of the people stayed at the night before they left for the Titanic.  It is a beautiful hotel and really historic.  We had lunch at a standard Italian Restaurant which had lunch for 7 pounds which included salad, main dish and a drink!  Great deal!  After that we went for a walk of the East End of London.  This is the site of alot of immigration for Jews.  He showed us all the Yiddish signs and famous synagogues.  It was very cool. It was cold out and it was a long day so we got tired by the end.

Beca, Laken and I on the East End walk

Once we got back we decided to go out.  All of Lee's friends came over to our place and we hung out in the evening and then they took all of us Americans out to a club.  It was a really cool place, I wasmore interested in the place then anything else!  Thats me!

This morning ( Sunday) we had to start early again.  It was a Royal walk.  We went all around the Royal places ( Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, St James Cathedral etc.).  This was my favorite part so far.  Our tour guide was an adorable British lady who told us all about the history.  We saw the changing of the guards not only at Buckingham Palace but also at St James Cathedral.  The queen was not in the palace at the time, but I am sure I will meet her soon!
We had a cheap lunch at Pret A Mange ( which is a sandwich place) then came back for a group meeting.  It was our last orientation meeting where we were told about our classes and books and stuff.  Now we are tired and relaxing before we go to our FMIR's house ( Faculty member in Residence) for dinner.  Him and his wife are here leading the group and they have us ovr for dinner tonight.  I am hoping it is a nice british cottage!
It has rained alot here randomly during the day.  It is so amazing here!  I have met the most amazing people and have just laughed so much!  It is just great!

Since there is some down time I decided to post!
 I am having the most amazing time here!  Yesterday (Thursday) we had a meeting with CAPA which is the group that sets up our internships at 10 am.  We were told our interview times in this meeting.  My interview happened to be right after the meeting ( its a good thing I can get ready quickly).  So I left to go to my interview with a company called Austin Interior Design.  The tube was easy it is at South Kensington stop which is on the Picadilly Line, the same line as my flat.  Once I get off the excitement begins.  I had a bad map and it was hard to find.  I wandered around and asked about 20 people for directions, but eventually found it!  It took almost an hour to find even though it is a 3 minute walk from the tube stop.
  Austin Interior Design, they used to be a great interior design firm...this lady is an incredible designer but she is older and closeish to retirement.  She is not taking on any new clients and we are just finishing up jobs with old clients and then she told me that where she used to live flooded and she has to re do it all.  This is where I get to help!  I am working alot on her apartment and designing it and putting it all together.  That sounded pretty cool to me!  It seems to be a nice company and the best part is it is casual dress!
  RIght from there I took the tube to meet my camp friend Josh for coffee.  It was nice seeing him and I found my way to exactly where he told me to eat.
  Last night we wanted to go to a nice pub.  We found this pub that was crowded and went in and then realized that all 10 of us could not fit in there so we settled for a more quiet place . It was nice that quiet after we got there!  We had so much fun!
  Today everyone else gets here.  I am about to meet Lee for lunch and I will get my other suitcase! We are going on a walk all afternoon around Bloomsbury and then having dinner with everyone tonight.  Should be another great day!
  I have just had the most amazing few days so far and I cannot wait for many more days :)

Moved In

I am halfway moved into my place!  I brought one suitcase on the tube this morning and I will get my other one later.  The place is so nice.  It is much bigger than I expected.

We have 2 bathrooms, they are nice, 3 rooms ( with 8 girls total in the flat) and a living area and kitchen. It is nice!
These are just some quick pictures I took of it....couldn't get the entire bedroom in one picture so there are 2 pictures of my room, we have 3 of us in here!

We have massive windows overlooking the street and such which is so nice!
We found the massive movie collection that the Madison House has!  Some great British classics!
We had a brief meeting today, we got our phone and our oyster card and some other information.  We have the rest of the day to relax and unpack.  Me and some girls are going to go off exploring later and maybe buy some food.  Tomorrow we have an internship meeting at 10 am to find when we have to interview and stuff.  Should be a great day today!
It is raining here...surprise!
:)

first few days :)

So I will update on my first few days here! It has been amazing!

My flight was fine, the seats next to me were empty so i made myself a bed which was nice!  It was a fine flight and I slept a little but not as much as I would have liked.  Customs was fine, i got a really nice lady and she was really nice!  Lee was there to meet me at the airport and took me back to his house where we relaxed all Saturday.  We went to a cafe for lunch/breakfast ( my times were all off..at this point it was about 6 in the morning US time so breakfast for me).   I napped a little bit then we went out with his friends  which was nice! Love the accents all talking to each other!
Sunday, we went shopping a bit, didn't buy anything!  The mall was just like Montgomery Mall!  We went out to dinner and of course watched football!
Monday, I had a nice relaxing day.  I organized my stuff some, went and did Yoga with Lees mom.  They did the same positions as American yoga which was cool! I held in my laughter because yoga to me is just funny!  It was nice, relaxing and fun!
Today I met up with lee in the city for Lunch.  We had pizza express which is like California Pizza Kithchen.  I went on the tube by myself (obviously with written directions from my worry-some boyfriend) It is really easy to get around.  I then went by Bloomsbury where the Madison House is.  I walked around and found the house and went around to see that part of London.  It is really nice, just walked around then headed back here.
TOmorrow around 11 I will be going to the Madison House and moving in! The exciting times start tomorrow!
Disregard my bad grammar because I am just typing this quickly :)
I have already had an amazing time here!! Cant wait to see what tomorrow brings!

I just got sent my final calendar for my trip, the only way i can attach it is one sheet at a time, i will do my best.
It shows all the classes but the ones i am taking are:

London Theater ( Monday) 

Media and Society ( Tuesday)

Culture by Design ( Tuesday) 

Art History ( Wednesday) 

on this calendar it has under each class a location for our outing, this is where we go to the second half of the class to see what we just learned about.  The Theater class has our shows at night, mostly Monday night but it seems that there are a few on other nights also!  

It pretty much has a day to day of things we are doing, but of course there will be trips and things I do that are not on this calendar, but this is our program!

I couldnt upload a document but if you click on each sheet it gets bigger.  :)

London Preparations!

This blog is going to be an easy way to keep in contact with everyone and for you guys to see what I have been doing.  I will try to post once or twice a week about what I have been doing.  

I leave on January 13th and land at London Heathrow Airport January 14!  The program starts on Wednesday where we will have our individual internship interviews and overviews of expectation.  The students that are not doing an internship ( which is only a few of them) arrive Friday which is when the program officially starts!

The internship I will be doing is with a company called Austin Interior Design, they seem lovely and it should be a great experience!

Right now I am working on packing...all my clothes for 3 1/2 months in 2 suitcases, this is going to be a challenge!  I will keep you posted on how it goes :) 

9 days!