Oh Amsterdam. What can I say? Amsterdam is absolutely beautiful, with its many canals and beautiful architecture. Four of us took an 11 hour overnight bus from London to Amsterdam Friday night (we took a ferry across the English Channel) and arrived way earlier than expected to the hotel. We napped for a bit before heading out into the freezing city. First we went to Leidseplein Square where there was a little ice rink set up next to a bunch of Christmasy vendors selling trinkets and food. We walked down the little streets and past the many shops and ended at Dam Square which is a bigger square, busy with people walking about.
While Amsterdam is beautiful, it also has a dodgy side- the Red Light District. We continued our walk and decided to check out what the Red Light District is all about. Well, its pretty straight-forward. The streets are lined with girls in their underwear behind glass doors beckoning customers. It actually made me really sad for them. What happened in their life that made them decide to be a prostitute? We got out of there and went to a cafe where we hung out for a while. I know you know what Amsterdam is famous for (other then the Red Light District) so I'm just gonna leave it at that- if you don't know what I'm talking about, then good, we'll leave that topic alone. After hanging out for a while, we got dinner and headed back to the hotel, where we went to sleep super early after our long trip and slept in late the next day. The sleep was much needed after all the busyness of London and other travels.
On Sunday, we went to the "I Amsterdam" sign and took some touristy pictures. Then we went to the Heineken Brewery and did the "Heineken Experience." It's basically a museum dedicated to Heineken, but they have some cool interactive stuff, like a green screen music video thing where you can pretend you are on a boat in one of the canals of Amsterdam and they record you singing along to the music (which I had emailed to me in case anyone wants to see me act a fool), and being taught how to properly drink a beer. You also get two beers at the end of the tour, which we enjoyed.
After that, we walked around and hung out in another cafe, got food, and headed back to the hotel to collect our things and go to the bus station for our lovely 11 hour ride back to London.
Thursday, 2 December 2010
A Very London Thanksgiving
I got off of work for Thursday and Friday, so my Thanksgiving started out right- no work! I sent out a Facebook message to organize the day at the beginning of the week. I told people where we were all eating and when, asking them if they wanted to join, and gave a list of what people were already bringing and ideas for what they could potentially bring. I made broccoli casserole, which turned out very well considering I had to use English ingredients, including something called salad cream instead of miracle whip. There were 10 of us total and everyone brought something different and delicious. Instead of turkey, we had chicken, but other than that we had all the traditional Thanksgiving foods.
This being our first Thanksgiving on our own, we didn't know how much to cook and ended up having lots of leftovers, which no one was sad about, and which I ate the next day for lunch and dinner. Since I was going away on Saturday for the weekend, I froze some of the broccoli casserole I made so that I would have some when I got back on Monday, very clever of me considering everything was gone when I came back- the only thing left was salad. It was a very successful day and I'm glad I got to skype the family and see them via the internet.
We were all thankful that even though we couldn't be home for Thanksgiving, at least we got to spend it the right way (despite most of them having to go to work that day) with a great group of friends.
This being our first Thanksgiving on our own, we didn't know how much to cook and ended up having lots of leftovers, which no one was sad about, and which I ate the next day for lunch and dinner. Since I was going away on Saturday for the weekend, I froze some of the broccoli casserole I made so that I would have some when I got back on Monday, very clever of me considering everything was gone when I came back- the only thing left was salad. It was a very successful day and I'm glad I got to skype the family and see them via the internet.
We were all thankful that even though we couldn't be home for Thanksgiving, at least we got to spend it the right way (despite most of them having to go to work that day) with a great group of friends.
Barcelona: Sietas, Paella, and the scarcity of Spanish
So after my exhausting week of assisting production, we went to Barcelona! I got home from seeing Harry Potter at around 2:15am, packed, sent an email to my boss (to request off for Thanksgiving and the day after of course, an important item on my list), and made sure I was ready to set off for Barcelona. I finished just before 3am, thinking I had time for at least 30 minutes of sleep, but I was wrong. Five minutes after I lay down in bed, the roomie's alarm went off. We needed to leave at 3:30am to catch a bus to the train station, where an express train would be taking us to the airport. We made it to the airport, had some very quick breakfast, then boarded our two hour flight to Barcelona. Once we got there, we checked into our hostel and set out for the day. A group of seven girls went, which made it really fun.
My friend Cat and I were excited to be able to speak some Spanish, even though Barcelona is in the Catalunya district of Spain where the primary language is Catalan, but even when we tried, people just spoke to us in English anyway. We walked down a street called Las Ramblas, which is full of street performers, artwork, and other random activities and found a nice little restaurant to eat lunch in. We got paella (a traditional Spanish rice dish) and sangria (I think you know what that is) and it was delicious! After lunch, we slowly made our way to La Sagrada Familia, which is a cathedral that Antonio Gaudi first designed, has been under construction since they first started building it in 1882, and which is completely funded by donations.
We then took the underground train to Park Guell, which was also designed by Antonio Gaudi as a stylish park for aristocrats. The park is situated on top of a large hill and we got to see an amazing view of Barcelona. We walked around a bit and found the terrace, which also gave us a great view of the city from an even more beautiful white snake-like bench that runs along the terrace, decorated in colorful tiles. All of this happened in a blur for me, having been awake for about 38 hours, but was still a great experience.
After that, we made our way back to the hostel to siesta (that's the Spanish word, or excuse, for taking a nap, and a welcome activity for my sleep deprived self) before setting off for our dinner at 10pm. In Spain, they do everything super late so that they can take hours out of the day to nap-- dinner is between 9pm and 11pm and going out around 2am till around 7am. After dinner, we hung out for a bit and got ready to go out and had a lot of fun mixing with the locals, and some not-so-locals. For some reason, Lena and I keep meeting people from Istanbul, which comes in handy when you are planning a trip to Istanbul in the near future.
The next day, we got up and some of us checked out of the hostel (Lena, Kelly, and I were leaving that night, but the other four girls were staying until the next morning). Our first stop was the Christopher Columbus monument. Its a tall dark column with a statue of Columbus on it pointing to the Americas, and at the base is surrounded by a bunch of lion statues. We said our thank you's to the most famous discoverer of the Americas and continued on to the harbor. The harbor was full of boats (duh), mostly sail boats, and we walked along the water until we got to Barceloneta, and made our way to the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day, so we sat on the boardwalk-type thing for a while just relaxing by the sand and sea. Kelly's friend, who is studying in Barcelona, met up with us to say hello before we headed to lunch where we got the most delicious falafel I have ever had. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Anyways, after lunch we went to the Picasso Museum, which is situated between some narrow and adorable typical continental European side streets. It was free that day (which is of course why we chose to visit the museum) so we waited in line for a bit before entering the museum. We took a look at his artwork starting at the beginning of his career, which was really interesting. His early paintings are actually realistic and very well done. I can appreciate his cubist paintings more now because I know he is actually talented at painting and drawing, instead of just famous for drawing silly shapes that are supposed to be human faces.
After we got down from the hill top, Kelly, Lena, and I headed to the airport. After 10 million struggles involving delayed flights and trains, we finally made it back to our dorm and got some sleep.
My friend Cat and I were excited to be able to speak some Spanish, even though Barcelona is in the Catalunya district of Spain where the primary language is Catalan, but even when we tried, people just spoke to us in English anyway. We walked down a street called Las Ramblas, which is full of street performers, artwork, and other random activities and found a nice little restaurant to eat lunch in. We got paella (a traditional Spanish rice dish) and sangria (I think you know what that is) and it was delicious! After lunch, we slowly made our way to La Sagrada Familia, which is a cathedral that Antonio Gaudi first designed, has been under construction since they first started building it in 1882, and which is completely funded by donations.
We then took the underground train to Park Guell, which was also designed by Antonio Gaudi as a stylish park for aristocrats. The park is situated on top of a large hill and we got to see an amazing view of Barcelona. We walked around a bit and found the terrace, which also gave us a great view of the city from an even more beautiful white snake-like bench that runs along the terrace, decorated in colorful tiles. All of this happened in a blur for me, having been awake for about 38 hours, but was still a great experience.
After that, we made our way back to the hostel to siesta (that's the Spanish word, or excuse, for taking a nap, and a welcome activity for my sleep deprived self) before setting off for our dinner at 10pm. In Spain, they do everything super late so that they can take hours out of the day to nap-- dinner is between 9pm and 11pm and going out around 2am till around 7am. After dinner, we hung out for a bit and got ready to go out and had a lot of fun mixing with the locals, and some not-so-locals. For some reason, Lena and I keep meeting people from Istanbul, which comes in handy when you are planning a trip to Istanbul in the near future.
The next day, we got up and some of us checked out of the hostel (Lena, Kelly, and I were leaving that night, but the other four girls were staying until the next morning). Our first stop was the Christopher Columbus monument. Its a tall dark column with a statue of Columbus on it pointing to the Americas, and at the base is surrounded by a bunch of lion statues. We said our thank you's to the most famous discoverer of the Americas and continued on to the harbor. The harbor was full of boats (duh), mostly sail boats, and we walked along the water until we got to Barceloneta, and made our way to the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day, so we sat on the boardwalk-type thing for a while just relaxing by the sand and sea. Kelly's friend, who is studying in Barcelona, met up with us to say hello before we headed to lunch where we got the most delicious falafel I have ever had. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Anyways, after lunch we went to the Picasso Museum, which is situated between some narrow and adorable typical continental European side streets. It was free that day (which is of course why we chose to visit the museum) so we waited in line for a bit before entering the museum. We took a look at his artwork starting at the beginning of his career, which was really interesting. His early paintings are actually realistic and very well done. I can appreciate his cubist paintings more now because I know he is actually talented at painting and drawing, instead of just famous for drawing silly shapes that are supposed to be human faces.
After the museum, we took the underground train again to Placa Espanya, which is a plaza situated at the edge of another park, Montjuic, (which we didn’t visit because it was dark out by then), and is a sort of gateway to the park and to the National Art Museum of Catalunya. The park also houses the Olympic stadium from when Barcelona hosted the Olympics. We rode the escalators to the top of the hill where the National Art Museum of Catalunya sits and saw our last view of the city. It was a great view, and this time we got to see the city from above at night.
After we got down from the hill top, Kelly, Lena, and I headed to the airport. After 10 million struggles involving delayed flights and trains, we finally made it back to our dorm and got some sleep.
The Glamorous Life of a Production Intern
I need to start this post with an unrelated topic. The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 premiere. I went to the red carpet after work to check it all out, and it was packed! they had the premiere in a little square at the Odeon theater in Leicester Square. The actual red carpet was more like a circle and was enclosed, but they had a big screen up that followed people arriving and shots of the red carpet. They also showed the interviews of all the stars, the producer, the director, and J.K. Rowling as they made their way into the theater. It was a cool experience, and hopefully one day I'll have my own premieres to attend on the red carpet!
The next week, I went to a musical in the West End called "Blood Brothers." It was very well done and the actors' performances were amazing, but the story and the script were odd. The premise of the play is a poor woman having twins and giving one of them to a rich woman she worked for, while keeping the other. The rich woman then says: "if twins are separated and then meet and discover they are twins, then they will die." Yeah, so from the start the believableness factor was lacking. It centered around many British superstitions and had a message saying that the class system is horrible, which probably contributed to the fact that I didn't appreciate the play as much, me not being British.
That week, the office where I intern was preparing for a commercial they were producing. I spent the week helping out with putting everything together. I wrote the call sheet for the shoot, which I enjoyed, and I even got to be on the call sheet listed as a runner. On Thursday (the day before the shoot) my duties as a runner started. I spend from 11am to 6:30pm running around London picking up things the art director needed for the shoot. I was not a pleasant experience. I didn't even have time to eat lunch, so I ate my PB&J sandwich while sitting on one of the many trains I took that day. I was exhausted when I finally got back to my dorm, and passed out only to wake up at 5:30am the next morning for the shoot.
Friday's shoot was a great experience overall, despite the annoyingness and exhaustiveness of the process. The first location was in a park by a little lake. We carried everything we needed up the hill and set everything up and finally started shooting. Once shooting began, I was in charge of holding a light reflector to make sure it didn't fall. I didn't mind because it meant that I got to be close to the scene as they were shooting and the other runner was guarding the cars down the hill. We switched places after a while and I was in charge of guarding the cars. I mean, really? Guarding the cars to make sure nothing is taken. Isn't that what a lock is for? I'm just saying...
So it was freezing and there were no bathrooms, so when the art director said she needed one of the runners to go with her and help set up the second location, both of us wanted to go. We flipped a coin and, thank god, I won. We got to the second location, which was a loft in an old warehouse-type building, and started taking everything we needed upstairs. There was a lot of stuff to carry upstairs and the loft was up four flights of stairs (of course there was no elevator). I got a lot of exercise that day, lifting and doing stairs for hours on end. Finally the rest of the crew got to the second location and the real set-up began. Everything took forever and had to be set up and re-set up and shooting didn't start for hours after it was supposed to start. Somehow I ended up being in charge of the money for the day and I went to the convenience store next door about 30 times that day for snacks, supplies, and change for the parking meters, which I also filled a couple times. I was even asked to move someone's car. Are they serious? I am clearly American, and therefore do not drive on the left side of the road. That would have been a disaster. I didn't do it, but had to go with the person who did move the cars so she wouldn't be alone and so I could feed the meters.
Near the end of the shoot, we finally got to eat some real food, which I had been denied all day, running on snacks and candy, and we ordered pizza. This was around 8:30pm. Finally, my boss told me and the other runner to call cabs for the actors and for ourselves and that once we had some things cleaned up, we could go. I had tickets to go see Harry Potter at 10:30pm, which is of course very important, and so the cab took me straight to the theatre and I got there just in time. That was the longest and busiest day of my life. I worked from 7:15am to almost 10pm. It wasn't that bad, and was a cool experience, but it left me exhausted. Since I want to be a producer, I know I have many more shoots like this to look forward to, which is exciting and dreadful all at once.
The next week, I went to a musical in the West End called "Blood Brothers." It was very well done and the actors' performances were amazing, but the story and the script were odd. The premise of the play is a poor woman having twins and giving one of them to a rich woman she worked for, while keeping the other. The rich woman then says: "if twins are separated and then meet and discover they are twins, then they will die." Yeah, so from the start the believableness factor was lacking. It centered around many British superstitions and had a message saying that the class system is horrible, which probably contributed to the fact that I didn't appreciate the play as much, me not being British.
That week, the office where I intern was preparing for a commercial they were producing. I spent the week helping out with putting everything together. I wrote the call sheet for the shoot, which I enjoyed, and I even got to be on the call sheet listed as a runner. On Thursday (the day before the shoot) my duties as a runner started. I spend from 11am to 6:30pm running around London picking up things the art director needed for the shoot. I was not a pleasant experience. I didn't even have time to eat lunch, so I ate my PB&J sandwich while sitting on one of the many trains I took that day. I was exhausted when I finally got back to my dorm, and passed out only to wake up at 5:30am the next morning for the shoot.
Friday's shoot was a great experience overall, despite the annoyingness and exhaustiveness of the process. The first location was in a park by a little lake. We carried everything we needed up the hill and set everything up and finally started shooting. Once shooting began, I was in charge of holding a light reflector to make sure it didn't fall. I didn't mind because it meant that I got to be close to the scene as they were shooting and the other runner was guarding the cars down the hill. We switched places after a while and I was in charge of guarding the cars. I mean, really? Guarding the cars to make sure nothing is taken. Isn't that what a lock is for? I'm just saying...
So it was freezing and there were no bathrooms, so when the art director said she needed one of the runners to go with her and help set up the second location, both of us wanted to go. We flipped a coin and, thank god, I won. We got to the second location, which was a loft in an old warehouse-type building, and started taking everything we needed upstairs. There was a lot of stuff to carry upstairs and the loft was up four flights of stairs (of course there was no elevator). I got a lot of exercise that day, lifting and doing stairs for hours on end. Finally the rest of the crew got to the second location and the real set-up began. Everything took forever and had to be set up and re-set up and shooting didn't start for hours after it was supposed to start. Somehow I ended up being in charge of the money for the day and I went to the convenience store next door about 30 times that day for snacks, supplies, and change for the parking meters, which I also filled a couple times. I was even asked to move someone's car. Are they serious? I am clearly American, and therefore do not drive on the left side of the road. That would have been a disaster. I didn't do it, but had to go with the person who did move the cars so she wouldn't be alone and so I could feed the meters.
Near the end of the shoot, we finally got to eat some real food, which I had been denied all day, running on snacks and candy, and we ordered pizza. This was around 8:30pm. Finally, my boss told me and the other runner to call cabs for the actors and for ourselves and that once we had some things cleaned up, we could go. I had tickets to go see Harry Potter at 10:30pm, which is of course very important, and so the cab took me straight to the theatre and I got there just in time. That was the longest and busiest day of my life. I worked from 7:15am to almost 10pm. It wasn't that bad, and was a cool experience, but it left me exhausted. Since I want to be a producer, I know I have many more shoots like this to look forward to, which is exciting and dreadful all at once.
Friday, 26 November 2010
Zombies! and other fun times..
Halloween!! On Friday night we went to a dinner party at some people's house that we met the weekend before. They cooked us some delicious food and we just hung out with them the rest of the night. It was great to really hang out with some British people in a setting other than a pub or at work.
Saturday we went to the Tate Modern. This should not have happened. The Tate Modern is full of modern art. I hate modern art. I hate it a lot. It's dumb. I don't care if you put some arbitrary lines on a canvas, it doesn't represent the majesty of nature or your feeling of being repressed by society. Just because you can't actually paint or sculpt, doesn't mean its ok to draw obscure shapes, give it some deeper meaning, and charge lots of money for people to own it. Get a job. Anyways, enough ranting about my deep loathing for modern art.
That night we went to another house party. One of the girls on my floor is from Norway and a bunch of her Norwegian friends live in London, so we went to their apartment and had a lot of fun. That night a bunch of the girls wore cute dresses and masquerade masks as our costumes.
Since Halloween was actually on Sunday, we went to a club called The Church, which is only open Sundays. We somehow woke up at 9:30am, me and Lena zombiefied ourselves, and we met up with the rest of the girls to leave for Church. It was packed and so much fun. On the dance floor, we ended up finding a lot of our friends from the BU program and we all danced the day away. We eventually headed back when it closed around 3pm and took naps before going to a play called "Scary Stories." The play was not what I expected, but it was very well done and I enjoyed it (I was even a little scared at times).
Saturday we went to the Tate Modern. This should not have happened. The Tate Modern is full of modern art. I hate modern art. I hate it a lot. It's dumb. I don't care if you put some arbitrary lines on a canvas, it doesn't represent the majesty of nature or your feeling of being repressed by society. Just because you can't actually paint or sculpt, doesn't mean its ok to draw obscure shapes, give it some deeper meaning, and charge lots of money for people to own it. Get a job. Anyways, enough ranting about my deep loathing for modern art.
That night we went to another house party. One of the girls on my floor is from Norway and a bunch of her Norwegian friends live in London, so we went to their apartment and had a lot of fun. That night a bunch of the girls wore cute dresses and masquerade masks as our costumes.
Since Halloween was actually on Sunday, we went to a club called The Church, which is only open Sundays. We somehow woke up at 9:30am, me and Lena zombiefied ourselves, and we met up with the rest of the girls to leave for Church. It was packed and so much fun. On the dance floor, we ended up finding a lot of our friends from the BU program and we all danced the day away. We eventually headed back when it closed around 3pm and took naps before going to a play called "Scary Stories." The play was not what I expected, but it was very well done and I enjoyed it (I was even a little scared at times).
More London Exploration!
I went to see Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station! As I love Harry Potter way too much for any sane 21 year old, this was super exciting for me. Luckily, I'm not the only dork, and a few other girls went too. Even though it was awesome, it was a tiny bit disappointing. They basically just found a random spot in Kings Cross next to a train track (not on platform 9) and put a sign saying "Platform 9 3/4" above a brick wall with a cart sticking halfway out of the wall (as if it were disappearing into the wall). It was a necessary trip to make and satisfied my Harry Potter fix.
After that, we walked around a bit and stumbled across a kind of fair/market thing in a little park. It was very adorable. Then we made our way to the British Museum and saw the ancient Egypt and Medieval Europe exhibits. We aren't huge museum people, so we didn't spend too much time there. It was a beautiful day, so we decided to go to an area in London called Covent Garden and walk around and find a pub to eat in. The food was sub-par, but we ate on the second floor of a cute pub and got a nice view of the busy streets.
After that, we went back to the dorm and I got to meet Kelly's mom who was visiting. She's very precious and it made me miss my mommy even more!
I had a field trip that week, which was another film walk around the Notting Hill area. We walked around the area, which is a really wealthy, but artsy, area (where Portobello Market is located) and we learned about a lot of cultural things (not just music and film) that went on in the area. We also saw where they filmed the movie Notting Hill and parts of one of the movies (I can't remember which) that the Beatles made.
After that, we walked around a bit and stumbled across a kind of fair/market thing in a little park. It was very adorable. Then we made our way to the British Museum and saw the ancient Egypt and Medieval Europe exhibits. We aren't huge museum people, so we didn't spend too much time there. It was a beautiful day, so we decided to go to an area in London called Covent Garden and walk around and find a pub to eat in. The food was sub-par, but we ate on the second floor of a cute pub and got a nice view of the busy streets.
After that, we went back to the dorm and I got to meet Kelly's mom who was visiting. She's very precious and it made me miss my mommy even more!
I had a field trip that week, which was another film walk around the Notting Hill area. We walked around the area, which is a really wealthy, but artsy, area (where Portobello Market is located) and we learned about a lot of cultural things (not just music and film) that went on in the area. We also saw where they filmed the movie Notting Hill and parts of one of the movies (I can't remember which) that the Beatles made.
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Working Girl
So I started my internship at Feel Films, a small production company that primarily represents directors who produce commercials, but that also has a feature film department (which nothing ever happens in). The office is tiny- there's me, another intern, an editor/assistant, the head of content, the head of new business, the managing director, and an accountant who comes in a couple days a week. My job is to do whatever they need me to do. I am a typical intern, running errands, making tea, filing, making spreadsheets, and organizing. The most exciting thing I do is researching potential clients for the directors. The people in the office are very nice, but the woman who gives me most of my work can be a little intimidating sometimes because of the way she needs things to be a certain way, which tends to change as the days change. The other intern is great, and is a big help for me because she has been there for longer and knows how the office runs better than I do, and she's British, so if I'm not completely understanding something because of the language (because, yes, sometimes it feels like a different language), then she is there to point me in the right direction.
I can't say that I despise my internship, but I certainly don't enjoy it. I'm not really learning anything, although one of my supervisor's is having me look at call sheets for shoots and paperwork from production meetings so I can get a feel for the process and the timeline of making a commercial. The editor also told me that he would show me some things on the editing software when the busyness dies down a little, which is exciting because I like editing video.
In other news, we went to a real English football game! It was for some European league and the game we went to was England vs. Montenegro. No one scored the whole game, but it was still exciting and I loved being there, especially because soccer, sorry football, is my favorite sport.
The London Film Festival was in October as well and I got tickets to three films: Let Me In, a re-make of an old movie about a 12 year old girl and her friendship with another 12 year old boy, except she is actually a vampire- which tends to complicate things; Miral, a movie based on the true story of a young woman trying to grow up around the Palestinian-Israeli conflicts; and Carancho, a spanish film about an ambulance chaser and a paramedic's dramatic life falling in love and trying to escape dirty business. The stars and the directors of Let Me In and Miral came to the showings to introduce themselves and the movies, which was cool, but unfortunately both times I happened to be in the theater that wasn't having the Q&A after. I couldn't help imagining that one day maybe the films I am a part of will be in film festivals and I will get to go to premieres and festivals on a more VIP status. That's the dream, and I really hope it happens someday.
We also went to Brick Lane, a market where they sell both old and new things. There's a couple of indoor markets, some full of vintage things and some full of booths with new clothing and jewelry. The street itself is a long flea market lined with random things people are selling. In one of the buildings, there's also a bunch of food stands that were amazingly delicious. My friends got Indian food and I got Ethiopian vegetarian food and it was sooo freaking good.
I can't say that I despise my internship, but I certainly don't enjoy it. I'm not really learning anything, although one of my supervisor's is having me look at call sheets for shoots and paperwork from production meetings so I can get a feel for the process and the timeline of making a commercial. The editor also told me that he would show me some things on the editing software when the busyness dies down a little, which is exciting because I like editing video.
In other news, we went to a real English football game! It was for some European league and the game we went to was England vs. Montenegro. No one scored the whole game, but it was still exciting and I loved being there, especially because soccer, sorry football, is my favorite sport.
The London Film Festival was in October as well and I got tickets to three films: Let Me In, a re-make of an old movie about a 12 year old girl and her friendship with another 12 year old boy, except she is actually a vampire- which tends to complicate things; Miral, a movie based on the true story of a young woman trying to grow up around the Palestinian-Israeli conflicts; and Carancho, a spanish film about an ambulance chaser and a paramedic's dramatic life falling in love and trying to escape dirty business. The stars and the directors of Let Me In and Miral came to the showings to introduce themselves and the movies, which was cool, but unfortunately both times I happened to be in the theater that wasn't having the Q&A after. I couldn't help imagining that one day maybe the films I am a part of will be in film festivals and I will get to go to premieres and festivals on a more VIP status. That's the dream, and I really hope it happens someday.
We also went to Brick Lane, a market where they sell both old and new things. There's a couple of indoor markets, some full of vintage things and some full of booths with new clothing and jewelry. The street itself is a long flea market lined with random things people are selling. In one of the buildings, there's also a bunch of food stands that were amazingly delicious. My friends got Indian food and I got Ethiopian vegetarian food and it was sooo freaking good.
Sunday, 24 October 2010
ITALIA: the land where wine is cheaper than water
ITALY. Enough said. But I guess I'll say more. After the stress of exams, a five day break in Italy was a welcome adventure. Six of us went on the greatest vacation ever. We left early Wednesday morning for Rome, where we were based until Sunday. We got to Rome, settled into our hostel, and set out to explore Rome by around 12pm. We got lunch at a restaurant where we tried to convince the waiter we were Canadian- he wasn't buying it. I don't quite know how he could tell, but Americans apparently have some sort of qualities that Canadians don't, hmm. We also met a nice southern American couple sitting next to us where we were given advice about tipping in Italy.
We decided to visit the Colosseum and the Roman Forum first. On our way, we found the Santa Maria del Popolo, which houses the Chigi Chapel, designed by Raphael, and statues by Bernini. Once we got to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, we weren't intending on going in, to save money of course, but we decided to take a tour for 20 Euros where we would get to go into the Colosseum and the Roman Forum (each for 45 minutes) and learn some stuff. It was so cool to walk around such an ancient place. Walking around the city, you stumble upon ruins everywhere. We were told tat the city of Rome has trouble building subway entrances because every time they dig, they come across some underground ruins that were once part of the ancient Roman city. After our tour, we walked around the city, and ended up stumbling upon the Trevi Fountain, which is awesome. Then we ate at a delicious restaurant where we all got amazing pizza and wine before heading to bed.
We woke up early the next morning and got on a train to Florence, which took about 3.5 hours. Florence is absolutely beautiful, and is a bit smaller than Rome, so we walked around the entire city, looking at all the old churches, statues, squares, and so on. Among others, we went to the Duomo- a large and beautiful cathedral by the Gates of Paradise; the San Lorenzo Market- a busy market where we all bought masquerade masks for Halloween, I bought a scarf, and the other girls bought various leather goods; the Piazza della Signoria- full of statues, including a replica of Michelangelo's David, where it used to stand; the Ponte Vecchio- a medieval bridge with a breathtaking view; the Santa Croce- where Galileo, Michelangelo, and Machiavelli (among others) are buried; We had amazing food (we pretty much ran on pizza, bruschetta, and gelato) and found a spot that a friend recommended to me called Piazzale Michelangiolo, which is a little outside the city where we walked up to a high point and saw a breathtaking view of all of Florence and the surrounding mountains. We found a nice spot to sit down and drank wine and ate bread and cheese. It was the perfect winding down from a great day. Once it started getting dark, we slowly made our way back to the train station, stopping for pizza, gelato, some 2 euro bottles of wine, and some night pictures along the way. Once we were back at the hostel, we passed out from our long day.
The next morning, we woke up early again and got on another train for Salerno, from which we then took a 45 minute bus down the winding (and scarily narrow) roads to the town of Amafi on the Amalfi Coast. The Amalfi Coast if the most beautiful place I have ever seen. The Mediterranean Sea is gorgeous and clear-green, and the town of Amalfi is adorable and tiny, working its way through a little dip in the mountains. We laid out on the beach and went for a swim in the sea and had the best bruschetta I have ever tasted and (obviously) more gelato. On the way back to the train in Salerno, we took a 30 minute ferry instead of a bus, and we got to see a lot of the coast. I can't even describe how beautiful it is, you'll have to go and see for yourselves (and maybe take me along). We got back to the hostel and attempted to go out, but failed after being in a bar for 10 minutes and deciding we were too tired.
Saturday was our day to see all the touristy things in Rome. We got up at a reasonable hour and started our day. We saw everything we could pack into one day. I was in charge of the map, because for some reason I have a freaky good sense of direction. First we went to the Trevi Fountain again, this time to see it during the day. It was still cool. Then we headed over to the Pantheon. The Roman Pantheon was the ancient Roman temple of all the gods, built by the magistrate Marcus Agrippa and later reconstructed by the Emperor Hadrian. Now is houses the tombs of various notable people, including Raphael and Vittorio Emmanuel II (the first king of a united Italy). It was worn and old looking on the outside, but once you went in it was beautiful, with its high dome, letting in the sunlight, and ornate walls. Our next stop was the Piazza Navona. The Piazza Navona is a busy, beautiful plaza with an obelisk and a large fountain in the middle called the Fountain of Four Rivers (the Danube, Ganges, Nile, and Rio de la Plata) created by Bernini, and which is full of people selling artwork.
Then it was time for our visit to Vatican City! On the way, we stumbled upon the Castel Sant Angelo and Passetto. The Castel Sant Angelo was built as a tomb for the Emperor Hadrian and the Passetto is the corridor in the wall connecting Sant Angelo to St. Peter's Basilica. After reading Angels and Demons, it was cool to see a building that was a significant part of the book. Once we got to Vatican City, our first stop was the Vatican Museums. We had bought tickets online, so we didn't have to stand in the line that was about a mile long, saving at least an hour and a half of our time. There were so many amazing sculptures and artwork, and the walk through the museum ended in the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo. It was absolutely stunning ad detailed, I can't believe it even exists. After that, we hurriedly went to St. Peter's Basilica, because I really wanted to see the grottoes (the tombs, chapels, etc under the basilica) before they closed. We went in, took pictures of the amazingness that is St. Peter's and asked about the grottoes. Turns out, there was someone important there that day, so the grottos were closed. I was really disappointed, but considering all I got to see in the past couple days, I was just fine. (That whole day I felt like I was in the one of Dan Brown's novels).
After the Vatican, we went to an area recommended to us by our hostel which seemed more authentic and less touristy, although since it's Rome, there's no way to escape being surrounded by tourists. Dinner was amazing (I got ravioli and wine). We headed back to the hostel after dinner and three of us decided that we had to go out for our last night in Rome. We went to Campo di Fiori, a square with a bunch of bars, and also a place I was recommended to go by a friend. On the way, we walked by the Pantheon and decided to get a picture of us in front of it at night. We asked a guy to take our picture, saying "grazie," but he told us he spoke English. Turns out he is studying abroad in Barcelona through Syracuse's program and he was with a bunch of his classmates, and was also headed to Campo dei Fiori. We hung out with them the rest of the night and then headed back to the hostel, where they we also staying.
The next morning was our last day in Rome. We got up and had breakfast in the hostel, where we saw the group we had hung out with the night before. We had one more place we wanted to see before we left, so we made our way there, me with map in hand. The Spanish Steps were our final destination, and they did not fail to impress. They were beautiful, although in Rome even the alleys and run down homes are beautiful, but a little smaller than I expected. After that, we walked around a bit, went to a severely overcrowded market, and then went to eat our last meal in Italy. I got a pizza of course, and this time it had actual chunks of roasted garlic on it- needless to say it was amazing, and it only cost 2 euros. We eventually made it to the airport, after some troubles with a shuttle that never showed up and running to catch the train, and we got on our flight back to London.
Italy is my new favorite place and hopefully I'll go back some day. Wanna come with??
We decided to visit the Colosseum and the Roman Forum first. On our way, we found the Santa Maria del Popolo, which houses the Chigi Chapel, designed by Raphael, and statues by Bernini. Once we got to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, we weren't intending on going in, to save money of course, but we decided to take a tour for 20 Euros where we would get to go into the Colosseum and the Roman Forum (each for 45 minutes) and learn some stuff. It was so cool to walk around such an ancient place. Walking around the city, you stumble upon ruins everywhere. We were told tat the city of Rome has trouble building subway entrances because every time they dig, they come across some underground ruins that were once part of the ancient Roman city. After our tour, we walked around the city, and ended up stumbling upon the Trevi Fountain, which is awesome. Then we ate at a delicious restaurant where we all got amazing pizza and wine before heading to bed.
We woke up early the next morning and got on a train to Florence, which took about 3.5 hours. Florence is absolutely beautiful, and is a bit smaller than Rome, so we walked around the entire city, looking at all the old churches, statues, squares, and so on. Among others, we went to the Duomo- a large and beautiful cathedral by the Gates of Paradise; the San Lorenzo Market- a busy market where we all bought masquerade masks for Halloween, I bought a scarf, and the other girls bought various leather goods; the Piazza della Signoria- full of statues, including a replica of Michelangelo's David, where it used to stand; the Ponte Vecchio- a medieval bridge with a breathtaking view; the Santa Croce- where Galileo, Michelangelo, and Machiavelli (among others) are buried; We had amazing food (we pretty much ran on pizza, bruschetta, and gelato) and found a spot that a friend recommended to me called Piazzale Michelangiolo, which is a little outside the city where we walked up to a high point and saw a breathtaking view of all of Florence and the surrounding mountains. We found a nice spot to sit down and drank wine and ate bread and cheese. It was the perfect winding down from a great day. Once it started getting dark, we slowly made our way back to the train station, stopping for pizza, gelato, some 2 euro bottles of wine, and some night pictures along the way. Once we were back at the hostel, we passed out from our long day.
The next morning, we woke up early again and got on another train for Salerno, from which we then took a 45 minute bus down the winding (and scarily narrow) roads to the town of Amafi on the Amalfi Coast. The Amalfi Coast if the most beautiful place I have ever seen. The Mediterranean Sea is gorgeous and clear-green, and the town of Amalfi is adorable and tiny, working its way through a little dip in the mountains. We laid out on the beach and went for a swim in the sea and had the best bruschetta I have ever tasted and (obviously) more gelato. On the way back to the train in Salerno, we took a 30 minute ferry instead of a bus, and we got to see a lot of the coast. I can't even describe how beautiful it is, you'll have to go and see for yourselves (and maybe take me along). We got back to the hostel and attempted to go out, but failed after being in a bar for 10 minutes and deciding we were too tired.
Saturday was our day to see all the touristy things in Rome. We got up at a reasonable hour and started our day. We saw everything we could pack into one day. I was in charge of the map, because for some reason I have a freaky good sense of direction. First we went to the Trevi Fountain again, this time to see it during the day. It was still cool. Then we headed over to the Pantheon. The Roman Pantheon was the ancient Roman temple of all the gods, built by the magistrate Marcus Agrippa and later reconstructed by the Emperor Hadrian. Now is houses the tombs of various notable people, including Raphael and Vittorio Emmanuel II (the first king of a united Italy). It was worn and old looking on the outside, but once you went in it was beautiful, with its high dome, letting in the sunlight, and ornate walls. Our next stop was the Piazza Navona. The Piazza Navona is a busy, beautiful plaza with an obelisk and a large fountain in the middle called the Fountain of Four Rivers (the Danube, Ganges, Nile, and Rio de la Plata) created by Bernini, and which is full of people selling artwork.
Then it was time for our visit to Vatican City! On the way, we stumbled upon the Castel Sant Angelo and Passetto. The Castel Sant Angelo was built as a tomb for the Emperor Hadrian and the Passetto is the corridor in the wall connecting Sant Angelo to St. Peter's Basilica. After reading Angels and Demons, it was cool to see a building that was a significant part of the book. Once we got to Vatican City, our first stop was the Vatican Museums. We had bought tickets online, so we didn't have to stand in the line that was about a mile long, saving at least an hour and a half of our time. There were so many amazing sculptures and artwork, and the walk through the museum ended in the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo. It was absolutely stunning ad detailed, I can't believe it even exists. After that, we hurriedly went to St. Peter's Basilica, because I really wanted to see the grottoes (the tombs, chapels, etc under the basilica) before they closed. We went in, took pictures of the amazingness that is St. Peter's and asked about the grottoes. Turns out, there was someone important there that day, so the grottos were closed. I was really disappointed, but considering all I got to see in the past couple days, I was just fine. (That whole day I felt like I was in the one of Dan Brown's novels).
After the Vatican, we went to an area recommended to us by our hostel which seemed more authentic and less touristy, although since it's Rome, there's no way to escape being surrounded by tourists. Dinner was amazing (I got ravioli and wine). We headed back to the hostel after dinner and three of us decided that we had to go out for our last night in Rome. We went to Campo di Fiori, a square with a bunch of bars, and also a place I was recommended to go by a friend. On the way, we walked by the Pantheon and decided to get a picture of us in front of it at night. We asked a guy to take our picture, saying "grazie," but he told us he spoke English. Turns out he is studying abroad in Barcelona through Syracuse's program and he was with a bunch of his classmates, and was also headed to Campo dei Fiori. We hung out with them the rest of the night and then headed back to the hostel, where they we also staying.
The next morning was our last day in Rome. We got up and had breakfast in the hostel, where we saw the group we had hung out with the night before. We had one more place we wanted to see before we left, so we made our way there, me with map in hand. The Spanish Steps were our final destination, and they did not fail to impress. They were beautiful, although in Rome even the alleys and run down homes are beautiful, but a little smaller than I expected. After that, we walked around a bit, went to a severely overcrowded market, and then went to eat our last meal in Italy. I got a pizza of course, and this time it had actual chunks of roasted garlic on it- needless to say it was amazing, and it only cost 2 euros. We eventually made it to the airport, after some troubles with a shuttle that never showed up and running to catch the train, and we got on our flight back to London.
Italy is my new favorite place and hopefully I'll go back some day. Wanna come with??
Monday, 18 October 2010
wait, you mean i actually have to "study" here too?
Exam ttiiiiimmmee. Crap. Well it turns out that I am still in school while I'm over here, weird right? I had two papers to write, two take home exams to take, and an in-class text to take. Not to mention that I got sick from my lack of rest and the fact that I live in a germ-infested dorm. My entire grades for the two classes of the first session of my semester were to be determined in two days, not cool BU in London, not cool. Needless to say, I again did not get much sleep and cranked out my work on time and to the best of my abilities. It was a stressful time, but now I get to go to Italy for our October break!! Woohooo!!
Luck o' the Irish
Sorry about the gap in posting, I've been busy making these memories to share. Anyways, we decided against sleeping again in our constant effort to save money. A few friends and I flew to Dublin, Ireland early Saturday morning to see the sights and to visit Kelly's brother, who is also a BU student, studying in Dublin. After taking a taxi (who severely overcharged us) to Kelly' brother's dorm, we got on a bus headed downtown. Our first destination was breakfast. We all got traditional Irish breakfasts which, surprise, surprise, is the same thing as a traditional English breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, beans, and maybe some other stuff that I can't remember). A few of the group also got Irish coffee (don't judge-when in Ireland, do as the Irish, aka drink).
After breakfast, we took a tour so that we could see everything in Dublin. Turns out there's not much interesting to see in Dublin- we left the tour half way through (don't worry, it was a big group so they probably didn't even notice). Needless to say, our first stop after the tour was a pub to experience some Irish beer. I got an oyster beer which tasted very interesting- Dad I think you might have liked it- and we continued to wander Dublin with Kelly's brother and his roommate. They walked us around the small city of Dublin and then it was time for lunch and then back to Kelly's brother's dorm for nap time. After nap time, we got ready to go out and experience some Dublin nightlife. We went with a bunch of students in the BU in Dublin program and had a blast. First we went to a pub where I tried my first Guinness, which I'm still trying to decide if I like. At the pub, there was a man playing his guitar and singing covers of great songs- he was very good. After our night out, and a quick piece of pizza, we took another "nap" before setting out early in the AM to the airport to fly back to London. Needless to say, I slept all day Sunday.
After breakfast, we took a tour so that we could see everything in Dublin. Turns out there's not much interesting to see in Dublin- we left the tour half way through (don't worry, it was a big group so they probably didn't even notice). Needless to say, our first stop after the tour was a pub to experience some Irish beer. I got an oyster beer which tasted very interesting- Dad I think you might have liked it- and we continued to wander Dublin with Kelly's brother and his roommate. They walked us around the small city of Dublin and then it was time for lunch and then back to Kelly's brother's dorm for nap time. After nap time, we got ready to go out and experience some Dublin nightlife. We went with a bunch of students in the BU in Dublin program and had a blast. First we went to a pub where I tried my first Guinness, which I'm still trying to decide if I like. At the pub, there was a man playing his guitar and singing covers of great songs- he was very good. After our night out, and a quick piece of pizza, we took another "nap" before setting out early in the AM to the airport to fly back to London. Needless to say, I slept all day Sunday.
Monday, 27 September 2010
Let's go to Brussels for a field trip!
So this whole studying abroad thing is pretty cool. We are learning about the European Union in my political science class, so instead of just reading and talking about it, they decide to go to the actual EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. We left Sunday afternoon and took the Eurostar train to Brussels. The train goes through a tunnel under the English Channel and takes about 2 hours. We got to Brussels in the evening and checked into our hostel. We then decided that we needed to do some research about the local culture, so we went to find some Belgian beer. We found a restaurant in the city center and told the waiter to give us some good Belgian beer because we had no clue what any of the beers were on the menu. The beer was kind of light, and didn't taste much different than any other beer I've had. After dinner, we went to a bar and proceeded to walk through thick clouds of smoke to get to the counter and order. This time, the beer I got was darker and actually tasted good. Anyway, enough about beer, the night was fun as we explored the city, and I even got to speak a little french to a local, asking him "où est les toilettes?" (meaning "where is the toilet?", of course).
The next day, we got dressed in our business casual and walked over to the European Council building. The European Council consists of the heads of state or government of the 27 member states. They have the ability to influence policy in the EU, but I'm still trying to figure out their exact purpose. We listened to a portuguese man speak about the Council. He talked for an hour and basically told us the same things we had already heard in class. Next, we had a break for lunch and then went to the European Parliament. Again, we heard a guy speak about the same things we already knew from class, but we got to see the actual parliament chamber, which looks a lot like the Congress chambers. That night, after Lena and I got our Belgian chocolate waffles, we were feeling European and decided to sit outside at a restaurant and order wine and sit for a while and drink. Two of our friends joined us later and we went to another cute restaurant and ordered more wine. French wine is absolutely delicious, nothing compared to the cheap stuff I'm used to from home, and we had a very relaxing last night in Brussels.
The next day, we went to the Boston University in Brussels facility to listen to an American from NATO speak. His talk was very interesting and I really enjoyed it, especially because I don't really know much about NATO. After that, we had some free pizza (from Pizza Hut, of course) and had a couple of hours to explore before we went back to the Eurostar for our train ride back to London. The city itself is very dark, and the buildings are pretty much all the same dull grey color, but we did find a beautiful square called "The Grand Place" and the area we were in most of the time has a lot of small, cobbled-stoned streets. Overall, it was a good trip, but it was also super exhausting and we slept for a full 12 hours once we got back to our dorms.
It's time for a Bath, and other adventures
We went to Bath (the place in England, not to wash ourselves) on Saturday to see the Roman Baths and walk around the town. I had been to Bath once before, but I don't remember it the same way as I saw it this time around. I guess when I was an eighth grader I had even less patience than I have now, because I don't remember the baths being so big. There was way more to see than I thought and it took way longer to get through them than I remember. The Roman Baths are basically old Roman spas from the time when the Romans inhabited England. You can tell that they were once beautiful and grand, but now they are simply crumbling, moldy remains of old stone. My favorite part about the baths is the bath with the hot spring feeding into it because you can see the green water boiling, which I thought was pretty neat. After touring that whole thing, we went to get a quick bite to eat. Kelly and I found a cafe and got cornish pasties, which were absolutely delicious (mine was filled with roasted veggies) and walked around the town. Turns out Jane Austen used to live in Bath during her time, which isn't surprising because the town is small, but very cute, with a small river running through it. We also saw Bath Abbey, but didn't go in because we had to rush back to the bus to go to our second destination.
Next we went to Avebury, which is basically a field full of big rocks positioned in some mysterious way. It's like Stonehenge, but you can actually climb these rocks instead of just looking at them from afar. I had been to Avebury before as well, but it was worth going back because we got to climb some rocks, be one with nature, make friends with some roaming goats, and commune with the aliens (which is one theory for how the rocks got to where they are). Anyways, it was a good time.
Next we went to Avebury, which is basically a field full of big rocks positioned in some mysterious way. It's like Stonehenge, but you can actually climb these rocks instead of just looking at them from afar. I had been to Avebury before as well, but it was worth going back because we got to climb some rocks, be one with nature, make friends with some roaming goats, and commune with the aliens (which is one theory for how the rocks got to where they are). Anyways, it was a good time.
Friday, 17 September 2010
you should probably be jealous of my life right now, just saying.
Today me and Lena decided to go to STA Travel and ask for advice on booking our week-long trip to Prague, Budapest, and Istanbul for after the program is over. We have been looking up flights and trains and hostels online and were nervous that we weren't going to get the best deals and good hostels so we went in for some help. We officially changed our flights back to the States for a week later (December 19th) and so with that done it was time to book travel to our exciting destinations. We went in there thinking we would get some tips on airlines and websites and some guidance on hostels, but we came out with the entire trip booked. It's one of the most spontaneous things we have done, but so amazing. The guy found us great deals, which STA gets discounts for on top of them being great deals, and decided that we were not going to find anything cheaper, especially since we had been looking for a week and found nothing for as cheap and as trustworthy as the things he found for us. So when he gave us the total and asked if we wanted to book then, we had to say yes! We are spending two nights in each place and we couldn't be more excited for our eastern european adventure to begin! Now we just need to figure out things to do once we get there! Woohooooo! Can you tell I'm super pumped for this??
So where should I go when I'm in Prague, Budapest, and Istanbul?? And what does Budapest even look like...? Haha I guess I've got a lot of researching to do!
So where should I go when I'm in Prague, Budapest, and Istanbul?? And what does Budapest even look like...? Haha I guess I've got a lot of researching to do!
Journeys in England
So I havent posted anything in a while, London has been distracting me. Me and Lena have been exploring this fine city. Last week we went to the Natural History Museum, which was full of dinosaurs and taxidermied animals. I have a fear of birds, and in order to get to the room with all the pretty jewels and gems you have to walk through the room full of stuffed birds. I say walk, but I ran through that room, eyes to the floor. When I did eventually look up, to my surprise I saw a stuffed Baltimore Oriole among the mounted beasts. Naturally, I took a picture of it and finished my dash to the end of the room. After the museum, we decided to go look at Buckingham Palace. I felt like the paparazzi taking pictures of a celebrity, and proceeded to take way too many pictures of the building (which isn't as pretty as the beautiful golden gate that surrounds it) and of the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain directly in front of the palace.
On Saturday we went to the amazing Portobello Market, which is essentially a giant flea market spanning the length of Portobello Road. There were hundred of stands and shops, most being antique shops or cheap clothing stands. There is also a section where there is a framer's market type thing where they sell all sorts of food, both unprepared and prepared. I bought a few things and, needless to say, we are definitely going back and exploring what we didn't discover during this trip.
Sunday was our day trip to Brighton, on the southern coast of England, on the English Channel. First we went to the Royal Pavilion, built by King George IV and decorated on the inside in Chinese style and Indian style on the outside. The Pavilion was home to George IV, his brother William IV, and their niece Queen Victoria. Victoria sold the house to the community of Brighton and it is now re-decorated to look as it did when George IV lived there. We went on a tour of the building, which is beautiful, but a little tackily overdone. We then went to look at the water by the pier (which resembles the Santa Monica Pier with its rides and crowds). The water is a clear, beautiful blue-green and instead of sand, stones fill the beach. The town is very artsy and there are a lot of students who go to university in Brighton. Our group of girls got split up at the end of the trip, as Kelly and I wanted to continue looking around the little Brighton Museum and the other girls wanted to go get tea in a cafe. Kelly and I made it back to the bus and took our seats, but the other four girls weren't there yet. All of a sudden, the bus starts to move and we panic. I call Lena (who was with the other girls) as Kelly yells to the RA's at the front that four girls still aren't on the bus. One of the RA's comes back and says that there is a "no stragglers" policy and that they waited "five whole minutes" for the girls so its their fault they aren't on the bus. As she is saying this Lena picks up and tells me that she is at the bus stop and is literally watching the bus leaving. The RA goes back to the front and then comes to inform us that they are not going to turn around. As she says this Kelly and I start arguing to the RA, who says that they can get on a train back to London and returns to the front. She then comes back to us and says that they decided to turn around, so I call Lena and they wait at the bus stop and then get back on the bus. I cannot believe that they almost left them behind for being 5 minutes late and that they didn't explain this "no stragglers" policy to us before, as we were told that morning to "come back to the bus so that we can TRY and make a 4pm departure." Whatever. All is well and they didn't end up leaving the girls and now we know to be back a little early for our next day trip.
Saturday night we went to a pub we have gone to before and danced the night away. It wasn't a crowded place, so the dance floor downstairs had plenty of room for us to act ridiculous and dance as dorky and flailingly as we wished. Obviously we had an amazing time and were even twirled around by some local Brits, fancy dancing-like.
Monday I had, or was supposed to have, an interview with my potential internship placement. I showed up, but my interviewer had to run out to a meeting and couldn't meet with me. The woman I talked to for a second was really nice though and she told me a little of what I would be doing. I re-scheduled the interview and went back on Thursday. The guy who interviewed me was also very friendly and the environment in the office seemed very open and a great place to work. He told me that I would basically be helping out wherever needed, with anything from picking up coffee to helping out on set. Hopefully there will be some shoots while I am there and that I will be able to visit the sets and experience the production side of filmmaking. The company primarily represents directors who do commercials and shorts, but they have a feature film department as well. It seems like something I will enjoy doing, so keep your fingers crossed that they will be shooting something while I'm there!
On Saturday we went to the amazing Portobello Market, which is essentially a giant flea market spanning the length of Portobello Road. There were hundred of stands and shops, most being antique shops or cheap clothing stands. There is also a section where there is a framer's market type thing where they sell all sorts of food, both unprepared and prepared. I bought a few things and, needless to say, we are definitely going back and exploring what we didn't discover during this trip.
Sunday was our day trip to Brighton, on the southern coast of England, on the English Channel. First we went to the Royal Pavilion, built by King George IV and decorated on the inside in Chinese style and Indian style on the outside. The Pavilion was home to George IV, his brother William IV, and their niece Queen Victoria. Victoria sold the house to the community of Brighton and it is now re-decorated to look as it did when George IV lived there. We went on a tour of the building, which is beautiful, but a little tackily overdone. We then went to look at the water by the pier (which resembles the Santa Monica Pier with its rides and crowds). The water is a clear, beautiful blue-green and instead of sand, stones fill the beach. The town is very artsy and there are a lot of students who go to university in Brighton. Our group of girls got split up at the end of the trip, as Kelly and I wanted to continue looking around the little Brighton Museum and the other girls wanted to go get tea in a cafe. Kelly and I made it back to the bus and took our seats, but the other four girls weren't there yet. All of a sudden, the bus starts to move and we panic. I call Lena (who was with the other girls) as Kelly yells to the RA's at the front that four girls still aren't on the bus. One of the RA's comes back and says that there is a "no stragglers" policy and that they waited "five whole minutes" for the girls so its their fault they aren't on the bus. As she is saying this Lena picks up and tells me that she is at the bus stop and is literally watching the bus leaving. The RA goes back to the front and then comes to inform us that they are not going to turn around. As she says this Kelly and I start arguing to the RA, who says that they can get on a train back to London and returns to the front. She then comes back to us and says that they decided to turn around, so I call Lena and they wait at the bus stop and then get back on the bus. I cannot believe that they almost left them behind for being 5 minutes late and that they didn't explain this "no stragglers" policy to us before, as we were told that morning to "come back to the bus so that we can TRY and make a 4pm departure." Whatever. All is well and they didn't end up leaving the girls and now we know to be back a little early for our next day trip.
Saturday night we went to a pub we have gone to before and danced the night away. It wasn't a crowded place, so the dance floor downstairs had plenty of room for us to act ridiculous and dance as dorky and flailingly as we wished. Obviously we had an amazing time and were even twirled around by some local Brits, fancy dancing-like.
Monday I had, or was supposed to have, an interview with my potential internship placement. I showed up, but my interviewer had to run out to a meeting and couldn't meet with me. The woman I talked to for a second was really nice though and she told me a little of what I would be doing. I re-scheduled the interview and went back on Thursday. The guy who interviewed me was also very friendly and the environment in the office seemed very open and a great place to work. He told me that I would basically be helping out wherever needed, with anything from picking up coffee to helping out on set. Hopefully there will be some shoots while I am there and that I will be able to visit the sets and experience the production side of filmmaking. The company primarily represents directors who do commercials and shorts, but they have a feature film department as well. It seems like something I will enjoy doing, so keep your fingers crossed that they will be shooting something while I'm there!
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Oh, you know, just another day in London
Life after Scotland has been pretty relaxing. I started another one of my classes, called "Britain and Europe: A New Beginning" where we are learning about Britain's relationship to the rest of Europe, specifically with the European Union. The class is super interesting, and despite the fact that it starts at 9am and goes for 4 hours, I never feel the need to drift into a lecture-induced coma (like I do with many other less interesting classes). The professor is a precious old man with the best English accent.
One thing that I really enjoyed was running through the park Tuesday afternoon. Hyde Park is beautiful, and running through it is easy, following crisscrossing paths and winding my way through other park goers. We also booked our October break trip to Rome on Tuesday! Italy is the one country I have always wanted to visit, and I couldn't be more excited to spend five days there.
Wednesday night was Fashion's Night Out in London, put on by Vogue, and I met up with a few friends down on Oxford Street (which is where there are a lot of great stores) to see what the event was all about. When I got there I was surprised, but no less delighted, to find that many of the stores were giving away free booze! Not just free booze, but delicious mixed drinks and champagne. I never thought this would be possible, but I got to look at pretty clothes while drinking alcohol. The stores had sales too, but getting free drinks was like heaven to a poor world traveler. We Americans do love our free stuff!
One thing that I really enjoyed was running through the park Tuesday afternoon. Hyde Park is beautiful, and running through it is easy, following crisscrossing paths and winding my way through other park goers. We also booked our October break trip to Rome on Tuesday! Italy is the one country I have always wanted to visit, and I couldn't be more excited to spend five days there.
Wednesday night was Fashion's Night Out in London, put on by Vogue, and I met up with a few friends down on Oxford Street (which is where there are a lot of great stores) to see what the event was all about. When I got there I was surprised, but no less delighted, to find that many of the stores were giving away free booze! Not just free booze, but delicious mixed drinks and champagne. I never thought this would be possible, but I got to look at pretty clothes while drinking alcohol. The stores had sales too, but getting free drinks was like heaven to a poor world traveler. We Americans do love our free stuff!
Monday, 6 September 2010
Adventures in the Land of Kilts and Haggis
This is the tale of a group of American girls who opt to not get a hostel to save money, aka Europe on a budget. So a group of seven of us decided it would be a good idea to travel 8 hours north to Edinburgh, Scotland and not get a hostel, but instead take a night bus and an early morning bus. The first half of the trip was amazing, but by the end of the night, we would have given anything for a warm bed. Here's how it went:
Friday we ran some errands and chilled in the dorm as we got ready for our 40 hour trip to Edinburgh. We decided to take showers that night and to wear the same outfit the whole time we were there as we had to carry our belongings with us the entire day. After stuffing our bags with things like toothbrushes, make up, deodorant, and snacks, we headed out for our 11pm bus from London which would bring us to Edinburgh at around 8:30am. We finally found the right station and terminal and boarded the bus. I guess Europeans are smaller than the average American, or can at least deal with much less space, because there was definitely less leg room than with an average American bus. Anyway, we were off to Scotland and that was all that mattered. I fell asleep for about 45 minute intervals and tried to rest for as long as I could. Once the sun started rising, it was hard to resist watching as the beautiful British countryside went by in a haze of early morning fog and mesmerizing colors on the horizon.
We arrived an hour early and went to clean our sleepy selves up in the bus station bathroom. I guess free public bathrooms is a no-no in the U.K. so we had to pay 30 pence to get in. When we deemed ourselves presentable, we set off into the city. The buildings seemed much older than that of London and there were no skyscrapers tainting the skyline, so as we made our way into the city we couldn't help but stare at everything around us. Our bus arrived an hour early, so we went to get coffee to start our day and wait for our tour of the city at 11am. The tour was a free three hour tour put on by locals who simply love to share the history of the city, and it was great. Our wonderful tour guide, Michael, was an informative and fun Scot who showed us the beauty and history of many parts of Edinburgh. After the tour, we rested in a park under Edinburgh Castle and then went and bought some souvenirs.
Next, we went to the Salisbury Crags, which are cliffs rising out of Holyrood Park that overlook Edinburgh. We climbed to the top of the peninsula-looking cliffs where we got to see an amazing view of the entire city, which was well worth the steep climb to the top.
After our nature adventure, it was time to freshen up and go to the pub crawl put on by the same people who run the free tours. We were to visit five pubs, getting a series of drinks along the way, and end in a huge club. At the pub crawl we got to talk to a group of Irish guys who were very friendly and another couple of Australian guys. It was fun for a while, but our tiredness started kicking in, the drinks weren't doing their jobs, and we all needed to leave the crowded club and sit down. Since our bus wasn't leaving until 5am, we had three hours to kill. We got some fries at Burger King (thanks for that one globalization), and when that closed, decided to hang out at the bus station until our bus came. To stay awake, one of the girls taught us a guessing game, that we now refer to as "Scot," and which entertained us until we boarded.
I never thought a bus seat would bring me such joy, and we each got our own seat on the ridiculously early bus and set off back to London. I thought this would be the end of our adventure, but my stomach disagreed. About an hour into the trip, I woke up to the horrible feeling of motion sickness. After hours (I have no idea how many, it all happened in a haze of early morning darkness and delirium) and several trips to the bathroom, the roads finally smoothed out, my head started to clear a little and I finally got some sleep. Needless to say, when we got back to the dorm around 4 or 5 pm (at this point I lost track of any sense of time) I took the most needed shower of my life, ate some much appreciated food, and passed out at around 9pm. All in all, the trip to Edinburgh was a good one, but with a troubled ending. The city is beautiful and well worth the struggle, but next time I'm thinking we are going to opt for staying in a hostel, even if it costs a little extra.
Friday we ran some errands and chilled in the dorm as we got ready for our 40 hour trip to Edinburgh. We decided to take showers that night and to wear the same outfit the whole time we were there as we had to carry our belongings with us the entire day. After stuffing our bags with things like toothbrushes, make up, deodorant, and snacks, we headed out for our 11pm bus from London which would bring us to Edinburgh at around 8:30am. We finally found the right station and terminal and boarded the bus. I guess Europeans are smaller than the average American, or can at least deal with much less space, because there was definitely less leg room than with an average American bus. Anyway, we were off to Scotland and that was all that mattered. I fell asleep for about 45 minute intervals and tried to rest for as long as I could. Once the sun started rising, it was hard to resist watching as the beautiful British countryside went by in a haze of early morning fog and mesmerizing colors on the horizon.
We arrived an hour early and went to clean our sleepy selves up in the bus station bathroom. I guess free public bathrooms is a no-no in the U.K. so we had to pay 30 pence to get in. When we deemed ourselves presentable, we set off into the city. The buildings seemed much older than that of London and there were no skyscrapers tainting the skyline, so as we made our way into the city we couldn't help but stare at everything around us. Our bus arrived an hour early, so we went to get coffee to start our day and wait for our tour of the city at 11am. The tour was a free three hour tour put on by locals who simply love to share the history of the city, and it was great. Our wonderful tour guide, Michael, was an informative and fun Scot who showed us the beauty and history of many parts of Edinburgh. After the tour, we rested in a park under Edinburgh Castle and then went and bought some souvenirs.
Next, we went to the Salisbury Crags, which are cliffs rising out of Holyrood Park that overlook Edinburgh. We climbed to the top of the peninsula-looking cliffs where we got to see an amazing view of the entire city, which was well worth the steep climb to the top.
After our nature adventure, it was time to freshen up and go to the pub crawl put on by the same people who run the free tours. We were to visit five pubs, getting a series of drinks along the way, and end in a huge club. At the pub crawl we got to talk to a group of Irish guys who were very friendly and another couple of Australian guys. It was fun for a while, but our tiredness started kicking in, the drinks weren't doing their jobs, and we all needed to leave the crowded club and sit down. Since our bus wasn't leaving until 5am, we had three hours to kill. We got some fries at Burger King (thanks for that one globalization), and when that closed, decided to hang out at the bus station until our bus came. To stay awake, one of the girls taught us a guessing game, that we now refer to as "Scot," and which entertained us until we boarded.
I never thought a bus seat would bring me such joy, and we each got our own seat on the ridiculously early bus and set off back to London. I thought this would be the end of our adventure, but my stomach disagreed. About an hour into the trip, I woke up to the horrible feeling of motion sickness. After hours (I have no idea how many, it all happened in a haze of early morning darkness and delirium) and several trips to the bathroom, the roads finally smoothed out, my head started to clear a little and I finally got some sleep. Needless to say, when we got back to the dorm around 4 or 5 pm (at this point I lost track of any sense of time) I took the most needed shower of my life, ate some much appreciated food, and passed out at around 9pm. All in all, the trip to Edinburgh was a good one, but with a troubled ending. The city is beautiful and well worth the struggle, but next time I'm thinking we are going to opt for staying in a hostel, even if it costs a little extra.
First Taste of London Night Life
On Wednesday we got to go on a boat tour of the Thames River and see the sights along the way to our destination, Greenwich. We took the tube to Westminster, where we waited for about an hour to get on the boat that would take us up the Thames. On the boat, we positioned ourselves outside in the front of the boat to get the best view. We were complete giddy tourists as we took picture after picture of Westminter Palace (aka Parliament), the Big Ben, the London Eye, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, and whatever else we deemed picture-worthy. Once we got to Greenwich, we found a tiny cafe to eat in and walked around Greenwich Palace, which is where many of the Tudors were born, including my favorite, Elizabeth I. We also saw the Maritime Museum and the Queen's House. The Queen's House is really the Queen of Denmark's house, built by a former Queen of England who was also the Queen of Denmark (complicated, I know). Greenwich is where the Prime Meridian runs through, so it was neat to be where the eastern and western hemispheres join.
We decided to be adventurous and take a bus (double decker, of course) back to Westminster. We took more pictures of the beautiful Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey (only the outside because it cost money to go inside). We then took the Tube back to our dorm, ate dinner, got ready, and went out to a bar in Piccadilly Circus. Piccadilly Circus reminded me of London's version of Times Square, NY and was very pretty. We went nuts on the dance floor and showed the Brits what real dancing is like, well we had fun at least.
Thursday came and it was time for the first day of classes! My first class was "British Cinema and Television Since 1960." It was comedy day and we literally watched clips from various comedic British films and television shows, oh the joys of being a film major. Apparently, the British think men dressed as women is super hilarious.
That night was the BU in London welcome party at a club near Piccadilly Circus. It was fun to mingle with the BUers, and when that was over, we went to another club. I guess the club promoters in London roam the streets looking for people to invite to the clubs and give discounted cover charges, so at this club the girls got in free and the guys had to pay 5 pounds, which I guess is a bargain. After that we got delicious pizza from a vendor and we walked (barefoot because the gods of fashion hate women's feet and like to torture us by inventing gorgeous but painful heels) to find the night bus back to The Crofton.
We decided to be adventurous and take a bus (double decker, of course) back to Westminster. We took more pictures of the beautiful Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey (only the outside because it cost money to go inside). We then took the Tube back to our dorm, ate dinner, got ready, and went out to a bar in Piccadilly Circus. Piccadilly Circus reminded me of London's version of Times Square, NY and was very pretty. We went nuts on the dance floor and showed the Brits what real dancing is like, well we had fun at least.
Thursday came and it was time for the first day of classes! My first class was "British Cinema and Television Since 1960." It was comedy day and we literally watched clips from various comedic British films and television shows, oh the joys of being a film major. Apparently, the British think men dressed as women is super hilarious.
That night was the BU in London welcome party at a club near Piccadilly Circus. It was fun to mingle with the BUers, and when that was over, we went to another club. I guess the club promoters in London roam the streets looking for people to invite to the clubs and give discounted cover charges, so at this club the girls got in free and the guys had to pay 5 pounds, which I guess is a bargain. After that we got delicious pizza from a vendor and we walked (barefoot because the gods of fashion hate women's feet and like to torture us by inventing gorgeous but painful heels) to find the night bus back to The Crofton.
Settling In
Once I woke up from my jet-lagged coma, I could actually appreciate the beauty that is Kensington. My flat (that's apartment to you American folk) is situated south of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park and is one of the most rich and swanky, or posh as one of our program directors says, neighborhoods in London. The BU in London program has three dorm buildings in Kensington and I live in the largest one, called The Crofton, with my two lovely roommates. The room is cozy and we have a great view of the beautiful buildings in our hood. Each room has its own bathroom, which is great, if only the shower was big enough to move around in without hitting my elbows.
The first day was spent in a lecture hall listening to safety talks and the like. Apparently the British don't think Americans can hold their alcohol or that girls under 21 drink. Clearly they haven't experienced true American culture. My roommates, a few friends, and I went out to two pubs that night, but were disappointed by the lack of turnout on the part of our fellow Londoners. Granted it was a Monday night, but I thought the British were known for their drinking abilities, especially having come from a lecture telling us how much stronger their cider is than the beer we normally drink and that American students often come to London and go overboard thinking they have to keep up with British drinkers.
Day two came with more orientation talks, where our row in the very back of the auditorium was filled with sleeping students (I think I even drooled a bit during that last lecture). We then went to the BU in London headquarters and were treated to fish and chips (that's fries, not chips as we Americans think of them). After all that excitement, the roomies and I went for a walk in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park (which are essentially the same thing, but there's a border where one park turns into the other). Kensington Gardens has a royal pond in front of a royal looking building (although I guess since I'm in London it's called a palace). The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain is in the park as well, as is the Royal Albert Memorial. It was all very pretty and exciting. The best part though may have been all the mini english accents we heard the little children talking in- so cute!
That night was our flat event which, of course, was at a pub. Kelly and I tried cider for the first time, which tastes deliciously like bubbly apple juice! We then proceeded to go home, buying wine and doritos on the way. We decided to stay in and enjoy our new room and found out that Netflix does not stream outside the U.S. As Netflix streaming is kind of how I survive and the t.v. in our kitchen only gets five channels, we had to challenge our internet surfing capabilities to find shows online. I eventually found Jersey Shore and got my American trashy reality t.v. fix before bed.
The first day was spent in a lecture hall listening to safety talks and the like. Apparently the British don't think Americans can hold their alcohol or that girls under 21 drink. Clearly they haven't experienced true American culture. My roommates, a few friends, and I went out to two pubs that night, but were disappointed by the lack of turnout on the part of our fellow Londoners. Granted it was a Monday night, but I thought the British were known for their drinking abilities, especially having come from a lecture telling us how much stronger their cider is than the beer we normally drink and that American students often come to London and go overboard thinking they have to keep up with British drinkers.
Day two came with more orientation talks, where our row in the very back of the auditorium was filled with sleeping students (I think I even drooled a bit during that last lecture). We then went to the BU in London headquarters and were treated to fish and chips (that's fries, not chips as we Americans think of them). After all that excitement, the roomies and I went for a walk in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park (which are essentially the same thing, but there's a border where one park turns into the other). Kensington Gardens has a royal pond in front of a royal looking building (although I guess since I'm in London it's called a palace). The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain is in the park as well, as is the Royal Albert Memorial. It was all very pretty and exciting. The best part though may have been all the mini english accents we heard the little children talking in- so cute!
That night was our flat event which, of course, was at a pub. Kelly and I tried cider for the first time, which tastes deliciously like bubbly apple juice! We then proceeded to go home, buying wine and doritos on the way. We decided to stay in and enjoy our new room and found out that Netflix does not stream outside the U.S. As Netflix streaming is kind of how I survive and the t.v. in our kitchen only gets five channels, we had to challenge our internet surfing capabilities to find shows online. I eventually found Jersey Shore and got my American trashy reality t.v. fix before bed.
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Touchdown in Londontown
I packed, unpacked, and packed again, making sure I had everything I need for my semester abroad. It was a start to what I can only imagine being the most exciting and revealing months of my life. Away from not only my home town, but from my home country, I knew I was in for a totally unique experience. After saying my goodbyes in the airport and getting through security, all I had to do was wait, and it could not have come soon enough, especially due to the fact that I was surrounded by British accents, which made me want to get there faster.
Finally, it was time to board. On the plane I watched two movies and attempted to eat my "meal." My flight being a night flight, I assumed I would get a bit of sleep before arriving at Heathrow in the morning. I was wrong. I landed and made my way to customs, and then baggage, where I was to meet my roommates and take a taxi to our dorm. Me being convinced I would need a majority of what I owned with me in London, I lugged my two suitcases and duffel and tried to figure out when my roommates would be arriving. After about an hour of wandering up and down the baggage claim area, surprised that I wasn't called into questioning for suspicious activity, I finally found my roommates! We found a cab and set off to our home for the next 4 months. It's a good thing none of us have to drive in this strange country, because the mere sight of cars driving on the left side of the road was enough to send us off balance. I have to stop myself before crossing the road and look both ways because for some reason I can't seem to understand which way the cars are going to be coming from.
We settled into the dorm, unpacked, and met a few of our fellow BU in Londoners. My roommates (Kelly and Lena) and I decided to find some coffee and a snack, and of course the first place we go to in a foreign country is Starbucks, where I discovered that only Americans order iced coffee (which is of course what I ordered). So our first outing in London was a fail in blending into the local culture (not that the British are exactly an exotic culture to America). The rest of the day passed in a blur of awe, dizziness, excitement, and hunger. I don't even remember everything we did. All I know is that all we had to eat that day was a croissant and we were running on a half hour of sleep from the plane ride. Our haze of a day ended in a miserable trip to grab things from the grocery store with a handful of new friends and, the zombies that we were, made our way back to the kitchen and made dinner, quickly followed bedtime at 8:30pm.
All things considered, my first day in London made me eager to get the semester started.
We settled into the dorm, unpacked, and met a few of our fellow BU in Londoners. My roommates (Kelly and Lena) and I decided to find some coffee and a snack, and of course the first place we go to in a foreign country is Starbucks, where I discovered that only Americans order iced coffee (which is of course what I ordered). So our first outing in London was a fail in blending into the local culture (not that the British are exactly an exotic culture to America). The rest of the day passed in a blur of awe, dizziness, excitement, and hunger. I don't even remember everything we did. All I know is that all we had to eat that day was a croissant and we were running on a half hour of sleep from the plane ride. Our haze of a day ended in a miserable trip to grab things from the grocery store with a handful of new friends and, the zombies that we were, made our way back to the kitchen and made dinner, quickly followed bedtime at 8:30pm.
All things considered, my first day in London made me eager to get the semester started.
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