Week 1: London

Well, the first week in London is officially over and done with, but by no means are we completely settled in. Maybe I speak for myself and one of the girls in the group when I say we haven’t quite settled in as of yet, it’s just that my internship is nothing like I would have expected, and the other doesn’t even have her internship yet. That was a drawn out conversation that gave everyone a good laugh. Other than the expected issues such as the dollar making our stay here more expensive than we would like, and trying to find our way around this enormous city (which really isn’t that difficult if you take your time), it seems as though this is going to be a great trip for all those involved.

Thanks to the first birthday of the group, SANDY…we are already beginning to experience the “cultural” aspects of the pub and club scene, which was to be expected. It really isn’t much different than it is back in San Diego, I can’t speak to those on the other coast, but I assume it was what most of us were imagining. We managed to meet some colorful individuals who seemed to want to express themselves in interesting forms of dance, but they were having a great time. Even sitting here writing this and thinking back to how he was dancing is making me laugh to myself; I had never before last Friday heard someone in a club been described as “Lord of the Dance.” That was not the end of the evening, not by a long shot. As we attempted to find the right bus to get us back to our apartments, I think we managed to walk to about four or five different bus stops, and none of them were right. We managed to get close to where we wanted to go, and as we found out, we walked the wrong way. Now normally, this would have been reason to become a little annoyed, but it turned out to be eventful enough. Anyway, we made it back to our apartments and decided we all had a great time.

Of course I am not just going to tell you all stories of the glorious pubs and how they are as fun as you may imagine, I do have an obligation to tell you the fun details of the classes we are going to be undertaking, and the other aspects of this internship/study abroad experience. As for the group classes we will be striving for excellence in, we will be taking one on Tuesday nights (which I am about to head off to, so I can’t provide any details yet) and the other is on Wednesday nights. If I understood what the professor was correctly, it seems it will be an interesting enough time. We will basically be building our portfolios of the work we are doing throughout our internships and our other experiences throughout the three months we are staying here in London. We met a group from James Madison University, who are doing a very similar program to the one we are all consumed in, and they seem to be very cordial young ladies, but it seems we will only be in the same room as them three to four times throughout our time here.

Every week, there is a ME Event of the week, which means a “my education event” that is an attempt to open us up to the new experience of a different country and its culture. Unfortunately, I missed the one yesterday due to work, but I will attempt to make these events on a regular basis from now on. The people at the CAPA offices are very welcoming and helpful. They have helped Lauren and myself with our different internship issues, and it seems everything is going to be just fine. Everyone else seems to enjoy their internships so far; some of them involve a bit of travel, and that only means another excellent experience.

I am sure I am forgetting some major events and people we have met, but I am sure someone will fill you in, in the weeks to come. We did have a great chat with a police officer here. He was hilarious, and filled us in on the dos and don’ts of this city. **Laughing to self yet again** Other than that, the people are great here; we have walked around the city, seen some great sites, experienced some local markets (Camden Market was amazing, it’s an open air market for the most part with ethnic foods, shopping, and pretty much anything you could think of), and because I love sports, most of us have experienced a football match in a pub with fans from both sides. I loved every second of it; the next step is to actually go to a rugby or football match. We will travel together, we eat together all the time, we do everything together, except for workout, and only two of us will be doing that together, oh well. As the title suggests…London has called, and we are just now answering.

For David, Ted, and the really large one in the picture (Ian), we look forward to telling you our own story of London Town. CHEERS!!