slowly falling in love..with the city

I apologize for the lag time between posts/emails…although my life is quite busy and I am exploring new things every day, I haven’t felt the urge to write about them for some reason. But since many people use the blog and read the emails to just catch up and know whats going on in my life, i figured i would write just that. 

We are in week 5 of school, which means only 5 more weeks to go!  My classes have all been very interesting so far, and have taught me a lot about event management and the skills needed to succeed in the business.  Not sure yet if the course content has made me fearful of going into the industry or even more excited to do so.  The only bad thing about school- the work you have to do in order to pass!  I forgot how long the paper writing process is and the joys of having to use references and create a proper “works cited” list.  My school has a program called “Turn It In” which essentially scans your paper and finds any places where you copied.  They “allow” 20% of the paper to be plagiarized, which seems quite odd to me?  For my first paper, i scored a 9%- 5% of the plagiarism came from the works cited page (thy considered the references as “plagiarism”) and the other 3% were random words that apparently came from other peoples work..however they were everyday words such as “the program was a success.”  So I’m not entirely sure how I copied that from someone else? 

I updated my Facebook status today to include some of my favorite things/things I’m grateful for in London.  They included.. 

1. the #30 and #16 route buses as they take me to and from some of my favorite places in London (school, Hannah’s house, the grocery store, Portobello market, the place i took a yoga class, a great spot for brunch, my doctor, notting hill to name a few).
2. Whole Foods London because it makes me feel like I am at home (even though I didn’t go to Whole Foods much at home).  They have an amazing bakery and sell individual eggs.
3. Waitrose grocery store- because its the closest thing to Ralphs, which always made me happy
4. the sound of little British kids laughing and playing.  I don’t “fancy” adult British accents much, but when i hear a little British boy start talking to his MUM, it makes me smile.  They are just so cute!
5. Any day where the temperature is over 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit)
6. Kettle Chips Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar .. for two reasons: 1. i think they use regular vinegar in the states, and the balsamic makes the chips so much better! and 2. they are always on sale 2 bags for 2 pounds!
7. Red & green grapes- not sure why, but the grapes here are amazing.  they are always on sale ” buy 2 for 4 pounds or 1 for 3.49″ so naturally i get two…i could eat them all in a day if i wanted to, but use restraint as i know i will be happier in the long run. 
8. A trashy British reality show called Playing It Straight.  It is similar to the Bachelor in a sense…a girl (Cara) has to date 15 guys for 10 weeks and find someone to end up with at the end of the show.  The catch?  Some of the men are straight, some are gay.  Its Cara’s job to figure out who is who, and at the end if she picks a straight guy, they both get 25K, but it she picks a gay guy, he gets 50K.  Its horrible, but amazing all at the same time, and its great to watch when you need mindless TV. 

I’ve been pretty busy with midterms these past couple of weekends but did manage to do some “cultural” things.  No, I did not eat Indian food, but close enough..I had my first taste “Traditional Punjabi Cuisine” according to the website (http://tayyabs.co.uk/explore.php).  Although the company was good and the atmosphere was entertaining, I could only try one or two bites of food because the heat was just too much for me.  They brought out some plates for the table to share, and I started to feel a burning in my throat just from the smell of the heat (not temperature, but spice).  Regardless, it was an experience and I made the best of it.  I also took a stroll through London with a British girl a met the first week i was here (ended up being about an hour walk) and ended up at the South Bank of the Thames river.  We passed by the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, and could see Big Ben from across the river.  It was the first “nice” day in London, which made the walk even more enjoyable.  

Other than the above, I feel like my life is pretty much normal, except that I am living it in London, 10+ hours away from all of you :(.

snow!!

yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift

Finally moved in and the proud owner of my own UK bank card.  These are two things I have been waiting for for 1 month now…and it makes me very happy to say that they are complete.  I will categorize my entry this time as there are several update to give:

SCHOOL:  Officially completed my third week of school, which is crazy since I feel like I just got here.  I am taking 6 classes (Marketing Communication of Special Events [basically an advertising class], Major Event Management, Sustainable Project Management, Creative Thinking, Strategic Events Planning, and a Case Study workshop, which is basically a class to help us write our mini dissertation).  I like all of the classes with the exception of Sustainable Project Development but I am doing my best to warm up to it, as I know it could be useful for future jobs I may be interested in (i.e. Toms).  My teachers are from a range of places, Scotland, Columbia, and London. They are all quite nice for the most part except for one (who also happens to be the teacher for Sustainability).  He teaches the class as though we are PHD students and expects an unrealistic amount of dedication for a class that is in truth designed to be enjoyable and for students to learn without the pressures of normal masters programs.  My favorite moment was when he called me out in front of the entire (7 person) class for eating my potato chips (aka crisps in London).  He asked what i was eating, then asked if he could have some, proceeded to eat them and then hand them back.  It was in my opinion a childish way to approach the situation.  There are no exams, only papers so by the end of April I will have written SIX 12-15 page papers :).  SO overall school gets a 7/10 rating.

FRIENDS:  I have made some really great friends out here, and feel really lucky to have met them all.  My friends from school are really nice and we all get along well (there is a group of 7 of us that either make up the entire class or are part of a 15 student class).  Having such a small class size makes it easier for us to become close, and they are all great girls.  The seven of us come from the following places: 3 are from Italy, 1 from Belgium, 1 from Spain, 1 from Holland, and then ME!  Along with my friends from school are my American friends who all go to UCL (University Collage London).  I was intro ducted to one girl (through an old coworker) and she introduced me to her American friends she met here. They are all great and now we all hang out together and can bond based on the fact that we are all Americans in London, dealing in with the ups and downs together.  Oddly enough, there are about 5 of us that hang out and we have created a Sunday or Saturday brunch ritual which makes me feel like we are in Sex and The City!  SO overall friends gets a 10/10 rating!

LONDON:  I have really started to “make friends” with London.  I have ventured out to different areas, although i know there are many more places to go, and feel like i could really start to like it here.  I experienced my first snow last night, which was quite exciting.  The two downfalls of London…bad customer service and high prices for everything.  I am learning to adjust to both, but it is really strange to pay so much for simple things that i know are way cheaper at home.  I can say one thing, when i get home I am going to feel like I’m saving TONS of money!!

MISC- THE INTERESTING PART!: London has many quirks that I really should write down as I notice them, but between trying to figure out which tube line to take and double checking that I am not passing my bus stop, it gets hard to write them all down.  The tube is obviously a place of great observation. As i sat in a crowded tube car, my legs crossed tightly and my bag on top of my lap, i looked to my right and left only to notice a man to each side both with their legs spread wide apart, reading the paper as though there was nobody next to them.  I wasn’t that shocked, as i know men think they are entitle dot their space, but it seemed that in a public tube where it was clearly busy, they might think for a second that they could stray from their gender norms and take up a little less space.  My mind wands in the tube, my eyes darting from one person to the next, thinking about their journey and where they came from and are going to.  One particular day though  i stopped thinking about the passengers and thought about the tube driver.  They sit in the car all day and just drive back and forth from one place to another.  The tube keeps going all day…which lead me to the question, what does the driver do if they have to use the bathroom?  Or better yet, can you be a tube driver if you have IBS?  Wouldn’t that be the worst thing ever to be stuck in the underground and have an emergency!?!?  Ok I think this is an appropriate place to end this entry (and the episode of Sex and the City i was watching is over, so that means I should actually start my day!).

Miss you all!

mind the gap

“mind the gap” – the one phrase I hear every day without fail… said over the loud speaker as you enter the tube.

So its been a while since I’ve written on here, primarily because things have been a bit rough this past week and I find that recounting the events just makes things worse.  BUT things have fallen into place now so I feel inclined to write.  I can say that with the bad comes the good and I am very confident now that I can take on pretty much any situation with ease.  Thus, in about 3 weeks I have already started to accomplish my goal which was to learn more about myself and grow as a person while I am here.  So on with the updates…

After spending two full weeks in a hotel (eek) I was set to move to a family friend’s house on Monday.  However, her plane was delayed and she did no arrive home in time for me to go there, so thus i spend another night in a hotel.  Water under the bridge…whats one more night when you have already spent 2 weeks there, right? I find it quite difficult to live out of a suitcase and not be able to just unpack and relax.  I feel like I’m always shoving things back into the corner of my suitcase just to make my room appear clean.  

 

The next challenge has been the fact that although I opened up an HSBC account in the states, apparently the Brits don’t give a shit and that means nothing to them.  I therefore have to open a new bank account here in the UK, which requires me to give a UK address (of which i don’t have) and a letter from my school stating that I am a student (of which i have to wait two days for).  The reason it took me so long to realize that I needed a UK account was that for major purchases, my HSBC card does work..but for things like getting a monthly cell phone plan or transferring money, you need a card with a UK chip in it.  Note to anyone moving to the UK- the VERY FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO is open a UK account…don’t wait!!!!  So I have been paying an arm and a leg by “topping up” my cell phone with cash and have been rejected at random stores because my card won’t work without the chip.  Everybody looks at you like your an asshole and “how could you NOT have a chip card?”  As though I was supposed to know this before I came?  

 

I had finally found a place that looked really great to live (modern, safe, affordable [sorta]) but of course, ran into some issues here as well.  Ive been contacting letting agent (real estate agents) after letting agent to see if there are places available and people will either a) not call back b) call but tell me the place is gone or c) tell me the place is more than it was listed for online and that it doesn’t have a bathroom or it doesn’t come furnished etc.  It seemed like it was nothing but negatives.  Finally I was able to make an appointment with Mario (an agent) to view the place I found/liked.  I arrived at our scheduled time of 12:30 on Tuesday only to discover that the front door to the building was locked and the front desk lady who was supposed to show me the place was nowhere in sight.  I called Mario, who called the building, and apparently there was some emergency and the front desk lady did not show up that day.  The problem was, I had class ALL DAY on Wednesday, so now this meant i couldn’t view the property until Thursday.  Although this seems like it would be fine…studio flats get taken here in a flash and if you don’t say yes on the spot, you are almost guaranteed to lose the place. When I expressed my concern to Mario, his response was “well what do you want me to do.”  I felt like giving him a great comeback line..but refrained and just hung up.  I forgot to mention that it was raining ALL day Monday and Tuesday, making it really lovely to be trekking around with my suitcase and to go view places that I never ended up seeing.

 

Heres the part where things start to turn around. I get to class on Wednesday, and our teacher never showed up.  SO I was able to go view the property and ended up getting a great deal….and now I have a place to live!  I can move in on Saturday or Monday and am very excited about this!  

 

In terms of sights I’ve seen, and explorations I have embarked on…I now have a few under my belt.  Trafalgar Square- beautiful and amazing but once you are there, you aren’t really sure what to do next.  Portobello Market- so realaxing, cultured, beautiful and wonderful.  I could spend every weekend just walking up and down the street looking at the fun and unique shops.  China Town- very busy and fast paced, but quite interesting and pretty.  Covent Garden- again quite beautiful, quaint shops that Im sure have to be visited many times to really get a good sense of them all- there are so many good ones to choose from!  London has several adorable bakeries that I try my  hardest not to go into for fear that I will just end up eating cupcakes every day.  Oxford Street- feels like downtown LA, tons of people, nobody cares if they run into you and overwhelming (although they do have pretty much every store you could possibly want).  SO overall I have seen some wonderful places and I know there are many more to come.  In the three weeks I have been here I have really started to like it, and can’t wait for the months to come!  So despite my “downs” listed below, I am confident that things are looking up and that many “ups” will come soon! For those of you who want pictures, I will do my best to upload them as soon as I can.  

 

xoxo

please no smelly food

Today I discovered (although I had been warned) that people in London probably care more about the maintenance of the tube than they do about their own personal hygiene.  As I was riding on the Central Line toward Bond Street, I looked up and noticed a “please no smelly food” sign.  I began to think of all the smelly foods they could be referencing…the smell of curry, fish, and hard boiled eggs are what came to mind for me, but then I realized just how personalized that message is. It means something different to each person who reads it.  I just hope that the things I listed are on everyones general smelly foods list…because I sure do not want to be next to the man eating his fish and chips on the way home one night!

After my smelly food sign, I jumped on the Victoria Line to head to my appointment at a letting agency (in hopes of finding a flat, but I am pretty sure I just got ripped off instead).  As I sat in my seat (this tube configuration different than others in that the seats face each other in sets of two) I began to feel a bit carsick by the jolting back and forth of this particular tube car…to solve the problem, I braced myself by putting the tips of my shoes up on the seat in front of me.  Immediately after, I look at up and got THE STINK EYE BY AN OLDER FEMALE BRIT.  I was shocked at the glare she was able to send my way.  I took my feet down and looked back up, only to find her shaking her head.  She probably thought, what a disrespectful young American.  But all i was thinking was, what would she prefer…me throwing up on her from motion sickness, or 2 minutes of my feet on the edge of a seat that she wasn’t sitting on.  I think i know the answer.

So I would say today was filled with Underground observations, to say the least.

On a different food note…

Had my first burger for dinner… instead of listing out lettuce, tomato and onion as toppings, they simply wrote “salad”.  The girl looked at me like I was dumb when I asked what that meant.  Good times.

please no SMELLY food

‎”Everything you have ever done, from the greatest task or action to the tiniest ones, could never have been in any way different, because the way you are in this very instant is spreading out in all directions, creating simultaneously what you have been and what you will be. All you can do is to realize that there is nothing you can do to change anything but to be conscious of this very perfection. This is the real change! This is revolutionary.”

from my school’s Facebook page 🙂

“Singing’ Don’t worry about a thing”

On my 3rd or 4th day in London, I was in the mall (as this is where I frequented most since I was still getting used to the area) and the song “All by myself” came on the loudspeaker.  I happened to be talking to a friend during this moment and informed her of how ironic it was that such a telling song came on at such an appropriate time.  Keeping an upbeat attitude, she responded with “Yes, but remember they played that song in Clueless and she ended up just fine in the end”.  So wise, Jena Choi :).  

I am finally at a point where I think that Jena was right.  The turning point?  When another “song sign” came about during one of my underground tube rides.  I believe I was making the switch from the Central line to the Piccadilly line when I heard a familiar tune.  Side note: in many Underground stations, people set up shop and spread their gift of song (or sometimes lack of gift) with the travelers.  Their voices echo throughout the entire station, making for usually a very pleasant experience. As I made my way to the Piccadilly line I walked speedily by a man singing Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds”… and right as a walked by, he was doing his best to belt out the part “Singing’ Don’t worry about a thing, cause ev-ry little thing gonna be all right!”  I felt that this was a good sign that things could be turning around for me.  I was right…had a good day, met some great new friends, and had my first official night out in London.  Hopefully the luck continues and I find a place to live this week!

‘cheers’

the first…of many?

Being a lefty in London is… well, the same as being a lefty in the US…but it made for a fun and catchy title for this blog.

I never thought i would start a blog, but i guess it is appropriate as a way to update friends and family about my life in London.  I was also told by many people that i NEED to do one (you know who you are), so if this sucks, it’s all your faults!  I apologize in advance for the random lack of CAPITAL letters, for some reason i prefer typing in LOWER case.  It’s probably because i am a lefty and supposed to be “creative”… but i think that’s about as creative as i get 🙂

It is almost the end of week one in London and now that I’ve had a good stretch of time being on my own, i feel that i can reflect in a more appropriate way.  Secretly since my name is Carrie, i always wanted to write in the ever so elegant tone of ‘Carrie Bradshaw’, but since its nearly impossible to be as witty as her i think i will try to just be myself, with a side of wit.

It is increasingly apparent to me that the underground tube is London’s own 405 freeway.  For many, it is a daily routine that they have mastered  while for others, it is a new and exciting experience as well as a time to perfect their people watching skills.  While on the 405, we fix our makeup, listen to KIIS FM, catch up with long distance friends, and do the occasional and sly check of our Facebook page.  While on the Underground tube, they read their local newspaper, listen to their favorite tunes with their ‘dr. dre beats’ noise canceling headphones, or play video games on their smartphones.  No Facebooking here, as the tube is a complete dead zone.  No matter which route you take- the 405 or the Underground, it is a time for reflection… similar to what this blog provides for me.

over and out?