One Last Taste of London

Covent Garden street performers entertain and interact

I've been home now for a few days and enjoyed some good food with my family for Thanksgiving. But after going through the photos that I took in London I realize how beautiful of a city it is, how much I enjoyed my time there and how I already miss it. I tend to like big cities but I realize think what sets London apart from other metropolises is the enormous variety of culture, food, and activities it has to offer. In leaving London I already miss walking past the huge Mosque in Reagent's Park on a sunny day, admiring the smells and tastes of Chinatown, and observing the alternative culture that fills the streets of Camden Town on a Saturday night.

There is also a great amount of creativity in the city, which can be seen in the British Museum, the Tate Modern and even on the street. Here at home there isn't much to do on a free Sunday afternoon, so as I sit writing this I'm wishing I could go out and find a new street market to explore like I did almost every weekend in London. There is so much going on in London and I wanted to share a few more of my photos that I thought showed the variety of things the city has to offer.

Sand-sculpting genius along the beach of the Thames River

Tantalizing tastes of Camden Lock Market

There are many cities around the world that are inhabited by a diverse population but I have never experienced a city as diverse as London. New York City may rival London in population but I would still claim that London has more to offer. While my time working in London has come to an end for the time being, I will definitely never forget the friends I've made there and the experiences I've had. I've enjoyed writing this blog and hope that it's been read by at least a few of you out there.

Portabello Market offers a colorful variety of food, clothes, antiques and "knick-nacks"

A Peacock shows his true blue in the Kyoto Gardens in Holland Park

I hope I've been able to give some idea about what living and working in London has been like because I really enjoyed it and plan on returning in the future. London is a fantastic city and while the weather is sometimes a little drab, I'll tell you I'm looking out my living room window in St. Louis and watching snow fall from the overcast sky. In addition, the grass in my front yard is a sort of dead, yellowish brown. I guess I'll just have to wait until I return to London for a window overlooking the rich green grass in Regent's Park.

Getting a little lost in a labyrinth outside London (and more specifically at Longleat Park)

On the flight home

Well, after three months in the incredible city of London I'm sitting in my window seat on the flight back to the states. It was a good amount of time to live and work in the city but it really flew by. Meaghan, who if you remember from my first post in London attempted to claim the big room in the flat, and I were just looking through the photos I've taken in the past few months. Going through my healthy collection of pictures, 10 gigs, already has us missing the sights and the sounds of the city. Meaghan even teared up a little, but she's a wuss.

There were mixed feelings this morning as we all woke up early to finish packing and clean up the flat. We woke up to what was pretty close to a blizzard outside. Taking one of my last views out the big windows in our living room, I wanted to curl up in a blanket and sit on the couch with some hot cocoa, but there was a good amount to finish up before we left. We had to clean everything up and take out all the trash. We also had a lot of food to get rid of so there was a bit of a morning feast as I put all the leftover frozen pizzas into the oven, made a few pop-tarts, put together some sandwiches and put hot water on for coffee. We put on some music for a while and danced around the flat while we cleaned and packed. There were some leftover beverages that needed to be finished as well. You might say it was a bit of a makeshift going away party. The general feeling was that we were excited to get home to our friends and families, but also sorry to be leaving London and each other. People started leaving around 11am and it was sad to see the good friends that I've been living with for the past few months head out the door for the last time. Saying goodbye to twenty great friends all within a couple hours is rough.

Interning in London has left me with a good sense of the business culture in an international city and an understanding of major sporting events, but there's a lot that I will take from the past few months besides just work experience. I've made some great friends; in my flat mates, my co-workers and a few Londoners. I've come in contact with many new cultures, new languages and new foods all converging in one ever-changing city. Traveling to a new place for a few days or a week can be a good experience, but in order to really get a feel for its respective culture and daily life, you really just have to live there. I feel quite lucky to have been able to do just that.

Last week living in London

Last week was a sort of a culmination of some of the work I've been doing. I was able to attend two events sponsored by my organization, UK Trade and Investment. The first was called Global for Gold and was focused on businesses results during the Beijing Olympics and business prospects for future Olympic Games. Andrew, the head of our major sports events team, did a PowerPoint presentation, which I helped put together. There was a case study presentation from Speedo that described the entire process of creating their high-tech swimming suit, the Lzr Racer. Swimmers wearing the suit in Beijing broke 23 of 25 world records and won 94% of gold medals. There was another interesting presentation by a company called Fast Track that emphasized the importance and logistics of sponsorship for sporting events. It was interesting to hear how all the companies targeted specific markets and ensured success. The free lunch was also a great opportunity to network and talk with some of the company representatives.

The second event I attended last week featured visiting officials from Poland who are involved in the UEFA European Football Championships in 2012. The tournament is scheduled to be in Poland and Ukraine in four years time. Many UK companies attended the event, including construction contractors, security companies, and multimedia firms. Again, I was happy to stick around for the free lunch and network with the companies. It's always a good idea to talk to people and get a few business cards.

Networking events and seminars are a big part of what UK Trade and Investment organizes. Many of them, like these two, are held within the UK,;others are overseas in international markets. UKTI has held overseas missions in places like South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and Rio de Janeiro for their bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Although I obviously haven't been along on any of these missions, some of my co-workers have and it seems like a great experience to travel overseas and be part of the creation of a major international sporting event.

Looking back on my time working at UKTI, I have learned a good deal about major sports projects. Prior to my internship I never really considered all that goes into orchestrating an event like the Olympics or the World Cup. These kinds of events are truly enormous tasks with an uncountable number of issues that need to be addressed. I recall now when I traveled to China years ago in 2004 and stayed in Beijing for a few nights. Even four years before the games there were already people selling goods, souvenirs and various clothing advertising the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. At the time I remember wondering why they would be so excited about something that isn't going to happen for four years. Why are they making such a big deal about this when it's so far in the future? After working at my internship I understand all of the work and time that must be invested in order to put on an event like the Olympics. I've spent some time researching contract possibilities for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, the Summer Olympics in 2016 and events even further in the future. I now realize how necessary it is for countries and businesses to begin working on these sports projects many years in advance.

On that note, we leave London in less than a week, and I should probably follow up this blog by starting to pack up my things. Packing isn't quite as monumental a task as putting on the Olympics. It may not lead to unfinished stadiums or poorly organized events, but last minute packing can definitely lead to messy suitcases, forgotten toothbrushes and unecessarily high levels of stress.

Barca Blog

Seaside bikeride

This past weekend I travelled to Barcelona with Dave and Linda. We escaped from the cold and rainy environment of London for a warm and sunny short vacation in the Spanish city. It was about 70 degrees for the entire weekend and we took full advantage of it. Renting bikes was an excellent way to enjoy the temperate climate as well as to tour the city in a short amount of time. Although there wasn't any swimming, we visited the beach and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere.

Our first late-night Spanish meal of tapas and paella

The change in culture was as refreshing as the Mediterranean seaside. After stepping off the plane, we immediately ran into a language barrier with two or three people. While some find this to be an annoyance of traveling, I love it. It's a fundamental difference between cultures and it means that you're going to learn something, whether you like it or not. Anyway, out of the three of us, no one knew any Spanish, so it was hit and miss as to whether we got our point across or got our questions answered.

View from Sagrada Familia Cathedral

We made it to where we were staying, another couchsurfing.com destination. This time a Spanish villa about a 20-minute train ride outside the city. I called Paul, whom I had been in contact with on couchsurfing.com, and he arranged for us to be picked up at the train station the moment we stepped off. We were set up in what was essentially a mansion that had been turned into a hostel, only we felt like part of the family. Paul said that he was in the beginning stages of starting a hostel and touring business and was letting people stay for free while he got everything going. Paul ran the place with a couple of friends who cooked us breakfast and dinner, gave us clean sheets and beds to sleep in and never asked for any compensation. There was simply a piggy bank for donations, which we happily contributed to.

Playing a game of kick the ball over the pool at Paul's "No Worries Villa"

On our last night we left the villa and checked into a hostel in the city since we had to leave from there the next morning. We were delighted to find out from Paul that Barcelona's football (soccer) team had a match on Saturday night. We were even more delighted to find out that tickets were only 18 Euros, far less that the £30 to £40 we have been paying for matches in London. The match was at 10 pm, which gave us time to enjoy a couple glasses of sangria at our hostel's bar before we made the trek across the city to the Nou Camp, Barcelona's stadium. The home team far outclassed the visitors, winning 6-0. It was awesome to see Thierry Henry, who I've been watching on TV for what seems like most of my life, score a goal in person. However, Samuel Eto'o did steal the show by scoring 4 goals in the first half.

GOAL GOAL GOALASOOOOOO!!!

A fantastic weekend in the seaside city was the culmination of my travels here in Europe. It's been great getting to see some places I never thought I would. My time abroad is running short and I'll be in London for the next two weeks before flying home. I have always thought traveling to be an invaluable method of learning about different people and cultures. You can gain experiences that will give you an understanding of the world that no book ever could. On that note, I always find myself coming back to this quotation by Saint Augustine; "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page."

A Global Election

Barack Obama is going to be the next president of the United States and the entire world is watching, not just Americans. I had never expected to see so much about the US election overseas but news of the election is everywhere. Working abroad in an international city just makes the global impact of this election that much more apparent. The overwhelming consensus leading up to November 4th was that if the world could vote, Obama would have no competition. As it turns out, it was still a comprehensive win. The feeling that I've experienced in the past few days is that rest of the world is just as excited about the results as the majority of Americans are.

All of us TWC interns stayed up until 4 or 5am on Tuesday night to watch the election coverage in our flats. It was no secret that most all of us, sans one or two slightly confused individuals, cast our absentee votes for Obama. Some people were given the next day off from work and had a little more freedom to celebrate than others. I was in bed by 4am after Obama's win had been secured since I still had work in the morning. However I was woken an hour or two later by the joyous cheers of my flatmates outside my window in the street. I just smiled, rolled over and fell back asleep. Apparently the other inhabitants of our building weren't quite as amused as we all got a warning email the next day about the noise. Oh well, perhaps everyone should have been more conscious of our neighbors, however losing 15 minutes of sleep once every four years is pretty negligible in my opinion.

Every single newspaper in London had Obama on the front page the next morning. My co-workers all asked me what I thought about the election. Everyone was at their desks looking at blue and red, but mostly blue, maps of the US on their computers all day long. The general feeling even in London was that people really respected Obama, and even the US population for voting for him. I have to say, that I am often conscious of being American when traveling abroad.

I stay conscious of my accent, the way I dress and the way I act around other cultures, because honestly, and it's no secret, some people are not particularly fond of Americans. Their criticisms are often stereotypes, based on false assumptions, but you still have to be careful of your actions. The last thing you want is a confrontation in a place where you don't know the culture, the land or the laws. But, for the first time in my lifetime, I think there has been an immediate positive change in the world's general view of the US, and more importantly, Americans.

A story in one of the free London papers described how a US journalist was traveling on a bus in Vienna the day after the election when a woman walked up and kissed after him hearing his American accent. I have been approached by a couple Londoners simply looking at me and saying "Obama!" with a fist-pump after hearing my accent. My sentiment is that people around the world are looking on us in a much better light than they have in the recent past. I'm not sure if you can truly feel that back home in the states, but I'd like to tell you that I am really noticing it. My favorite front page newspaper headline from London described November 4th, 2008 as "'The day America became a little bit cool again." So, while I still haven't received any unprovoked kisses, the average volume of my voice may go up a couple decibels in the following weeks.

Meeting Mai Predecessor

I've been back to work this week at UK Trade and Investment. I am now interning with the Major Sports Events sector after we changed our name from the Sports and Leisure Infrastructure team. Presumably we changed our name because we deal mainly with major sporting events and the word "infrastructure" causes people to only think about construction when in reality we work with companies that provide all sorts of products and services.

I've been helping our marketing manager, Jessica, with some case studies on UK companies who had success at the Olympics in Beijing this summer. "Success" meaning that the company was able to win or sign a significant business contract and profitably provide their services. We're trying to research how the contracts came about and what the details of the companies' successes are. Some of UK companies we're looking at include the architects of the "Bird's Nest" Olympic stadium, the suppliers of the minerals and metals used to make the Olympic Medals, the manufacturers of the device used to test the quality of the swimming pool water, and even the florists who provided over 40 million flowers for display around the Olympic gardens. I have been contacting people in Beijing to help us get more info on these companies. When finished, the case studies will be used for future promotions, events, reports, press releases and speeches.

Interestingly enough, this week I was also able to meet the TWC intern, Mai Le, who worked at UKTI during the summer program, and wrote for the blog as well. She is studying in Madrid this semester and came to London for a weekend visit. She stopped by UKTI to go out to lunch with some of her colleagues from over the summer who are currently my co-workers. It was funny to talk to someone who had the same internship and the same responsibility of writing for the blog. We were able to share stories and laugh about many of the office's idiosyncrasies. We also tried to teach our supervisor Andy how to use chopsticks, not really an endeavor which could be considered a UK "success."

On top of that, Linda and I had been planning on making a Vietnamese noodle recipe called Pho that night, so after finding out Mai was Vietnamese, I mentioned our dinner plans. She got pretty excited, so I invited her back to our flat for dinner. The Pho was delicious as we talked a little more about UKTI and Linda and her discussed different Vietnamese dialects and foods. She soon headed out as she had a flight back to Madrid the next day. It was all a happy coincidence shared over a tasty meal. It was great to meet Mai, although a little like I was catching up with my own ghost… hmmm, and tomorrow's Halloween? Anyway, I've been writing this over my lunch break at work so I have to get back to it and finish up a few things before it's officially the Halloween weekend. I'm not sure what I'm going to be yet, but I do know where I'll be; Amsterdam and western Germany.

Dylan

It's a little windy for a kilt, I'll go with jeans

Last Wednesday night we were all relaxing a bit in our flat when Linda mentioned she and her sister Mary, who is visiting from Canada, had booked bus tickets to go to Edinburgh, Scotland on Thursday for the weekend. Being that I didn't have any plans for the weekend, and I had been wanting to go to Edinburgh, I got on my computer and had soon booked a ticket as well.

Thursday night we got to Victoria bus station, about a 30-45 minute trip from our flat, and of course I forgot my ticket at home. I tried to use my mobile phone to call someone back at the flat so they could look up my confirmation number on my computer, however, even though I had added £10 to my mobile account that day it hadn't gone through so I had to scramble to find change to use the payphone. Eventually I got ahold of Brittany who texted me the number and I was able to hop on to the bus just before it left.

The cozy common room of our hostel

An eight-hour overnight bus ride is not something I would recommend; however, it was cheap and got me to Scotland. We left the station and found the place we were staying, Castle Rock Hostel. The hostel had super friendly staff, was clean and in a great central location. After checking in at around 9:00 am and taking advantage of the cheap but tasty breakfast offered at the hostel, we went on a free walking tour of Edinburgh. Although I'm not generally one to walk around as part of a big touristy group, we were able to see a lot of the city and get some good historical background from our guide, a lively and knowledgeable girl who was also from the US.

The sun came out and I jumped for joy (photo courtesy of a patient Linda)

Early fall colors

Friday night I met up with Colin, who had stayed at Olov's apartment last weekend when Dave and I were there. Colin lives in Edinburgh and he was going to a friend's house party so he invited me along. The party had a summer theme with blow up palm trees and people wearing hula skirts and flip-flops. I was in jeans and a hoodie because I didn't know about the theme. The host of the party said it didn't matter since I'm part Hawaiian, although I think a better excuse is simply that Scotland is freezing cold.

The sun went down and we were out and about

Saturday and Sunday we walked to a few great sights on the outskirts of the city. We saw the Scottish parliament and then went on to Holyrood Park where we hiked up an enormous cliff that looked westward over Edinburgh. The view was really incredible, as one could look down and get a bird's eye view of the cathedrals and castles that appear so ominous when you're looking up from the street. On our way off the cliff we took a bit of a short cut and quickly found ourselves trying to navigate our way down a very steep slope. The cold wind was blowing as we were stepping and sliding down the slick, grassy side of the cliff. A couple times we weren't really sure how to continue without risking a pretty big fall. Things were made more challenging as the three of us couldn't stop laughing at the situation we had gotten ourselves into. Finally we managed to carefully inch our way down to the bottom safely.

Sunset high up on a ridge in Holyrood park

Autumn in Edinburgh brings wind and rainbows

Sunday evening we got our things together and got ready for another overnight bus ride home. After two consecutive weeks of traveling I was happy to get back to London; although I soon checked my email upon arriving home to see Dave had booked two tickets to Germany for Halloween weekend. So I've got one weekend in London before I'm off again to Germany (and maybe a small detour to Amsterdam).

Surfing Stockholm

Swedish Security

I finally managed to get out of London and explore another part of Europe this past weekend. My first experience in Scandinavia proved to be a very enjoyable one as I flew into Stockholm, Sweden Friday morning. I went with Dave, another student living in our London flats. Dave is doing an internship at a record label through CAPA but is not in The Washington Center London program. Dave and I have become pretty good friends, partly because we share a near obsessive interest in football and often go out to pubs to watch the Premier League matches on the weekends. He tends to lose bets to me like; what football pitch is the largest in the Premiership, or how many goals were scored by what players in the European Championships over the summer, but I don't hold it against him.

Anyway, we flew in to Stockholm on Friday morning. The airport we flew into was about an hour and a half outside the city, which is a pretty standard inconvenience when you choose to fly with the discount airline Ryanair. On the bus ride to the city terminal we were able to see the Swedish countryside as the trees were beginning to change color for the fall season. Soon we were in the middle of Stockholm, a beautiful city built on an archipelago of 14 different islands. Water and stunning Swedish architecture surround you as you pass over bridges from island to island. The weather was cool and breezy as we strolled by the shops and restaurants on the cozy cobblestone streets of Gamla Stan, the original city center. A small hole in the wall, literally, led us down a narrow alley to a small but fantastic kebab restaurant. It was full of people and we waited in line for our taste of what seemed to be a pretty popular eatery. We enjoyed our meal outside under a tree in a quiet courtyard surrounded by tall earth tone buildings. After our deliciously satisfying kebabs we set off to head to the north part of the city to meet up with Olov.

Tastiest hole in the wall ever

We had never met Olov before, and had only spoken over email after contacting him from a website. The site, couchsurfing.com, is somewhat like the social networking sites facebook and myspace, however it's based on the theme of traveling, meeting and staying with new friends. The site allows you to make a profile, leave references, and host or be hosted by other couchsurfers around the world. So, we contacted Olov, who had about 100 verified references from other couchsurfers, before we left and he said that we could stay in his apartment for the three days we would be in Stockholm. It turned out to be a great experience and we became good friends with Olov as well as an Italian guy named Carlo, Scottish bloke named Colin and a nice German girl named Anika who were also staying with Olov. We had a great time together and it was far better than paying the equivalent of $50 a night for a hostel where you would be sleeping in the same room with 16 other people.

The geometric city square

Saturday was a bit cloudy but that didn't stop us from just walking and exploring the city. We came back to Olov's that night to watch the World Cup Qualifying Match between Sweden and Portugal. He had some friends over and we enjoyed the game before venturing out into the Stockholm nightlife for a few drinks. Sunday was a beautiful and warm day. Dave, Carlo and I set off to walk along one of the city's main ports, admiring, discussing and dreaming about buying one of the fantastic boats and sailing around the world. We walked on towards a museum that Olov said we must visit, the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was a 17th century Swedish war ship that sank in 1628 (I think) and was recovered in the 1980s to be reconstructed. The museum holds the massive revived ship, a great deal of artifacts, and some of the skeletons from the crew that went down with the ship. It was really an incredible thing to see.

Overlooking the port near the Vasa Museum

Stockholm really is one of the most aesthetically pleasing cities I've ever visited. The people are incredibly friendly and the streets are cosy. The island hopping nature of exploring the city really gives it a unique feel. Olov made my first couchsurfing (although actually only Dave slept on a couch, I got a bed) experience a great one, while Colin and Carlo have offered us their couches in Edinburgh, Scotland and Southern Italy respectively. Stockholm had not initially been in my plans when coming to Europe but I'm glad I went and I would definitely suggest it if you're looking for a beautiful and unique city.

One Italian and two American travelers were spotted in Stockholm on Sunday afternoon. They were apparently caught "soaking in the city's scenery" and "having a ridiculously awesome time".

If you're trying to stay positive, don't read the headlines

The crashing economy has been on the front pages of the newspapers for the past few weeks and today was is no different. Living in London and commuting everyday has put a newspaper in my hands most every morning. I mean this quite literally as there are always people at tube entrances placing newspapers straight into your arms. It was a little annoying at first, but now I get irritated if I have to get on the tube and no one is there to hand me the day's news.

So, it's Tuesday morning and yesterday the $700 billion dollar plan to bail-out Wall Street was voted down by congress. Everyone at work is talking and there are a few meetings going on about what it means for UK business, although I haven't been invited to sit in today. I've been following the economy more than I ever have recently (I think a lot of people probably have) and it's interesting to be watching the economic situation from a global business center like London. When Lehman Brothers collapsed everyone talked about it in a bit of disbelief. I watched interviews of Lehman's London branch employees leaving their offices, having no idea what was going and all the while wondering about a friend of mine who works for a Chicago branch. This is a global economic storm and I can't help but feel London is making me more aware of this. I'm living in a true economic center and listening to the opinions and concerns of people who are working in it.

While university students are well educated and conscious of the world around them, we still often miss some of the world's realities. If I were back on my school's, Indiana University, campus right now I know I would be paying attention to the news, but not to the extent that I am now. A college campus is a bit of a Utopian place for students. Many of us don't have to worry too much about expenses, or if we do, we're getting loans and worrying later. We are also surrounded by people our age, who don't have any more experience in the world than we do. Our campuses are relatively small and self-contained. While walk to class back on campus offers fall leaves, friends and fun, the commute through London offers a glimpse at the diverse culture, experience and knowledge that resides here.

We're all watching a historic economic storm, but the view and its perceived danger depends greatly on where you're watching from and the amount of shelter you have.

Celebrating the Old River and the New Moon

Last weekend was a pretty eventful weekend in the city of London. The Thames Festival was happening along the Thames River on Saturday and Sunday, and the Mid-Autumn festival occurred on Sunday as well. The Thames Festival was advertised as "The Mayor's Festival". I'm not really sure why, except that London has a relatively new mayor, but either way, he puts on a good festival. We were going to go out in a group, but I guess I woke up a little late and half the group left. Linda had fallen asleep on the couch and was the only one left when I got out of the shower, so we headed out on Sunday afternoon towards the festivities.

Lots of good things to eat along the lantern-lined streets

The Mid-Autumn festival is traditionally celebrated in most East-Asian cultures so we thought we would stop by Chinatown before heading on to the Thames festival. In Chinese culture people celebrate the new moon during the Mid-Autumn festival by making a special baked good called a moon cake. These are generally eaten only once all year during this festival so the first thing we did after arriving in Chinatown was to get a big moon cake to share another one of my favourite Chinese treats, a fried sweet rice ball filled with red bean and covered in sesame seeds. It's called gin-dui and I could probably eat ten of them in a sitting before showing any signs of fatigue. As we snacked on these treats we took a stroll down the Chinatown streets that were lined with hanging red-lanterns, another traditional symbol of the Mid-Autumn festival. The streets were full of people enjoying the day, shopping at the street vendors, celebrating the festival and eating moon cakes. After an hour or two we decided to head over to the south bank of the Thames to check out the Mayor's Festival.

A woman hand-shaping some delicious dumplings

We hopped back on the Tube at Leicester Square and took it to Waterloo where we got off and walked out right behind the London Eye. As soon as we came to the bank of the river I realized how big of a festival this was. The walkway along the bank, at least as wide as a four lane road was crowded with people heading to and from various art and music performances while enjoying the food vendors lining the street. Aside from indulging in all of the delicious food, I was hoping to see a Korean break dancing crew called Last for One who were putting on a performance as part of the Thames Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is also an important part of Korean culture. I had checked a website online that said the performance was at 6 PM, but of course I find out from a poster that it was changed to 5 PM as I looked at the clock on my phone that read 4:57 PM. I knew that the stage was still pretty far away so, we ran... for about 10 yards, till we got stuck behind the huge crowd that was inching slowly down the street. After about 25 minutes we got to the stage, and unfortunately they were just finishing. Pretty bad luck, but there was one last Kung Fu/Comedy performance that day called Jump. So, we got some Korean food and squeezed our way into the crowd so we could have a good view. The show turned out to be surprisingly funny and entertaining. I wasn't expecting too much but I was laughing the whole show which cheered me up from missing the breakdance crew.

A blind-folded, board-breaking, backwards flip-kick: not an amateur move

After the show we walked back past everything we had rushed by initially. After perusing the gift and food vendors and eating a plate of sautéed squid, another one of my favourites, we waited till dark and watched a huge parade that went down the street. There were hundreds of intricate, colourful and brightly lit costumes all accompanied with dancing and music. Linda and I managed to get above the crowd by standing on a barricade. Good for me because I got a better angle for taking some photos and good for Linda because she's like, 5'1". . . on a good day.

The parade was a delight for the eyes and ears

Went left after the parade to beat the crowds to the tube and to see if we could see the fireworks display from the top of Primrose Hill, a high point just next to our flats. We hurried home and ran up the hill to find our other flatmates already sitting, huddling together waiting for the fireworks to fill the cool, night air. It was good to see everyone and after a short while of discussing what we all had seen, done, and eaten that day, the fireworks began to go off just above the city skyline. It was a fantastic view and a great end to the day's festivities.

Our sight of the night lights

Infrastructure Update

I've been in London for two weeks now. There has been a lot going on, but a lack of blog entries by me describing it all. So, I believe a little catch-up is in order. First, the cost of living here in London (as you'll find in most major metropolitan areas) is fairly ridiculous. Food prices are fairly high, clothing prices are pretty absurd, traveling isn't cheap, and the cost of going out at night might just keep you eating in. But seeing as I'm in London, I'm still pretty determined to enjoy myself, albeit on a budget.

Holding onto history at the British Museum

So far, I've done some basic sightseeing and general tourist-y stuff. Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, seeing Royal Guards, the British Museum and fish and chips have already been checked off my list. The parks here are really well kept, very green, and great places to spend your free time. Regent's park and Russell Square are two that I've visited so far. I still would like to take a ride on the London Eye, but a ticket is £14, or a little under $30, which is a bit of a deterrent. I think I may have to get a ticket soon though because it mocks me every day when I look out the window of our flat.

Stumbled across this procession near Westminster

I've started my internship with UK Trade and Investment in the Sports Infrastructure sector. I had an interview last Monday with my supervisor, Andy. After we agreed on a schedule and discussed a little about the company, I left for the afternoon and started work the next morning. As far as I've gathered, the Sports Infrastructure division works with UK based companies and businesses and helps them find a market in international sporting events. It also encourages them to work with each other and make contacts. I was excited to get started but I've never held an office job before so I wasn't totally sure what to expect.

A sunny afternoon picnic at Russell Square

My guess was a lot of Excel worksheets and emails. I was somewhat correct in my prediction, as my first task was to update a database of contact information for UK companies involved in the London 2012 Olympics. It was an all day task, but with my expert Google skills I compiled a comprehensive list of email addresses, company websites and CEOs, all of which I'm told I will be contacting in the near future.

I've also done some research into business markets for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. So far work is pretty interesting and I'm looking forward to what's ahead.

I may be here for an internship, but that's only for four days a week (yes, Fridays off) and there's a lot to see in London, the UK and the rest of Europe and I'm planning to experience it all. Ok, that's optimistic thinking, but we'll see how it works out.

Blog 1 from London: Setting up and Settling in

I'm in London and I'm all moved in. Our flat is actually nicer than I had imagined. My bedroom is fairly large, although I am sharing it with two roommates, Andrew and Bryson. Initially, we had a much smaller room because a couple of the girls attempted to claim the large bedroom for themselves. After some brief tension and discussion, it was decided that the three guys would take back the room from the two girls, however I really can't blame them for trying to stake their claim. There's not a lot of space here in London and perhaps it's going to be every man for himself, or maybe in this case, woman for herself. While there isn't a whole lot of personal space in the bedrooms, we have a large living room with two couches, a TV and a full size dining table so everyone can spread out a bit. A nice touch throughout the flat is the huge windows. During the day we get plenty of light and have a really nice view from the fifth floor. When I sit up in bed in the morning I can actually look out and see the British Telecom Tower and the London Eye.

View from our re-taken bedroom after ousting the girls

We have a nice, decent-sized kitchen with hardwood cabinets and marble counter tops. There are some things to get used to, however. The fridge is a little smaller than U.S. fridges, not to mention we have seven people all cramming food into it. We were told we probably wouldn't have a dishwasher, so it was a nice surprise to see that we did...except that it's been a few days and we still haven't figured out how to use it. Now that I think of it, I'm not sure we even have dishwasher detergent. Anyway, we'll figure it out, I hope. One of my pet peeves is trying to cook when there's a huge pile of someone else's dirty dishes in the sink. When they're my dirty dishes in the sink, I tend not to get as irritated for some reason. Unless of course I forgot to wash them and don't realize they're my dishes, then I'll probably get equally as irritated with my innocent flat mates.

We also live right next to Regent's Park, which is a really nice public park with lots of open green space. There is a bus stop right in front of the building, making the commute into central London fairly convenient. The bus stops at Bakers Street Underground station, making it easy to travel by tube. One of the nicest things about our place is the included weekly cleaning service, meaning we can throw massive parties, start food fights and essentially act like complete degenerates without having to worry about a thing. Ok well, maybe that's an exaggeration, but it's nice to have a basic cleaning service. With seven college students living here, we can use all the help we can get. All in all, it's a nice flat and I'm looking forward to living here for the next few months.

Blog 3: Practice makes Presentation

We're about a week into our Washington DC seminar and I've been doing a pretty good job of doing a balancing act between getting my work done for the seminar and watching the Olympics late into the night. Today I made an excellent presentation on the health care system in the England AND watched the U.S. women's beach volleyball team win the gold medal. While my achievement is obviously more monumental, I still would like to acknowledge that winning a gold medal is probably just as difficult of a task as a twenty-minute presentation. Well, ok, perhaps being an Olympic athlete is slightly even more demanding than this seminar. However, I think there's something to be said about how all these world-class athletes got to where they are today.

Everyone knows becoming a successful athlete takes an incredible amount of hard work and practice. Sure, there's the factor of individual talent, but if Tiger Woods, Cristiano Ronaldo, or Kobe Bryant never practiced, they'd be playing on the weekends and following hopeful career paths during the week like the rest of us.

The same is true of almost all truly successful people. I think there is a misconception that if you simply go to college and get good grades you'll eventually get your dream job and live happily ever after. I know that two years ago, my thinking was similar to this.

Some people realize that they need to practice their careers early on, and they are the people who have killer resumes and get the jobs they want out of college. It takes some people a little longer to realize how much hard work and experience is needed to become truly successful in your preferred field. Clearly, everyone who is here in DC realizes the importance of gaining experience in your field and that already puts us ahead of much of the competitition.

We received our internship assignments this week and I've been assigned a position at UK Trade and Investment in the sports division. Awesome. For me, it doesn't get much better than this. It's an international business position and that's what I'm most interested in. I'm also obsessed with football (soccer) and will be going to quite a few matches in London and hoping my position will have something to do with the sport. Anyway, now it's up to me to absorb and learn as much as I can from the people around me while I'm there and I'm excited to do it. This is an opportunity to work with and learn from international business professionals. It's just like a once in a lifetime chance to train with the U.S. woman's beach volleyball team, well, at least it would be if I played volleyball, lived on a beach… and if I was a girl, but anyway, you get the point.

Blog 2: Getting into DC

I haven't really experienced Washington DC before this seminar but I've had a chance to see the city in the past few days. We had a scavenger hunt in which we took pictures in front of various landmarks around the city. We took a picture in front of the Chinese gate in Chinatown, the mural near Adams Morgan, South Hall in the Eastern Market and a few other notable places in DC. It was a great assignment because first of all, it got me out of bed on a Saturday, and also helped me see many parts of a city that I otherwise wouldn't have known about, much less visited.

Going to a new city or location is always exciting but the fact is, often times you don't know where the truly interesting and fun places to go are. I never would have thought to visit the Eastern Market but it was a great cultural experience. There were artists of all sorts, a flea market with goods from around the world and fresh produce from local farmers (many of which had free samples!).

We also visited the National Mall and Capitol Hill, which are full of monuments and notable landmarks that we've all seen on TV and in photos. While I know what the White House, Washington Monument, and the Capitol Building look like, I've never seen them up close. They hold so much meaning that it's really an experience to visit them.

Morning tour of the Capitol Building

Tightening up the tie for the super senator

Linda's contemplation of the Washington Monument

This program has shown me the things that I've expected and hoped to see, but I've also gotten a chance to visit some areas that I didn't even know existed. I'm hoping to follow the same pattern once we get to London. I would like to see the places that everyone wants to see, the places that hold meaning and a powerful image. However, I also want to see some of the places that tourists don't frequent, the places that are hiding and only known about by locals. These less known places tend to give you a more genuine taste of the people and the culture.

Introducing Dylan: Switching cities then abroad again

So, I have found myself in the beginning stages of what is my third study abroad experience as a college undergraduate. I've landed in Washington DC, a city I last visited briefly when I was in 5th grade and it's not exactly what I remember. However, I only really remember my friend's backyard pool and a few boring museums. Now that I think of it, it's been 12 years and I'm probably not the same as last time I visited, so DC likely doesn't remember me either. This is probably good because now I can give the museums a second chance without the city looking down on me.

I've moved abroad a couple times and there are always some essential things to take care of before anything else. The first step is probably figuring out where you live and how to get there. Soon after, you realize a more important step is figuring out where you live and how to get to everywhere else. DC's metro has been the primary transportation option for us, but that has only been a positive thing so far. In comparison to my past experiences with subways, the Metro should take the title of king, or at least be accepted as a member of the nobility. I was surprised by the aesthetically pleasing underground stations, well-kept trains, and the signs on every platform telling you how much longer you have to wait before you pile in with other well-dressed washingtonians.

Obviously, another big part of studying or interning abroad is getting to know the people you'll be seeing everyday. Sometimes there are people you know you will be friends with immediately and sometimes it's quite the opposite. I think we all know what can happen when strangers become roommates. However, for our group of 16 London interns, things seem to be going pretty well and we can probably consider ourselves lucky that we're getting along so well. We've all spent a few days together, made some new friends, and somehow managed to live in four person apartments without wireless internet and peacefully share a single Ethernet cable.

I'm getting accustomed to DC and really enjoying the city and the many things it has to offer, but, we're moving on to London in a week and I'll have to learn to take those first couple steps again. Luckily, I'll have the same recent friends to help me brave taking those steps in an even bigger playground.