I've been here in the great London, England, for just about a week now, and thus far, it's been fantastic (sans the overwhelming jet lag). I wasn't originally planning on blogging about my semester, and forgive me if my posts are infrequent, but I felt like this might be a good venue to keep in touch with a few of y'all and record my experiences concisely. It's terribly surreal when I think of how dispersed we all are: Australia, Spain, Italy, Greece, France, Singapore, and of course, the UK. I have no doubt we'll all do the typical, cliched semester abroad stuff: grow as people, change for the better, build character, etc. etc. Hopefully, I'll get to visit a couple of you this semester and share those experiences with you.
Here's a quick overview of what's went down so far in this crazy, crazy week:
-- Greg and I got a flat in Earl's Court with two other guys from IC. It's actually pretty nice; our landlord is hilarious but also accommodating.
-- I will be interning at Channel Four (which the rough equivalent of ABC or CBS here) in the Corporate Relations and Public Value departments! My preliminary interview is next week, and I should start almost immediately afterward. I'm excited as bloody hell; I specifically requested C4.
-- We hit up Leicester Square the other night, randomly happening upon the London premiere of "Sweeney Todd"...Greg and I ended up seeing Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Burton, Alan Rickman, Laura Michelle Kelly, Mark Ronson, and some actors in the film coming down the red carpet.
-- My friend, Caitlin, came to visit. She's a senior in high school and she's been spending the past semester in Italy. She flew up with her host mom to hang out in London for the weekend, and Greg and I met up with her last night. We walked around the city a bit, and then we went to Camden Town to get her a tattoo to commemorate the entire European semester! She got a green-tinged infinite symbol, and it looks really awesome (almost as good as mine). We also went to a nice little restaurant in Piccadilly Circus.
-- I've been out pubbing...The 18-year drinking age doesn't really strike me as unusual, nor do I feel like I need to take advantage of it (fortunately for both my wallet and my liver). I'm not sure if it's my scene yet, but so far, it doesn't compare at all to having parties with all of you :)
-- Classes started today. I've had European Mass Media and Sociology of London thus far--both are definitely interesting, but I'm not sure I'm totally down with the 3-hour class periods. Contemporary British Politics starts on Tuesday.
I suppose that's enough of a summation for now; I'm hoping for another post within the week. In terms of contacting me or keeping in correspondence, Facebook and e-mail are always the best means (thank God for the digital age!). I was recently informed that my London cellphone will not be able to send nor receive text messages from any carrier but Cingular...If you'd like to call me, dial 011 (international access code) + 44 (country code) + 7904818446. I'd love to hear from you!
Cheers from London,
Daniel
