Day 55

The trip is over!  Almost.  But I had my oral presentation today, which ends all my academic responsibility.  All that is left is the flight home.  It has been a terrific trip, but I am super excited to return back to Texas.  Hooray, America!

The things I did these last couple of days:

• Saw the Olympic Torch!
• Visited Camden Market again
• Ate at Byron again
• Had Snog
• Visited the Victoria & Albert Museum
• Visited the British Museum (and saw the Rosetta Stone!)
• WALKED SO MUCH

Opening ceremonies are tonight!  All the Olympic buzz around London has gotten me super excited.  I've even seen a couple of athletes walking around!  Wonder what it feels like to be them.

Pizza Hut

The Pizza Huts here house themselves in fancy, sit-down restaurants with posh wooden tables accompanied by a dim-lit, evening-time ambiance.  They also deliver.

That is all.

Cambridge!

I visited Cambridge on Monday and had an absolutely delightful time.  The sun was out the whole day, which was a nice change from all the rainy weather (though it was a little hot at times).  My body no longer knows what 100 degree weather feels like...

Highlights from Cambridge:

• Punting!  We took a boat down a river and casually drifted along as our tour guide meandered down the river with a long metal rod.
• Stopped for candy at a local candy shop
• Had tea and cakes at Fitzbillies
• Bought some tasty spring rolls from the local market
• Visited the Cambridge University Garden
• Dinner at the Copper Kettle

Today, I saw the Dark Knight Rises (which was so good) and noticed a couple of things about watching movies in the UK:

1. You buy your ticket with an assigned seat (which you get to pick)
2. Even though the showtime might say 15:50, the actual movie doesn't start until about 30 minutes after the listed time.  15:50 is the start of commercials, then previews, then more commercials, then the actual movie.  It was ridiculous.
3. Most movies come out later here (like, apparently The Lorax is coming out this week when it has been out since March in the States)
4. At the movie theater I went to, you buy your ticket where you buy your concessions 

Seeing The 39 Steps tomorrow with a friend studying abroad in Oxford!  Can't believe I'll be back in the States in just a few more days.

I frolicked in a field of cows

I went to the Tower of London on Friday and was slightly underwhelmed by it all.  The place is full of tall, stone buildings rich in history and information, but being surrounded by streets of traffic and lofty apartments buildings made me feel like I was in a theme park.  A lot of things within the Tower were replicas, understandably so, but still a little bit disappointing for the price I paid (almost $30 to get in).  I got to see the crown jewels, though!  Very shiny and pretty.

Today, I took a day trip to Oxford with some friends.  I made it on the train five minutes before it left!  I don't think I've ever power-walked so hard.  Oxford is very pleasant, especially the open fields (some full of cows too).  I don't know if it's somewhere I would ever live, but it's a nice place to go for a quick getaway.

Highlights from Oxford:

• Taking pictures of cows
• Taking jumping pictures next to cows
• Seeing Christ Church
• Seeing Oxford University
• Enjoying the sun (it didn't rain at all today!)
• Eating ice-cream while enjoying the scenery 
• Eating dinner at a place called Shanghai 30's - a Chinese restaurant with a 1930s decor 

A week from now, I'll be on a plane back to the States!  Surreal. 

The eats

Wednesday: Smiths of Smithfield, a trendy place where each level has a different menu. Had a goodbye lunch here with the fellow interns and our mentors.

Thursday: Dinner at Chop Chop Noodle Bar, delicious and really cheap food.  My bowl of duck noodle soup was only like five pounds!

Friday: Lunch at Franco Manca again and dinner at Ottolenghi.  Looking forward to it!

Farewell, Aqueduct

Aqueduct Interns, Summer 2012!

Last day of work today felt so unreal.  To summarize my experience, here's the final e-mail I sent to my mentor.  Already missing everyone!

Interning at Aqueduct has been much like trying out a new, obscure restaurant you found on Yelp.  You’ve been anticipating it, having looked at the website and everything, but when you actually arrive you’re unsure of how to handle yourself.  Where do you sit?  Is someone going to come talk to you?   Where are the toilets?  What happens when you go to the toilet and get locked out and have no way of contacting anyone?  The common questions everyone asks themselves, I'm sure.  

With that being said, if Aqueduct was a restaurant I could review on Yelp, I would definitely recommend it to all my friends.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here, and though it has been short, I walk away with much knowledge gained.  One of my favorite things about coming into the office (beside competitive ping pong matches working as my background music) was knowing that my hundreds of powerpoint slides have/had a purpose in life.  I never received any “busy work,” nothing that seemed boring and purposeless.  I really appreciate all the time that was put into individually assigning all of the interns tasks despite the un-human schedule Aqueduct seems to run on.  I remember talking to you about my interest in charity work/marketing during my phone interview, and I feel like that interest of mine was catered to through the assignments I received through Age Scotland and London Cancer. It was great seeing my work contribute to someone else’s and be part of a bigger process, a source of much joy and pride for me.  I imagine that’s what seeing your child grow up and graduate feels like, only perhaps there will be more tears.

I very much enjoyed the work environment as well.  It wasn’t awkward talking to others, and it wasn’t awkward not talking to others.  Everyone maintains a very genuine, organic feel, which allowed me to feel right at home in a matter of weeks.  Some of my favorite moments have been random run-ins at the kitchen accompanied by small chats here and there (my other favorite moment was getting a ping pong balled kicked into my face – danger in the workplace!).

In light of my previous paragraph, working more with others or even the other interns is something I would have liked to do.  It would have been great to collaborate with another intern for a project, or perhaps brainstorm different ideas with them.  The people in this office cover a wide variety of skills, and I would have very much enjoyed getting more of an insight as to what people do here.  While everyone was very friendly and kind, I felt disconnected at times because I had no idea what everyone else was doing, who was involved with which accounts, etc.  The individualization of projects definitely gave me more ownership over my work, but I think it would have been beneficial to talk over projects with some of the other interns. 

Also, even though I feel like a whiny child saying this, I would have really enjoyed more time talking with you.  One of the best ways to learn (I think) is to hear from other people who have gone before you, who have that extra experience that you lack.  Aqueduct puts out some really exceptional work, and I would have loved to hear from you about how the company has changed, has evolved, or how it is growing.  However, I don't mean to sound unappreciative. I know both of you are very busy, and I already feel like you donated a generous portion of your schedule to us.  If there is ever a clone machine in the works, I will definitely recommend you or Mario Balotelli as the first test subjects.  Both of you would make for some exciting/terrifying clones (just kidding, you're not terrifying)!

Thank you so much for everything!  I am very grateful for your guidance and mentorship these past six weeks.

Sincerely,

Deandra

The weekend

I got my hair cut by a very friendly Japanese lady on Thursday, which was great because my hair was feeling so heavy and gross.  The best part was when she tried to get all the knots out of my hair for about five minutes.  I don't even know how those got there.  Regardless, thank you to the Danny Oh salon for such a great haircut and head massage. 

Friday, I took a brisk walk to Chancery Lane and met my friend for Korean food!  I hadn't eaten out all week, so I was super excited to try out Tohbang.  All the reviews were spot on; this place is extremely delicious.  I literally could not even talk to my friend in front of me because I was too enamored by the food.  We commenced conversation like twenty minutes later.  After lunch, we stopped over at Bubbleology, a bubble tea shop with a very scientific feel to it.  I think it was my first time going to a bubble tea place that didn't look/feel super Asian.  Everyone was wearing lab coats inside!  I want to go again.  Our bubble tea stop was followed by a trip to Portobello Market.  It has all your typical market things like clothes and cheap produce, but my favorite part was looking at all the antiques and vintage items.  The further you went down Portobello road, the more genuine it felt.  

Later that night, I ate at Franco Manca with some friends and was able to taste some very savory and fresh pizza made on sourdough bread.  The pizzas are very reasonably priced, especially for how good they taste.  We snagged some bags of popcorn and headed back to the tube stop to head over to the London Eye.  After going through the 4D London Eye experience (which was just bizarre), we hopped on board the London Eye!  It was exciting, but it was also not as dark outside as I would have liked.  It also started raining, so that didn't help anything (rain is pretty unhelpful at times).  After our thirty-minute go around the wheel, we walked over to London Bridge to see the Olympic rings.  It was quite a long and rainy walk, but seeing London lit up at night was worth it.  

Saturday was spent finishing my research paper.  It was painful.

And as of today, so far I have gone to church, eaten some sushi, and taken a trip to Hampstead Heath.  Also, it has yet to rain today!!  Yaaaay!

Ping pong

Got a ping pong ball kicked into my face today during work (followed by much laughter and apologies), ate a huge thing of falafel from Pilpel for only four pounds (so like $6), ate a twizzle (marshmallows hand-dipped in white chocolate and rolled in deliciously crunchy sprinkles)from Starbucks, which looks like:

And ended the day by running through sporadic showers of rain in order to buy some fresh apples.  

Good day!

I'm actually on an eat abroad trip

Yesterday:

• There was a lot of rain, but I walked to church anyway.  The tube just seems so stuffy and smelly to me now...
• No shoes are waterproof in London.  NO SHOES.  
• 11:00AM service 
• Singleness is a gift
• Lunch at Wasabi
• A woman from the church I go to overhead the conversation I was having with my friend and joined us.  ChristChurch go-ers are so friendly!
• Dinner at The Breakfast Club (but by dinner, I mean I had an English breakfast)

I think when people ask me what I did this summer, I'm just going to say I went on an "eat abroad" trip.  I spend more time eating and thinking about eating than I do studying . . . let's be honest.  

Haha studying.

July 4th

July 4^th is not a big deal here in London which I’m sure no one finds particularly shocking.  I saw one girl with the American flag peaking out of her backpack while I was walking to work, but its nonchalant waving in the wind made it seem more like a style choice as opposed to an act of American pride.    

A fellow intern and I were sent on a small excursion during work yesterday (I wrote this on the 5th, so on July 4th).  I can’t give away much detail, but basically we had to go find a nice, white, jewelry/fountain pen box for free.  Though we were both unsure of this task at first, it was exciting to leave the office for a couple of hours.  We headed over to a shopping center near St. Paul’s and politely asked as many jewelry/high-end stores about their availability of nice boxes.  To my surprise (and to my friend’s as well), everyone was very nice about our bizarre question.  We were able to snag some boxes from a couple of companies, but even the ones who couldn’t give us the boxes recommended us to other places.  The more we asked around, the more suspicious I felt.  Our interactions usually went like this:

“Hey, we’re working on a project for our company and we need a nice, white jewelry box…for something…so if you have a spare one…you know...but yeah….”

I don’t even know how we ended up with three boxes.  Many of the employees we talked to expressed that they were afraid of counterfeits popping up if they just gave out boxes, which made sense to me.  We returned to the office and handed in the boxes, hoping that at least one of them would be helpful.

I have been asked if the people of London are rude, inconsiderate, or spiteful toward Americans.  For the past month I’ve been here, I have yet to encounter such a person.  Everyone has been very kind and friendly.  I have nothing but pleasant things to say about the Londoners.