Cheese Toasties and Afternoon Tea (Basically I love food)

It's been a month, I know I'm terrible. I've been really busy with school and work lately, but I know that's a terrible excuse. But I promise there hasn't been anything THAT exciting going on. However, life is about to get A LOT more exciting in the next few weeks. Classes are over and I only have two more days at my internship, which is weird, but I'm a little glad because I need a break I just feel so exhausted all the time. Work really takes it out of you, and I only work three days a week (I go to school to though...), so props to all you "grown ups" that work full time, or have worked full time. Even though classes are over and work is almost over, I'm not quite done with school yet; I have three papers due throughout the month of April, but I am planning on getting them done within the next two weeks so that Amanda and I can go to Paris and maybe Scotland or somewhere else in England before my mom and Lisa come to visit!!! I CANNOT wait for them to come visit me, it'll be like a little part of home is here. We really want to go see a play while they are here, I want to see Wicked (even though I've already seen it, but it's AMAZING), The Phantom of the Opera (I have been DYING to see it for ages), or Book of Mormon (I heard it was hilarious, but Lisa recently saw it so we'll see what happens). We also want to go to either Brighton or Bath, but we haven't decided which yet, so if anyone has any input let my mom or Lisa know!

As for the past month, not too much has happened. I have been meeting a lot of new people thought which is nice. One of my friends who is studying here from TCU as well has a boyfriend who is studying at a different university in London (UCL) this semester, so we hung out with them some and met a lot of cool people from UCL. The university I am at in London, University of Westminster, is mostly students from abroad, and by abroad I mean America, so it's nice to meet more Americans, but I would rather meet British/European people while I'm here because I can meet Americans anytime. UCL has a lot of British/European students though so it was nice to be able to meet some of them.

A few weeks ago was our "midterm week" for the online TCU course we have to take while abroad, so one of the teachers came to London and took us to Madame Tussauds and Kensington Palace. Madame Tussauds was really fun to go to, but also super touristy. The people in there made me really angry. It was so crowded that you could barely move, and then to get pictures with some of the wax figures there would be a line (which is fine), but then some stupid people would just cut the line and walk up and take their picture. People are so clueless, I swear. I have a few pictures from Madame Tussauds, but Amanda took all the pictures on her camera and has yet to upload them...get on it Amanda...hehe :). The day after Madame Tussauds we went to Kensington Palace which was really cool to see because it had a lot of history of past kings and queens of England, and apparently William and Kate are currently living there, but I wouldn't see how because it's always so packed with people. My theory is that there is a separate hidden part of the Palace that they live in? Maybe? I don't know. We also got to have afternoon tea which was AMAZING. You really wouldn't think of having tea as amazing, but it was. Well, minus the sassy, snobby host. But we didn't have to deal with him very much. I had English Breakfast Tea, and then they bring out this three-tiered plate of little sandwiches, scones with jam and clotted cream, and desserts. It was pretty much a full meal even though it's supposed to be like a snack. Everything on the plate was amazing though and I ate every bite, bet y'all didn't think I could do it. So that was a really nice weekend (minus the paper I had to write for the following Monday, but that's boring).

                      Rafa

                Robert Downey Jr.

           Prince Harry (I'm a Princess in training)

                Royal Family (yes I'm going to be part of it soon, see previous picture)

Yesterday, Amanda and I went to this really cool market called Borough Market. It is the biggest market I have ever seen, granted I really haven't been to that many, but I have been to Fisherman's Wharf in San Fran with Lisa and Chris. But this market was so much better (sorry Lisa and Chris!!). They had a stand for literally everything, and almost all of the places had free samples. I can't tell you how many pieces of bread dipped in olive oil I had (probably like ten, but still that's a lot). They have a million and one olive oil stands, a million and two cheese stands, and then everything from meat stands to chocolate stands. They have it all. Amanda had been to the market the previous week and had had what she claimed to be the best cheese toastie (grilled cheese for all you Americans) in the world. So I was determined to try one. We got to the stand that sold these infamous cheese toasties and the line was HUGE. So we walked to the back and started waiting. We had been in line for about ten or fifteen minutes before a lady came up to us and asked what we wanted (they sell other things besides cheese toasties at this stand) and we told her we wanted a cheese toastie. She told us we were in the wrong line and escorted us to a MUCH shorter line. Needless to say we were relieved because we were STARVING. We quickly got our toasties and began to eat. Amanda was right, it was indeed the best cheese toastie in the world. We stood in complete silence until each of us had finished our toasties. When we were almost done Amanda did break the silence and said, "You know what they say, if you are eating with someone in complete silence either your food is really good or you're on an awkward first date." We both came to the conclusion that it was obviously the former because Amanda and I have been on plenty of "dates" together haha. After we ate our sandwiches we wandered around the market some more and found ourselves at a smoothie bar, I hadn't had a smoothie since I left the states so I really wanted one. I ended up getting a mixed berry smoothie that was delicious, but definitely not as good as the strawberry banana smoothies mom makes at home. After that we decided it was too cold and crowded to keep walking around so we left, but we are going back next week when it's not so crowded and hopefully not as cold!

Those are the most exciting things I have gotten up to the past month. I have mostly just been going to work, school, and going out with my friends. It's been a really cold March as well, which was a bummer, because everything there is to do in London is pretty much all outside. So hopefully April will bring better weather, and if not Spain and France should be warmer at the end of April/beginning of May when Amanda and I go there on our spring break trip. I have also recently gotten into Downton Abbey, it gives me something to do on those cold/lazy days when I just need some "me" time (for lack of a better phrase). I have finished the first season and watched one episode of the second season, and after this is posted I am watching another episode, or two...I know Beda and Judy have watched Downton, I'm not sure if anyone else has, so don't spoil it for me!! Even though I know a few things that happen. I hope everyone is doing well, and I miss y'all!! Have a great Easter Sunday. And I'm sure I will have much more exciting things to post about in the coming weeks/months. Love y'all xx! (that's what the Europeans do to show affection in text, like xoxo, in case anyone was wondering)

        Alex, Me, and Amanda before a night out with friends

         St. Patrick's Day (weekend) fun!

            Me and Alex

                                       

          Having some fun at the Tate Britain

Two Months

I can't believe I have almost been here for two months. THAT'S CRAZY. It doesn't feel like it's been that long AT ALL. I am over half way done with my classes and internship! It's weird. All of my friends are going on spring break in a week and a half and I'm only just now planning my TWO MONTH spring break! Hehe I'd take that any day. Amanda and I are really hoping to go to Ibiza, Barcelona, Nice, and Cannes, and then hopefully I will go to Paris or Rome or somewhere else on my own or with other friends while Amanda goes to her cousin's wedding! I just had my first grade today, it was a simulation on the situation in Syria. Each group was assigned a country apart of the EU, or the EU Parliament, or the European Council, and we had to have a debate on the situation as if we really were from the country given to us. I was Ireland. Ireland is a small country, so it was more difficult to find information on it than other countries such as Germany or France. I was given the task of delivering our 5 minute opening statement, and we were lucky enough to go first! It was so nerve-wracking, but I think I did alright under the circumstances...which were: I gave my group 4 days of the week I could meet because on the others I work all day or have school and work all day, and of course they chose to meet on 2 of the 3 days I couldn't, and since I wasn't at these meetings they elected me designated speaker, how kind and thoughtful of them. AND THEN didn't email me the paper from which I had to create my speech from until THREE AM the night before. So I didn't get to even look at it until I woke up for class that morning. Good thing I'm good at cramming and took a speech class last semester and was able to throw something together, lucky for me and my awesome group. If I'm being honest, out of the 10 groups I think my speech was second or third best, I'm hoping my teacher thought so as well.

Last night all of my coworkers invited me and the other intern, Brittney, to go out for drinks with them. It was kind of intimidating since I had never done something like this before because obviously it isn't legal for me to drink in the states yet. But it ended up being a really fun night, we were there for nearly four hours and it hadn't felt that long at all. Brittney and I mostly talked to Beach and Luke, they are really funny, especially Luke. We talked about everything from politics (in the UK and in America) to football (American football and soccer). I really don't know why we call it soccer anyways, it doesn't even make sense. It was really cool though because Luke knew a lot about American football so that was a lot of fun. And one of my coworkers, Reda, used to be a chef, like a top of the line chef, and he is going to make Brittney and I and Italian dish for lunch next week! I am soooo excited. I mean I like to think I can cook pretty well, but I can't even imagine a meal cooked by a former professional chef. The best cook I know is my Nana, and he will probably be a great cook, but I'm not sure he can beat Nana's chili. Mmm mmm.

Last weekend Amanda and I were going to go to the Barbican to see the rain room there, which is this room where it's raining in the entire thing, except where you are standing. We thought it'd be pretty cool to see, and we also have to go see a piece of art on our own for a class I'm in, but when we got there the "queue" (the line) was SEVEN HOURS LONG. Yeah not wasting my Saturday standing in a line to see rain when it rains here almost everyday. PASS. So we got back on the tube and went to the Starbucks on Oxford Street. We like to go to Starbucks to use their free wifi. I was on twitter just reading some tweets, you know the usual, and I saw this tweet saying last minute tickets had been added for the One Direction concert in London that night and for the next day (One Direction's Take Me Home tour had just started that afternoon). I thought I'd look to see how bad and expensive the tickets were going to be, but to my surprise I found 2 floor tickets for $60 EACH. Now for a One Direction concert, that is DIRT CHEAP. So I freaked out and told Amanda what had just happened and she told me to buy them, so I did. It was almost unreal really. After that we immediately left and went back to our rooms to get ready since the concert started in 4 hours! It was so much fun, partly because it was just really spontaneous, but the concert itself was a blast. I went to their first tour last summer and this one was so much fun as well. They had all new songs and it was just great. I still can't believe it happened. And after the concert we ran into two girls that go to school with us here who also happened to have gone to the concert and they told us that they had their tickets for a year, they were behind our seats, and they cost $200 each. So Amanda and I were pretty lucky to say the least.

Soo that's the only exciting stuff that has happened really since I last posted! I hope you are all doing well and I miss everyoneeee!!!

That One Time I Met Famous People

Once again, sorry for not posting often, but there are really only 2 SUPER exciting things that have happened in the past two weeks, so I decided to put them in the same post and make it a SUPER exciting post...

I have never ever been in the same room as a famous person (except Brad Womack, the Bachelor), even though I live in Austin where literally EVERY FAMOUS person lives. Last Friday, Amanda and I and our two friends Danielle and Ashley found out that Liam Payne (One Direction) and possibly the rest of One Direction was going to be at this club in London, so obviously we HAD to go. We put ourselves on the guest list and went. When we first got there we saw Tom Daley (Olympic Bronze medalist in diving), but he was in the VIP section so we couldn't talk to him :(. It took a while for Liam to get there, but he did eventually. Amanda and I were standing by the stairs because our feet were hurting and we weren't really paying attention and Liam walked by, Amanda didn't notice, but I did and my jaw hit the floor, I completely froze and couldn't say anything. Amanda asked what happened and I told her that Liam had just walked by. It's really weird seeing someone in person that you've only seen in pictures and videos. So we waited by the stairs for a few more minutes and he walked by again with a few of his friends and I grabbed his arm to try to say something but I think he thought it was one of his friends so he kept walking...so technically I didn't meet him but still, I touched him. You can all think I'm crazy if you want but it was pretty cool. And then I left because I had been sick all week and wasn't feeling well, but the other girls stayed and ended up dancing in the same group as Liam and Louis (Louis showed up after I left) and a few other people for a bit. And when they were leaving Liam walked by Amanda, put his hand on her back and said, "Excuse me darling." I AM SO JEALOUS. But all in all it was a good night.

So there's SUPER exciting night number one, I'll tell you about night number two it a minute. My last post was about things I've learned while here, and this is about another very important thing I learned. On Thursday night one of our friends put a bunch of us on the guest list for this place called Proud in Camden and we ended up getting a free table because there were so many of us, which is pretty cool because you usually have to pay a lot of money for a table. So we were all walking to Proud and this one girl and I had already crossed the street and our backs were turned to the rest of the group and we heard this noise. I turned around and one of the guys was laying on the street in front of a car. Don't worry he got right up and is completely fine. But it was terrifying. So lesson definitely learned: ALWAYS LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE CROSSING THE STREET, or always look right first instead of left since they drive on the left side of the road here. We ended up finally getting to Proud and it was a lot of fun, it's in this place that looks like an old stable so it was really cool. I also witnessed my first real live fist fight that happened right next to me that night. Even got some blood on my hand...ew. But it ended up being a fun time. The next night, Friday, ended up being pretty low key and we just went to a pub, but I now know how to properly play darts. It's really difficult.

Okay so now on to SUPER exciting night number two, last night. So there are these two really cute, British twins, Jack and Finn, that are very popular on YouTube, and they had tweeted that they were going to be at Funky Buddha on Saturday night (same club as Liam was at last week). So Amanda and I put ourselves on the guest list again and went. There were a lot of YouTubers there and it was a lot of fun, but we were too scared to go talk to Jack and Finn, but we finally got the guts to talk to them and when they walked by I walked straight up to Jack and grabbed him by the shoulders and said, "We have seen some of your YouTube videos and we think y'all are really funny." It was the best I could come up with in the moment okay. But it worked, they both chuckled and thanked us and kept talking to us. Obviously we weren't British so they asked where we were from. So we told them we were from Texas to which they responded, "TEXAAAASS. Cool!" Then Finn asked for our names. Jack asked how old we were, and then they told us they were going to go dance and that it was nice to meet us. They were really very nice, they smiled the whole time and seemed genuinely glad to meet us.

So there are my famous people encounters, hopefully there will be more soon! Haha

20 things I have learned about London so far

I am really sorry I haven't posted in a while, I just get so caught up in everything and forget to post! But here is a list of 20 things a I have learned about London so far:

1. People do not wait their turn. People will push in front of you or just plain cut you in line. SUPER annoying.
2. Most mornings will start out with blue skies and not a cloud in sight, but by lunch time the sky will be completely gray.
3. EVERYONE owns Hunter's wellies (rain boots). And by everyone I mean everyone, not just girls.
4. You will get laughed at for using American terms...or should I say Texan terms; every time I let a "y'all" slip out I get laughed at, oops :)
5. Forty degrees is freaking warm. This weekend it was forty five and sunny and I wore a long sleeve shirt and no coat and I was completely fine. I will be the first to admit that I NEVER thought that would happen.
6. Never use the tube between 9am and 10am, 12pm and 1pm, and 5pm and 6pm. But, I have to.
7. People have no respect for personal space, especially on the tube. You will get squished between people and people, people and doors, people and poles, and sometimes you will even end up eating someone's fur coat.
8. The boys here are DEFINITELY cuter than American boys, sorry (actually no I'm not). An no, it is not the accent, even though it's an added bonus, but it is their haircuts (they all have the same haircut, and they are all brunette) and VERY prominent jaw lines ;)
9. If you talk on the tube, you will get glared at, especially if you have an American accent.
10. Contrary to popular belief the people here do not all have terrible teeth. Most Brits I have seen that are my age have very nice, straight, white teeth. But I have noticed that about half the people over the age of 30 have bad teeth. I guess they started to get good dental and orthodontic care for my generation. These are just my observations though.
11. Always carry your umbrella.
12. People do not use backpacks in London, especially not pink ones, they use totes.
13. Bathrooms are called the toilets, NOT THE LOO like everyone in America seems to think.
14. They have three different kinds of water at most restaurants: tap water, still water, and sparkling water. Whatever happened to just having one kind of water?
15. People here really do think that everyone from Texas wears cowboy hats, cowboy boots, belt buckles, jeans, and button downs everyday. Some even think we ride horses down the streets.
16. It is really hard to find regular salt in the grocery stores here. I have still yet to find some so I have settled for sea salt.
17. The letter Z is called "zed".
18. You will hear a siren at least every 5 minutes.
19. You can't walk a block without seeing some kind of construction.
20. They have different words/phrases for EVERYTHING. Here are a few: band aids = plasters, trashcan = bin, elevator = lift, exit = way out, watch your step = mind the gap, how are you? = you alright?, chips = crisps, french fries = chips, pants = trousers, underwear = pants, sweater = jumper. Those are the only ones I can think of at the moment!

So there are 20 things I have learned about London! I am having a great time over here, I have met a bunch of people from all over the world, it's crazy. I haven't met too many British people though because most of the people that go to this school are either in an exchange program for a semester or a year or study here all 3(?) years from outside the UK. But my classes are going alright...except my class that I had no idea about, which is the one hour credit class through TCU. I have 2 papers and a quiz every week. So we will see how that goes. Other than that it seems that my classes won't be too bad! And my internship is going very well, I was given a new project today. I am re-doing how we display our brochures throughout the office. So basically I online shopped for brochure stands/holders all day haha.

It snowed at last Friday-Tuesday so Amanda and I went to Oxford last Saturday which was great. We got to see a lot of things from the Harry Potter movies like one of the staircases,

along with the courtyard,

and the dining room that the great hall/dining room was modeled after.

It was fun to play in the snow for a bit but after a few days it got kind of annoying because the tubes were always delayed, and people become idiots whenever it snows, just like in Texas! But some of my friends and I had a snowball fight one night while we were walking home and it was really funny. We also found a huge statue of JFK in the middle of London which was really weird.

And I completely ate it right before this picture was taken. Slipped on the statue...oops. I'm okay though don't worry.

The second week of my internship class I had to give a mini presentation on my career aspirations, any internships I have had, jobs I've had, and hobbies and such, and my tutor (teacher/professor) said I was like a ray of sunshine that lit up the room because I smiled the whole time and sounded very cheery. So yay me.

So that's all that's really been going on right now. And I promise I will try to post more often!!

First Week of Class and Internship

Sorry I haven't posted in over a week!! I've been so busy!! So much to do so much to see...you know how it is. Anyways, on Saturday Amanda and I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was AMAZING. There was so much to see there, and all of it was truly breathtaking. My favorite parts were the jewelry and fashion exhibits, but not for the reasons you think...well maybe it is for the jewelry. There were so many beautiful rings and necklaces, but my favorite were the tiaras (shocking I know). All of the jewelry was just so intricate and very thought-out and well designed. But what I really loved was the fashion exhibit. There were clothes from the late 1800s-1970s. I really liked the dresses from the late 1800s and early 1900s. I wish people still dressed like that today. The clothes back then were so intricate and delicate. They were so beautiful. There was one dress that was next to a man's coat and it reminded me of the scene from Pride and Prejudice where Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth meet at the ball. The clothes were so sophisticated and I just really want a pretty dress like that. I really wish I could have taken pictures so you all could see as well. There were also a lot of ballerina tutus/costumes, like the kind you would see in Swan Lake or the Nutcracker that were gorgeous as well. Amanda and I decided that we wish everyone wore ballerina tuts by day and ball gowns from the 1800s by night. Everyone would look so pretty all the time. Another part of the museum that was my favorite was this room:

 It was amazing. The design on the walls was so beautiful and I decided that I am having a room like this in my future home. I don't know why we don't make things like this room or the dresses anymore. It seems like not as much thought goes into these things these days.

Anyways, this week I started my internship and my classes. Internship day one was a little slow, but today was a lot better. They actually had things for me to do and I'm sure as it goes on it will get even better! Yesterday was just introductions to everyone who works there and learning about what they do at the company so not terribly exciting. Today, however, I got to type up a newsletter that is being sent out about one of their Management Fairs, and my boss let me put "my own spin" on it which was nice. So hopefully tomorrow I will get to do even more! Woo!

I just came back from my first class, which is the class that goes along with our internship. It's just syllabus week so we didn't do much in lecture, but in seminar we took a survey to find out what kind of learner we are. I am a pragmatist. Who knew? It was pretty accurate I guess. Next week we already have to give a mini presentation. Good thing our seminar class is really small, so hopefully I don't choke...I should really work on my public speaking. Our presentation has to be on our career aspirations though...I have NO IDEA what I'm going to say since I haven't a clue what I want to do after I graduate. So we will see what I come up with!

Well I have to head to my second class of the day, Principles of Marketing. I'll let y'all know how it goes!

Pictures

Okay so I know I've been talking a lot about what I've been doing but haven't uploaded any pictures...but I just downloaded the pictures off my camera yay! 

The Tower of London from the outside. This place is HUGE. I kept thinking it was going to end but it just kept going and going, it was really cool though. It's full of history of London. There's suits of armor, huge swords, guns, the Crown Jewels, really anything you could ever think of. It's mostly the history of Kings and Queens and such. I really wish I had gotten more pictures, especially of the crown jewels, but of course we couldn't take pictures of any of them, even the ones worn 300 years ago, but they are all amazing, especially Queen Elizabeth's current crown.

And here is Tower Bridge. It is so much cooler in person. We haven't been on/across it yet this is just the picture I took from the Tower of London, but it's pretty amazing.

Big Ben. It is so pretty at night, and pictures really don't do it justice. The first picture I took standing right in front of it, and the second one is from the London Eye. These are really crappy iPhone pictures that I instagrammed, but it really is something.

And of course the London Eye. It's actually kind of terrifying when you get all the way to the top and look down, but it's really pretty looking out over the city from the top.

These are the only worth while pictures I have taken so far, I'm going to try to take more from now on so I can post them!!

First Few Days

The plane ride was pretty long. The first few hours went by so slow, but then then last half went by pretty fast. I couldn't sleep very well though which was a bummer. When I arrived it was about 11:30am in London. Getting through immigration was a breeze, but getting my bags was another story. I had 3 bags: my huge 60lb checked bag, my red carry-on (that I later had to check), and my huge "purse". It was a but of a struggle getting them on the express and then into the cab, but I managed. I have bruises on my hands from pulling them around though haha. I checked into the hotel and of course Amanda and I had been put into the same room even though we said it was fine if we were separated and thenl it was already time to go to lunch and then the phone store. We went to a place called the Gourmet Burger Kitchen, I didn't get anything though because I wasn't hungry. After that we went to the phone store and I got a dinky little samsung phone for £4 and a pay as you go plan for £10 a month, which isn't that bad. We then went back to the hotel and I took a 30 minute nap. Fastest thirty minutes of my life. I swear as soon as I closed my eyes Amanda was already waking me up. We went to see Big Ben and went on the London Eye that night. Pictures of Big Ben really don't do it justice. It is so beautiful, especially at night when it's all lit up. The London Eye was a lot of fun too, it was cool to see the city from so high up. After that we ate at this cool place called Waggamama. It's like an Asian noodle place I guess, I just had plain noodles and edamame. After that I was so tired. Most people went to the pub around the corner from our hotel but Amanda, Alex, and I went back to the hotel and went to bed. I was out cold by 10, but then I woke up from 4am-6am which wasn't fun. The next day we went to the tower of London. That place is HUGE. From the outside it doesn't look that big, but there are so many rooms in each little tower, it's ridiculous. It was really cool there, lots of history. My favorite part was seeing all the crown jewels though. So many diamonds and huge gems. I want to be Queen. Anyways, after that we all went back to the hotel for a nice nap. That night we ate at Pizza Express, which was really good, but it was A LOT of food, I couldn't finish it all. After dinner a bunch of us went to a bar called the Metropolitan, which sucked. No one under the age of 40 was there. We literally walked in and walked out. We tried to find other bars around the area, but we had no luck. So we ended up at the Globe (the bar right next to our hotel) and stayed until it closed...at midnight...lame. We weren't ready to go home yet so we went to explore a little bit. Most fun night of my life. I didn't stop laughing the whole time. We just walked around London and talked and laughed it was a blast. We stayed out until about 1:30 and then headed back to the hotel. 

Today was move-in day. It was super stressful. The line to check in was long, Amanda's key didn't work. We had to take 2 trips from the hotel to the dorm. It was just a lot. But I am all checked in. I haven't unpacked though, but I'll get to that later. 


Soooo that's all for now! Byeee