I decided to interview Kim, my boss at Demarquette for my assignment because he isn't a British citizen, but he's lived here long enough to fool someone who wouldn't know otherwise! He was born in Germany and served in the German Army as a compulsory deed for young men. I asked him a few questions to see what it would help me learn about British culture.
I asked Kim what his attitudes were on marriage and divorce. He said: "I am a firm believer in marriage but think nowadays for many it is a decision taken too lightly in the fleet of the moment. It is after all a commitment for life, however with divorce no longer being taboo and in some instances seen as ‘cool’ or ‘normal’ (celebrities, royals etc.), I think a lot of people just get married without the thought of ‘growing old together’. With divorce also being a process that seems to be quite easy, marital problems often do not get worked through in order to save a marriage, with divorce being seen as the simplest option. And don’t get me started on marriages of convenience (work visas, tax reasons, etc.). Marriage should be for only one reason: love." I definitely agreed with this statement, but was a bit surprised just because most Brits seem extremely lax about marriage, so I wasn't expecting that response.
After discussing the riots and the public's opinion on thinking it is parents' fault, I was interested to see what he would have to say about the pressures placed on parents and kids in the UK. He said: "I believe in Britain we live in a ‘class’ society with each having differing pressures, however some that all have in common would be the pressure to outperform each other not in terms of education, but in having the best clothes, coolest gadgets, etc. And more scarily, a pressure to be a celebrity or live a celebrity lifestyle all because of, I think, ‘Fly on the wall’ and Talent competition programmes like Big Brother, Popstars, I’m a Celebrity get me out of here…. Etc. Children strive for it and I believe are spoilt and parents play a big role in spoiling them to out-do each other." This is something else that I would totally agree with, and think it is the same thing happening in the US. Children in school are always trying to impress each other, and parents don't want their kids to feel left out. It seems they end up being torn between trying to decide what "good parenting" is and when they're actually just trying to keep their kids happy.
From what I've observed as far as religion in the UK, it seems to be an afterthought most of the time. I've been to Hillsong a few times and all the people there are amazing, but that's the only place that I've seen people in London that are overly religious and share it publicly. Kim's response surprised me when he said that he thinks Britain is such a multi-cultural and therefore multi-denominational nation, and religion plays a big role in British life. "Above all tolerance and acceptance of different religions that ‘live and work’ alongside each other is one that Britain does well,"he said. Sometimes I would argue, though, people are almost too lax about religion and they end up sacrificing their beliefs to keep others happy or to stay out of an argument. I may be wrong, but I know I've felt that way more than once since I've been here. Even having to do with political beliefs of Londoners, I try to stay out of things because most of the time I don't agree with what they're saying.
These are just a few of the responses he gave, but I felt they both affirmed and contrasted my beliefs about the UK. It also made me realize that there are a lot of things that the US has in common with people here that you may not realize if you don't get to know someone that lives here.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Assignment 9: Reflection on time in the UK
As I sit here writing this, I honestly can't believe this time is here already. I go home in two weeks, which is extremely bittersweet. As much as I absolutely LOVE this place, there really is no place like home. This experience has transformed me and caused me to get a little taste of what the rest of the world has to offer and I wouldn't trade it for anything!
I feel like my time here has taught me countless things that I'll probably never be able to articulate onto paper, but I'll do my best.
- There is nothing like having great friends to support you during such a crazy time.
- ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK THE TIMES ON YOUR TRAIN TICKETS.
- Have an open mind in new situations, because those are times when you grow the most.
- Keep your mouth shut on the tube if you don't want to be hated by all your fellow passengers.
I am so incredibly grateful that I was able to work in another country (even though it's not completely different from the US). It's so helpful to have the perspectives of your bosses who have lived and worked internationally, and learn from their mistakes. My internship was some of the best work experience I've had thus far, and it is all material that I can transfer to my career.
I wish I would have had time to blog more regularly to share specific stories, but unfortunately that's not the case. I think one of the things I will miss most about London is the business of everything - ALL the time. No matter what time of day or night it is, there is always something to do. That isn't always the case in Pella... ;) It's also amazing to me that I am within walking distance from countless landmarks that are known around the world. I wish that I could have had my entire group of friends and family here for the whole experience so they would understand completely what's happened while I've been here. It's never the same trying to articulate a situation over Skype!
I've been thinking over the last week of all the things I'm going to miss most. Just to name a few...
- The tube - you can get anywhere in the city in under a half hour.
- Outdoor markets - food doesn't get fresher than this, and there's nothing like a good bargain after haggling for a while. :)
- Ordering a beer at a pub and not getting carded.
- Strongbow on tap.
- Random people playing music around town.
- Reading in the parks on nice days.
- Expecting to walk everywhere instead of driving a block to the cafeteria.
- Living in a space with 30 other college students that understand the experience you're going through.
- Traveling anywhere in Europe for ridiculously cheap.
I know that I'm going to be excited to be back in the states for about a week... then I think I'm going to miss this place like crazy. I don't know if it's a place that I could see myself living in long term, but I think this has been a priceless experience that has grown me as a person in ways I never could have imagined.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Assignment 8: Hampstead Village
Originally, Mallory, Nic and I had made a trip to Hampstead to watch Ryan play rugby before we knew it was an assignment. That didn't exactly work out as planned. After being given few to no directions, we decided to ask a woman where the nearest rugby pitch was to the tube station. She was extremely friendly, and seemed much more willing to chat and help than someone in the center of London. She informed us that she was waiting for the same bus that would take us to where we were going, so she would just direct us from there. She started asking us why we were in London and we explained we were studying from the US and she just began raving about it! This was the first time that I had experienced that reaction when we've brought up The States, so it was pretty refreshing. She told us that she visits Arizona every year, and she is always depressed to come back to the cold, dreariness of London. We told her that we went to Iowa, and she proceeded to tell us she thought she'd been there. "That's close to Arizona, right?" We just smiled and nodded...
After following her directions, we made our way to Parliament Hill, where she said that would be our best guess. After walking up the whole hill, we had just about gotten our exercise when we realized there was no rugby match happening anywhere close. As we got to the top of the hill, the view was absolutely amazing. From the park, you can see just about all of the city, even though it didn't seem like we were very close. We decided to just spend the afternoon laying in the park, because the weather was extremely nice. We did a bit of reading, napping, and watching fellow Londoners fail at kite flying. It was nice to see the amount of families there. It seemed to be the perfect place to escape from the city, while still being in London.
As we made our way back to the tube station, we bought our groceries for dinner at a local street stand close to the park, and took our time on the walk. I absolutely loved the area. It seems so quaint, but still has a bit of the hustle and bustle that the city area has. There were a lot of shops that looked to be individually or family owned small businesses that specialized in one area. It reminded me a lot of the other parts of England that we've visited, like Bath and York, and was a nice escape from the chaos that comes with living in the center of London. We ended up going out to the park again the next day to read and relax, and it was a good way to see what many of the business people and families do to spend their weekends.
After following her directions, we made our way to Parliament Hill, where she said that would be our best guess. After walking up the whole hill, we had just about gotten our exercise when we realized there was no rugby match happening anywhere close. As we got to the top of the hill, the view was absolutely amazing. From the park, you can see just about all of the city, even though it didn't seem like we were very close. We decided to just spend the afternoon laying in the park, because the weather was extremely nice. We did a bit of reading, napping, and watching fellow Londoners fail at kite flying. It was nice to see the amount of families there. It seemed to be the perfect place to escape from the city, while still being in London.
As we made our way back to the tube station, we bought our groceries for dinner at a local street stand close to the park, and took our time on the walk. I absolutely loved the area. It seems so quaint, but still has a bit of the hustle and bustle that the city area has. There were a lot of shops that looked to be individually or family owned small businesses that specialized in one area. It reminded me a lot of the other parts of England that we've visited, like Bath and York, and was a nice escape from the chaos that comes with living in the center of London. We ended up going out to the park again the next day to read and relax, and it was a good way to see what many of the business people and families do to spend their weekends.
Assignment 4: Joining an Organisation
When we arrived in London and were told we had to join an organization, I was kind of caught off guard. Even though I obviously wanted to meet new people, it seemed a bit intimidating to just join a club. There's always that fear that people won't include you because you're new, or even AMERICAN.. Ha! Luckily, that was not the case when I decided to join the volleyball club through the University of London Union.
I emailed a few people from their website, and it was extremely tough to get ahold of people to begin with. Finally, the coach of the women's team emailed me back and said we were welcome to join any of the practices they hold once or twice a week. Tess and I went to the first one and were kind of nervous. When we arrived, some of the girls look at you like you don't belong on their territory, but most of them ended up being extremely personable. I was amazed at the multiculturalism of the team. Only one of the girls on the entire squad was from England (not even London) and the rest were from a variety of countries ranging from Mexico, to Italy, to Portugal, and a couple from the US.
I was also extremely interested at the differing skill levels in the girls. Some of them looked like they had never played before, others would have easily played division one volleyball back in the states. The coach seemed extremely laid back at times during the practice, but then during other parts he became very stern. It made it hard for me to adapt to his coaching style because I was never sure when to take him seriously. The practices varied a lot from what we would do at home. Normally, we would probably do about 10-15 different drills during one practice at home, and these practices were extremely concentrated. We normally focused on about four drills during each practice, so they all lasted for about a half hour each, which got extremely tiring at times. As a player that focuses on defense in the back row, the coach had me hitting in the front row for about half the time during practices, which I was not used to at all.
Overall, the girls were pretty welcoming at the beginning and became more and more encouraging as our time went on. By the time we were done practicing with them, I felt like a part of the team even though we weren't at games or even every practice. It was refreshing to be able to play volleyball away from home and work on my skills for next season at school!
I emailed a few people from their website, and it was extremely tough to get ahold of people to begin with. Finally, the coach of the women's team emailed me back and said we were welcome to join any of the practices they hold once or twice a week. Tess and I went to the first one and were kind of nervous. When we arrived, some of the girls look at you like you don't belong on their territory, but most of them ended up being extremely personable. I was amazed at the multiculturalism of the team. Only one of the girls on the entire squad was from England (not even London) and the rest were from a variety of countries ranging from Mexico, to Italy, to Portugal, and a couple from the US.
I was also extremely interested at the differing skill levels in the girls. Some of them looked like they had never played before, others would have easily played division one volleyball back in the states. The coach seemed extremely laid back at times during the practice, but then during other parts he became very stern. It made it hard for me to adapt to his coaching style because I was never sure when to take him seriously. The practices varied a lot from what we would do at home. Normally, we would probably do about 10-15 different drills during one practice at home, and these practices were extremely concentrated. We normally focused on about four drills during each practice, so they all lasted for about a half hour each, which got extremely tiring at times. As a player that focuses on defense in the back row, the coach had me hitting in the front row for about half the time during practices, which I was not used to at all.
Overall, the girls were pretty welcoming at the beginning and became more and more encouraging as our time went on. By the time we were done practicing with them, I felt like a part of the team even though we weren't at games or even every practice. It was refreshing to be able to play volleyball away from home and work on my skills for next season at school!
Assignment 7: Imperial War Museum
Mallory and I visited the Imperial War Museum planning to spend probably an hour to go throughout the whole thing - we ended up being there for three. Two of those three were spent in the Holocaust exhibit, and the rest was spent wandering around the rest of the museum.
As soon as we walked in, there is a huge display with a bunch of faces of military personnel against a white background. Next to their pictures were various items, ranging from letters home to pieces of body protection with bullet holes through them. I read further and realized the soldiers were those who had fought in the Afghanistan War. This hit extremely close to home considering my brother is currently deployed there with the US Marines. I'm always wary about looking into information regarding the war, because I'd rather know less than more about what's going on unless it's absolutely necessary. We traveled up to the first floor and looked at the pictures close-up. To see individual soldiers photographed so plainly made the war seem more personal, even though I'm already semi-involved in it. It's so intriguing to see their faces without sunglasses, helmets, or some type of protective covering in the way. That also makes it easier to relate - they're not photographed as a mass of people carrying huge weapons; it gives them a story. Needless to say, that display was kind of tough to see and there were a few times I got choked up reading about stories that happened to different people.
Then began our trek through the Holocaust Exhibit. I walked into it thinking that it was only one floor, then found out about 1/3 of the way through that it continued on downstairs. I felt like we were involved in the Holocaust itself - it was chilling to say the least. We saw everything from the reason the movement was started, to how they distinguished the Aryan race, to their actual extermination methods. I felt myself getting a headache looking at everything because of how hard I was focusing. My mind couldn't even wrap around the things that I was seeing. There was a part towards the end that had a display of just shoes of people who had been gassed or burned to death in concentration camps. They told about how they appointed certain Jews to sift through the crematoriums following burning and find anything that could be considered of value - shoes, hidden jewelry, and gold teeth were among the most common. Nazis literally took the gold from people's teeth and deposited it directly into the German Bank.
One of the things I found the most odd was looking at the entire war from the perspective of the UK. All we hear about in school at home is how we were helping the fight, but it amazes me how directly involved the UK and London itself were bombed and destroyed. It still fascinates me how you can look at the landscape along the Thames and see so many modern and ancient buildings juxtaposed as a result of rebuilding after the war. Overall, the day gave me a better understanding of London's firsthand experience in the war and how it personally affected people here.
As soon as we walked in, there is a huge display with a bunch of faces of military personnel against a white background. Next to their pictures were various items, ranging from letters home to pieces of body protection with bullet holes through them. I read further and realized the soldiers were those who had fought in the Afghanistan War. This hit extremely close to home considering my brother is currently deployed there with the US Marines. I'm always wary about looking into information regarding the war, because I'd rather know less than more about what's going on unless it's absolutely necessary. We traveled up to the first floor and looked at the pictures close-up. To see individual soldiers photographed so plainly made the war seem more personal, even though I'm already semi-involved in it. It's so intriguing to see their faces without sunglasses, helmets, or some type of protective covering in the way. That also makes it easier to relate - they're not photographed as a mass of people carrying huge weapons; it gives them a story. Needless to say, that display was kind of tough to see and there were a few times I got choked up reading about stories that happened to different people.
Then began our trek through the Holocaust Exhibit. I walked into it thinking that it was only one floor, then found out about 1/3 of the way through that it continued on downstairs. I felt like we were involved in the Holocaust itself - it was chilling to say the least. We saw everything from the reason the movement was started, to how they distinguished the Aryan race, to their actual extermination methods. I felt myself getting a headache looking at everything because of how hard I was focusing. My mind couldn't even wrap around the things that I was seeing. There was a part towards the end that had a display of just shoes of people who had been gassed or burned to death in concentration camps. They told about how they appointed certain Jews to sift through the crematoriums following burning and find anything that could be considered of value - shoes, hidden jewelry, and gold teeth were among the most common. Nazis literally took the gold from people's teeth and deposited it directly into the German Bank.
One of the things I found the most odd was looking at the entire war from the perspective of the UK. All we hear about in school at home is how we were helping the fight, but it amazes me how directly involved the UK and London itself were bombed and destroyed. It still fascinates me how you can look at the landscape along the Thames and see so many modern and ancient buildings juxtaposed as a result of rebuilding after the war. Overall, the day gave me a better understanding of London's firsthand experience in the war and how it personally affected people here.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Assignment 6: Greenwich & Docklands
Greenwich was a nice change of pace from everyday London life. I loved taking the riverboat there - even though the weather wasn't particularly nice! On our way there, the boat captain gave us a few tidbits about the places we were passing (apparently if you aren't a registered "tour guide" then you can't say you're giving a "tour"... it's known as information... ha) which helped to give significance to a lot of the things we've seen from land but not necessarily known about. He touched on the fact that the river used to be the main hub of trading in the city, and was the most important way of transporting goods to be consumed. He also informed us that all the tap water in London comes from the Thames: "It's the only water on Earth that you can drink and chew at the same time!"..... too much information.
Once we arrived, we went straight to the Royal Observatory, which was quite a hike uphill. The whole way up I couldn't help but wonder how elderly people get there, considering I had to take a few breaks myself! At the top of the hill was an amazing view of London, including the Olympic Stadium. Mark told us that the park below is going to be the site for the Equestrian competitions during the Olympics, so we made it just in time before the park was closed down for preparation!
At the Royal Observatory, we got a picture standing in both hemispheres which was pretty cool. I felt like I was Mandy Moore in A Walk to Remember (apologies to Mark if you don't understand the reference.. great film if you have time) but it was definitely a good tourist attraction! The Observatory itself I found pretty boring.... sorry to disappoint, but I wasn't particularly interested in all the clocks and "timekeepers" they had on display.
After leaving the Observatory, we had lunch at Cafe Sol, which was pretty decent Mexican food! It was the first time we'd had it since I've been here, so it was a nice change of pace. Following that, we stopped through Greenwich Market. It wasn't as big as I thought it would be, but it had some pretty nice things. There were a few food shops inside, as well as some vintage clothing and little knick-knacks. I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to browse!
After that, we visited the National Maritime Museum and the Queen's Gallery. I liked the interactive parts of the Maritime Museum. A lot of them were made for children, which I think is why I found it fun :) It was also interesting to see all of the different things they imported and their worth at different points in history. The Queen's Gallery definitely wasn't as interactive... it was more portraits, but we did get to see the official portrait of Queen Victoria which is pretty famous and I've seen it before in history and art books.
We finished up by stopping through Canary Wharf - it definitely seemed like a little piece of America. We spent a good bit of time just walking through the tube station and looking at the shops there... by the way, who has a Tiffany's inside a tube stop? I thought that was a little different. The day was pretty relaxing overall, and it was nice to get out of the business of the city for a bit.
Once we arrived, we went straight to the Royal Observatory, which was quite a hike uphill. The whole way up I couldn't help but wonder how elderly people get there, considering I had to take a few breaks myself! At the top of the hill was an amazing view of London, including the Olympic Stadium. Mark told us that the park below is going to be the site for the Equestrian competitions during the Olympics, so we made it just in time before the park was closed down for preparation!
At the Royal Observatory, we got a picture standing in both hemispheres which was pretty cool. I felt like I was Mandy Moore in A Walk to Remember (apologies to Mark if you don't understand the reference.. great film if you have time) but it was definitely a good tourist attraction! The Observatory itself I found pretty boring.... sorry to disappoint, but I wasn't particularly interested in all the clocks and "timekeepers" they had on display.
After leaving the Observatory, we had lunch at Cafe Sol, which was pretty decent Mexican food! It was the first time we'd had it since I've been here, so it was a nice change of pace. Following that, we stopped through Greenwich Market. It wasn't as big as I thought it would be, but it had some pretty nice things. There were a few food shops inside, as well as some vintage clothing and little knick-knacks. I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to browse!
After that, we visited the National Maritime Museum and the Queen's Gallery. I liked the interactive parts of the Maritime Museum. A lot of them were made for children, which I think is why I found it fun :) It was also interesting to see all of the different things they imported and their worth at different points in history. The Queen's Gallery definitely wasn't as interactive... it was more portraits, but we did get to see the official portrait of Queen Victoria which is pretty famous and I've seen it before in history and art books.
We finished up by stopping through Canary Wharf - it definitely seemed like a little piece of America. We spent a good bit of time just walking through the tube station and looking at the shops there... by the way, who has a Tiffany's inside a tube stop? I thought that was a little different. The day was pretty relaxing overall, and it was nice to get out of the business of the city for a bit.
Assignment 5: London's East End
After visiting Brick Lane during our scavenger hunt at the very beginning of the semester, I decided the East End was somewhere I wanted to visit in daylight and definitely not by myself. The environment is extremely diverse and can be a bit intimidating if you don't know where you're going. As a major Bengali community, it was notable that most of the street and shop signs were written in both English and Bengali.
Though my first impression wasn't completely accurate, I'm still glad that I chose to go at the time we did! We ran into a drunken homeless man who was yelling at us as we passed him and followed us for a bit while we power-walked away from him... weird. A lot of the shop owners also stand outside of their stores and tried to talk to us as we walked by. The first part of the walk was much prettier than I expected it to be after having seen Brick Lane. A lot of the Georgian houses were refurbished and turned into shops on the ground floors, while the tops were left as flats. We were told the houses were built in the 18th century, which shows just how long the area has been around.
As we continued our walk, we ran into Commercial Street where Spitalfield Market is, but we unfortunately chose to go on a Saturday when the shops weren't open. We did end up walking past a few more hidden vintage markets that we explored a little bit. They definitely had their own feel to them, with most of the merchandise being second-hand and mostly outdated. Mallory and I found a stand that was entirely jorts (long jean shorts) and couldn't help but take a picture of it!!
There was also a street that had a row of tiny shops that were very commercial brands, but discretely adorned on the outside. They were all little cubes that were exactly the same size and had their own merchandise on the inside, but you could easily walk past them if you weren't paying attention. Along this street and a few others, we found a bunch of graffiti that was pretty amazing. We've recently developed an interest in Bansky's art throughout London, so it was cool to see knock-offs of his work along with a variety of other art along different buildings.
Our last stop was the Whitechapel Art Gallery. It was extremely small in comparison to a lot of the museums we've visited for our art class, and housed mostly contemporary art. There was a room with only projector screens and mirrors in it that were placed symmetrically to mirror the images from the projectors. There was another room on the upper level with videos of two men dressed in black that created "Human Art" which was absolutely hilarious. One man would manipulate something in a white room that would cause the other man to move in a certain way so that they would both end up supporting the other and stay in that stance. There was one part where the man kicks out the leg of a coffee table that the second man is standing on, and he slides forward towards the first man, where he is caught. It's the little things in life....
Overall, the visit both reinforced and challenged my first ideas of the area. I'm glad that we got to look into it a bit more and see all the parts that the East End has to offer in a somewhat neglected area of London!
Though my first impression wasn't completely accurate, I'm still glad that I chose to go at the time we did! We ran into a drunken homeless man who was yelling at us as we passed him and followed us for a bit while we power-walked away from him... weird. A lot of the shop owners also stand outside of their stores and tried to talk to us as we walked by. The first part of the walk was much prettier than I expected it to be after having seen Brick Lane. A lot of the Georgian houses were refurbished and turned into shops on the ground floors, while the tops were left as flats. We were told the houses were built in the 18th century, which shows just how long the area has been around.
As we continued our walk, we ran into Commercial Street where Spitalfield Market is, but we unfortunately chose to go on a Saturday when the shops weren't open. We did end up walking past a few more hidden vintage markets that we explored a little bit. They definitely had their own feel to them, with most of the merchandise being second-hand and mostly outdated. Mallory and I found a stand that was entirely jorts (long jean shorts) and couldn't help but take a picture of it!!
There was also a street that had a row of tiny shops that were very commercial brands, but discretely adorned on the outside. They were all little cubes that were exactly the same size and had their own merchandise on the inside, but you could easily walk past them if you weren't paying attention. Along this street and a few others, we found a bunch of graffiti that was pretty amazing. We've recently developed an interest in Bansky's art throughout London, so it was cool to see knock-offs of his work along with a variety of other art along different buildings.
Our last stop was the Whitechapel Art Gallery. It was extremely small in comparison to a lot of the museums we've visited for our art class, and housed mostly contemporary art. There was a room with only projector screens and mirrors in it that were placed symmetrically to mirror the images from the projectors. There was another room on the upper level with videos of two men dressed in black that created "Human Art" which was absolutely hilarious. One man would manipulate something in a white room that would cause the other man to move in a certain way so that they would both end up supporting the other and stay in that stance. There was one part where the man kicks out the leg of a coffee table that the second man is standing on, and he slides forward towards the first man, where he is caught. It's the little things in life....
Overall, the visit both reinforced and challenged my first ideas of the area. I'm glad that we got to look into it a bit more and see all the parts that the East End has to offer in a somewhat neglected area of London!
Assignment C: Internship Reflections
- What are you observing about your work environment? If you could, what are two things you would keep and two things you would change?
- I've never worked in such a small business atmosphere before. The work environment is somewhat casual and laid-back, but at the same time, we are responsible for getting a lot done between a few people, which can be stressful at times.
- One thing that I would definitely keep is the variety I get in my work. No two days are the same as far as things we have to get done, and that definitely keeps me from getting bored! Another thing I really enjoy is the relationship I have with my supervisors. They're people that you can joke around with and talk about your personal life with, but they also know when it's time to get down to business and get things done.
- There really isn't a lot that I would change about my internship. I think the only thing that I might change would be to prioritize things better. We start every every week with a list of things to do, but they rarely all get done. There are always things coming up that interfere with our priority list - which seems to be the case in any small business - but that definitely throws off our productivity.
- How does your supervisor's style work for you? What would you want to be like as a supervisor in the future?
- I love Kim's style of supervising, because he gives me a great deal of independence. If he is teaching me how to do something, he'll go through it with me once while I take notes on it, then leave me to take care of things on my own. He's always there if I have questions, but essentially he will give me a task and leave me to complete it. Once I'm finished, I'll have him look things over to make sure I've done them correctly, or have him edit my writing and then we'll move on to the next task. He also takes my opinion into consideration regarding writing and decisions we make for marketing which makes me feel like I have an impact on what's happening in the company.
- As a supervisor, I would love to have the same style. It's a good mix of independence and mentoring, and the balance he has is just about perfect.
- What are you learning about yourself through this internship? What is one thing about yourself that you would like to improve for your next job?
- I'm learning that I really enjoy variety. This internship compared to my past ones is so much more rewarding because I get to touch so many different parts of the company. Something I could definitely improve on is my attention to detail. At times there are so many things happening at once that it's hard to do all of them and notice every single thing about them. The good thing is, I double-check everything before I'm finished, so normally I notice it then.
- What are two things you have learned how to do or improved upon during this internship?
- I've learned how to manage online orders, which is one of my main responsibilities. I normally start my day off checking to see how many orders have been placed, print all of them out for Linda to pack, make labels for all of them, then pack the chocolates into boxes to be shipped. During this whole process, I have to keep the online shop updated to make sure we don't duplicate orders and also ensure that customers know when their orders have been sent out. It's something I've never done before, but I enjoy the process, and it breaks up the time I spend on the computer so that I get to do something with my hands and keep from getting tired.
- I've always enjoyed writing, but this experience has taught me a new way of writing while still keeping my own style incorporated. Brits have a very dry sense of humor, which is something I've grown up with so it's easy for me to use that in my writing. I do, however, find myself using a completely different vocabulary - along with correcting my American spelling - to tailor to our readers. I have Kim look over all of the blogs/newsletters before we send them, so he'll let me know if something needs to be changed and why.
- After college, will you look for a company that is similar to the one that you have interned with? Why?
- I would love to work for a similar company after graduation, but in larger scale. I love the variety, but feel tasks could be streamlined a bit more if there were more employees to take responsibility for them. Sometimes we have things to do that we end up having to rush through because so many other things come up, and we can't get them done to the high standards that we set for ourselves.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Internship Journal (12 March)
This week, I only worked on Monday due to the fact that I worked the Friday before. Even though there was only one day, there was no shortage of work to be done. Again, we pushed the product drops back and still didn't really complete any of those. My day mostly consisted of packing boxes to be shipped out that had been ordered over the weekend. The Sunday Telegraph ran a tiny ad for our chocolates to purchase them for Mothering Sunday, and from Sunday morning to Monday morning we received upwards of twenty orders and that took up the majority of my day. Packing the boxes itself is extremely time consuming, because you have to make sure that the chocolates don't shake around in the shipping box. Along with that, I have to print off messages and addresses and make sure everything matches up before I can take them all to the post office.
I was originally going to make a "save-the-date" invitation for our blogger event following Easter, but that didn't end up happening. With all the packing and things to finish before the day was over, I still ended up getting home an hour and a half later than I should have. I finished my day off by stopping by the Guardian to drop off some of our Easter products for a taste test. That was next to King's Cross - during rush hour - which was not the best ending to the day. I hope the food writer receiving the chocolates appreciated my efforts….
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Internship Journal (5-6, 10 March)
During the end of last week, Kim and I sat down and decided to make a calendar with everything laid out that we want to accomplish by the end of my time at Demarquette. That took a good hour and a half... partly because Kim is always getting interrupted by phone calls and random things that come up throughout the day, and partly because there was so much to think about! We're quickly learning that even with both of us working on things, it's going to be close to impossible to get everything done.
Monday was supposed to start with preparing product drops to different newspaper/magazine companies. By that, I mean I would be going to different places to drop off our Easter products for taste tests, reviews, and product features that newspapers may be doing in order to get essentially free press. We quickly realized that wasn't going to happen... so many things had come up over the weekend that those were moved to the top of our priority list. By the end of the week, none of the product drops ended up happening, but we did accomplish lots of other things!
We've been doing a good job of keeping our blog updated to attract readers, who will hopefully turn into customers or promoters for the company. This week, we added a blog having to do with Mother's Day, and we also developed a newsletter for the holiday. Just about every newsletter we send out has some type of offer on it to try and increase our orders, but that doesn't always happen. Either way, we took about a day to get both of those done and that put us behind for all the other things we had to do.
I worked on the 10th so that I could be out of the office for one day the following week as my boyfriend was coming to visit. Again, we were supposed to get product drops done that day and it didn't happen again. Packing boxes to ship always seems to get in the way somehow and that day was no exception. We were also beginning to work on the event that I am planning for the week after Easter. Hopefully, it will have a decent turnout!
Monday was supposed to start with preparing product drops to different newspaper/magazine companies. By that, I mean I would be going to different places to drop off our Easter products for taste tests, reviews, and product features that newspapers may be doing in order to get essentially free press. We quickly realized that wasn't going to happen... so many things had come up over the weekend that those were moved to the top of our priority list. By the end of the week, none of the product drops ended up happening, but we did accomplish lots of other things!
We've been doing a good job of keeping our blog updated to attract readers, who will hopefully turn into customers or promoters for the company. This week, we added a blog having to do with Mother's Day, and we also developed a newsletter for the holiday. Just about every newsletter we send out has some type of offer on it to try and increase our orders, but that doesn't always happen. Either way, we took about a day to get both of those done and that put us behind for all the other things we had to do.
I worked on the 10th so that I could be out of the office for one day the following week as my boyfriend was coming to visit. Again, we were supposed to get product drops done that day and it didn't happen again. Packing boxes to ship always seems to get in the way somehow and that day was no exception. We were also beginning to work on the event that I am planning for the week after Easter. Hopefully, it will have a decent turnout!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Internship Journal 28-29 February
This week, we were struggling with a lack of online orders following Valentine's Day, while still trying to hit a sales target that would beat last year's. We landed on developing a Leap Day offer that is "so good, it only comes around every four years!" Haha... yay for taglines! We included the offer in a newsletter with a special promo code, and just as we suspected, the orders started pouring in. That kept me pretty busy for both Monday and Tuesday just spending time packing orders and taking them to the post.
Along with the end of February comes the start of Lent, and we decided to use that as a starting point for another blog post. I wrote a blog all about the benefits of chocolate and why you shouldn't give it up for Lent! It seemed to have pretty decent feedback which is always reassuring! If you want to check it out, visit our blog. I was reviewing our blog history, and we had more posts in February than almost our entire total before the month began! Writing is something I've always enjoyed, so it's nice to be able to use that to benefit and market a company with a relaxed and expressive style.
We also worked a bit on the wording for our Diamond Jubilee Collection. A tag will come on each box purchased and I was able to contribute to more of the "sales" type of talk that would be printed on those. It's cool to be able to help with things like that and see them come back to the shop in finished form, on the shelf to display for customers! Our internship is a lot of work, but it's also nice to know that we're having a real, measurable impact on the company and its success.
Along with the end of February comes the start of Lent, and we decided to use that as a starting point for another blog post. I wrote a blog all about the benefits of chocolate and why you shouldn't give it up for Lent! It seemed to have pretty decent feedback which is always reassuring! If you want to check it out, visit our blog. I was reviewing our blog history, and we had more posts in February than almost our entire total before the month began! Writing is something I've always enjoyed, so it's nice to be able to use that to benefit and market a company with a relaxed and expressive style.
We also worked a bit on the wording for our Diamond Jubilee Collection. A tag will come on each box purchased and I was able to contribute to more of the "sales" type of talk that would be printed on those. It's cool to be able to help with things like that and see them come back to the shop in finished form, on the shelf to display for customers! Our internship is a lot of work, but it's also nice to know that we're having a real, measurable impact on the company and its success.
Internship Journals (February 13-14, 20-21)
For the first time in my life, I got to experience what it's like to work in a chocolate shop on Valentine's Day... needless to say, it was a little hectic. I spent a majority of the 13th packing boxes to be sent the next day. (Nothing like waiting until the last minute, gentlemen!) We also have been focusing a lot more on the social networking aspect of marketing the shop now that I am there to help Kim. He literally does just about everything by himself besides actually making the chocolate. Anything from photoshoots to writing to press releases to shipping boxes is on his list of things to do - it's really rewarding to know that I get to relieve him a little!
Anyway, that week I focused a lot on more writing. We're really making an effort to update our blog so that people will have fresh things to read on a regular basis and we can keep them interested in the company. I also am being given more input in our advertisement-type writing for tags on our products, press releases, etc. Valentine's week was pretty full of packing boxes to ship, and we even got to help the shop manager, Linda, for a while! It's always nice to be able to get out of the back office for a while, but we helped her prepare boxes for corporate gifts, along with getting things ready for the anticipated shop rush for last-LAST-minute shoppers.
Last week consisted of preparing our priority PR lists for different publications. The people on these lists generally work for more well-known newspapers and magazines and specialize in food writing. Our goal is essentially to hound them enough that they'll decide to feature our product in their magazine, but it's turning out to be harder this year because of the dramatic increase in competition! Chocolate shops seem to be popping up everywhere, and a lot of them are much cheaper than we are because the quality isn't as good. That is the question that we'll need to be answering here in the near future!
Anyway, that week I focused a lot on more writing. We're really making an effort to update our blog so that people will have fresh things to read on a regular basis and we can keep them interested in the company. I also am being given more input in our advertisement-type writing for tags on our products, press releases, etc. Valentine's week was pretty full of packing boxes to ship, and we even got to help the shop manager, Linda, for a while! It's always nice to be able to get out of the back office for a while, but we helped her prepare boxes for corporate gifts, along with getting things ready for the anticipated shop rush for last-LAST-minute shoppers.
Last week consisted of preparing our priority PR lists for different publications. The people on these lists generally work for more well-known newspapers and magazines and specialize in food writing. Our goal is essentially to hound them enough that they'll decide to feature our product in their magazine, but it's turning out to be harder this year because of the dramatic increase in competition! Chocolate shops seem to be popping up everywhere, and a lot of them are much cheaper than we are because the quality isn't as good. That is the question that we'll need to be answering here in the near future!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Assignment 2: Museum of London
I have to be completely honest when beginning this one... I thought this museum was one of the more boring ones we've visited. It could be the fact that we chose to go about a month after we arrived in the city and we kind of know some about the place now, but I just didn't take that much interest in it. I think the fact that also go to a museum once a week for art class was a contributing factor as well - when we're in class, we have someone guiding us through it and pointing out certain things to look at while providing an explanation of things. That helps draw my attention much more than when I go alone... I've never been much of a museum browser but I did my best!
Something that I probably enjoyed most about the museum was the section on the Great Fire. I'd learned about it previously in history classes, but not in much depth. We also talked about it a bit on one of our first tours during the week we arrived in London. I think I was interested in it because I got to see certain venues that the the fire actually destroyed and was able to compare the modern buildings that are there today. I did also learn a lot of other facts about the fire that I didn't know about before, such as blaming certain people for the fire. I thought it was interesting that so many different groups of people were blamed for the fire, regardless of the fact that they had nothing to do with it. Anyone from Catholics, to Spaniards, to God Himself were all blamed for causing the fire for a variety of reasons that no one could really explain. The most widely accepted cause states that a fire broke out in the kitchen of a baker - that, combined with a very dry summer caused the fire to spread extremely rapidly with little hope of it being extinguished.
I also thought it was interesting that the number of people that died as a result of the fire isn't known. Some information at the museum said that because cold weather and lack of housing were very common, it was extremely difficult to tell which deaths were from that, and which deaths were a direct result of the fire.
Some other things that interested me about the museum were the amount of tools they had discovered and had on display. It was hard to believe that so many tools could have been preserved over such a long period of time, and dated so accurately that they were found to be thousands of years old. I guess I think of London as a historical city, but in a more medieval context than anything. The tools I saw put things into perspective and were a good account of how old the city really is.
Overall, like I mentioned earlier, I enjoyed parts of the museum, but overall it hasn't been one of my favorites. Maybe I'll go check it out again when I'm feeling especially studious.....
Something that I probably enjoyed most about the museum was the section on the Great Fire. I'd learned about it previously in history classes, but not in much depth. We also talked about it a bit on one of our first tours during the week we arrived in London. I think I was interested in it because I got to see certain venues that the the fire actually destroyed and was able to compare the modern buildings that are there today. I did also learn a lot of other facts about the fire that I didn't know about before, such as blaming certain people for the fire. I thought it was interesting that so many different groups of people were blamed for the fire, regardless of the fact that they had nothing to do with it. Anyone from Catholics, to Spaniards, to God Himself were all blamed for causing the fire for a variety of reasons that no one could really explain. The most widely accepted cause states that a fire broke out in the kitchen of a baker - that, combined with a very dry summer caused the fire to spread extremely rapidly with little hope of it being extinguished.
I also thought it was interesting that the number of people that died as a result of the fire isn't known. Some information at the museum said that because cold weather and lack of housing were very common, it was extremely difficult to tell which deaths were from that, and which deaths were a direct result of the fire.
Some other things that interested me about the museum were the amount of tools they had discovered and had on display. It was hard to believe that so many tools could have been preserved over such a long period of time, and dated so accurately that they were found to be thousands of years old. I guess I think of London as a historical city, but in a more medieval context than anything. The tools I saw put things into perspective and were a good account of how old the city really is.
Overall, like I mentioned earlier, I enjoyed parts of the museum, but overall it hasn't been one of my favorites. Maybe I'll go check it out again when I'm feeling especially studious.....
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Assignment 1: Portobello, Borough and Camden Markets
I've decided that when I return back to the states, one of the things I'll miss most about London is their market scene. I absolutely love the fact that you can go to just about any area of town and run into an outdoor market area - whether that means food, souvenirs, or serious shopping there is truly something for everyone. (I'll add pictures later when I get my computer back...)
Portobello
This place is dangerous. DO NOT visit if you have a lot of cash on you, because I guarantee you'll end up spending just about all of it here!! I had quite the day shopping here; it's a great mix of both food and clothing shops. They also have a lot of vintage antiques and more London-related things that aren't as cliche as regular souvenirs. In order to get the full experience, I had to try a little of everything, right? :) I came back to Vandon with a couple scarves, t-shirts, a pair of shoes, a necklace, fruit and veg, other groceries, a gourmet cupcake, and a much lighter purse. (Mom, you should be proud - I bargained on everything I got!)
This market stretches for about two miles on both sides of the street, including stores in buildings and those set up in the street and on the sidewalks. If you're looking for gifts to bring home for people, this is the place to go. It helped that the weather was gorgeous, but the time definitely flew by when we were walking around. It was also a lot less touristy than other areas of town which was refreshing - that sounds bad now that I look at things because I still feel like one every now and then!
Camden
Camden Market was the closest thing to culture shock that I've ever experienced. I heard stories from some people in the program that had visited it before me, but still wasn't really sure what to expect. I decided to explore it one afternoon with a few other girls and we ended up spending hours there. My first impression was the store fronts... the "architecture" of them was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Almost every shop has something sticking out of the front of it that describes what's in the shop. It's definitely a punky area so some of the shops were selling things I've never seen before, and things that I wouldn't have been disappointed never to see. ;) There was one store that had nothing but things for smoking marijuana, or things with marijuana leaves on them, etc... that's something I never would have seen back at home.
My favorite part of Camden was the area off of the main street that's tucked away by a little river. It's amazing to see how it develops as the day goes on; the morning starts off with all these little cubicles locked and covered with sheets, then toward the afternoon there are probably HUNDREDS of shops that come out of the woodwork. People start bringing things out of their shops to put on display for people to see and try as you walk throughout the market. The first time we went, we walked past a restaurant selling Chinese food and the owner was getting all of us to try what he was making, then he did a rap to tell us the names of everything. He ended his performance by telling us that we could get a free drink with our meals - one of the most entertaining things I'd seen there by far.
We also visited a store called Cyber Dog... I literally can not describe it in words. It's something you have to see for yourself if you visit London because pictures weren't allowed in the store, otherwise I would have shared! The only way I can begin to explain it is a store for ravers... 90% of the store is lit with black lights and they use robots for manikins. They also have live cage dancers to entertain shoppers (as if the actual merchandise doesn't do that well enough). If you've ever seen Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, that is about as close as I can get to describing the clothing there. I think the best way to shop there would be if you were on drugs... but maybe that's just me?
Borough
This was exactly what I pictured a traditional outdoor market to be. It was strictly food - some raw and some prepared - and it was also a bit upscale for my price range. It was amazing to see, though, because we had walked through it at night when there was nothing set up and it is literally a concrete slab that is covered underneath a roof. You would never guess that during the day it is bustling with shoppers and fresh, British-grown food. If I would have had more money to spend, I would have been in heaven; I settled on a steak sandwich and a piece of cheesecake which were both much cheaper than I anticipated (but still not cheap). It's a great place to visit if you're feeling "a bit peckish" as Mark would say, because a bunch of the tents have free samples for you to try.
Essentially, I think the markets are an amazing way to get a taste of what London used to be and experience the parts that aren't as well-known.
Portobello
This place is dangerous. DO NOT visit if you have a lot of cash on you, because I guarantee you'll end up spending just about all of it here!! I had quite the day shopping here; it's a great mix of both food and clothing shops. They also have a lot of vintage antiques and more London-related things that aren't as cliche as regular souvenirs. In order to get the full experience, I had to try a little of everything, right? :) I came back to Vandon with a couple scarves, t-shirts, a pair of shoes, a necklace, fruit and veg, other groceries, a gourmet cupcake, and a much lighter purse. (Mom, you should be proud - I bargained on everything I got!)
This market stretches for about two miles on both sides of the street, including stores in buildings and those set up in the street and on the sidewalks. If you're looking for gifts to bring home for people, this is the place to go. It helped that the weather was gorgeous, but the time definitely flew by when we were walking around. It was also a lot less touristy than other areas of town which was refreshing - that sounds bad now that I look at things because I still feel like one every now and then!
Camden
Camden Market was the closest thing to culture shock that I've ever experienced. I heard stories from some people in the program that had visited it before me, but still wasn't really sure what to expect. I decided to explore it one afternoon with a few other girls and we ended up spending hours there. My first impression was the store fronts... the "architecture" of them was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Almost every shop has something sticking out of the front of it that describes what's in the shop. It's definitely a punky area so some of the shops were selling things I've never seen before, and things that I wouldn't have been disappointed never to see. ;) There was one store that had nothing but things for smoking marijuana, or things with marijuana leaves on them, etc... that's something I never would have seen back at home.
My favorite part of Camden was the area off of the main street that's tucked away by a little river. It's amazing to see how it develops as the day goes on; the morning starts off with all these little cubicles locked and covered with sheets, then toward the afternoon there are probably HUNDREDS of shops that come out of the woodwork. People start bringing things out of their shops to put on display for people to see and try as you walk throughout the market. The first time we went, we walked past a restaurant selling Chinese food and the owner was getting all of us to try what he was making, then he did a rap to tell us the names of everything. He ended his performance by telling us that we could get a free drink with our meals - one of the most entertaining things I'd seen there by far.
We also visited a store called Cyber Dog... I literally can not describe it in words. It's something you have to see for yourself if you visit London because pictures weren't allowed in the store, otherwise I would have shared! The only way I can begin to explain it is a store for ravers... 90% of the store is lit with black lights and they use robots for manikins. They also have live cage dancers to entertain shoppers (as if the actual merchandise doesn't do that well enough). If you've ever seen Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, that is about as close as I can get to describing the clothing there. I think the best way to shop there would be if you were on drugs... but maybe that's just me?
Borough
This was exactly what I pictured a traditional outdoor market to be. It was strictly food - some raw and some prepared - and it was also a bit upscale for my price range. It was amazing to see, though, because we had walked through it at night when there was nothing set up and it is literally a concrete slab that is covered underneath a roof. You would never guess that during the day it is bustling with shoppers and fresh, British-grown food. If I would have had more money to spend, I would have been in heaven; I settled on a steak sandwich and a piece of cheesecake which were both much cheaper than I anticipated (but still not cheap). It's a great place to visit if you're feeling "a bit peckish" as Mark would say, because a bunch of the tents have free samples for you to try.
Essentially, I think the markets are an amazing way to get a taste of what London used to be and experience the parts that aren't as well-known.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Where has the time gone? (PT 1: Bath, Lacock Village)
It's hard to believe we've been in London for almost six weeks. That's a month and a half, ladies and gents... my time here is quickly falling through my fingers and I'm starting to realize that I'm not going to be able to do everything that I hoped. For any of you who've never experienced that - it SUCKS. That's why I'm going to make the most of what I have left! Obviously, I haven't been blogging as much as I should be (hey, I've been busy!) so I'm going to attempt to catch everyone up on things....
Where to begin... well two weekends ago we went on a trip planned through our program to Bath and Lacock Village. We stopped at Stonehenge on the way, which was about as exciting as a pile of rocks can be. We enjoyed ourselves, though, while we tried to reenact a picture from the Central Study Abroad program with some of the students jumping in the air... about 30 jumps later, our photographers let us know that apparently capturing these pictures is a lot harder than it seems.
I am learning to love the trips that I don't have to plan anything for - probably not a good realization when I think I want to do event planning for a living. Oops! Anyway, we arrived in Bath and were staying at a hostel in a YMCA. I thought it was a little odd, but it was also my first hostel experience. It was really nice, considering we shared a room with a bunch of girls from our program so we didn't really have to worry about keeping an eye on things.
The first day we were there we toured the Roman Baths in the city, and they were absolutely amazing. It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that we were walking on the actual ground that ancient Romans had built 2000 years prior, but it was definitely an experience. After that, we walked around and window shopped a bit and got to know the city. I absolutely loved that place - it was small enought that everything in town is within walking distance, but still hugely populated. I feel like they have come as close to modern-day as you can get in an ancient place without ruining the beauty of it all. Later that night, we went on a ghost walk, which ended up being more of a history lesson. I think our tour guide forgot a couple times that he was supposed to be telling us about ghosts, and not about what role they had in the military. There were several instances where he would trail off on some history tangent and end with: "Oh, and the ghost is said to be found (insert location here)." We were all freezing our tails off too, so that didn't make things any more interesting. Tess and I also had to pee... really, really bad. It got to the point that we physically couldn't hold it anymore, but none of the shops were open anymore and we didn't want to leave the group. So what did we do? Found a nice spot in a tree in one the park during one of his lectures to relieve ourselves. Keep in mind that would never happen anywhere in London with all the CCTV everywhere, but we managed to sneak off well enough. :) PS this is a judge-free blog.
That night we went out to a club in town, which we opened... as in, we were the very first group of people to show up. We were also the last to leave, and it was an absolute blast. Some friends and I just danced around on the dance floor and hoped that more people would eventually show up that weren't from Pella, IA. Shortly after we arrived, a bigger group of guys showed up so Tess and I decided to go see where they were from. It turned out they were a club rugby team that had come to see the same rugby match we were going to the next day, and they were also staying at the YMCA. We found out the hard way later on that night that they were also on the same floor. After dancing with some of them, my friend Holly grabbed me and goes "I have a secret to tell you... all of these guys are SIXTEEN!!" I couldn't compose myself, it was SO funny... I asked one of the kids how old he was, and his response was "I can drive! I can drive!" I sure hope I wasn't that stupid when I was their age. ;) So when we returned to our hostel, we got a series of random pounds on our door in the middle of the night, followed by a bunch of teenage laughter that we could hear out our window. I'm glad we could provide them with some entertainment that night. HA
The next day we went to a rugby match which was so interesting to see... the closest I'd ever been to understanding that game was when I went to Invictus in theatres. Regardless of being completely clueless, we cheered when everyone else cheered and booed when everyone else booed, so we didn't completely stick out! I just felt like I was watching football back in the states - not sure if I'll ever truly understand how that game works. There was a group of middle-aged men sitting in front of us that our director told us was a Stag Party, which apparently is like the same thing as a bachelor party. Their theme was "country gentlemen" so they were all dressed like Sherlock Holmes and had fake shotguns with the bachelor dressed as a fox in the middle of their fox hunt. I don't think I've ever seen any group of men drink so much beer in such a small amount of time and still be standing straight up. They were obviously well-conditioned.
Sunday, we went to the village of Lacock, which is a super tiny medieval town about an hour from Bath. It was adorable, but it also took about five minutes to walk from one end to the other. We toured an Abbey there where apparently there were some Harry Potter scenes filmed (woopdy dooooo....). Yes, I am a Harry Hater. I took some pictures to share with friends back home that might understand where they're from, but I really could have cared less. I sure hope that doesn't make me a bad person. Bahahahaha!
By the way, pictures are coming later... after I fill you in on my current situation.
Where to begin... well two weekends ago we went on a trip planned through our program to Bath and Lacock Village. We stopped at Stonehenge on the way, which was about as exciting as a pile of rocks can be. We enjoyed ourselves, though, while we tried to reenact a picture from the Central Study Abroad program with some of the students jumping in the air... about 30 jumps later, our photographers let us know that apparently capturing these pictures is a lot harder than it seems.
I am learning to love the trips that I don't have to plan anything for - probably not a good realization when I think I want to do event planning for a living. Oops! Anyway, we arrived in Bath and were staying at a hostel in a YMCA. I thought it was a little odd, but it was also my first hostel experience. It was really nice, considering we shared a room with a bunch of girls from our program so we didn't really have to worry about keeping an eye on things.
The first day we were there we toured the Roman Baths in the city, and they were absolutely amazing. It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that we were walking on the actual ground that ancient Romans had built 2000 years prior, but it was definitely an experience. After that, we walked around and window shopped a bit and got to know the city. I absolutely loved that place - it was small enought that everything in town is within walking distance, but still hugely populated. I feel like they have come as close to modern-day as you can get in an ancient place without ruining the beauty of it all. Later that night, we went on a ghost walk, which ended up being more of a history lesson. I think our tour guide forgot a couple times that he was supposed to be telling us about ghosts, and not about what role they had in the military. There were several instances where he would trail off on some history tangent and end with: "Oh, and the ghost is said to be found (insert location here)." We were all freezing our tails off too, so that didn't make things any more interesting. Tess and I also had to pee... really, really bad. It got to the point that we physically couldn't hold it anymore, but none of the shops were open anymore and we didn't want to leave the group. So what did we do? Found a nice spot in a tree in one the park during one of his lectures to relieve ourselves. Keep in mind that would never happen anywhere in London with all the CCTV everywhere, but we managed to sneak off well enough. :) PS this is a judge-free blog.
That night we went out to a club in town, which we opened... as in, we were the very first group of people to show up. We were also the last to leave, and it was an absolute blast. Some friends and I just danced around on the dance floor and hoped that more people would eventually show up that weren't from Pella, IA. Shortly after we arrived, a bigger group of guys showed up so Tess and I decided to go see where they were from. It turned out they were a club rugby team that had come to see the same rugby match we were going to the next day, and they were also staying at the YMCA. We found out the hard way later on that night that they were also on the same floor. After dancing with some of them, my friend Holly grabbed me and goes "I have a secret to tell you... all of these guys are SIXTEEN!!" I couldn't compose myself, it was SO funny... I asked one of the kids how old he was, and his response was "I can drive! I can drive!" I sure hope I wasn't that stupid when I was their age. ;) So when we returned to our hostel, we got a series of random pounds on our door in the middle of the night, followed by a bunch of teenage laughter that we could hear out our window. I'm glad we could provide them with some entertainment that night. HA
The next day we went to a rugby match which was so interesting to see... the closest I'd ever been to understanding that game was when I went to Invictus in theatres. Regardless of being completely clueless, we cheered when everyone else cheered and booed when everyone else booed, so we didn't completely stick out! I just felt like I was watching football back in the states - not sure if I'll ever truly understand how that game works. There was a group of middle-aged men sitting in front of us that our director told us was a Stag Party, which apparently is like the same thing as a bachelor party. Their theme was "country gentlemen" so they were all dressed like Sherlock Holmes and had fake shotguns with the bachelor dressed as a fox in the middle of their fox hunt. I don't think I've ever seen any group of men drink so much beer in such a small amount of time and still be standing straight up. They were obviously well-conditioned.
Sunday, we went to the village of Lacock, which is a super tiny medieval town about an hour from Bath. It was adorable, but it also took about five minutes to walk from one end to the other. We toured an Abbey there where apparently there were some Harry Potter scenes filmed (woopdy dooooo....). Yes, I am a Harry Hater. I took some pictures to share with friends back home that might understand where they're from, but I really could have cared less. I sure hope that doesn't make me a bad person. Bahahahaha!
By the way, pictures are coming later... after I fill you in on my current situation.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Internship Journal Weeks Jan 30-31 & Feb 6-7
The past couple weeks were quite different in comparison to each other. The second week of my internship (30-31) I was in the office by myself... Kim entrusted me with a key to the shop and left me with plenty of work to keep myself busy! He was spending the week in Germany partially to spend time with his family, and partially to attend a food trade show to get new ideas for using chocolate, marketing, etc. During those couple days, I spent a lot of my time doing what I love MOST.... cold calls. (If you know me well, you'll know that I spent an entire summer doing cold calls door-to-door for a printing company, and didn't see much come out of it besides sweaty clothes and a thicker skin!) Anyway, they weren't totally cold because I at least had the people's names to contact, but most were editors of big magazine and newspaper publications and didn't have time for little people like me! It wasn't too bad, but I spent the time trying to find out if the writers were doing special features for Easter or the Queen's Diamond Jubilee so we can start PR targeted toward them asap.
Apparently, I finished that incredibly quickly and started running out of things to do so I started doing my SECOND favorite thing in London... blogging. (<- This one's for you, Jen and Mark!) Demarquette has a Wordpress blog, Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter to keep up with all of the ridiculous social networking that is now essential in PR and marketing. Blogging is a great way to market to freelance food writers that are passionate about what they eat and love to share their opinions with others. Kim is giving me a lot of freedom on the blog, as well as the responsibility to keep it updated to make sure people have something new to read on a semi-regular basis. I love writing, especially if it's something I'm passionate about, and chocolate is not far from that! This is where week two filters into week three...
The third week, Kim and I collaborated a lot on continuing to write the blog, as well as preparing a monthly newsletter for subscribers (check out what I've been working on!). As we all know, Valentine's Day is upon us and it is very important that we market it as much as possible to have as little excess inventory left over at the end of things. In order to do that, we wrote a few blog posts, then cross-linked it to our facebook and Twitter pages to get people thinking about us during the holiday. When people think about Valentine's Day, we want them to think, "Demarquette!"
In the same way, we wanted to push certain products for Valentine's Day sales so we developed different promotions and features in the newsletter in order to accomplish that. It's interesting to work with Kim because he handles literally every part of PR and marketing there is in the business, along with online sales and keeping the website up-to-date. He has a lot on his plate, so sometimes things like the newsletter get pushed aside or rushed and aren't done as well as they could be. That's where I come in! We both look over each other's writing a lot to make sure it's grammatically correct, sounds enticing and makes people want to shop with us!
As for cultural experiences.. I really haven't had many. I'm actually surprised how fast-paced my company is, considering its tiny size in comparison to a lot of others that I've talked to. The fact that there are only a few people working for the company makes it tough to take time off, so they have a huge responsibility in keeping it going.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Internship Assignment B: Organization Profile
Again, for recreational readers: This blog is kind of boring, but tells a lot about my internship.
a.) The purpose of my organization is to provide the highest quality chocolate and customer service possible to their customers. In the words of Demarquette, they want people to "Taste the World through Chocolate."
b.) The company is very small, and has a total of about five employees, not including myself. There are two main owners, Kim and Marc. Kim is in charge of all the Marketing, Public Relations, Advertising, and details regarding those things. Marc is the main owner and actually makes the chocolate with his very small team. Linda is the shop manager and she organizes and decorates the shop depending on the time of season, holiday, etc. She lets Marc know when certain chocolates are running low and need to be produced or when others aren't selling as well. The chain of command is very flexible because everyone knows their role and is very closely held to that.
c.) New policies would be formed by the collaboration of Marc and Kim. Because the company is so small, it is easy to address problems, but not as easily dealt with because there aren't many people to handle unexpected incidences.
d.) There are a few main competitors such as Rococo, La Maison du Chocolate, and William Curley. My first day, I actually visited these places and saw the shops in order to compare them to our marketing strategies and prices. They often investigate other price ranges and advertising strategies to make sure they are not priced much higher or lower than the average chocolate of the same quality.
e.) The organization is funded from investments of Kim and Marc, as well as direct retail from the chocolate produced.
f.) Demarquette serves high-end customers that have a very refined taste. Also, the company is extremely corporately responsible so they spend a lot of time promoting the fact that they can source all of their chocolate (that is, they know where all ingredients come from down to the growers and harvesters to make sure slave and child labor is not used).
g.) There are three chocolatiers (including Marc), Kim for advertising, and Linda to keep shop.
h.) I'm not sure of exact benefits/salaries of the employees, but free chocolate is always a nice extra! They get to take it home anytime it's about to go off due to shelf life expiration.
i.) The organization is pretty small, so it becomes hard to run it people get sick, take vacation, etc. The crew has to become very flexible in order to cover everyone if something goes wrong. The nice part about the small organization is that communication is very simple between everyone. If someone needs something, they're just a phone call or email away and it will get done.
a.) The purpose of my organization is to provide the highest quality chocolate and customer service possible to their customers. In the words of Demarquette, they want people to "Taste the World through Chocolate."
b.) The company is very small, and has a total of about five employees, not including myself. There are two main owners, Kim and Marc. Kim is in charge of all the Marketing, Public Relations, Advertising, and details regarding those things. Marc is the main owner and actually makes the chocolate with his very small team. Linda is the shop manager and she organizes and decorates the shop depending on the time of season, holiday, etc. She lets Marc know when certain chocolates are running low and need to be produced or when others aren't selling as well. The chain of command is very flexible because everyone knows their role and is very closely held to that.
c.) New policies would be formed by the collaboration of Marc and Kim. Because the company is so small, it is easy to address problems, but not as easily dealt with because there aren't many people to handle unexpected incidences.
d.) There are a few main competitors such as Rococo, La Maison du Chocolate, and William Curley. My first day, I actually visited these places and saw the shops in order to compare them to our marketing strategies and prices. They often investigate other price ranges and advertising strategies to make sure they are not priced much higher or lower than the average chocolate of the same quality.
e.) The organization is funded from investments of Kim and Marc, as well as direct retail from the chocolate produced.
f.) Demarquette serves high-end customers that have a very refined taste. Also, the company is extremely corporately responsible so they spend a lot of time promoting the fact that they can source all of their chocolate (that is, they know where all ingredients come from down to the growers and harvesters to make sure slave and child labor is not used).
g.) There are three chocolatiers (including Marc), Kim for advertising, and Linda to keep shop.
h.) I'm not sure of exact benefits/salaries of the employees, but free chocolate is always a nice extra! They get to take it home anytime it's about to go off due to shelf life expiration.
i.) The organization is pretty small, so it becomes hard to run it people get sick, take vacation, etc. The crew has to become very flexible in order to cover everyone if something goes wrong. The nice part about the small organization is that communication is very simple between everyone. If someone needs something, they're just a phone call or email away and it will get done.
Internship Assignment A: Outline of Goals, Objectives and Tasks
Note: if you're reading this blog for fun, skip over my assignments. :)
- Goal/Skill: Plan Easter event and bring to completion
- Correlate with my managers to learn about the company and what they want to accomplish within the event.
- Learn about the details that go into planning an event and communicate with the people necessary to bring everything together.
- Improve my skills as a communicative writer
- Write for the Demarquette blog and have it edited by my manager to correct British spelling, grammar, etc.
- Help develop the company's newsletter and become more descriptive and creative in my writing.
- Goal/Skill: Build the company's database and in turn increase their sales
- Find companies that are growing and have potential to buy in the area of high-end chocolate.
- Get in contact with those people and promote our business to them.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
I guess this is gonna be a weekly thing...
So, blogging more often than weekly obviously isn't working out very well. There is simply too much to do to fit it into my schedule! Let's try and get everyone caught up to speed....
Last week I had my first classes (I don't remember anyone mentioning them when I signed up for this program...) which were: Art in London, Contemporary Britain, Seminar, and something else I don't remember. Oops. We went to the student union Tuesday night (ULU) to celebrate our first week of internships finishing. And let me tell YOU, it sure is nice to have Tuesday feel like Friday. I'm loving two-day work weeks :)
Wednesday we went to Camden Market (I'll explain more in another blog I have to do for an assignment on London markets) but it was shocking to say the least... I literally can't explain in words what it was like. Kind of punky, ridiculous buildings, a giant store that sells nothing but clothes/accessories for raves.. it's something you have to experience yourself to understand. We learned the importance of bargaining there, though! Mal was going to buy a tiny bracelet from this little shop, but it was 2 pounds... definitely not worth it. We suggested 1.50 and he told us his boss wouldn't let him sell for less than 2 (good one). So, like you do when you want to leave but don't want to make the person mad, she said she would come back later. He would not let her walk away! She was counting out her change in her wallet, so he snatched her wallet from her to see how much she had - not okay! She took it back, and ended up having less than a pound, but he held out both his hands like a beggar and insisted that whatever she had was fine. I felt like we just fed his family for a week....
Later that night, we went to see Les Miserables with the whole program, and it was FANTASTIC. Apparently, all the Brits get tiny cups of ice cream at intermission, and we all want to fit in... So of course we got some too :) Probably less than half a pint for 3 pounds, but hey, it's all part of the experience, right? (Thanks Mom and Dad!)
Thursday night, we had our first club experience. We got ambushed downtown by guys working for different clubs pulling us every which way trying to talk up deals to get us to go into their club versus another... that was creepy. Sure, give me a good deal, but do NOT pull me away from my group of friends to try and convince me that yours is best. That's crossing the line.
Later that night our friends studying in Wales came to visit!! It was nice just to get to see other Central people.. a nice reminder of home. We took them to a different club called TigerTiger on Friday night after we did some sight-seeing, and that was quite the experience. We were all dressed up of course, and even made reservations. We were on THE list. What a nice change ;) So the dancing in London is one thing, but guys here are definitely NOT afraid to test the waters with anyone. The standard is to kiss your hand, tell you you're beautiful, and from there it's past the point of turning back! What girl wouldn't be flattered if that happened? It did help that both of my roommates are platinum blonde (one giant American flag) and all the guys here think our "accents" are intriguing.
The topper was when I was making conversation with a guy and he asked if he could guess where I was from. I told him to go for it, because everyone always easily guesses the states without hesitation. First guess: Japan. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I realize I have small eyes, but I definitely am not tan, nor do I speak broken English. <- Strike one. Second guess: West Indies. Okay, you can stop joking around now.. you're just digging yourself a hole. <- Strike two. Third guess: Canada. Alright, we're done. Buy me my drink and leave me alone. <- YOU'RE OUTTA THERE.
After that night, I was ready for a break from the club scene. Some more sight-seeing and picture taking and the weekend was complete. Hopefully, we'll be off to Wales and Liverpool this weekend for our first trip of the semester!!
Last week I had my first classes (I don't remember anyone mentioning them when I signed up for this program...) which were: Art in London, Contemporary Britain, Seminar, and something else I don't remember. Oops. We went to the student union Tuesday night (ULU) to celebrate our first week of internships finishing. And let me tell YOU, it sure is nice to have Tuesday feel like Friday. I'm loving two-day work weeks :)
Wednesday we went to Camden Market (I'll explain more in another blog I have to do for an assignment on London markets) but it was shocking to say the least... I literally can't explain in words what it was like. Kind of punky, ridiculous buildings, a giant store that sells nothing but clothes/accessories for raves.. it's something you have to experience yourself to understand. We learned the importance of bargaining there, though! Mal was going to buy a tiny bracelet from this little shop, but it was 2 pounds... definitely not worth it. We suggested 1.50 and he told us his boss wouldn't let him sell for less than 2 (good one). So, like you do when you want to leave but don't want to make the person mad, she said she would come back later. He would not let her walk away! She was counting out her change in her wallet, so he snatched her wallet from her to see how much she had - not okay! She took it back, and ended up having less than a pound, but he held out both his hands like a beggar and insisted that whatever she had was fine. I felt like we just fed his family for a week....
 |
| Alyssa Claire - you would love this place. Sorry I chose the creepiest picture to show that. Baha |
Later that night, we went to see Les Miserables with the whole program, and it was FANTASTIC. Apparently, all the Brits get tiny cups of ice cream at intermission, and we all want to fit in... So of course we got some too :) Probably less than half a pint for 3 pounds, but hey, it's all part of the experience, right? (Thanks Mom and Dad!)
 |
| At the show! |
Later that night our friends studying in Wales came to visit!! It was nice just to get to see other Central people.. a nice reminder of home. We took them to a different club called TigerTiger on Friday night after we did some sight-seeing, and that was quite the experience. We were all dressed up of course, and even made reservations. We were on THE list. What a nice change ;) So the dancing in London is one thing, but guys here are definitely NOT afraid to test the waters with anyone. The standard is to kiss your hand, tell you you're beautiful, and from there it's past the point of turning back! What girl wouldn't be flattered if that happened? It did help that both of my roommates are platinum blonde (one giant American flag) and all the guys here think our "accents" are intriguing.
The topper was when I was making conversation with a guy and he asked if he could guess where I was from. I told him to go for it, because everyone always easily guesses the states without hesitation. First guess: Japan. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I realize I have small eyes, but I definitely am not tan, nor do I speak broken English. <- Strike one. Second guess: West Indies. Okay, you can stop joking around now.. you're just digging yourself a hole. <- Strike two. Third guess: Canada. Alright, we're done. Buy me my drink and leave me alone. <- YOU'RE OUTTA THERE.
After that night, I was ready for a break from the club scene. Some more sight-seeing and picture taking and the weekend was complete. Hopefully, we'll be off to Wales and Liverpool this weekend for our first trip of the semester!!
Monday, January 23, 2012
Internship Journal (23 January) : Paid in Chocolate
Soooo.... day one of my internship was a bit intimidating. I started the day off visiting four competitors of ours and comparing their prices to ours... under cover!! I made up the name of an "accounting firm" and gave them fake info when they asked for it. Gotta do what we gotta do! But I spent the majority of time setting up for a bloggers' event that we held later on in the evening. We partnered up with a porridge company (yes, you read that correctly) and they were demonstrating how to make it for some people who blog/write articles about food. Apparently it's a great way of marketing, because we hope that the people who attend the events will blog about it, and then their followers will come into the shop upon their recommendations.
So, to make the porridge a bit less boring, they spooned it into chocolate tea cups, then topped it with freshly made salted caramel and you eat it all together as the tea cup melts. It. Was. AMAZING. I missed dinner for the event, but that helped make up for it a little ;) Day two starts tomorrow, and I'm exhausted. Can't wait to see what the rest of the job has in store!!
So, to make the porridge a bit less boring, they spooned it into chocolate tea cups, then topped it with freshly made salted caramel and you eat it all together as the tea cup melts. It. Was. AMAZING. I missed dinner for the event, but that helped make up for it a little ;) Day two starts tomorrow, and I'm exhausted. Can't wait to see what the rest of the job has in store!!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Let the "Studying" Abroad begin...
Well... it's been a busy few days to say the least. Sorry it's taken me a while to get time for blogging - let's be honest, it's kind of the least of my worries at the moment ;) Let's see... it's been almost a week, and it has been packed full of activities! Tuesday night we went out as a group to go bowling at a local place where a lot of students our age hang out. Bowling? Seriously? I thought we were trying to adapt to ENGLISH culture, not American. Oh well, we ended up having a great time. We ordered like 10 pizzas that were about 2 feet wide, and we finished all of them.. it was the first time we had the opportunity to eat a lot since we'd gotten there, so we took advantage of it!
We toured the University of London where we'll be having one of our classes. We went to the student union there later that night, which is equipped with a bar open all day... still adapting to the thought that their universities have alcohol at everyone's disposal. They have 1.50 pound drinks there every Friday night, so we went there and discovered just how "different" British dancing is... that's going to take some getting used to! But it was a great night with the group, and a good way to meet other students our age. It'll be interesting to see how we view all of this by the end of the semester..... :)
After that we went to the Dukes of York, the pub that our friend Joanna said we had to try. We met a homeless guy, bought rounds, and socialized with the whole program group - it was a great time :) Wednesday, I had my interview for my internship at DeMarquette Chocolates (www.demarquette.com) and found out that I will be planning an event for Easter - the shop's busiest time of the year. I absolutely can't wait to start. I'm so excited to be doing something that I can call my own there, and have an impact on the company. Busy work is the worst, so it's nice that I'll have some actual responsibility! They have a blogger's event tomorrow night which will be my first day. They'll have taste-testing, demonstrations, and some food bloggers attending. It's a great way to get the word out about their company. Though, before I head to the shop, I'll be doing some competitive research... I have to go into four other shops and compare their corporate gift offerings to ours, without letting them know I work for DeMarquette. I'm supposed to pretend to be an intern for a law firm or something and say that I was sent out to buy gifts for my department... SCARY!! What a way to start...
We went to a comedy club Wednesday night.. sat front and center. Were we asking to get picked on or what? We ended up getting crap from every act that performed. Ryan made the mistake of telling the comedian he was a "cop" from Texas (keep in mind people here aren't the biggest fans of President Bush) and a literal hush went over the crowd. Soooo awkward. So from then on, we had giant American stamps on our foreheads, but it made for some good laughs out of everyone!
We've been shopping, gone to see most of the sights around the city, and done our fair share of exploring. We went on our first run this morning around St. James Park - it's absolutely gorgeous. I can't believe that it's just a few minutes away from where we're living, and I have it at my disposal whenever I want! It's a great place to get away and think, read, or exercise. A nice change from the business of everything.
 |
| No one there knew what "Captain" was... besides us! |
Monday, January 16, 2012
Lost in the shuffle
Today was quite informative... we started off at 9:30 with an orientation all morning, and capped that off with a (very light) lunch provided by Vandon House. I'm having trouble getting used to small portions and no snacking.. it seems like my stomach spends the majority of time growling, and a small time with any food in it at all! I think this is what anorexia feels like.... HA! Also, NO restaurants are open past midnight, let alone serve food past about 8:00. The times of late night McDonald's runs are over for a while. :( Though, they do have a 99 pence menu with McChickens and McDoubles, but we have yet to try it!
After our orientation, we went on a three hour walking tour of the City of London - along with our very first tube ride! The city however, is not to be confused with the rest of London. It processes ridiculous amounts of money every day and is very historical - specifically where you can find the Tower of London, the Tower of London Bridge, and the site of the Great Fire. We were in certain parts of the city where hundreds of people had been publicly executed, and other parts where Shakespeare had been during his time, which was extremely interesting to think we were standing in the very places that these things had taken place. We got a few good pictures, but not very many with people in them (sorry Mom and Dad!). But we are definitely planning on visiting them again once we have more time to spend there.
When we finished the tour, we went out for a cider and fish and chips with a few other students in our program. The cultural differences are still hard to get used to... people are supposed to buy rounds of drinks here for a group, and then each person in the group eventually buys a round to make up for the drinks they've received. It's extremely rude to ask for separate checks or just go and buy yourself a drink without offering it to others. As you can imagine, it's easy to get both very expensive, and very drunk... We stuck to individual meals (and drinks) tonight, but it's something we'll have to get used to I guess!
We went out later in the night and "got lost" as everyone advises us to do... after actually taking that upon ourselves, I started to think maybe we should have taken that advice a few weeks into the program. I was completely turned around, but we ended up stumbling upon Big Ben, as well as the Duke of York pub which friends had told us about. It was memorable, but I definitely want to allow a bit more time to get used to the bus and tube system before doing it again!!
After our orientation, we went on a three hour walking tour of the City of London - along with our very first tube ride! The city however, is not to be confused with the rest of London. It processes ridiculous amounts of money every day and is very historical - specifically where you can find the Tower of London, the Tower of London Bridge, and the site of the Great Fire. We were in certain parts of the city where hundreds of people had been publicly executed, and other parts where Shakespeare had been during his time, which was extremely interesting to think we were standing in the very places that these things had taken place. We got a few good pictures, but not very many with people in them (sorry Mom and Dad!). But we are definitely planning on visiting them again once we have more time to spend there.
When we finished the tour, we went out for a cider and fish and chips with a few other students in our program. The cultural differences are still hard to get used to... people are supposed to buy rounds of drinks here for a group, and then each person in the group eventually buys a round to make up for the drinks they've received. It's extremely rude to ask for separate checks or just go and buy yourself a drink without offering it to others. As you can imagine, it's easy to get both very expensive, and very drunk... We stuck to individual meals (and drinks) tonight, but it's something we'll have to get used to I guess!
We went out later in the night and "got lost" as everyone advises us to do... after actually taking that upon ourselves, I started to think maybe we should have taken that advice a few weeks into the program. I was completely turned around, but we ended up stumbling upon Big Ben, as well as the Duke of York pub which friends had told us about. It was memorable, but I definitely want to allow a bit more time to get used to the bus and tube system before doing it again!!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
We made it!
Just arrived in London!
We’ve been here for about an hour, but we’re in the waiting area for
Holly to arrive and join the Wolfpack!
It’s been an eventful day to say the least. I was loading my things into Shayna’s car
this morning and took a wrong step and bit it down the driveway. I was wearing a massive hiking backpack that
was packed full, and I couldn’t get up off of the grass because it was so
heavy! Shay and I lost it laughing, but
as a result I ripped my favorite jeans that were a staple in my London wardrobe
and had to run back inside to change into different ones. What a way to start the day…
When our goodbyes were over at the DSM airport, I did a nice
job of holding us up going through security.
First of all, I just happened to be the randomly selected person to swab
for explosive residue… good thing I’d washed my hands after I was done handling
them earlier ;) Then, I apparently had too many liquids in my carry-on, so they
went through every nook and cranny of my backpack, purse, etc. Luckily, we got a pretty nice security guy
who just shoved all of them into a quart-sized bag. He told us that the rule is the liquids have
to fit into the bag “comfortably.” The
top didn’t even close because there was so much stuff in it, and he handed it
to me and says, “That looks comfortable to me!”
I ended up being able to keep everything. PHEW!
Our flight to Chicago went smoothly and the flight to London
didn’t seem like it was nearly eight hours long which was a nice surprise! I took some Tylenol PM and got a good four
hours of sleep J The food was pretty terrible so I’m looking
forward to a nicer meal at the pub tonight with all the other students. I bought a coffee after we got our luggage
and was pretty nervous to use the money… didn’t even think about that being an issue,
but it was fine. We’ve got quite a long
day ahead of us, so I have a feeling one cup of coffee isn’t going to do the
job. BUT we’re here and ready for the
adventure ahead of us. No turning back now!!!
J
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