In order to do this properly, I had to sit down and write everything in a journal. It took me three days and 22 pages in order to capture everything that has happened in the last two weeks. I am going to try to take highlights from each day and add in some pictures for dramatic effect. I apologize in advance - this may be a bit long...
7 June 2009
We arrived in London around 08:30. Customs was mostly harmless - the employees were just confused because of the new UK visa regulations and they weren't sure what to do with us. International Programs chartered a coach bus to take us to International Students House which would be our home away from home for the next 10 weeks. The bus ride was really quiet. I'm not sure if it was because we were all too tired or if it was because we were all too scared to talk to one another. I couldn't help but share all the wisdom that I have about England with the girl that was sitting next to me :)
When we got dropped of at ISH, we weren't given any instructions. All of us piled into the lobby and looked around helplessly; finally, someone got brave enough to ask the person at the front desk what we were supposed to do. They informed us that we would actually be staying in the other building, so they gave us our room keys and some crap directions and we were off. It must have been a ridiculous site watching 20 kids dragging their luggage down the sidewalk. We got lost twice, so a journey that normally takes five minutes ended up taking 30 minutes. When we finally made it to our rooms we were dog tired, but we were resolved to stay awake, so we unpacked.
The rest of the afternoon we spent doing preparatory work. We had an orientation at the main ISH building and then we went and purchased necessities - oyster cards and mobiles. Oyster cards are credit card like things that we pre-load with money so that we can ride the underground or the bus at a discounted price. All of us wanted to get mobiles so that we could get a hold of the other interns should the occasion call for it. They are also useful if the tube is running late and you need to let your supervisor know that it'll be a little bit before you get to work. In the evening we went to the first pub we could find for dinner. We had to sit at three tables - their were like 12 of us - and the service was horrible, but I had some of the best fish and chips I've ever had.
8 June 2009Monday was such a busy day. We had two meetings at Anglo-American where we will be having class on British culture every Monday and then many of us went exploring. It was an exciting morning because many of the people on the trip were having their first experience with the underground and we must have been quite the spectacle trying to get from the tube station to where our class is located - we definitely got lost.
After our last meeting, Mel and I went off to try to find where our jobs were located. We decided to find mine first. The journey there was OK. We didn't get on the wrong train and we managed to ask someone for directions. I was extremely excited because my tube station had a Starbucks. By the time we were done at my job we decided to call it quits because it was late and we'd had some difficulties navigating the journey back home. We got on the wrong train a couple of times.
9 June 2009
Mel and I got up early on Tuesday so that we would have time to do something fun after we found her job. Finding her job was slightly more complicated than finding mine. We had NO IDEA which way to go once we excited the tube station and ended up walking in the wrong direction for five minutes. She has to walk through a kind of scary area to get to work.
Later on we went to Piccadilly Circus which is like the Times Square and Broadway of London - there are tons of lights and there are theatres EVERYWHERE! While walking around we stumbled upon China Town and SoHo completely by accident. China Town wasn't very exciting and SoHo had lots of gay bars and bookshops with porn in the basement.
We met up with some other people from our group and took a self-guided tour of Westminster Abbey. It was very pretty, but boring. To me, it was just a church with tons of dead people and you couldn't take pictures! We had to cut the day short because the tube union was going on stike starting at 19:00 which would surely make for an interesting first day at work. For the rest of the evening we researched online how to get to work by taking the bus because, naturally, we'd all figured out how to get there by tube.
/>10 June 2009
Wednesday was my first day of work. I got up really early because I wasn't sure what the bus ride would be like because of the strike and I wanted to make sure I got there on time. When I got to the hospital I easily found lift bank C - elevators- and went to the lower ground floor where human resources is located. When I went into the office I was told to, I was informed that my supervisor was out sick for the day and that she hadn't left any instructions except that I was coming.
I felt so bad that first day, like I was annoying them or something. They had to scramble to find things for me to do. That first day was kind of slow. I was definitely worried because I was scared that everyday would be like that. We're not here to file and do crap paperwork, we're supposed to be getting real experience and that it not how I would classify my first day as an intern.
When I was taking the bus home it just decided that it was no longer going to Warren Street and that the last stop would be Piccadilly Circus - about half way. Because of the tube strike, Piccadilly Circus were an absolute madhouse. I looked up another bus to pick up to get home, but it was nowhere in sight and I would've had to wait forever. I walked...it took me at least 1.5 hours. I didn't get back until almost 19:30 and I got done with work at 17:00 - yuck!
11 June 2009
Work didn't get better on Thursday. They taught me how to do offer letters - basically filling in blanks on a template - and I made phone calls all afternoon. The day went faster, but it was just as boring. I was extremely glad to be done.
After work we went to ISHbar for karaoke night. I actually sang two songs! Mike and I sang "All the Small Things" - everyone said we were awesome! Then Kevin, Katie and I "sang" "Cleanin' Out My Closet". I wouldn't say we were awful, but we certainly weren't good. It was almost time for us to go up and this is the conversation that transpired:
Kevin: "You know the words, right?"
Me: "Yeah, why?"
Kevin: "Because, Katie and I don't!"
I couldn't believe it - they were the ones who wanted to sing it in the first place and they didn't even know the words! By that time I had had three strongbows - delicious hard cider - and everyone else was drunk too! It was pretty amazing, I was drunk, but I didn't get sick or feel icky the next day. I suppose sleeping until 13:00 on Friday may have helped a little.
12 June 2009It was almost 16:00 when Mel and I finally got going for the day. We decided to just go to Piccadilly Circus again and then we headed to Oxford Street to go shopping. Mel had to go to the bathroom so bad by the time we made it to Marks & Spencer that she rant to the escalator to get to the third floor...it was fantastic!
We went out again, but I was not feelin' it. Plus, I got hit on by a creepy, middle-aged man who had just gotten done telling me that he had gotten engaged the week before. On the way home, we saw a DEAD person. As we approached Marylebone we saw that the cops had blocked off the street. When we got closer we saw all these cop cars and ambulances. When we passed the scene there was a man on the ground covered by a blanket and he was surrounded by blood. That is something that I will NEVER forget. And poor Kevin, he saw the whole thing happen - he was the one who called 999 (London's 911).
13 June 2009
On Saturday, I woke up early and Christie and I went to Regent's Park to see "Much Ado About Nothing" in the open-air theatre. On the walk there, we went through Queen Mary's Garden and it was breathtaking - there must have been at least 100 different kinds of roses. I took a million pictures...it was so beautiful. The play was absolutely fantastic!
After dinner, Megan and Leonard arrived. I met them at the Regent's Park station and we walked to McDonald's.
This entry is long enough...I am going to do week two in the next one :)
See the rest of the photos from my first two weeks here in my facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2121016&id=185002852&l=8ad796c6d0
