The Londonious Adventures of a Lunatic

I’M BACK!

Ok. First and foremost I would like to apologize for my lack of *interesting* post since basically the second week I have been here.  Second, I would like to announce that although I still feel the need to wince every time I swallow, I am getting better! 🙂

But for the past couple of weeks I will admit that I have not done much.

However the weather here is starting to become ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!  Usually when it is sunny out (as it is right now) I try to at least go out for a walk.  Alas, at the moment I am stuck at my internship, where recently I have been cooped up and searching for statistics.  And today my boss announced the big news of why I have been doing this:  We are having a huge conference at the end of April to help spread the word about CALM and gain more funds.  And basically, the entire foundation for this conference is the data that I am currently collecting, organizing, and making pretty. 

 No pressure, huh?

What kind of internship did I get myself into?!  Although, my boss I think is a little irked with me. because today she also decided to tell me the date of the conference, April 30.  She wants me to be there.  BUT I happen to be flying to Paris April 29.  Oops.  Of course, the only trip I have booked so far is getting me in trouble…

And other than that, my life recently has been pretty basic. (Er, well… as basic as it can be while in London) 🙂

There have been several nights (such as last night) where I enjoy a simple walk around London by myself.  I often like to do this to remind myself how lucky I am to be here…  Honestly, how many people can say that for 4 months of their lives they could hear Big Ben chime as they were trying to fall asleep, or that Buckingham Palace was basically in their back yard?  How many people get to have an internship that is 3 blocks south of the Globe Theatre? 

This is the first time in my life that I have realized exactly HOW MUCH I am blessed.  To be honest, I cannot wait until I can give my mom and dad a big hug in gratitude.  London is truly wonderful 🙂

Better late than never, I suppose…

My deepest apologies that this is the first time I have updated my blog in the past couple of weeks.  My problem is not that I have nothing to blog about, but rather that I rarely have the energy and drive to update.  So let me just do a little recap:

Since my last post, we have gone to:

Liverpool–which was NOT my favorite place.  There are some funny stories, however some scary ones at that.

Greenwich–which was beautiful, but rainy that day.  So the highlight of Greenwich was the mexican restaurant and margaritas 🙂

And yesterday I went to Wicked!  A small group of us got up early yesterday, and waited in line to get tickets.  We got front row center tickets.  It was amazing!  Everything was so wonderful, I will probably go to it again towards the end of the semester!

I apologize that this is all I am going to write at the moment.  I currently am sick, and can’t really focus or be enthusiastic about much of anything.  I hope everyone is getting on very well! Cheers.

♪♫ Catch a *sexy* star, and put it in your pocket ♫♪ never let it fade away ♫♪

Although I may wish to skip… Let’s start where I left off…

I believe I forgot to mention my trip to the market on Saturday. The morning of, a group of us went on a short tour, which was set up by the London program. Our tour guide was the same as we had earlier this week, for a required tour (and this tour was optional). We walked across Millenium Bridge down to the Tate Museum of Modern Art, and the Globe Theater (which is about 3 blocks north of my internship. So I am familiar with the area already). 🙂 Although our guide showed us many things that I would not have known on my own (such as a pub that Tom Cruise had been filmed in, and the apartment from the Bridget Jones movies) so the tour was well worth my while. Afterward, Rachel and I went to Borough market, where we walked around getting free samples of the food for sale… Hence, a free meal–including hot meat, which we have had not eaten in some time. 🙂

I feel as if I have been here much longer than a week and a day. Not that I am getting tired of being here, I just feel that I am much more comfortable with my surroundings now–even much more so than some of the others on our program. I simply love it here!

On Sunday Sadie, Liz and I went to the premier of Invictus. Literally, I stood in the same place, not moving for 6 HOURS… But…. It was totally worth it! We saw Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood! I was SO excited, even though we didn’t see then for very long. 🙂

And now for my Monday experience (my favorite). THEATER CLASS.

Honestly, I was dreading this, especially when the class started. It is a 2 hour class (BORING), with a weekly show that night or the next. So after our class I took a short nap, and then off to Rope, which I am fairly sure there is also a similar Alfred Hitchcock movie about… We arrived, sat, and waited… A few minutes after sitting, another guy on our program came to sit with us and announced the FANTASTIC news…. JUDE LAW IS IN THE BUILDING! At first I couldn’t believe it. But after the show when we (haha) waited outside to make sure he was actually there, we saw him… Jude Law, in all of his sexy glory, walking around in front of our eyes. All of a sudden he disappeared, but I had seen him going in the direction of the restroom (so obviously, I excused myself to relieve my bladder 😉 ) THERE HE WAS, in the stall–and all other toilets were being used, so I just HAD to use the same one as him. As he exited the stall, we made eye contact, we both grinned in a friendly way he walked past, honestly millimeters from me. BEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE THUS FAR. 🙂

Anyway. Enough about my wonderful time with my good friend Jude… 🙂

I had my internship for the first time today, but I think I will save that for my next post. I am exhausted, and I am sure that you are tired of reading at this point. So I will save this for a much more serious and intellectually interesting post in a few days. Cheers all!

But, Harry Potter is not real…

So it has officially been one week since I landed in London. To be honest, it was a few days before I realized that this is a good decision… On the tube ride from Heathrow to St. James’s station my only active thought was, “WHY AM I HERE?!” This initial terror in combination with a few fiascos that occurred those first few days–ATM seemingly stealing £200, majorly delayed flights, etc.–was enough to make me wish I could fly home, crying for my mommy the whole way.

However Wednesday was my saving grace. The day before I met with Mark and Beth to get my internship info and directions. I will be working in an organization called C.A.L.M. Campaign Against Living Miserably. It is an organization that strives to diminish male suicide in the UK, which is the #1 killer of young men in the United Kingdom. Wednesday morning I was to have my interview, so naturally I went out to find it later on Tuesday…and I could not find it. Upon my return to Vandon House I told Beth about my problem which, as we soon found out, was due to a location change of the office. This meant that I would need to find the office on the morning of my interview at 930.

Honestly this was the best thing that could have happened to me.

After my interview I walked up a few blocks to the Globe theatre, across the Millenium Bridge, and over to the Tower of London. Overall about a 30 minute walk and a mega confidence boost. Since then I have realized why this will be a positive experience, and that I have the capacity to function outside of my comfort zone. However my inner-child still fears Lord Voldemort every time I cross the Millenium Bridge. 🙂

So now that I have gained my confidence, meeting the others on our program has been easy and fun. We have gone to the pubs together, and out to walk around this beautiful city. Most of us get along very well! Unfortunately there are 2 couples from Central here, and they are fairly anti-social. But the rest of us having a wonderful time!

And now it is time for me to sign out. If I think too long about the people that will read this, I will become far too homesick. 🙂 Cheers!

The Final Countdown…

2 days left…

2 days left…

2 days left…

Here I am… Officially in freak-out mode, yet more excited than I’ve ever been in my entire life. 2 days left.  My packing is finished for the most part–just some random odds and ends left to pack away! 2 days left.  I’ve said my final “see ya’s” (I was warned that good-byes are not allowed).  So it would seem that I am ready to go.

2. days. left.

So why do I feel so unprepared?

I probably should accept that nothing will prepare me for the portion of life I am about to experience.  So now I must decide: what will get the best of me–my nerves or my excitement?  I know that something will get the better of me as I travel across the pond… I just can’t figure out which emotion it will be.

So tonight I will distract myself with work.  And tomorrow… I will finish the last of my packing and work through my endless collection of anticipation.  And then I’m off. 

2 DAYS LEFT!