98% excited, 2% scared or is it 2% excited, 98% scared?

Gallery: Dublin

mademal — Sun, 8 Jul 2007 06:50:00 GMT

London to Dublin

mademal — Tue, 3 Jul 2007 23:04:00 GMT

Last Friday morning we left to Dublin. When we planned the trip, it sounded awesome to leave really early Friday morning and come back really late on Sunday so we could spend the most amount of time possible in Dublin. But come Friday morning at 4am, I was second-guessing our thought process. We got picked up by a minicab, which is a taxi that you call and tell them where to pick you up at a certain time and you negotiate the fair beforehand. That was at about 4:30am. We arrived at the airport before security was even open. We breezed through and went down to gate 2, where the BMI airline had their stand. We asked where our flight would leave out of and they said it was actually gate 82. So we headed down to the other side of the airport and sat and waited until our 7am flight. But wait, when they finally posted the gates for our flights, our flight was at gate 2! Now we were a little worried because we only had 30 minutes until our flight. We tried to go back to gate 2, but we had to go through security AGAIN. The line was ginormous so we talked them into letting us cut in line. After going through we headed back to gate 2 and they told us that its gate 82. We literally ran through the airport down to gate 82, but our flight was leaving out of gate 86. We ended up making it on time and got on our flight safely, but what an adventure...

Wicked

mademal — Tue, 3 Jul 2007 22:54:00 GMT

Hooooey, it has been a busy week. I have not had time to update this bad boy, but here is a short entry to keep you entertained. On last Wednesday night we went to see Wicked. For those that don't know what it is about, it is the Wizard of Oz, except the witches' side of the story. It was really cute and Elphaba (the wicked witch of the west) was amazing. And she was green, but here green make-up never came off on anything, how did she do it? I highly recommend seeing it...

Gallery: British Museum, Dickens Tour, Bath, Stonehenge, Etc...

mademal — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 06:49:00 GMT

Portabello Market, Stonehenge, Salisbury, Bath

mademal — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 06:17:00 GMT

On Saturday we went to Portabello Market. I definately liked Portabello Market more than Camden Market. Camden had better food, but Portabello had better shopping. There were a ton of people selling antiques ranging from pocketwatches to teacups. There were also little clothing shops lining the streets. People were selling fruits and veggies, Venetian masques and even nesting dolls. It was very intriguing, and there was also really cute jewelry. I didn't get any though, that means I will be making a trip back there sometime soon. :o)

On Sunday we took a day trip by coach to Stonehenge, Salisbury and Bath. We left at 8:30am and Stonehenge was the first stop. It was super dreary when we got there. It was cold and windy and rainy and we could see our breath in the air. Brr... We walked around the entire thing, because that is all you can really do when you're there. The most interesting fact is that it would take 1,000 men to lift one of the stones. Hmm...how did they do it? And it is in a perfect circle and the heel stone is exactly in line with the sun as it rises on the summer solstice. Eerie....

We then went about an hour to Salisbury. It is a really cute, quaint little town with a beautiful cathedral. We were still wet and cold from Stonehenge so we got some super tasty hot chocolate to go with our PB&J's that we packed for lunch. After we warmed up we walked through the catherdal, the architechture was really amazing but the stained glass windows were breath-taking. We hopped back on the bus and we were off to Bath.

Bath was the number one place I wanted to go. I had seen a travel show on it before I left and it looked very cool. It lived up to my expectations. We got to walk through the entire Roman Bath Museum, which displays some of the baths, as well as the remains of the structures that used to enclose the baths. We got to throw some pents into the circular bath and make a wish...we'll see if they come true. (I threw in one pent, which is equal to two pennies, so I made two wishes, its only fair, right?) ;o) We then tried some of the spa water that is from the earth that they used to fill the baths with. It smelled really sulphur-y, but it didn't taste that bad. Once we left the museum, we walked around the surrounding shops. There happened to be a girls choir near the museum and I'm not sure where they were from, but their voices were really impressive. When we headed back to our coach, it was parked next to a park that was unbelievable. It was like a fairytale, too bad it cost one pound to even be able to walk around in it. I took some pictures and that was enough for me. We didn't have enough time to get some gelato before we had to be back on the bus, so on we went and I slept most of the three hours it took to get back. It was well worth the wind and rain.

Parliament

mademal — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 22:26:00 GMT

Today we went to Parliament! It was waaaay better than what I expected. It was really beautiful, but I couldn't take any pictures of the thrones and paintings and carvings. I have some pictures of Big Ben though...those will be coming soon. As soon as I get the energy to climb down from the top bunk to get my camera.

Pretty much everyone is sick, some from drinking too much last night and others have colds. My throat is really sore today...not a good sign. Kati and I made grilled cheeses and tomato soup for lunch, hopefully it'll cure us. Time for class. We get Curly Whirlys (a candy similar to Airheads, but chocolate and carmel flavored.

STOMP! and the Elgin Marbles

mademal — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 09:14:00 GMT

So, last night we got tickets to STOMP! And it was pretty entertaining. It is as entertaining as it could be when they are making music out of brooms, trashcans and matchboxes. Unfortunately, I was not able to take any pictures of the performace.

Today we got to go to the British Museum. It was so massive that we did not even scratch the surface. But, we did see an exhibit that shows how many pills the average person will consume in their lifetime, interesting but kind of disturbing. We then looked at reliefs from the Assyrians, which were very detailed and had cuneform writing on them. We saw the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles. The Elgin Marbles were my favorite. There is a huge room of them, and they are amazing. There were other classical sculptures that were just as cool. We then went to the ancient Egypt room that contained a ton of mummies. There were two mummies that were not wrapped, but very well preserved....kind of eerie. I'll post some pictures when I get some free time...

This evening we went to the location of the original Globe Theatre, the Rose Theatre, a pub where both Shakespeare and Dickens hung out and a prostitutes grave yard. The grave yard was just recently discovered and it is believed to have the bones of the Winchester Geese. These were the prostitutes that worked for the Bishop of Winchester and there are supposedly hundreds of female bones in this area. It was kind of creepy.

Tomorrow we visit Parliament...should be interesting...

Imperial War Museum and the Globe Theatre

mademal — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:06:00 GMT

This day has been jam-packed. We started the day off on a light note by touring the Imperial War Museum. Our teacher talked to us about different tanks and missiles and about the use of gas in WWI. We were then free to roam about the museum on our own. There were exhibits for WWI & WWII, the Holocaust, D-day, the Faulkland Islands war, as well as others. We spent the remainder of our time in the Holocaust portion. It was really informative, huge and really depressing.

After grabbing some lunch, I got ready for my interview. I made it there early and I really, really like my boss. He is the CEO of the company and is only 32. I think the job will be a blast and Ill learn a lot and he is giving me some money thatll make grocery shopping easier. :o)

We then headed to a pub called Founders Arms for a pint before The Merchant of Venice at the Globe. I was one of the lucky ones that had a standing ticket. Yeah, that's right, I was suppose to stand for three hours in a theatre that has no roof. Then it started to rain. I wasn't wearing a rainproof coat and the rain was not letting up, so the girls in our group made room on the bench where their sitting tickets were. We were able to sit for the remainder of the show. At intermission we got some chocolate covered raisins and they were super tasty. The play was really good, but I wasn't aloud to take any pictures. :o/

Now, It's bed time!

Globe Theatre

mademal — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 05:45:00 GMT

Today we got going at 8:45am and went down to the Globe Theatre. It is the recreation of Shakespeares theatre from the late 1500's. Its really neat, has no roof and only fits about 1500 people. 900 sit in the seating area and 600 stand around the stage. In his time, 3000 squished into the theatre and over 1000 stood in the dirt around the stage. Today, the area around the stage is made of concrete, but back then it was covered in hazelnut shells to prevent it from getting too muddy.

Each night the actors would put on a different play. The plays were performed at 2:00pm because there was no lighting in the theatre. This means the actors had only 3 hours to rehearse the plays before they went on. And they weren't given the whole script, they were just given cue words that were said before their part. Tomorrow night, we are seeing Merchant of Venice there at 7:30, it should be really neat.

After the Globe we went on a trial run to Julie's (the redhead) work, which took FOREVER because we got lost. But, she works in a very modern, downtown-looking area. Then after class we went on a trial run to mine. We found it right away, which is good. But....the area its in is not too great looking. It is just a bunch of warehouses and weird fish smells. But, I talked to a girl who knows someone who worked for them and she absolutely loved it and there are perks! So we shall see....

Builder's Arms and Camden Market

mademal — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 00:53:00 GMT

Last night was fun, we walked down to the Builder's Arms, which is a pub in Kensington. Its a little out of the way place that tourists don't know about and it was very cute. We had Pims and Lemonade...which is some alcoholic drink, but it kind of tastes like gingerale. Very tasty! Then we walked home and came across the meanest man EVER. He told us to go back across the ocean. Grrr...We didn't do anything to him, jerk face.

This morning we got going fairly early and took the tube to Camden Market. It is a street market that was a ton of fun. They had all different sorts of stands and places to get super fresh food. They had Morrocan, West African, Argentian, Venezuelan, Mexican, Japanese, fresh squeezed juices, crepes and more. We got the West African and Japanese food. Mmm...

Gallery: Piccadilly Circus and Big Birthday

mademal — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 21:11:00 GMT

Gallery: Out on the Town!

mademal — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 09:21:00 GMT

It's the Queen's Birthday!

mademal — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 02:23:00 GMT

Today we went on a coach tour of London. It was very cool to see the London Bridge and such, but it is the Queen's birthday. So, they have a large parade and the queen rides in an open carriage, which was really amazing to see. We then took pictures with the guards with a funny hat...it was awkward, but you can't not take a picture with them when youre in London. We got to see all sorts of markets, which are really neat, and good places to shop at (Chanel for example, haha, just kidding...).

We got to go on a walking tour of our neighbor, which is the wealthiest part of not only London, but all of England. We went down back alleys that no one knows about and up to High Street Kensington, which has inexpensive clothing stores like H&M, Top Shop, Gap, just to name a few. We had the cutest little tour guide, I want her to be my grandma. Haha

We also went to Kensington Palace, which is where Pricess Diana lived and saw beautiful churches, parks and flats. Its time to rest though. Nighty night!

Nonstop Action!

mademal — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 22:49:00 GMT

So this is my 3rd full day and London and we have been going nonstop!

After the ten hour flight, which wasn't too bad...minus the fact that it was extremely cramped, we hopped on the underground and made our way to the stop closest to our flat. We were on the right track, lugging 70+ pound suitcases around the streets of Kensington when we asked for directions. Everyone seemed to give us different directions, all of which were wrong! It took us an hour and a half to find the flat, when we were no more than 2 blocks away the entire time. Fortunately, when reached the flat, we were on the top floor! Thats right, 95 stairs...we counted. We settled in, went on a walking tour of the area, went to dinner with my flatmate's parents, headed home, unpacked and went to sleep.

The next day we had orientation and then went out to a little bar around the corner called Kavanaughs...it felt like a house party, but not too bad for the first night out. Oh! except for the 70 year old creepy man that kept dancing with the girls and guys in our program. But the bouncers told us not to worry...he likes to dance with girls, but when it comes down to it, he really likes boys! haha...ewww.

Yesterday, we had our internship orientation, where we got directions to our work, our interview time and what we have to wear to work. I interview on Tuesday at 3:00pm...which is very exciting and business casual is the dresscode. But it is way more casual than in the U.S. I could wear dark skinny jeans and some flats with a cute top and be fine. We then had our first class and met our two teachers, both of whom were very nice. After that, we ate dinner and got ready to go out to an Ice Bar. The whole thing is made out of ice! But...there were no reservations until 12:30 so we headed down to a club that supposedly had no cover for Americans, it was a lie. So, what would any logically person do? Go to Piccadilly Circus, of course! It is like New York's time square, a lot of bright lights and entertainment. We found a really cute restaurant/bar called Cocoon, but it was rather expensive so we left and found a club that let us in for free because we had 9 cute girls in the group. It was called Jewel and I met my favorite Brit so far, his name is Peter. He let us know that putting two fingers (like a peace sign) with your knuckles facing out means fuck off. Haha...weird. We left there and met up with some others, there was about 20 of us, trying to figure out a way home because the tube was closed for the night. We walked all around piccadilly circus, got on and off buses and finally made it home at 2:15 am. Again, we went straight to bed.

Its all been rather insane these first couple of days. But fun and new and crazy all at the same time.

June 12th - 21st Birthday and Departure Day

mademal — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 05:10:00 GMT

June 12th, the big 2-1. Yes, that's right and it started off with a...SPLAT. I started the night at my older brother's house, who force fed me a drink. We then moved on to Fox and Hound where my friends ordered me two more. I know, I know, its not much, but it got the job done. I got home at about 2:00am and that is when it started. My designated driver, aka Crispin, started puking his brains out. (And he didn't touch the stuff...Weird) Two injections, a VitaminWater and a half a piece of toast later and he is safely passed out on the couch. That means one thing, the day can only go up from here. hahaha...

It is noon, so that means we are at nine hours and counting until my plane takes off for the good ol' UK. Fortunately, I was up all night so I'll sleep the whooole way there.

Oh yeah, for those who I forgot to tell, I'll be working for The Ice Box. It is "the UK’s leading ice sculpture, ice design and ice art specialist." That's right, I know you're all excited. Their site is www.theicebox.com. Check it out, it's pretty interesting.

That is all for now. Wish me luck...ten hours is a long time to sit.