fast times in the big city

Today I realized how nice it really is to be living here. I decided to walk from my interview (more on that later) to the Tate Modern (for class- more on that later too) and it took me about an hour, all through the city. It's really an incredibly beautiful place, and the differences between neighborhoods are brilliant. I feel like I'm repeating our orientation lecture when I say things like this, but the dichotomy of the old, old architecture with the newer structures is great. Really great. Like, I walked an hour in heels and a dress and got lost multiple times and was still happy. It helps that it was beautiful outside, I suppose. I'm loving the lack of rain (knock on wood).

Anyways, my interview. I have a lot of problems blogging about work situations (for many reasons), so it'll have to suffice to say that I had an interview for my formal placement and it went pretty well. The women I interviewed with seem nice, and they were really pleased that I know how to use Flash and Photoshop, etc. I think there's a lot of potential for working on projects bigger than just my day-to-day duties, which is one of the perks of working somewhere so new (the site I'll be working on just launched last fall). I made it clear (I hope) that I really want to be involved in the whole team and everything going on, and they said that they always have interns and always give them a lot of responsibility and a lot of opportunity, so that sounds good. 

One of the big highlights for me is the location of the office- it's right on the edge of Covent Garden and the theatre district (apparently called Theatreland, which I thought was a joke, but that's what it's called on maps and street signs). The surrounding neighborhood is filled with amazing shops and restaurants and beautiful architecture. The building I'm working in isn't as fabulous as the Boston Mag building, but it'll do. (It's under construction currently, so maybe that will change.) All in all, I feel both very old and very very young all at the same time, which is kind of what always happens to me at interviews.

^tate modern

^ I love this sign. Temporary Eyesore. Only in the UK.

The afternoon was spent at the Tate with my theatre class, touring the permanent galleries to observe the "performance" of the artwork. (Don't ask.) It was nice to be back there because I've always loved the converted warehouse space. Plus, they have a great little bookshop (as my professor would say) and a lot of interesting things to see. There are also a lot of things that are so not up my alley, so our discussion of the galleries next Monday should be interesting.

^ love this painting... i think it's the typography. Albert Oehlen's Loa.



^ this proves the judy black theorem: "bigger is always better."

Last night our class went to see Duet for One at the Almeida Theater with Juliet Stevenson. (I had to look at the program to see what she's been in- I recognized her but couldn't place the face, and it was driving me crazy. If you're wondering, she was the gay professor in Mona Lisa Smile and Keira Knightley's mom in Bend it Like Beckham.) The theater is a converted church, and an incredibly beautiful space. Of course, we walked in on a beautiful set and fantastic lighting, so I was predisposed to like the show from the start. Everyone else seemed to dislike it, but I generally enjoyed myself... maybe because I tend to base only part of my judgement on the acting. Great tech could take me through almost any show.

Etc. etc. etc... we've formally booked our tickets for Wales this weekend, so I'll be in Cardiff for Saturday and Sunday. Should be fun! It'll be good to start off the travelling with somewhere close by.

exhaustion

Well, we're certainly nearing that point of exhaustion, where I just can't force myself to get up from my desk. 

The last few days have been eventful, but not too crazy, I'd like to think. Recap:

Thursday wrapped up our week of classes (love this schedule!) with a ridiculous journalism class. We discussed the uses of the internet, as planned, but then we were lectured for two hours on the duties of the Queen. Relevant? Not really. Interesting? Marginally. We finally escaped to go food shopping and head home. Went out to dinner at an adorable and very... intense Italian restaurant down the street with Natasha and Julie, then hopped a few stops over on the Tube to meet some LAMDA students for drinks. Always a good time.

A few shots from our [wet and rainy] walk home from class:

Friday was Julie's birthday, and we were set on a mission to make every moment special. (Yes, those were our words.) Natasha came over early, and the three of us grabbed Scott (from down the hall) and went to brunch, where Julie had amazing-looking Belgian waffles and I had a goat cheese/red pepper/sundried tomato sandwich... everyone was happy. We moved on to one of the top destinations of the day, Harrods- the one place in London that Julie had been "waiting 21 years to visit." It was insane- both monstrous and extremely beautiful. It's completely different from any kind of large department store in the States; it was divided into many smaller rooms instead of just spreading across one long room. I didn't take a lot of photos inside for fear of losing my dignity or being attacked by security, but it's certainly something to see. Afterwards, we shopped around a little bit in Knightsbridge before heading to the Orangery for tea. After Gabby and I had such a good time there years ago, I thought it would be the perfect place for birthday tea, and I was so right. It's walking distance from us, in an old building next to Kensington Palace, inside Kensington Gardens. It's the kind of place that feels very royal and exclusive until you're pleasantly surprised that tea is only three pounds. Excellent.

Harrods:

Orangery:

ONE guy, feeding all the swans in Kensington Gardens:

After a dramatic adventure (we were lost AND late) from tea to the Tube, Julie and I picked up some birthday cake and "champagne" (cheap but TERRIBLE sparkling wine) and joined everyone back at Sorbonne for a pre-dinner party. After much deliberation, a group of us headed to a Lebanese restaurant (Julie's favorite) in Piccadilly Circus, where I had perhaps the best food since I've been here. We all shared their homemade garlic hummus, and it really was the best. Ever. Anyways, we met up with the rest of everyone, who had been celebrating someone else's birthday, at Tiger, Tiger, a nearby club for the rest of the night. Long day, but a good birthday, I think.

Today we slept in before heading to Oxford St to go shopping, forgetting that Saturday afternoon is the worst time to be stuck in the crowds there. To make matter worse, much of the subway system is closed this weekend, so the line we did make it onto was packed. We both ended up buying things we needed/wanted (t-shirts, webcam, necklace, etc) but collapsed from exhaustion when we got back. I just made some chicken that I had been marinating for a little longer than planned (we just kept going out for dinner! oops.) and now we're sitting around, tired as ever. Oh, we also had lunch at this restaurant that clearly was trying to imitate some kind of American place- very like Fridays, which was a little disturbing - but they didn't get the memo about imitating the kind of service in American restaurants, because we were clearly ignored by our waitress for most of the time we were there. Even funnier was that I had a wrap that was extremely similar to the veggie wraps in the Wang Center (any Wellesley people reading this totally know what I'm talking about). Weird experience.

We are trying to make some upcoming travel plans, including Wales (Cardiff) next weekend. I'm hoping to make it to Ireland to visit Gabby the following weekend, but I'm not sure yet that the travel is possible. It's something to finalize tomorrow, I suppose. I'm also off to another play for class on Monday night, and I have my interview with Bauer Media on Tuesday morning. Oh, and a class tour of the Tate Modern with our professor on Tuesday afternoon; plus, our Wednesday class is going to see Frost/Nixon. Should be a good week! Even better, the end of this week means that it's no longer our week to clean the kitchen- maybe I'll feel a little less like everyone's mother when I'm not washing the kitchen's entire dish collection every day!

it's been so long!

I feel like so much has happened since I last posted, but it's only been a few days. Time passes much more slowly here than anywhere else; I suppose that's for the best. It's also strange to me how quickly I've gotten back into this blogging thing... I'm constantly thinking of things I want to write about. It's both overwhelming and inspiring.

Anyways, I should get down to it. 

On Monday and Tuesday I had my theatre class, and it's really quite provocative. We covered more in those eight hours than I can even remember. We went to a "performance" on Monday evening that was, in my opinion, closer to a circus than a theatre production, though I was a big fan of the technical aspects. Tuesday night I went with Steph (who lives three floors below me) to see a more "normal" show, which was really great. (I'm a huge tool for thinking about this, and everyone has told me so, but it was the best-timed show, stage-manager-wise, that I've ever seen. I was very impressed.) Of course, the acting was also superb, the whole thing was very witty, and it was extremely timely, considering it's about the pressures of investment banking and the short-selling of bonds, etc.

After the show we wanted to join everyone in Piccadilly Circus, so we attempted to walk over; after successfully hitting Leicester Square, however, we missed a turn and ended up in Trafalgar Square, which is not on the way. We did make it over eventually, and ended up getting a nice tour of the center of the city along the way. (see photos at the end of this entry.) London is a great walking city- everything is so flat that you could walk forever and not get tired. Plus, I love my new sneakers. They're doing so well!

Tuesday, of course, was also the presidential inauguration; we left class early to watch the BBC coverage with the rest of the program and have free pizza. Even I found the whole ceremony to be very moving, especially the end of Obama's speech. It was the first time since I've been here that I've actually been proud to be an American. (ohhh I did NOT intend to make a reference to that song, but there's no other phrasing to use.) Usually I try to keep my very American accent to myself while I pretend that I'm British or something... but I think things will feel less uncomfortable now that it's clear America wants to change. At least, I hope so. 

All of London seems to be very caught up in the change-over, which I find very interesting. I've noticed, actually, that the British seem to be very focused on their place in the world; a huge topic of discussion is England's relationship to the rest of Europe and their relationship to the States. Major decisions and alliances are based upon who wants to truly join with the EU or who supports America. To me, it's such a huge contrast to the States, where the focus seems to be on the relations among Americans... we make decisions and alliances based more on how we feel about race relations, class relations, and other structures within the country, not outside of it. But perhaps that's off-topic; all I meant to say is that it's nice to be able to say President Obama.

^one room of BU students watching the inauguration on one little TV; you can almost tell that it's Obama!

Today we switched over to our core class, and it was quite an interesting one. We're really starting to hit the conversation of how newspapers are adapting to the internet, which is... interesting to witness. We had a guest speaker, an older man who has apparently played a huge role in the British newspaper scene. He seemed totally convinced that newspapers would be around forever and stay dominant forever, etc. etc., but I couldn't trust his judgement when he seemed to have no conception of what we kids are doing on the internets these days, if you know what I mean. Our professor is far more in tune with us, I think, but he's having us prepare for tomorrow's class by thinking about why we use the internet and what we use it for. Maybe it's just my background, but I really think that for our generation, the internet isn't something that we use with a mission. It's something that we're always connected to and always aware of, not just a tool that we sometimes check the news on. Having a conversation where the outcome is supposed to be "a greater awareness and knowledge about the usefulness of the internet" just seems silly to me... but again, maybe that's just me. I suppose having such convictions about it will help me write my 2,000 word paper "about the uses of the internet" later on. 

On the home front, Chelsea and Natasha are both out of the room (well, not all of Natasha's things) so Julie and I are doing some reorganizing and cleaning. We have such a huge amount of space for the two of us, probably about three times the space of any double here. As sad as it was to see the two of them leave, it's kind of exciting to have such a large space to live (and entertain) in. 

Well, more later... I should probably do some of my assigned reading. Sorry to talk on and on so much, but I haven't found a better outlet for all of my thoughts yet. 

Night photos from the last few days:

blogsend

Just discovered that I can put email addresses into a BlogSend form, which means that you'll get an email when I update- then you don't have to check the site all the time, at least. If anyone wants me to stick their email addresses in (Mom?) then just shoot me an email.

Okay then, off to get ready for class and our show at the ICA.

views from around the neighborhood

A few miscellaneous shots from around South Kensington:

Kensington Gardens, etc.

Nice lazy Sunday. Took a long walk up through Kensington Gardens and down Kensington High Street (nearest place with all of the big name brand shops- H&M, Topshop, Whole Foods, Zara, etc. etc. etc.) ending in a stop at Sainsbury's both to pick things up for the sick roommates (soup, cough syrup) and to finally buy some towels. Sauteed some peppers and onions for dinner. Read Look Back in Anger for class on Tuesday. It's now finally 11PM, and we can access the blocked portions of the internet! Hallelujah! Good day, all in all.

Kensington Gardens:

Well, it's finally the weekend!

[note: I already wrote this post once and it got deleted, so I apologize for the brevity the second time around. Long things getting deleted is the most frustrating thing ever, am I wrong?]

Today Julie, Chelsea and I took advantage of our day off to get out and actually do something; we ventured over to Portobello Road for some shopping and a late lunch. It was a lot of fun to get out and go shopping, spending time just hanging out. (I bought scarves and postcards; both predictable and cheap.) Even though we were surrounded by tourists, it was really nice to finally, finally get out.

We then came back to cook dinner, and I successfully made pasta with broccoli and chicken. Next time I'm going to move up the ladder into peppers and onions, I think, even though peppers are a little more expensive. I've informed everyone here that I'm going to keep cooking dinner for them until I perfect my made-up recipes from last summer; when I finally make something that looks good, I'll take some pictures to share. We had a cute little dinner, and then attempted to go out for coffee... but our efforts were thwarted by rain and wind, so we ended up just having coffee/tea/chocolate and biscuits in the flat. We just went online to buy tickets to Roaring Trade (through BU) for this Tuesday, so that should be a good time too.

Backtracking a little bit...

I finally had my theatre class on Friday, and our professor is incredibly intense. (He's a director/professor almost so unpretentious that he's pretentious, if you know what I'm getting at.) It's very interesting to be taking both journalism and theatre; they're two subjects that I'm so easily sucked into because of the romantic way everyone talks about them. Both professors talked on and on about their past careers and adventures and how amazing their experiences have been; it's just so much more... romanticized than say, economics. That's probably why I like my classes so much more than many of my friends here and why I'm always to inspired to do something (anything!) at the end of class. I always leave with this aching urge to really pursue something. Both classes have really fulfilled my need for mental activity that I was discussing before, and it makes my week so much better.

A few more things to add:

1. My theatre professor told me that he cries during "One Day More" whenever he sees Les Mis, and now he might be my favorite person of all time.

2. He also read a portion of Revolutionary Road aloud at the end of class (in the most soothing British accent) and it was beautifully written. It really made me want to get the whole book; has anyone read it?

3. We went back to Imperial College last night for a... quite exciting Friday night, so you should let me know if you're interested in the details.

^the night-time view of the National History Museum as taken from our window.

Well, many exciting things today. I should probably make a list.

1. Classes started today with session one of our core class (we have session one of our elective A tomorrow).  My professor seems really great; he's from New Zealand and worked at the BBC for twenty some-odd years and really knows his stuff. He's lively enough that our four hour (I know, right?) class doesn't seem quite as long. Well, maybe the real kicker was that he gave us a half hour break in the middle to go to Pret for some sandwiches. I love Pret. A lot. Anyways. The class is going to be great because the real focus (beyond the general umbrella of "British News Media, Culture, and Society") is the influence of the internet on the media and how news is spread across the internet, which is almost exactly what I want to do my thesis on next fall. Excellent.

1a. We also got to watch the half-hour PMQ (Prime Minister's Questions) in class from yesterday, and it was brilliant. (Basically, the PM fields questions from the whole House of Commons, mostly from his opposition, for half an hour and let's just say... it gets pretty heated. Very entertaining. Apparently it's on CSPAN back in the states- I highly recommend it.) It's clearly better to any kind of press conference Bush has done, but I'm not convinced it's really the best form of debate; there was more shouting and jeering than actual discourse. 

2. I bough graph paper pads for my classes with perforated smooth 22lb paper and beautiful black covers that fold back perfectly. Someone out there will understand how excited I am, right? (The stationary store with the notepads also has some excellent postcards... so perhaps I'll send some out someday.)

3. Had an interview with my internship rep woman (another excellent five minute interview) in  which she told me things that I already know... but I'm still on for my placement, which is great. A lot of people seem to not have been placed yet, which would have made me so anxious. I'm happy to know what's going on and that I'm working at such a reputable/cool place, even if it is slightly like a certain job I already have.

4. Last night we went back to the pub/club/bar at Imperial College, which is the big university just down the street from us. It's always a good time; super cheap and crowded with people our age. We met their drinking club and watched them puke into their victory bucket (more like epic fail than victory, in my opinion) and then hung around in the pub area. There was supposed to be a big party going on in the club, but we walked in and it was pretty empty. Plus, it smelled/sounded/etc. like an MIT frat... so that was not a good sign. All in all a good night, though. A lot of us from the house are starting to hang out as a big group, so that's nice.

I have my modern theatre seminar tomorrow (yess!) so that's VERY exciting. We get at least four tickets to different shows around the city over the next five weeks, so I can't wait to get more information. There's also a big full-program party in Covent Garden tonight, so that should be interesting.

more of the same

Well, today was more of the same orientation excitement; we sat through five lectures on British culture, politics, economics, etc. One of my professors lectured on the history of London (most illustrating everything with art history) and she seemed to really know her stuff, so I'm quite excited for her class. We also have decided to incorporated the word "knockered"  into our vocabulary (means tired- they used it to describe us throughout the day), because it sounds so great with the accent (knock-ahd). 

Last night we just stayed in and hung out in our (newly discovered) lounge after eating some amazing pre-prepared soup for dinner. It was nice to just sit around and talk with a bunch of people from around the house; we have big (probably too big) plans to do everything. Don't know where we'll end up tonight... Julie apparently has some kind of dinner invitation from a local rabbi for tomorrow night so this week could get pretty interesting. Classes start tomorrow!

orientation: in which they assume the worst about us

Back for more!

We're still knee-deep in orientation; all we seem to be learning about is how to sleep through a lecture. Really, these lectures are aimed at the biggest douchebags and the most unintelligent among us. For the whole morning, we talked about how to be nice to our RAs and how to not give people a hard time. (seriously? we're not supposed to yell at the staff? i had no idea.) Then we spent the afternoon learning the history of England- literally defining terms like "England" and "The British Isles." Maybe if I hadn't taken a class in Irish history last semester it would have been a tad more interesting, but instead I could only point out things that they were saying that were wrong. (typical Wellesley-style.) 

On a more exciting front, the food shopping and wandering the neighborhood is going quite well; we've successfully made various sorts of pasta, soup, drinks, etc. Natasha (roommate three of three) is trying to get us to try her Marmite (she's actually British) but I'm not giving in. I've been tricked into things like that before, and it didn't end well. 

We've also gone out for the last two nights to various pubs with the whole group, so that's been fun. There was a pub quiz last night that we lost miserably, coming in last... but we weren't exactly paying attention, so I suppose that's what we get.

Backtracking a little bit for those who are actually interested... Yesterday was the start of orientation, before we hit the boring lectures, so the whole group went on a (badly timed) boat ride down the (entire) Thames- it was raining and cold and slow, so we pretty much all fell asleep. That was our one big adventure out of Kensington for the last few days, because we've been pretty confined to our neighborhood. Once we get into a routine, I think we'll have more time to adventure around- we'll definitely be going around more this weekend.

Grey pictures from the boat ride:

The funniest thing about the last two days is that I've realized what a huge dork I am; I'm actually looking forward to classes and it's causing me to really miss the (insane) culture at Wellesley. I miss talking about class and work, you know, being mentally busy. Ah, well. It'll change once orientation is over; I'm sure I'll wish I had less work and more time to explore by the end of the week.

Photos of the room (complete with roommates) are coming soon, promise. We're all getting along well and the room, though getting more crowded, is working out totally fine.

arrival!

Well, I'm finally here- all in once piece and with all my baggage. The flight was interesting, to say the least; the last six or so rows of the plane were all students on the group flight. I didn't get a lot of sleep- the flight was highlighted by a guy in the row in front of me having a medical emergency and yelling "help!" really loudly in the middle, causing all the lights to go on for the rest of the flight. Didn't help to be sitting in the middle of the center row- next time I'll remember to ask for a less irritating seat. Oh, and the turbulence didn't really help matters either. It was a good idea to put a masking tape X on the bag, though- made baggage claim way easier.

Chelsea (roommate one of three) was on the flight with me, so we met up at the baggage claim and took a cab together to our flat. Expensive, but totally worth it- we were so out of it that we didn't even recognize the building when he dropped us off; I don't think we would have made it here if we were navigating on our own. We explored the building, played around in our room, discovered that the internet doesn't really work, and failed to set up our phones before each taking a nap for an hour and then unpacking all our stuff. Julie (roommate two of three) just got here, and is unpacking now.

The room is great (in my opinion, which isn't much, considering the housing I've had at Wellesley). It's pretty big for four people and has huge windows and lots of light, as well as a great view of the national history museum. We have a little bathroom to ourselves and then there's a kitchen down the hall and down some stairs. Pictures are forthcoming, of course.

We're going on a walking tour in an hour and then we have a flat meeting for two hours (and we thought our hall meetings at Wellesley were long/bad, gosh). I'm planning on sleeping as soon as possible tonight because my brain feels like mush. We don't start classes until Thursday, so that's plenty of time to settle in and run around- no need to do it tonight.

setting this up

I've been thinking about having a blog while I'm abroad (less forward than emails, plus I don't need to keep typing in addresses). It's tough, because it's hard to figure out who your audience is and what, therefore, you should be saying. Also, too many bloggers are far too pretentious for my taste. I mean, I assume most of you know me. Plus, I'm not out to find my inner self- just out to have a good time. 

However. I do have a special gmail account for the trip (thank you, BU) and so I created a simple blogger blog (ha) on a whim. Reminds me of my wordpress blog, but so much easier.

I leave in three days. Packing looms ahead. 50 lbs or it's a no-go. I'll keep you updated.