Week Three

Hello all. Well it has been another eventful week here in England. It is crazy to think about but we are having our mid term exams this upcoming week since the classes are only half as long as a normal semester. So the stress level academically has risen somewhat but at least the topics are extremely interesting to study so thats good. What I am most nervous about is my Social Welfare Issues in the UK class. Apparently you needed to have a strong knowledge of the social welfare system in the UK prior to the class, as well as in the US. Both myself and the other Marist student in the class were not expecting this. But apparently all of the other students in the class are well versed in the subject and so we seem a little dumbfounded during the discussions. But none the less it has been overwhelmingly educational and interesting to analyze this part of society. Media in Britain has been very interesting thus far as we have watched a few short documentaries and had some very thought provoking class discussions comparing the media machine that is the BBC and Rupert Murdoch in comparison to the US. British Life and Culture with all of the other Marist students has been very helpful to give us some background on the country and introduce us to current issues and events in the UK therefore making us feel more a part of the society here.

So this past week included just classes, running and sleeping essentially. I went to my second Serpentine Running Club practice where we did near 10k of speed! I was absolutely exhausted by the end but I know I got some really great training in and met even more members of the club. They also added me to a kind of elite list of runners in the club that get special emails about races and preparing for them. So I felt very special for that small honor and I am so excited for my next race on the 5th. I'm doing a small 5k I think just for fun and then we have our big end of the season xc championships on the 12th so its going to act as more of a preparation for that race. But nonetheless it has been great thus far running with the club and I really am looking forward to when I get to run with them more often once I start my internship and my schedule opens up a little more.

SPEAKING OF INTERNSHIP!!!!! I got my placement this week, so thats big news! I am very very very pleased with where I have been placed. I will be interning at an advertising agency called Digitas, which is an international company with branches in the US, Europe, and Asia. So it is a very established company and looks to be an amazing experience awaiting me. Also, in snooping around their web page to get an idea of what the company does I came across an internship section. I checked and they offer paid summer internships for students in the US! I was shocked because paid internships are very hard to come across, especially in the summer and especially in the advertising industry. So I immediately filled out an application and now await the results. But I'm hoping that working at their branch here in London will help my chances substantially. But I don't want to get my hopes up too much because I know I'm coming up against some of the most talented kids in the nation for these limited spots.

On Thursday night after going to practice we decided to go do some karaoke. I was thrilled that others actually wanted to do this as I am all about karaoke. So we headed up to the International Student House (which we had heard about through FIE as a kind of hub for abroad studying students in London) and were shocked when they asked to see our ID's from FIE and then let us in for free. We thought we were definitely going to have to pay a cover charge. So we got inside and it was a nice little bar and stage for the karaoke with students from all over the world. It was so much fun and we really had a blast. I sang "Drops of Jupiter" by Train, as well as screamed the words to many other songs as they had the words projected on multiple screens for the crowd to see also. It was really great and we all had a great time together and bonded some as a almost full flat (as some of our flat mates did not accompany us, but most were there).

Friday brought my first trip of this time here in the UK. I went up to Nottingham (the home of Robin Hood!)  where one of my best friends from Camp Greylock this past summer, Nathan, goes to school. The little over two hour train ride was incredible in comparison to the MetroNorth if I do say so myself. The seats were comfortable, I had a table to do work on, and the ride was so smooth I could even do some writing without accidentally slipping off the side of the page like I am accustomed to on trains. But the weekend was really nice. Nottingham was very interesting to experience as it seems to be a city caught in the middle of a modernization period. It reminded me a lot of some old mill towns in Maine where you have the old brick buildings not really being used anymore, and then next to them a much newer and completely different architectural designed building with a modern company in it. Some may call it commercialization, but it seemed to be somewhat lost in its identity. It has so much history in it with all of the hundreds of years of history taking place there, but modern stores were taking over and rebuilding the city. So it was very interesting to see a different city other than London in England and see a more normal English lifestyle. On Saturday we headed up to Nottingham Castle and enjoyed the sights and history with its quite interactive and enthusiastic museums. That night we went to a really quaint and delicious small restaurant called Dolce, which was right across the street from the cinema where we went to see The Kings Speech (for me it was the second time but it was just as good the second time around, if not better!). I had a homemade pizza with an assortment of peppers and onions that must have been locally grown because they were so flavorful and delicious to have come from a store. They definitely had that organic taste if you know what I mean. For dessert we each had an decadent chocolate cake with ice cream and chocolate sauce drizzle. It was a bit of a splurge but absolutely worth it!!! By Sunday morning we had seen most of the city and so Nathan took me around his university and surrounding area which was very interesting to see. Also seemingly caught in the middle of a modernization period where some buildings were brand new, others were converted old cathedrals and others were obviously from the 1960's. After this it was time for me to go and so we had to give a somber goodbye again much reminiscent of camp where we ensured each other that we would definitely see each other again.

(Robin Hood statue at Nottingham Castle and The Disney Robbin Hood which we watched Friday night to get in touch with the truest Nottingham and Robin Hood, no Russell Crowe crap!)









The train ride back was beautiful to see the countryside and the gorgeous farmland leading into London once again. I saw many a walking paths running over homemade bridges and canals around the farmland that made me want to jump off the train and go for a run on instantly! I guess thats the inner runner in me! By the time I got home the sun was going down and I still had to do the traditional Sunday long run that we have built into my training over the past few seasons. This time around I was not too motivated and quite tired from the weekend. But I eventually dragged myself outside to run by 7:30 and made the decision that I was going to have a good run even though I felt crappy. And so I decided to go on an adventure run of sorts. More or less, I would just run from point to point not really with a plan and just run on time. And so I embarked on quite the epic run that I ended up loving and will probably remember for  while as a great memory from London. I ran down past Buckingham Palace, through the gates in Trafalgar Square, down to the Thames River, over the Millennium Bridge, past the London Eye, down the river bank winding through alleys and tunnels, over the London Bridge, back up the other bank of the river, up the Thames Path, past Big Ben, around St. James' Park, past Buckingham Palace again and then through Hyde Park back home. IT WAS AN AMAZING LONG RUN!!! The city is so gorgeous at night and really transforms. The London Bridge at night was stunning, as was Big Ben, as was all of it quite frankly. And so now I go to bed exhausted but so happy reminiscing on the events of the week.

I want to also take this chance to give a shout out to all of my former and current teammates who all did amazingly at the Terrier Invite and the Reebok Boston Indoor Games. To the four IC4A qualifiers in the 3k from Marist, AMAZING JOB AND GREAT RACE!!! So exciting to see all of your hard work pay off via flotrack, ha! To all of the guys in the 5k, you all did incredible and I am so happy for all of you. That also goes for the rest of the 3k guys, it looks like you all did so great and I am so happy for all of you, really a true inspiration to see you guys PR'ing and racing well. Too Corey Connor, I am stunned at how incredible you are. I seriously watched your race jaw agape the entire time. You rock, I am so proud of you even though I don't think I did anything. I guess I'm just proud to be friends with the fastest girl in the NCAA for the 5k right now. Talk about inspirational. Riley, equally as amazing a performance. I also watched your race just jaw agape. Congrats and I really hope you continue to have such amazing success! Jordan Marie Daniel, 4:56.... really. Stop. THATS INCREDIBLE!!!! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! Congrats girl, you deserve all of it. You work so hard. Wish I could have been there so see it. To Brit congrats on the school record, but I know you can go even faster!!! But seriously congrats on the honor and best of luck with the rest of your season. And to everyone else who had amazing days (or at least your times seemed amazing to me!) congratulations and I really hope you all continue to improve and get even better!!!! Best of luck in the rest of your seasons and I will anxiously await your results over here!

Okay, now that that is over with, to everyone else, family, friends at home I hope the snow has not put to much of a damper on your lives as I hear it has been brutal. The sub zero temperatures. I could not believe it when my mom told me it did not get above 0 without the wind chill on one of those days last week. So stay warm everyone!!! Even in these conditions I'm sure my mom hasn't turned the heater on and is probably using as space heater while she is reading this by the computer! Love you mom! Alright, take care everyone, stay warm and have a wonderful week!!!