Sorry I haven't been updating this, I have just been pretty busy. Last weekend we took a trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Stonehenge was pretty cool, but I don't know if I would recommend it. It was free for us so it was worth it. It was just a little anticlimactic. Bath however, was pretty awesome. We walked around for a few hours and basically looked at all the architecture. We walked past Jane Austen's house, which was cool, but I am not a huge Pride and Prejudice fan, so it wasn't really that cool.
I am also well into my internship at The Frozen Food Store. Random, right? There is another girl doing an internship there so that is pretty nice. I have basically just been doing little projects for them such as making maps of where all their trucks go, so they can find the most strategic place to move their warehouse to. And then, I have just been answering phones and things like that. The major downfall of my internship is the commute. It is about an hour or maybe a little more away. I have to take two trains, one all the way to the end. Then I have to get off and take a train about 15-20 minutes.
On Sunday, we went to a bar and it turned out to be karoke night. We each had about three beers and Deanna sang a song, and then we did a duet and then we were just waiting for Skyler to sing. Deanna and I sang "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" but it turned out to be the wrong version. We didn't know a single word, except Ain't No Mountain High Enough. It was pretty lame. But like I said, we were just waiting for Skyler to sing. We each had finished our beers so we were going to leave after Skyler sang. Then the bartender came over and told us that we were going to either buy more beer, or leave. Um, excuse me? We were there for like an hour and a half and had three beers. I'm sorry that is not enough for you on a Sunday night, bitchy bartender. See if we come back there again. We are tonight though. How can you pass up some karoke with drunk old english men? That is right, you can't.
Last night, we went to the Imperial College's American Night. It was supposed to be an American themed party with beer pong and cheesy American music. I am not sure what they mean by cheesy since every time I've been there, they have played NSYNC, Avril Lavigne, and other things like that. But it turns out that they didn't play that cheesy of music which was a bust. And also, it was pretty much all American students studying abroad. So that was also kind of lame, but it was still a blast.
Well that is all for now, miss whoever is reading this.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Westminister
Today I woke up and had a few hours until I had to go to class so I thought I would go into the city and walk around without a tour guide for a little while. I went to Westminister and walked by the following:
-British Parliament
-Big Ben(it is actually part of the parliament building)
-Westminister Abbey - where William and Kate will get married
-St. James Prk
-Buckingham Palace
It was pretty great, I just wish I had everyone at home to come hang out with me. The only frustrating thing with London's weather is, although it was one of the first days with sunny weather, it was much cooler than any other day we had. Although the clouds are quite unappealing, they keep the warmth in, so when the sun peaks through, the temperature plummets. Quite frustrating, to say the least.
-British Parliament
-Big Ben(it is actually part of the parliament building)
-Westminister Abbey - where William and Kate will get married
-St. James Prk
-Buckingham Palace
It was pretty great, I just wish I had everyone at home to come hang out with me. The only frustrating thing with London's weather is, although it was one of the first days with sunny weather, it was much cooler than any other day we had. Although the clouds are quite unappealing, they keep the warmth in, so when the sun peaks through, the temperature plummets. Quite frustrating, to say the least.
[British Parliament]
[Big Ben]
[St. James Park](You can see the London Eye on the left and Big Ben on the right)
[Buckingham Palace]
[Proof That I'm Actually at all These Places]
Monday, January 17, 2011
Daily Commute
So I have an hour commute to my internship three days a week, so I bought this yesterday to help make it faster. Yes, it is the British version of it. Started it today, I am pretty stoked.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Things I Have Realized in London
I know I have only been here for a few days but I have already realized many things.
-Looking right instead of left before stepping into the street proves to be easier said than done.
-Public transportation can be a marvelous thing.
-The sun is greatly underrated.
-Space is a commodity.
-Pubs are wonderful.
-I have never felt as slow of a walker in my life than when I walk through the tube.
Hopefully I will add to this in the coming months.
-Looking right instead of left before stepping into the street proves to be easier said than done.
-Public transportation can be a marvelous thing.
-The sun is greatly underrated.
-Space is a commodity.
-Pubs are wonderful.
-I have never felt as slow of a walker in my life than when I walk through the tube.
Hopefully I will add to this in the coming months.
'Ello London
Greetings from London. So it is now Sunday afternoon and I got here Wednesday afternoon. That is four full days, it feels like I have been here for a month.
Wednesday
I landed at Heathrow at 1:00 pm, which if you wanted to do the math, that was 5:00 am my time. Ten hours on the plane was a hoot, especially because I didn't spend an ounce of it sleeping. I got to my apartment and met my roommates. We went on a little tour of our town and then passed out at 7:00. Yes, 7:00. But thanks to jet lag I woke up at 4:00 in the morning. Woo travelling!
Thursday
So there are six 8-person townhouses in my complex, and two of them are from my program. Six of us are from ASU, nine from Pitt, and one from Santa Cruz. The other houses have kids from a school in Indiana. They have RA's in their houses. Fun. But anyways, about 30 of us from our complex went out that night and tried to find a good bar, but failed. Ended up at a pub and just wandered London all night.
Friday
We had a tour Saturday morning, so Friday night I was looking for something kind of mellow. My roommate Skyler, and our neighbor Deanna were going to a play that night so I joined them. We saw Billy Elliot, which was very good. After that we went to a pub across the street(yes, there are as many as you would imagine). Got a pint and then took the bus home to be adventurous.
Saturday
We had a bus tour of London that took us all around the city. Although I have never felt more touristy in my life, it was great. We saw all the typical things, Buckingham Palace(Lizzy wasn't home, damn), Westminister Abbey, Big Ben, London Eye, and others. We actually saw the building they used as Gringotts from the first Harry Potter movie, and I was pretty stoked about that. Didn't get a picture though, mistake. That night we went to a couple bars and ended up meeting two of our neighbors at a sports bar to watch the Steelers game. We got there at 11:45 pm, and it was packed wall to wall. Got some pints and watched the Steelers win, so it was pretty great. Since our program is made up of about 50 Pitt people we will probably continue to go there and watch the games, and hopefully the Super Bowl.
I don't really know what I'm going to write about on here. I don't really like just listing off what I did each day, but we'll see. Maybe I'll just wait for more substantial things to happen. If you really want to know, try and grab me on Facebook chat. Good times would probably be from whenever you wake up til 4:00 California time(midnight for me).
Wednesday
I landed at Heathrow at 1:00 pm, which if you wanted to do the math, that was 5:00 am my time. Ten hours on the plane was a hoot, especially because I didn't spend an ounce of it sleeping. I got to my apartment and met my roommates. We went on a little tour of our town and then passed out at 7:00. Yes, 7:00. But thanks to jet lag I woke up at 4:00 in the morning. Woo travelling!
Thursday
So there are six 8-person townhouses in my complex, and two of them are from my program. Six of us are from ASU, nine from Pitt, and one from Santa Cruz. The other houses have kids from a school in Indiana. They have RA's in their houses. Fun. But anyways, about 30 of us from our complex went out that night and tried to find a good bar, but failed. Ended up at a pub and just wandered London all night.
Friday
We had a tour Saturday morning, so Friday night I was looking for something kind of mellow. My roommate Skyler, and our neighbor Deanna were going to a play that night so I joined them. We saw Billy Elliot, which was very good. After that we went to a pub across the street(yes, there are as many as you would imagine). Got a pint and then took the bus home to be adventurous.
Saturday
We had a bus tour of London that took us all around the city. Although I have never felt more touristy in my life, it was great. We saw all the typical things, Buckingham Palace(Lizzy wasn't home, damn), Westminister Abbey, Big Ben, London Eye, and others. We actually saw the building they used as Gringotts from the first Harry Potter movie, and I was pretty stoked about that. Didn't get a picture though, mistake. That night we went to a couple bars and ended up meeting two of our neighbors at a sports bar to watch the Steelers game. We got there at 11:45 pm, and it was packed wall to wall. Got some pints and watched the Steelers win, so it was pretty great. Since our program is made up of about 50 Pitt people we will probably continue to go there and watch the games, and hopefully the Super Bowl.
I don't really know what I'm going to write about on here. I don't really like just listing off what I did each day, but we'll see. Maybe I'll just wait for more substantial things to happen. If you really want to know, try and grab me on Facebook chat. Good times would probably be from whenever you wake up til 4:00 California time(midnight for me).
Monday, January 10, 2011
Taking Off
Tomorrow is the big day. Tomorrow night at 6:25 I will be boarding a plane for the next 11 hours to go to London, UK. Once there I will be participating in an internship with a local London based company. In addition to my internship, I will actually have to complete the study portion of my study abroad.
Get ready for it. I am going to be taking a whopping two classes. What? Right. Considering my internship counts for 6 credits, my two classes are going to make up for the remaining 6 credits I need for studying abroad. I will have one class (Ethics in the Media) on Wednesday, and one more (International Marketing) on Thursday.
I am going to be living in a flat with 7 other guys from my program. There is one single, two doubles, and a triple, and what do you know, I landed in the triple. But whatever, I was looking for a new experience and that is what I'm getting. Coolest thing about my flat....
It is one block from Abbey Road. Less than 1/2 mile from Abbey Road Studios.
WANT TO CONTACT ME?
DON'T text me. I won't get it. Have a smart phone? Download Kik Messenger. It is like BBM for smart phones that I can use while my phone is connected to WiFi. I know it works for Droids and iPhones. It may also work for Blackberries but I'm not sure. I also have an app called WhatsApp. The only problem with Kik right now is you can't send pictures, so on WhatsApp you can do that. Do it, so I don't have to miss you that much. Only downfall of WhatsApp is it is only a year long free trial, but both of those apps are free.
Find me:
Kik: derek_g
WhatsApp: Derek Gardner
Skype: derek.l.gardner
I will do my best to keep this updated so those of you who want to read this will know what I'm up to.
Get ready for it. I am going to be taking a whopping two classes. What? Right. Considering my internship counts for 6 credits, my two classes are going to make up for the remaining 6 credits I need for studying abroad. I will have one class (Ethics in the Media) on Wednesday, and one more (International Marketing) on Thursday.
I am going to be living in a flat with 7 other guys from my program. There is one single, two doubles, and a triple, and what do you know, I landed in the triple. But whatever, I was looking for a new experience and that is what I'm getting. Coolest thing about my flat....
It is one block from Abbey Road. Less than 1/2 mile from Abbey Road Studios.
WANT TO CONTACT ME?
DON'T text me. I won't get it. Have a smart phone? Download Kik Messenger. It is like BBM for smart phones that I can use while my phone is connected to WiFi. I know it works for Droids and iPhones. It may also work for Blackberries but I'm not sure. I also have an app called WhatsApp. The only problem with Kik right now is you can't send pictures, so on WhatsApp you can do that. Do it, so I don't have to miss you that much. Only downfall of WhatsApp is it is only a year long free trial, but both of those apps are free.
Find me:
Kik: derek_g
WhatsApp: Derek Gardner
Skype: derek.l.gardner
I will do my best to keep this updated so those of you who want to read this will know what I'm up to.
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