Jan 2007

Ice skating at the Tower of London was really surreal. It felt like a fairytale, mainly because we were ice skating in a dried up moat. For those of you who don't know (i didnt either) the Tower of London is actually a castle. So the moat makes sense. Eight girls went: Me, Jamie, Ashley, Haley, Tomoko, Aubrey, Sahara, and Jules. We had a good time trying to do triple toe loops and spinning on one foot. Why we arent in the Olympics is a mystery to me.
On a not so exciting note, classes began today. I also had an internship orientation meeting. Pretty much, we are supposed to ask for only 7 days off the entire semester. Plus, I found out that I will be interning at NBC with another girl from Mizzou, Haley (not the above mentioned). I was told that I may have to work weekends and/or odd hours. So I'm a little nervous just because I would like to travel on the weekends. I have a meeting with Suzette at NBC on Thursday morning to learn the details. Suzette is a Mizzou grad...hopefully thats in my benefit.
We had our first Issues in Reporting class tonight with Mary Kay Blakely. We have a comparison/content analysis of the coverage of social issues in the UK media vs US media due at the end of the semester. So that should be interesting also!
Side note: people here don't say "Excuse me" or "I'm sorry" when you bump into them. I think its rude, but I'm trying to blend in by not saying those things either. But then i feel rude!
Cheers!

Friday night at the Union Pub was fun. However, we mostly met other Americans from other programs. Once the night got going, we headed next door to the techno dance club. It was amazing, but then again, I love to dance.
Saturday morning we were left to wonder this great city alone. We had no scheduled activities. So, a few of us headed up to Picadilly Circus to buy "mobile" phones from Virgin Mobile. We wondered around and ate some yummy pizza. My roomie Ashley and I decided we are going to go see Cabaret at the theatre sometime before we leave. I'm excited about that.
After getting home, we were going to go ice skating, but that fell through. So we headed to the Union Pub again. I hung out with other kids from my program and hung out at their flat after the pub. I think my flat is better, but they don't have to walk up 40 stairs to get to theirs.
Today I slept in til about 1:30 pm. Since, I have done nothing. But we are going ice skating tonight at the Tower of London. I plan on it being just gorgeous.
Cheers!

We know how to have fun here at Imperial College, let me tell you. At 8:30 am we had a 45 minute orientation meeting for our British Life and Culture class. Then we toured the campus, which is maybe 5 blocks wide. Following, we all had 15 minute meetings for every other class. I only have one other class, Issues in Journalism, which sounds like it will be interesting. Lastly, we had a social meeting where we learned about the themed parties at the campus bars, campus organizations and travel options. It was quite interesting. It convincd me to go to Whales for a weekend to kayak, cliff jump, hike and bike. I'll keep you posted.
Tonight, my flatmates and I plan to go to the campus pub to meet some local students. We are going to head out about 9:30 pm. Hopefully its a good time, and we don't look like silly americans. Cheers!

I couldn't sleep. It was terrible. I spent the entire 7 hour flight awake, wide awake, watching The Departed and Troy. I even listened to classical music to try to put me to sleep. However, it was the last 20 minutes of the flight, as we were idling, waiting to land, that I started to sleep.
It was 7:20 am in London, 1:20 am in Chicago. After the flight, I did the usual: bathroom, customs, currency exchange, "baggage reclaim", and a short tube ride to Earl's Court. I got off and walked 1 block to the Knaresborough flat, where some of the students are staying. I was there by 10:15 am. I hung out there and met some cool kids 'til I was bused to our flat on Manson Place at about 2:15 pm.
Our group of 120 or so, went to a fish and chips buffet, where I almost fell asleep at the table. I snapped back into reality and headed to a 45 minute orientation meeting about safety and other equally UNimportant stuff. I heard about 3 minutes before I fell asleep in the front row! Ooops. We headed back to the flat and I took about an hour nap.
At 6:30 pm the pub crawl began. Three bars and 5 hours later, I was back in the flat ready for bed. After only 2 hours of sleep, I crashed. It felt amazing. Unfortunately, my room is very cold. Fortunately, I have a room to myself, so I didn't wake anyone when I got home. However, I live with 11 other girls.
There are 6 bedrooms: 3 triples and 3 singles, 2 bathrooms, 3 fridges, 1 TV, 1 computer (I'm using my laptop) and a SMALL living space. There are 12 girls in the other flat on our floor and I think 12 girls in the flat above us. Plus, 8 or so boys in the basement. Everyone is mostly sophomores and juniors. About 30 are from Mizzou, and half are from Missouri. The rest are from many other states.
This morning we toured the City...London Tower, St Paul's Cathedral, Picadilly Circus, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace were a few things we saw. After the tour, i went grocery shopping, seeing that I love to eat!
I haven't unpacked yet but it is still early. Actually, I think I'll go do that now. Cheers!