Days are slow, but time is flying (Kara)

Wow, it is hard to keep a blog updated...not enough time in the day even though the days are soooo long. I don't know how I will work in the real world.


Well Monday we started our internships. Let me say I was not too fond of my "busy-work" jobs at first but I have grown a positive attitude and began to appreciate them. I work at 9 PR. It is a media corporation agency that does PR for musicians. I am actually helping do a press release and press schedule for Nona Hendryx (who was a member of LaBelle who sang the original "Lady Marmalade"). Other than that I basically do busy work such as cutting and gluing, copying and pasting documents, and organizing. Tuesday I had to organize their magazines (which had piled up since 2008) and filled up 5 huge trash bags of old magazines to recycle, so yes, it is VERY boring. Finally today is Thursday though and we have a free 3 days!!!


This weekend we were all planning on going on a trip, but we waited way too long and now because of the volcano ash cloud all flights have been canceled. I am happy though because there is still so much of London I want to see and have not gotten to see since work started. Also, the big champions cup soccer game is this weekend so I think we are making a good choice.


Two nights ago my friend Laura Haines (I met her over spring break because Grace's friend Carson, who also goes to Pepperdine and is from Memphis, came to London last summer and met Laura, so Laura, and another Londoner Emma, were in L.A. as well) drove me around in her convertible P.T. Cruiser so I could see London at night. It was so cool! We drove over the London bridge, saw Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, and I got to ride on the left side of the car and road...which was not as weird of a sensation as I thought it would be. She is so sweet! She even made me "An Ultimate Guide to London" that included historic sites to see, shopping, where to go out, the tube station for each stop, the price, and the price of cabs so the drivers would not rip us foreigners off. I cannot wait to see her again, she may be one of the sweetest girls I have met!


I was even more impressed with how adorable and sweet Laura is yesterday because I had a major culture shock. People here do not know manners. I was so proud to be from America, especially the South, after my tube experience yesterday. I was bumped into multiple times during rush hour and no one EVER says excuse me. Finally, after the 8th time being bumped into I looked at the grown woman who did it and said "Excuse you!" I was over it. Then, while waiting on the tube as it was pulling up, the doors opened and grown men in business suits (so they should obviously know manners) cut me off to the point that I missed that tube and it took me 40 minutes to get home from work (which is only 3 stops away). Everyone was so rude that I was almost to the point of tears since I was not used to the attitudes. Our teacher said this would probably happen and you just have to remember we don't have the same cultural values. I understand now and just view this as an outsider, but I am still SO happy I live in America!


Tonight we are going to a club called Fabric. I have never heard of it, but apparently it is fun. It is weird how the clubs are here, almost like a movie. I even get a headache because of the blinking lights sometimes! I think it will be fun though since it is something we don't do normally in the U.S.


Hope all is well at home!! Until next time...
Love,
Kara

continue to love london (elle)

I just found out the Barcelona football (soccer) team has landed in London. Twitter even released where they are staying....bad choice. Of course, I am DYING to stalk them at their hotel. If I met Messi I would die happy.

I am trying my best to fit in as a Londoner. Step one is to master listening to your ipod and pretending like the 10000000 people on the tube with you aren't there.

So, I made a tube riding mix: http://8tracks.com/elllllleee/tube-mix-blending-in

Day two at work was amazing. I love routine and they definitely kept me busy! I did research, errands, and a lot of phone talking. They asked me to try to get sneaky information from journalists (we all know journalists think PR people are sketchy....common misconception). They assigned me this job because they figured the "sweet american girl" would have better luck haha.

I was so happy to skype my family (including boomer), julie, twebb and clementine. Ready for tomorrow!

love,
elle

Day One at Braben PR (elle)

I am interning for a PR company called Braben. They do PR for media, entertainment, sports, brand licensing, etc. Today was my first day and I loved it. I got to work 15 minutes early and sat in a precious park beside our building. It was a really pleasant start to ze day! I didn't have that many tasks yet, but I think it's because they were letting me get acclimated.

The office is one decently sized room with like 10ish desks and 10ish people working. I have my own desk with two computer screens that my mouse can go back and forth between. For the first couple of hours I researched the company and past campaigns they worked on. I read through emails with clients and got a feel for how everything worked. At one point, everyone went into a meeting and I was left to man the phone. I was sweating because I was nervous someone would call. Luckily, they didn't haha. I have to get over that fear asap.

My one mistake was never eating lunch because I was too shy/nervous. It was the WORST decision. I was famished from 11 to 5:30.

I sat in on "my teams" meeting to hear about the progress with each of our clients. That lasts a couple of hours. Then I did some work on excel then I was free to go. It doesn't sound like much but I liked being able to get used to the atmosphere. I am exhausted though!! Kara's birthday is today, so after work Brittain ran around getting things together for her! I hope she had a great day. I'm sure she will blog about it later.

Sleep timeee!

My Feet, My Feet, My Feet are on Fire

Elle told everyone about what we did Friday and I couldn't have done it better than that. Harrods was literally the most amazing department store I have every been to. It was a FAO Shwartz for anything you could ever want on steroids. We saw all sorts of things from million pound checks to a free magic show in the toy department. I will be going back because we did not even see half of the store and that took us 3 hours alone. I also tried the Lebanese food for lunch! It was really good. We took our lunch and sat in Hyde Park! The animals are VERY human friendly...a squirrel climbed up Brittain's leg all the way to her knee. It would have climbed further, but considering the fact a rodent was climbing up her leg she understandably kicked it off so it would attack her face! It was unreal! That night we went to Ministry of Sound, which is a record label's club. It had five different rooms with five different DJs. Never had I ever been in a strobe light for that long! It was very different night scene than we have experienced since we had arrived. Everyone that went had a blast and we will be going back at some point!

Saturday could have quite possibly been our longest most packed in day of all! 8:45 am came a bit early considering we went to a club the night before! Surprisingly, every single person in our group made it on time. We first got a tour of Westminster Abbey! It was really cool to see it in person, but the tour guide...he was another story. He talked more than I do. He was flamboyant and LOVED London history. The tour was suppose to take 30 minutes and it lasted 2 hours. The loss of interest was blatantly obvious. We then took an amazing cruise on the river Thames to Greenwich village. There we saw where part of Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed and there was a great ethnic market! I ate a Mediterranean lamb wrap and it was delicious! We were so hungry and tired by this point we could not even stay to look around. Consequently, Greenwich is still on my list to visit again!

Today, Sunday, is the best day to visit and shop around at all the markets! There is one right outside our flat called The Old Spitalfield Market and I think it is by far the best market I have EVER been to! I already found presents for people and of course for myself! Zach, Brittain, Chandler, Elle, Gabi, and I then ventured to another market called Camden Market. This was the market in What a Girl Wants (with Amanda Bynes). When we hopped off the tube I was a little scared/disappointed I left Spitalfield because it just looked like the tourist area of Chinatown in NYC with cheesy souvenirs, t-shirts, etc. We kept walking down the road and found the market I had in mind! It was right on the water and every store looked like a little hut. I was craving some fruits or veggies and found one stand that made juices! I of course could not pass it up and got the carrot, ginger, apple, and orange drink! Needless to say if I ever am feeling tired and/or craving something super healthy you can find me back at that juice hut; it was amazing! Getting back home from Camden market was an experience. First, the tube stop was closed so we decided to take the bus. Then, we walked for an hour trying to find the bus stop. Next, the bus was one of the more overcrowded transportation vehicles I have ever witnessed. Finally, almost 2 hours later we arrived home where I am sitting now writing this post!

These past few days have been BUSY and my feet are thanking me for how much they ache from all the walking. No wonder America is the most obese country; I have walked three times more than I walk at home. Tomorrow is the first day of work so tonight we all will be getting a good nights sleep! It is a bit nerve-racking. Hope all is well on the home-front!
-Kar

the days are slowly running together.

So far the food has been phenomenal. I even tried Lebanese food today. The food is fresh, healthy, and smaller portions. I don't know why people say it's not good here...


The shopping is amazing too. We went to topshop and I totally understand why people are obsessed. I got a glamorous trenchcoat there! There was huge fishbowl filled with these tiny fish and women were putting there feet in it to clean them!! It was cool at first then I realized how freaked out I was. It was definitely disgusting haha.


We saw some big monuments like Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Hyde Park, Speaker's Corner, Kensington Garden, Princess Diana's monument etc. I think we have mastered the tube. I do think we stand out like sore thumbs still though.


Today, Chandler came to visit and we went to Harrods to do a scavenger hunt. Harrods is outrageous. It's a fancyyy fancy department store. My favorite places were the Toy Kingdom (where this man performed magic tricks for us) and the Pet Kingdom. I want to take Boomer to the pet kingdom. They had everything from dog bowls to doggy treadmills to spa treatments for dogs. I'm being completely serious. After three hours exploring Harrods, we got some Lebanese food and ate it in Hyde Park. As we were walking to the tube station, the best thing in the world happened to me. I saw a sign advertising the UEFA Champions League Finals. Then I saw more and more advertisments and what looked like a festival being set up. Yes, starting tomorrow until the Final game (Barca vs. Manchester United) there will be a festival celebrating soccer, both teams, etc. Tomorrow actual players will be there!!! Chandler said it was like a Christmas morning moment for me haha.

love,
elle

typical first night.

The first night we got here we went out to a pub called the Vibe and hung out for awhile. On our walk back to Nido Spitalfields (where we are staying) I saw an American looking guy about our age passed out in a pile of boxes haha. Actually, there was a tall rectangular box and he was slumped over it. I decided to help him out of course. I had to shake him awake...this guy was beyond drunk. I helped him inside and then my friends and I asked him what school he was from. He said something that we translated to SMU. We sent him on the elevator up to the 21st floor because we knew that's where the majority of the SMU kids were staying. We saluted him and hoped for the best. Just when I thought my night was over...my room key wouldn't work for my room. I went down to the security desk and they told me I had Brittian's key. Sooo I went and fetched her and they said she had "Joe Biden's" key. (I didn't realize until the morning that Joe Biden is the name of our vice president haha) Seriously Joe Biden??? There is no telling how the three of us switched up keys. The security guard made Brittian and I pose for photos for our room keys which NO ONE else has. I think we debated with the security guard for about one hour. With that fiasco taken care of I went up to bed.

Wellllll apparently this mystery man is the only one in his group NOT staying on that floor. He woke up in a random room on the 31st floor that didn't even have a bed in it. On his way to the abandoned room he got off on the 21st floor and wrecked havoc. Wooooops. I saw him and his friends the next day and filled them in on his night. I literally had to tell 20 people the story. It was hilarious start to the trip.

more to come!!
love,
elle

Kara 1st Post continued

P.P.S. Oh I totally forgot to mention one of the most important things! Amy, Ryanesia, Brittain, Elle, and I got to see Parliament and Westminster Abbey yesterday as well and we stood right where Kate was walking into the Royal Wedding! Our claim to fame!

Kara's 1st Post

Hi! It's Kara! I had email trouble today and just figured out this blog thing (thanks to Elle's lifesaving gmail account which let me finally figure out how to log into this I think!) Anyways, these past few days have been jam packed! We flew in, came to our flats. They are great! 32 stories. All the Auburn crew are on the 11th story and Elle and I are rooming together. We then made our way to a local pub and explored around Spitalfield (which is the area we are living). We had orientation the next day and Elle and I had our job interviews. They both went great! The downside was that while we had interviews the rest of our group went on a tour of London that included seeing Harry Potter scene settings, Westminster, and other amazing parts of London. Hopefully we will be making all of that up soon! Last night we had a welcome party at the Foundation (look it up if you can online it was an awesome place). It was more of a club, but the program directors rented out the back room which included VIP booths, a DJ, free drinks, free food, and disco balls as far as the eye could see! The Auburn crew were the last there to close out the party! Dr. Padgett and Dr. Butler joined us there as well and we are so lucky to have them! We could not have better professors here with us! We have some funny stories about both, that could also be used for blackmail ;) Today we tried to do some shopping around the Spitalfield Market as well as the Oxford Circus area (H&M, TopShop, etc.) but somehow, if you can believe it, I did not buy a single thing other than a pair of tights. Elle found a great trench coat jacket that is very posh! I was warned about how "terrible" the food is here, but unfortunately (for weight loss ;)), I have had nothing but great food! Most of it has been really fresh like mozzarella, basil, and tomato wraps or falafel with roasted red pepper quesadilla! We even found a delicious burrito place! The only questionable food I have seen is some of the pub food like "mash" or something of that sort. Tomorrow Dr. Padgett is taking us on a scavenger hunt of Harrods (aka I will be in HEAVEN). I can't wait to post all about it! And Saturday we have a river boat cruise so my next post will be a double whammy! I miss everyone from home and hope all is well! Love you all!

P.S. Our name for this blog "Mind the Gap" could not be more appropriate considering I hear those exact words almost 20 times a day on the tube...it's almost annoying!

Until next time!
-Kara

TEN DAYS

It's the middle of finals week and naturally I decided to create Kara & I's blog for our summer in London. It's been a greattt distraction from the four exams I had. Kara still has four to go, so may the force be with her. We are still waiting on our placement/internship assignments, but we'll let you know as soon as we know.

Only ten days until we say see yuhhh to America. 

love, 
elle