Leaving My Heart in London

I’m officially done with my internship in London. I can’t believe how fast the past two months went by. There’s still so much I want to do in the city and places I wanted to travel to. I guess I’ll just have to come back! It was such an amazing experience. Through college all I ever wanted to do was study abroad in England and when I started my senior year with no solid plans, I began to wonder if I’d ever make it to London. Shout out to Colin Herr for suggesting this program!! I’m really glad I chose to work rather than study. Especially as someone who just graduated, this was amazing to be in a big name PR agency and really see how the industry works.  I’m not sure if PR is in my future career plans, but I really like it. I think I might try a smaller, in-house organization to work in though. The agency world is insane! I was challenged every day at work and some days were definitely more stressful than others. I was so fortunate to have Laura Cooley with me! I couldn’t imagine doing this without another intern. It was so nice to have someone there for help and motivation.

On our last day our office prepared drinks for everyone at the end of the day and gave us a card and we each got a bottle of Champagne! It’s very convenient having a wine brand as one of your biggest clients.  My supervisor was great too. She was so patient with us and gave us work that not many people would trust interns to do. She even left for four days last week and had Laura and I “running the company”, which was a little terrifying. But Rogers and Cowan didn’t fall and we managed to keep up with all the clients and even got some new placement interest! Just as we start to get the hang of it, we leave. I guess that’s how it goes.

My mom arrived in London yesterday and I saw her for a little bit. With the last day and the dinner we had to go to, it was pretty busy so we didn’t have a lot of time to talk.  Tomorrow I think we’re heading to the Tower of London and on Sunday we depart for Dublin on a ferry! I’m really excited to get back to Ireland and see the countryside. I’ve been in the city for so long it’ll be nice to be open spaces and taking a mini road trip around Ireland.

So London, it’s been amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience and I will be back.

First Tango in Paris

It's been a wonderful couple of weeks in London! Last weekend I went to Paris with some of the girls here and it was...different. It was definitely a change from the life I’ve been used to in London. It was the first time I had been somewhere that I had completely no experience with the language and didn’t know what anyone was saying. There were a few girls with us who had been to Paris before and spoke some French so it was nice to have them help the rest of us out, but it was still a challenge. We stayed in the financial district of the city and thanks to one of the girls; her dad got us two nights free at a Hilton using his rewards program.  Although I spent both nights sleeping on the floor with only a towel to use as a blanket, it was nice to be in a hotel rather than a hostel and unsure about who is sleeping across from you. The people weren’t incredibly friendly, but after hearing other people’s experiences in France, I was kind of expecting that. The city itself was beautiful. The architecture and the buildings were so old with intricate details used to decorate them. The food was great and I can say I’ve finally had a crepe and it was delicious! There were so many little cafes lining the streets with food vendors outside selling pastries and croissants. I thought it was interesting that many of these cafes have tables set up outside on the sidewalk, but instead of facing the chairs towards each other, they face them out towards the street so you can sit and people watch while enjoying a glass of wine and a loaf of bread. Speaking of, the bread was amazing! I think with the exception of one actual meal, my diet for the trip was bread and cheese. A French specialty.   Unfortunately the weather was worse than London and we only say rain and wind with just a little bit of sunshine on the last day.

All in all though, it was a great trip. It went really fast, but we managed to fit in everything that we wanted to see with time to spare! The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Moulin Rouge, the metro, the Champs-Élysées. We saw it all! It made me realize I wish I had done more traveling earlier in my trip and that there are so many more places I want to see! But with only one more full weekend left at 9 Frying Pan Alley, I couldn’t be happier staying right in London for this last weekend. When I think about how I’ve been here for two months, I can’t believe it. It has gone by so fast and I’m not ready to go home. I feel like I’ve barely had enough time to explore all of London that I’ve wanted to see; not to mention the rest of Western Europe! In less than a week my mom will be here in London and we’ll be getting ready to head to Ireland for a few days! I’m so excited go back to the Irish countryside and cringe as my mom tries to drive on the wrong side of the road (with a stick shift, no less!). It’s going to be great!

 However, it will be nice to back in Hawkeye Country. I’m looking forward to getting home and grilling, drinking some Coors Light, eating Wheat Thins, watching Dexter and preparing for football season! For all of you still in Iowa this fall, you know I’m already planning some amazing tailgates in my head, so be prepared.

A Swede, An Australian and Two Americans Walk Into A Bar...

Despite a few bumps in the road, I made it to Dublin last weekend! The day started at about 3am for a 6:30 flight. It definitely took a little longer at the airport than we anticipated and at about 6:05 I found myself sprinting through Standsted Airport in order to get to my gate which closed at 6:00. Thankfully I made it with time to spare! But not without falling up an escalator and having little kids point and laugh at me. But, I knew Dublin was worth it. The city was just like I remembered. It was definitely a change from being in London for so long. Where London is huge with people everywhere always rushing to get somewhere, Dublin is more open and not as crowded and definitely cleaner. Although we didn't get out of the city at all, as we were flying in it was so nice to see countryside and hills again! We got into Dublin at about 8:30 and started by just walking around and exploring. One of the things I love about Dublin and Ireland in general is the buildsings are more colorful. You can walk down the street and see shops and businesses in red, yellow, green and blue buildings.

The first place we went to was the Jameson Distillary. I'm not a big whiskey drinker, but it was actually really interesting to see how they make and 'mature' the whiskey, as they say. The alcohol tour continued with a stop at the Guiness factory, but unfortunately another girl and I were nearly broke so we decided to opt out and grab some food. And by food I mean two packages of pita bread, one container of hummus, a box of granola bars, a package of biscuits (aka cookies) and a giant water to share. These were the contents of our meals for Saturday lunch/dinner and Sunday lunch. And it was only 5 euro in all! Thats 2.50 per person! Best shopping I think we've done all trip. As we ate our pitas and hummus on the hop on, hop off tour bus (since we had no where else to go) we felt like we were truly European travelers.

Tesco Feast!

The Temple Bar

We made it to our hostel and it was actually pretty nice as far as hostels go. There were about 20 of us so we were able to get 2 ten person rooms so we didn't have to deal with any shady people sleeping 2 feet away from me. That night we went to the Temple Bar area of Dublin, which is basically like the pedmall of Iowa City, but one thousand times better. There are hundreds of pubs just lined up with live music coming out of all of them. There were people everywhere just meandering in and out of pubs and talking to people on the street. Irish accents everywhere!  : )  We went to one place that had five floors and we ended up on the top balcony looking out over Dublin. We also managed to meet some people from Ohio State who were studying in Dublin.  I think the best part about this trip has been going into all the pubs and meeting so many local Londoners and Dubliners.  They've all been so friendly and eager to talk to Americans. Its been interesting to see their point of view of America what they think of us.  One night a few weekends ago we found a pub that we stayed at for a bit and ended up meeting an Australian, a Swede, an Irishman and a few Brits. It's amazing how diverse London is. I could never get this experience in most places in America, definitely not Iowa.

The trip made me got me really excited when I go back to Ireland in a couple weeks. We'll spend some time in Dublin, where I plan on going to the Guiness Factory and will finally have a pint at the Gravity Bar looking over the city. Last time I was there, I was still too young to drink, even in Europe! After a few days in Dublin, my mom and I are hitting the road to explore the gorgeous country side of Ireland for a week. I've been looking into things I'd like to do when I get there and one thing I found is surfing lessons! There are surfing lessons all along the coast you can take! One of the things on my bucket list is to learn how to surf and what better place than on the coast of the Emerald Isle?

The people I've been sharing my travels with

Only two weeks left in London and making the most of every minute.

Cheers x

The Most Dynamic City in Europe

Found this in The New York Times. .

London - The Global City

News of the World Fiasco

I'm not sure how much of this has been covered in the states, but if you haven't heard what's been unraveling this week at News of the World you should really look into it. Here's a bit of a summary..
News of the World is a Sunday publication published by News Internationl and is a subsidary of News Corporation (aka the press kingdom of Rupert Murdoch). Although it does have the usual crap, celebrity stories, NoW does publish a few good news articles here and there and isn't a tabloid in the American sense of the word.  The publication has been in trouble in the past for hacking into celebrity cell phones to retrieve voicemails and messages for stories. Sienna Miller, a British actress, even sued the publication for hacking into her cell-phone. On Monday, The Guardian, a daily and legitimate newspaper, broke the story that News of the World had hacked into phones of not only the families of victimes of the 2005 bus and tube bombings here in London, but the voicemail of a 13 year-old girl who went missing in 2005 and was later found dead.  They hired people to hack phones just to gain a little information for a tabloid story.  While the young girl was missing, her messages were deleted by hackers, giving her parents hope that she was alive and had access to her phone, which was false. There are also claims that the paper paid off policeman who were involved in the investigation of the girl's murder in order to get information.  Since this story came out on Monday the public has been shocked at the 'cruel' and 'disgusting' acts of the paper. Early in the week, Prime Minister David Cameron, appeared before Parliament and addressed the news, enforcing an intense investigation into News of the World and their actions. As all of this was happening Rupert Murdoch, which is a name many Americans would associate with Fox News, defended those in charge at News International and stated they would cooperate with police in any further investigation.  It all came to a conclusion this afternoon at about 4:30 when they announced News of World would be publishing its last paper this Sunday.  The whole week advertisers were announcing they were pulling out of the paper and I believe there was only one organization who hadn't left before they announced its end.
When the news broke the publication would be closing there were mixed emotions around the office. Although NoW did publish some celebrity trash here and there, there were a lot of opportunities for great coverage for clients at Weber Shandwick.  I'm in no way defending the paper or its actions, but there were accounts expecting coverage this coming weekend.  In my opinion, as a supplement of The Sun, a daily publication in London, I believe the content of NoW will come back to the UK in the near future, just under a different name.  I highly doubt Mr. Murdoch would close one door, without opening another. 

I've never had my heart set on reporting for a newspaper, but as a journalism major I can't believe some people would even consider these kind of actions just to sell a newspaper and make a little money.  Let alone, people would actually carry them out.

If you want to read the story from the source, check it out:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/07/news-of-the-world-to-close

Nothing Says 4th Of July Like A Calypso Band

It's becoming harder and harder to keep everyone updated! Time has been moving so fast, with so much going on that I only just realized I'm heading into my fourth week! That means only four weeks left and with a couple trips approaching, I only have one more full weekend in London. I'm trying not to think about it....
Work has been going great! The first week or so was definitely intense with a lot going on and a lot of hands on experience, but things have started to calm down a bit and I'm feeling more comfortable and confident with the tasks I'm given.  Every once in a while I'll get the typical intern things to do like update a contact list or take stock of a client product, but it's really not bad. I haven't had to run and get coffee yet so I'd say it's been a success! Last week I had the opportunity to sit in on a brainstorming meeting with a few others in the office.  Basically, when a new client comes in, we have to start thinking of ideas to get them coverage through different events, surveys or getting celebrities.  What was cool about the meeting was we were starting with no budget so we could think of the craziest, most expensive and unrealistic ways to bring attention to the client and then kind of tweaked them into ways that would actually work.  It was really interesting to be there at the very beginning of a campaign and see how it all develops from an insane idea to a doable action that the client would be happy with.  Another day, I got to do some editing of a national tv show by cutting out any prop placement for brands that we represent.  The show was called Primeval and it was kind of ridiculous. There were giant bugs and dinosaurs coming out of the ground and wreaking havoc on everything. Really classy. But there were actually some great placements for a couple car and laptop brands that I edited together into a kind of montage and placed on a disc to be sent to the client as proof of revenue for the agency.  I liked that I was able to bring in my love of film to the PR side, even if it was a laughable, sci-fi alien drama. 
On Friday night a few of us decided we wanted to hear some live music so I looked up bars around London and found Auld Shillelagh. It was ranked the best Irish bar in London because of the traditional Irish music.

 It was a little farther than we usually go, but it was amazing! It's in a nice little burrough of London that's still in Zone 2, but a little quieter and not as busy as central London.  The pub was small with some table inside and a pretty nice beer garden (we Iowans love our beer gardens).  The band was three people, a guitar, banjo and fiddle and they sat at a table right across from us. I think they were all from Ireland and they were really nice.  During the break we talked to them for a little bit and I found out one of them had actually been to Iowa while touring with a band! It truly is a small world.  They were really good and it was one of the best nights I've had in London. Especially with my first Dublin trip coming up this weekend, it got me really excited to head back to the Emerald Isle. 

 So far this week has been great! Although being stuck in an office surrounded by British people on the 4th of July wasn't my ideal choice, I did manage to find some Coors Light and we had a little celebration in Spitalfields that night. Nido, our residence building, attempted to throw a 4th of July party, but the calypso music, chips and salsa, swedish wine and half grilled burgers they provided didn't exactly feel very American. I've already decided a buger from McDonald's will probably be the first thing I eat when I get back to the states.  

Dublin in 3 days!!! Paris in 9!!! It's going to be a brilliant couple of weeks!

London Town

Duke of Wellington (aka Duke's), one of our local hangouts. Home of the cheapest pint we've found. Their beer garden makes me think of Bros.

Abbey Rd. and the infamous crosswalk

Just some of the graffiti that lines the side of Abbey Rd.

Windsor Castle, where the Queen considers her home.

And yes, she was in residence while we were there!

Windsor with some of the girls

My friend, Cara, and I on the 32nd floor looking over Spitalfields

Dylan, Wimbledon, Abbey Rd...livin the dream

Another week in London and I'm definitely enjoying every minute. On Monday and Tuesday, Weber Shandwick sent me to Wimbledon to do some publicity work and help out with an event they were putting on for their client Pernod Ricard, an alcohol distributer.  Jacob's Creek wine is the official wine of Wimbledon so we were out among the people waiting in the queue for tickets.  I had to try and get people to play a game of swing ball while they waited to earn vouchers for free wine when they got in the park.  The game is comparable to tether ball, only there's a tennis ball on the end of the string and the players get paddles to hit the ball around.  At first it was a challenge to get people to play, some were afraid they'd lose their spot in line.  To get more involvement, I even offered to save their spot and queue for them while they played. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to go inside and see a match, but it was really cool to be around the environment and get out of the office for a bit.  It reminded me of tailgating season on Melrose.  Although there wasn't a sea of black and gold, when you step out of the tube station there are packs of people walking down one little street towards the stadium. There are street vendors selling food and yelling you, and people walking around with open bottles of wine! All and all, it was a successful event for the company, the client was happy and we got a lot of coverage. 

Our swing ball set-up at Wimbledon!

Last weekend I started thinking about everything I want to do while I'm here and I officially booked a trip to Paris and Dublin! I'm already heading to Ireland with my mom and a few family friends at the beginning of August, but with the flight as cheap as it was and a majority of the students from Iowa going, I couldn't pass it up.  We'll be leaving in two weeks, early Saturday morning and coming back Sunday night. A very quick trip, but I'm excited to be in Dublin with some people my own age and of course be legal in the bars, something I had to work around the last time I was there.  Then the weekend after that I'm taking the Eurostar on Friday night to Paris! I'm going with about six other girls from Iowa and I'm really excited!! I don't know any French, but a few of the girls have been there before and know a little bit of the language.  Including these two trips, I realized that after today I only have three weekends left in London!
Today I'm going to Abbey Road and an art exhibition about The Doors; very much a 60's kind of day. Then a traditional Irish pub for dinner and listen to some Irish music tonight. I've been looking around for a good music festival and it seems like there's a festival or at least a concert every night of the week in London. Last Saturday we ended up going to a small festival in Green Park with Bob Dylan! We didn't go in, but we found a place to sit in the park, outside of the venue where we could still hear and enjoyed a little Dylan for a while.  So now I can say I've heard Dylan live! For free!
Time is going by so quickly and I don't want to leave! Everyday I sit at my desk and look out at my view and I can't believe I live here.  I love everything about this place. I love the people and the style. The man who stands on the corner everyday handing out papers, smiling and saying 'Good morning!' to everyone who passes by. I love taking the tube to work (even though many times I have to hold my breath from the smell) and being with all the other Londoners starting their day. I never thought I could see myself living in a big city, definitely not New York or L.A. or somewhere like that, but London I can.  And the thought of living in a place where Paris and Irealand can be a weekend getaway? Amazing. 
Thursday night, being the good Iowa kids that we are, we snuck into the sky lounge on the 32nd floor of Nido for a little pre-gaming festivities. The view was crazy! We had a panaramic view of the city right at sunset and it was gorgeous! Of course my awful camera skills don't give it justice, but here's an idea of what we were looking out at:

 Looking out over Spitalfields (East London)



Can't wait to see what the next five weeks will bring.

Cheers!

From Press Release to Published Article!

I helped get this article published! As part of the calling project I did for Weber Shandwick, I called various papers around London to follow up on a press release we did about EDF and a study they did on different English soap operas. EDF is an energy company in the UK and they're also one of the partners for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.  I know, I know, it isn't the most riveting or hard news story you'll find and it isn't in the New York Times, but I don't care! Check it out:

Eastenders Wins Greenest Soap!

PR is madness...and I love it

I successfully finished my first week of work in London! I'm officially an intern at Weber Shandwick and Rogers and Cowan, two PR sister companies that have offices in London and the US.  It's the most intense and exciting job I've had.  I'm doing various jobs for different accounts the company has and helping out with anything they need; such as updating media contacts, taking inventory of stock and researching audiences for each client through social media.  I think the job I liked the most was calling different newspapers in London and pitching stories that were relevant to our clients to get coverage.  The PR industry moves so fast and there's always something someone needs help with.  Most of the time, someone will come up to me with something they need done by the end of the day so it forces you to work fast and really manage your day.  For Rogers and Cowan, who takes care of more things associated with the entertainment industry, I was calling different film and television productions around Europe to see if they were interested in any product placement for the clients we represent.  One morning, in the span of twenty minutes, I had talked to someone in England, Scotland and Germany and called a production that has Tom Hanks and Natalie Portman involved! I'll also begin to get some hands-on experience working with the clients starting this week when I go to Wimbledon for a couple days to do some publicity work! Weber Shandwick represents an alcohol brand that is the official wine for the upcoming tennis tournament and we'll be putting on a couple events early this week.  Everyone in the office has been great and really nice. I'm surrounded by so many accents and I hear 'cheers' and 'brilliant' about twice a minute.  Oddly enough the guy who sits right next to me, Joe, is from Chicago and just moved to London in March. It's nice to have an American to talk about the states with and see how he likes living in London. Overall, I'd say it's going to be a crazy summer and the most challenging thing I've done, but I can't wait!

This weekend Christine Gable and Mike Summers are in town as they end their trek around Europe so I think we're going to explore London for a bit. So far I haven't been very homesick (other than the occasional craving for Falbos), but it was so nice to see some faces from home!

Hope everyone is well!

Home Away From Home

I've been in London for one week and I already feel like I can call this place home.  I'm pretty confident reading the tube and I even have a go-to pub! Thursday night, I went to The Ten Bells with some other Iowa students I'm here with. It's a good place to go for a few pints with a fun atmosphere and is located in Spitalfields just a couple blocks away from where we're staying.  Historically, I learned Spitalfields is the area where Jack the Ripper killed his victims and two of the women actually worked at The Ten Bells! The pub has been there since 1752 and although it was called Jack the Ripper in the 80's, they changed back to the original name.  Our first night there we met local Londoners, an Irish bartendar and even some Parisians! A prime example of the many different cultures you can find all over London.  We've decided it'll be a good place to go for a beer after a day at work, which seems to be done everyday around here.  At about 5 or 6 all the pubs get busy with everyone getting off work and ready to have a drink with friends and co-workers.  You can walk a city block, go past three pubs and they will all be bursting with people in business suits standing outside on the street corner just having a pint. Since there aren't any open container laws in London, you can stand outside on the street with a beer until 11pm.  I'm interested to see what its like working in an office and what the social behavior is like when going out to a pub with your boss and co-workers.

On Saturday, we went on an amazing tour of Westminster.  I had never been inside and it was beautiful, its amazing to think how old it is and how they were able to build it so well that its still standing today.  It was also cool to see exactly where William and Kate where when they got married. Yup, I got up to watch the wedding last month and was able to see that whole building in person.  After the tour we went on a River Cruise on the Thames to Greenwhich, the sights were great and I really liked the Greenwhich area.  A nice little area with a lot of shops and traditional English restaurants.
I did manage to try McDonalds already and it wasn't too bad.  There's a little different taste to the ketchup, but the chicken selects tasted pretty much the same.  I heard the burgers were a little different and the portions for everything are smaller, but it was good to have something familiar.  I've had to get used to the fact that there aren't any free-refills and some places even charge you for tap water.  There are definitely some differences, but nothing that has really been a huge surprise. 
Tomorrow will be my first day working and I'm feeling really good about it! I'm excited to meet everyone and get started.  I think starting a daily routine will get me feeling like a real Londoner.  : )

Seeing the Sights

It's been a busy couple of days so far and I've already seen and done so much! On Tuesday we had an orientation with EUSA and met a lot of students from other American universities; Kansas, Texas A&M and USC.  We also did a walking tour of London and saw a lot of the major sights.  It was crazy to be standing in front of Westminster Abbey when a few weeks earlier I had gotten up at 4 in the morning to watch the wedding there.  Here's a little bit of what I saw:

Westminster

Big Ben and Parliament

The road leading to the palace. You can see Buckingham at the very end.

Trafalgar Square

My tube station!

On Wednesday, I went to meet with Rogers and Cowan for the first time and I'm so excited for my job! I'll be working with another girl from Texas A&M who is with EUSA as well and she's really nice.  It'll be reassuring to know there is someone else there going through the same experience. My supervisor's name is Kate Kelly and she's really fun. She said there's a lot going on in the office in the upcoming months so it sounds like I'll have a lot to do and experience a lot of different jobs with product placement and PR.  Some of the clients she named that they represent are Lotus (a popular British car company),  Make a Wish Foundation, and various British actors and television/movie studios.  Although she dropped a lot of  names, I didn't recognize a lot of them.  She did talk about taking me to meetings with clients such as going to movie/tv sets and I'm so excited for that! That'd be amazing to be on the set of a movie in production. I think it'll be a challenge, but I'm ready for it and I can't wait to get started. 

Last night we went to a party at a club called Foundation in Convent Garden that EUSA had for all the students that are here.  It was really fun! Definitely a big city kind of a place.  After that a few of us went to another club in the same area which reminded me a lot of Union back in IC.  It was fun to see Londoners around our age and see how they interacted.  We ended up having to take a cab home and I swear for as far as we had to go and how many people we had, it was a lot cheaper than the cabs in Iowa City!

Today, I think I'll explore around Spitalfiends for a bit and then tomorrow we're starting our British Culture course with a trip to the National Museum and then a dinner for Iowa students at night.  I'm looking forward to everyhting and I'll definitely be keeping everyone updated on the adventures.

Kelly

Finally Here!

I made it! After a four and a half hour drive to Chicago and an eight hour flight, I finally landed in London! Initially, I was most nervous about finding my way with all of my luggage to where I was staying.  I'm sure I looked like a fool while pulling a huge, green suitcase and trying to heave it up and down multiple flights of stairs in the middle of Paddington Station and then again as I pulled them along on the streets of London to try and find Nido as it started to rain.  But I didn't care. As soon as I go off at the Liverpool Street station and could see the city it didn't even matter that I was wet or going in the complete opposite direction of where I needed to be. I was surrounded by red double decker buses, british accents and went by a telephone booth or two.  All my nerves were gone and I was just happy to be back in the city I love. 
When I finally got to Nido, I was greeted by Adam, someone who works at EUSA and who has been helping us get settled.  He's so nice and polite and his accent is precious.  He said 'Cheers!' about three times in 5 minutes when talking to me and I about died. 
Nido is pretty similar to a residence hall, but we each have our own room and bathroom and I share a kitchen area with another student from Iowa.  The windows in all of the rooms are from floor to ceiling so you can see the whole city! Here are a few pics:

I went grocery shopping today and I'm going to have to get used to the fact that they don't have peanut butter, wheat thins or ranch here. Devastating.  But I managed to pick up a few things, including pasta for only 32 pence! Crazy deal. 
I'm definitely going to like Spitalfields (which is in the eastern part of central London) and I can't wait to go exploring in the rest of the city.

Cheers!

My New Job!

I finally received details about my internship placement today! I'll be working at Rogers and Cowan, an entertainment Public Relations agency.  For more info....

http://www.rogersandcowan.com/Default.aspx

With offices in Los Angeles, New York and London, Rogers and Cowan is an internationl agency that has worked with film festivals, film publicity, music publicity, basically anything in sports and entertainment! I'll be helping out with press releases, researching for different PR campaigns, cordinating events and working with clients in the film and tv industry.  I was so happy when I was given my placement and I know its going to be a great experience to learn what it's like to work in public relations.  Not to mention, the film/entertainment industry is what I've always wanted to be involved in.  With only 3 days until I leave and this amazing placement, I've never been more ready to get to London!

Two Weeks!!

The official countdown has begun!! In exactly two weeks I'll be on a plane about 4 hours from London! I received the address and information on where I'll be staying so if anyone is in town or wants to visit, you'll know where to find me. Feel free to write as well! Who doesn't love getting mail, right?   : )


9 Frying Pan Alley
Spitalfields
London E1 7HS


The building is called Nido and houses student interns from all different countries. It's 35 stories so it looks like I'll have an amazing view of the city!  Here's a photo I found, Nido is the tall building in the center.

My London To Do List...So far

·         Go on the London Eye

·         See the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace

·         Go to a pub with a live British band

·         Visit ‘The Church’ (An all-day drinking extravaganza!)

·         Go to Liverpool to see Matthew St. and The Cavern Club

·         Sit and read in Hyde Park

·         Visit the Tate Modern Art Museum

·         Go to the Harry Potter premiere

·         Shop at the different street markets

·         Have afternoon tea

·         See a show in the theatre district

·         Visit Cambridge, an English college town

·         Have a pint with the locals

Weekend Trips

·         Amsterdam

·         Dublin

·         Paris

Other suggestions?

One Step Closer...

Just ordered my one way plane ticket to London!! Yes, I did say one way. Right now, my mom is thinking of meeting me in London at the end of my stay, then flying to Ireland for a few days and heading home from there.  Although everything is still up in the air as to when I'll be back, I should see the states again around the beginning of August.  Don't worry, I'll be back....eventually.   : )

How I start my day...

London Calling!

As some may know, I'll be spending my summer in London and wanted to document my time there for all.  I know its a little premature considering I don't leave until June 5th, but I couldn't contain my excitement!

Some details...
I'll be living in central London for two months while working 4 days a week in an internship.  I haven't been placed in a position yet, but I should know by May where exactly I'll be working.  In my first initial interview a few days ago, I talked about what I'm most interested in doing so the program could find a placement that would be a good fit for me.  My ideal job would be working in public relations within the film industry or for a performing arts venue, which they said has a lot of options.
I'm also planning on traveling as much as possible when I'm there. Right now my three for sure desitnations are Paris, Amsterdam (both of which I've never been) and a return trip to Dublin.  I went to Ireland and London when I was in high school, fell in love and I've wanted to go back ever since. If any other European travelers have suggestions for places to go or any advice, let me know!
I know my page isn't much yet, but I'll keep posting a few things as June gets closer. And once I'm there I'll keep you updated on all the happenings. I hope everyone checks it out!