Me and Big Ben

One month down...

2007-02-11T17:38:21Z

This week flew by. I worked M/T/TH/F from 9-4. On Friday I got to go out on a shoot for the Today Show. NBC had an interview with fashion designer Oswald Boateng, who has dressed the likes of Will Smith and Jamie Fox for the Oscars. He was super chill and a bit silly. I learned alot from the two staff guys I went with and overall it was a great experience.
On Wednesday, my class went to Dover Castle and Canterbury Cathedral. This castle was plain mean looking, which was the point of it. It was a defensive castle built in the 1100s I believe, and was used even in WWII. It is one of the two castles that have always been under English rule. The other is Windsor. Canterbury Cathedral was plain goregeous. It is the head church of the Church of England. Yes, even more important than Westminster Abbey. It was another long day, but definitely a good trip.
My trip to Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam with PJ is officially booked...what a relief! I think we did the best we could regarding prices and it should be a really fun time.
Well, I've been here a month. I can't believe it. One whole month. Part of me feels like a got here yesterday, and part of me feels like I've been here forever. It's odd. I want time to sloooow doooown sooo thaaaat I haaave moooore tiiiiime heeeeere. I'm headed to Wales on Friday with my roomies. It will be my first trip out of London without BLC. I still don't particularly feel like a Londoner, but as I've learned, London is soo diverse. Londoners, and Brits at large, don't fit into a cookie cutter or a jello mold, but rather a crock pot with beef, chicken, salmon and ham stew. Good analogy, I know. Thanks.
Side note: People here do not walk on a particular side of the sidewalk. On the whole, in the US, you walk on the right side. Here however, they just walk straight. It's the one thing I don't like about London. I have to dodge shopping bags, duck away from umbrellas and shuffle around cigarettes. It's terribly stupid!

One month down... remains copyright of the author jdbubbles, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Castle vs. Roadhouse

2007-02-04T14:00:52Z

Thursday and Friday I worked from 4-10pm. So nothing exciting there. However, Saturday was the longest day ever. I was up by 8:30 am to be ready to leave by 10 am for Leeds Castle in Kent. It took an hour just to get out of London and another 45 minutes to get to Kent. It was a miserable bus ride, weaving in and out, up and down the streets of London. I fell asleep before we even got out of town.
We were allowed 4 hours at Leeds Castle, which was one too many. Ashley and I stuck together all day. First to the hedge maze, which took only 5 minutes! (The one at Hampton Court Palace took Aubrey and I 10 minutes!) Then we headed down into the grotto and then to lunch. I got fish cakes, chips and peas off of the kids menu. In American, that means fish cakes, fries and baked beans. Different, I know. But it was good and super filling for a kids meal! We all know how much I eat...
We played with the hundreds of geese, ducks and black swans, yes black swans. They were very pretty. There were about 5 pond/lakes on the property and a moat still filled with water. It was very picturesque...so much so in fact, Ashley wants to get married there! Part of the actual castle was closed because it is still used for conferences by important delegates and whatnot. The castle itself was mildly impressive, but not my favorite.
Leeds castle was builit in 1119 by the Normands. It was renovated time and time again, and for quite some time was a royal castle, housing Henry VIII, I believe. Lady Baillie was the last to own it until her death in 1974. Her youngest daughter, however, lived in the Maiden's Tower until her death in 2001! It is now owned by the Leeds Castle Foundation that Lady Baillie founded. Today, the castle is undergoing restoration which ruined the natural beauty of it all.
After all this, we still had an hour to kill. So we made videos in honour of Steve Irwin, getting up close and personal with nature and the swans.
We arrived home at 6 pm. I grabbed a shower and a bite to eat and headed out with Ashley, Whitney, Sahara, Erin, Allie and Jules. We went to a club in Covent Gardens called Roadhouse. It cost 5 GBP to get in and there wasn't one drink for less than 3.10 GBP. Needless to say, I didn't drink last night! We stayed and danced for awhile. A live band, the Bears, played some well-known songs. But we all lost interest fast and decided to head home. Not to mention, 5 of us had heels on and our feet were killing us. Mind you, that was only the 4th time I've worn heels in London!
I was tucked in bed by 11:30...what a good girl I am. However, it was still a looong day.
Side note: There are no skyscrapers in London. OK, maybe a few. But for the most part, not really. The Marriott and Holiday Inn are the two tallest buildings within a few miles of my flat! Once you get in downtown London by Parliament and Scotland Yard (the police department) there are taller buildings...many made of glass. This fact makes London seem smaller than it really is. Good thing or bad, you decide.

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In the Flow

2007-02-01T21:31:45Z

Let's see...where did I leave off. Friday we went shopping, surprise surprise. But I did well. I only bought 2 hats, really cute hats, for 4 GBP each. The rest of the weekend was quite boring with work and my roomies gone to Amsterdam, Wales and Germany.
Monday at work I got to go out on a shoot for a book. Not like a book signing or anything cool, Mike took about 5 minutes of tape of a really old book that will be in some reporter's story about terrorism or something. It was really boring, but at least I didn't have to do silly rundowns and verbates!
Tuesday night, a few of us girls headed out to Sports Cafe for a fun night of dancing and one pound pints. It started out fun, but toward the end of the night I stepped on a broken piece of glass. It went through my shoe and pricked my skin. I started bleeding and it kind of hurt. I'm ok now though. My foot hasn't turned green and fallen off yet. I'll keep you posted.
Yesterday we went to Tate Britain for BLC. The workers were on strike so half of the museum was closed! But we got a very long, extensive tour by Jane. Tate Britain is an art gallery for any art produced by England dating back to 1535 or so.
Last night we went up to the Union. As we approached, a boy yelled, "I smell Americans." We had no reply. We just walked by and went inside. Now, I don't know if he doesn't like Americans or if he was just being silly. Later on, one of my friends said we should have replied with, "I smell an asshole." That would have been very clever. At the Union, there was a bouncy inflatable boxing rink. Jamie and I boxed each other...it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, Ashley doesn't know how to work a camera, so I didn't get any pics or video of us boxing. Once the Union closed, Sahara and I headed off to another pub/club called Opal with some of the footballers. It was only about a 5 minute walk which was nice. The inside was like a cave...it was really cool. We'll have to go back again.
Side note: Here's some more subtle differences I picked up on:
1) When we say "I go to college," they say "I go to university" or "I go to uni" for short.
2) Their "ground floor" is our first floor and their first floor is our second floor.
3) Boys can tell we are American at pubs because we have perfect teeth! This happened at the Sports Cafe.
4) University in London is silly cheap...like $8,000 GBP for 3 years (which is the normal length of time).

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To Be or Not To Be

2007-01-26T18:40:50Z

On Wednesday, we went to Warwick Castle and Stratford. It was about a 2 hour bus ride which I luckily slept most of. Warwick Castle was inbetween Windsor and Hampton in terms of elegance and impressiveness. There was alot of remodeling and additions in the 1600s and 1800s. The last time anyone lived there was in 1971. One of the employees there told me that the Grenville family who lived there since the 1600s or so, just couldn't afford it anymore in the 70s. So they sold it off and was opened as an exhibition in the early 80s. Countess Daisy was responsible for much of its splendor. She was the lady of the house in the late 1800s/early 1900s. Also, I was told that Prince Charles' great great grandfather lived in that house, and that his mistress was Princess Camilla's great grandmother...interesting!
We then went over to Stratford, which is the home of William Shakespeare. He was born there, met his wife, Anne Halloway there, and his family lived there. We got to see his house and Anne Hathaway's cottage where she grew up. Ashley, Jamie, Aubrey, Tomoko and Haeli and I ate in a 500 year old pub. The fish and chips (and peas) were quite good I must say.
I wonder how much the organization makes off of tourists going through Shakespeare's homes. That is the question!
Side note: umm I don't have one today. Sorry.

To Be or Not To Be remains copyright of the author jdbubbles, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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NBC

2007-01-23T21:52:08Z

Today i went into work, ready for my second full day. Well, right when i got there, Brian, a cameraman, grabbed me and asked for my help. For the next 3 hours I helped him and Chris, the sound technician, set up and watch 2 interviews for The Today Show. We interviewed two men regarding the trial of the accused men of the failed 7/21/05 underground/bus bombings in London. It was very interesting because I had only heard of the successful bombings on 7/7/05. So I not only learned alot about this topic, but I also learned alot about lighting. Brian was really cool and used alot of technical terms like "f***" and "shit." I was barely able to understand! Honestly though, he gave me lots of info today and that was great.
We also learned about the Library. The Library handles all archiving and retrieving past video. It also calls papers to try and buy their photos if NBC wants them. Plus, they do basic editing to help out editors and producers. So, today was a very interesting day.
Oh and... how could I forget. We do verbates, which means to watch an interview and write down exactly what they say, verbatim. Today, I did a verbate for an interview with a Dr. in the Middle East. I think she's Iraqi, but definitely Arab. I don't know her profession, but she had very strong opinions against Bush. She said that the Iraqi people want the US out of Iraq. She believes Bush is incompetent and should resign now. Very strong opinions.
Side note: Computer keyboards are laid out differently here than US keyboards. The left side shift key is about 1/3 the side of ours and the right side enter key is shorter but 2 rows tall. It was screwing me up today. Watch out!

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Fairy Tale

2007-01-22T00:47:14Z

Friday some roomies and I went to outer London, Southgate to be specific. It was about a 30 minute tube ride into suburbia. I dont know if its actually London or if it technically called Southgate. There were some cute shops and gas stations. It was the first gas station I had seen thus far. It was really just like Homewood, or any other town in the US.
Later that night we went to the Union Pub on campus. It was a fun time. We were playing drinking games with some football (soccer) players. They were really intense!
I spent Saturday freezing my booty off all day! We went to Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace. Stupid me thought I would be INSIDE a WARM castle all day...yeah right. We walked around the outsides of the castles alot. Plus, the inside was freezing. Had I been warmer, it would have been better. Windsor is plain stunning. Words can't describe the grandeur, history, and elegance of this massive place. Hampton Court Palace wasn't as impressive, especially for a palace. The artwork and gardens and shrub maze were pretty cool though. I also learned alot about HM (Her Majesty) The Queen and many other past rulers.
After being cold for nearly 8 hours, I made it home and warmed up. Ashley and i went back up to the Union Pub and hung out for a while.
Today was my first official day at NBC. Haley and I went up there for the nightside shift 4:00 - 10:00 pm. It was really slow and not that exciting. But we now know what we are doing - logging newscasts of other news bureaus - and met some cool people. Everyone there - all 8 of them - tonight seemed very nice and welcoming. I have a feeling I'm going to learn alot and meet some really talented/respected journalists.
Side note: Here are a few random differences I've picked up on the past 12 days...
1) All dressing rooms have curtains here while almost all in the US have doors.
2) Fudge here is a sugary, toffee, caramel flavored sweet.
3) You don't have to tip servers.
4) KFC serves french fries instead of mashed potatoes!
5) There is no sales tax.
6) You have to pay 8 GBP to drive a car in the "congestion zone" aka Central London. If you don't pay it by the end of the day, you get fined about 40 GBP!
Cheers!

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Diving In

2007-01-19T12:32:26Z

On Wednesday afternoon, my BLC class went to the Museum of London. It was super interesting. It was like having a history class in one day to cover 2000 years of history. I learned about the Roman influence, the fashion of different periods, the creation of the underground, the Black Plague, the Great Fire of 1666 and so much more. i was there for about 2 1/2 hours. I think most kids left after about an hour!
Wednesday night we went to a club/bar in Leicester Square called Verve. Aubrey, Ashley, Ashley, Whitney, Sahara, Erin, Allie and I went. It was really fun. The club played American 80s music upstairs and downstairs it played new American music. It was fun. but since we left after midnight, the Tube was closed, so we took a bus. It was my first time on the bus and it wasnt as scary as i anticipated.
Yesterday, i started my internship at NBC news. It was really exciting. The people all seem really nice and have such extensive experience. There are about 8 other interns. Most are from the US but 2 are from England. Since they are my age, I'm pretty excited.
Last night I started researching trips that I want to take around Europe. As PJ is definitely coming to see me, we are planning to go to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. Hopefully it will be really fun without burnign a hole in our pockets.
Today, a few of my roomies and i are going to venture out of central london and go to outer London to see what there is to see. Hoepfully something's out there!
Side note: I've decided that london is similar to Chicago. London obviously is richer in history and has more impressive architechture. But when it comes to diversity, it is very similar to Chi-town. I hear other languages than English being spoken quite alot. And it seems that many retail workers have foreign accents. Interesting. Also in London's favor is that it has castles. Chicago can't even touch that!

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Shop til we Drop

2007-01-17T12:25:27Z

My roomie Ashley and I decided to go shopping yesterday morning. Well, we ended up shopping for about 4 hours and went into about 15 shops. Yes, I know, we are very talented shoppers. We are also bargain finders. That is why we went to Hammersmith. It's about 4 tube stops from us and had sales everywhere. I only bought one pair of cute red shoes and a hair straightner. Ashley, however, bought alot more. On the upside though, these stores were cheap. My shoes were 7.50 GBP (Great Britian pounds) which is about $14. Not bad for a pair of shoes.
We got back in time to eat dinner and get ready for our first British Life and Culture (BLC) class with Dr. Patterson and assorted guest speakers. Wendy Stokes spoke last night who is a political science/international relations professor at one of London's universities. She was really cool and gave us a brief history on England, Great Britian and the UK. Yes, they are three different things. England is just England, duh, Great Britian is England, Whales, and Scotland, and the UK is Great Britian plus Northern Ireland. Got it?
She also talked about politics and health care and the welfare state. It was all really interesting and mostly stuff I didn't know.
Today all of the students on my program are going to the Museum of London which I think is a history museum. It should be interesting... hopefully!
I have my internship orientation tomorrow...wish me luck!
Side note: My hair is gross. I think its due to the lack of water pressure in our showers. I feel like the shampoo is still in my hair and that it never really gets clean. Kind of gross, I know. I don't know if all of London or even England has water pressure problems, but both of our showers definitely do.

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Jessica Daley, NBC, Tower of London

2007-01-15T21:18:57Z

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!

Jessica Daley, NBC, Tower of London remains copyright of the author jdbubbles, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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On My Own

2007-01-14T16:36:24Z

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!

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Orientation

2007-01-12T18:46:09Z

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!

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2 days, 1 night, 30 hours

2007-01-12T18:46:32Z

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!

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