Weeks 5 and 6

Yeah, I guess I kind of forgot that I had a blog for 2 weeks. Oopps. Well I am still alive and here are some updates from the past two weeks........ ready? set? UPDATE!!!

Starting all the way back to February 7th, gosh it has been a long time, for my British Life and Culture class with my fellow Maristian's we went on a field trip to the historic Brick Lane. Brick Lane is a cultural hub in eastern London where many cultures have used its buildings as housing while they settled in the big city. The effect is a giant mix of cultures and history that make this section of town very interesting. We walked around some of the markets, went into some of the music shops, the vintage shops and eventually stopped for lunch at an Indian resturaunt which has had a major influence on the area more recently. And so I widened my palate by trying these foods that I would have never dared try prior to this trip. They were interesting, but man do Indians love their spices! Oh my, I thought my mouth was never going to get a break. Dish after dish was just filled with curry. But it was a very interesting experience and very eye opening to a much less thriving section of the city. It took us out of our South Kensington bubble we live in where everything is dandy and showed us some of the harsh realities of London and the poor. And it turns out that for my social welfare issues course we also went back to literally the same district on thursday. So I essentially had the same field trip twice. But this time around we went to the historic Tornbee Hall which is a staple in the social welfare history in this country. It was very educational and the cafe we stayed in had a similar wallpaper to that of the one in The Kings Speech in the therapy room so I was getting a little over excited prospecting that maybe the film was made in this very cafe. It was not. Boo.

Saturday brought my second cross country race while I have been here. Once again it was INSANELY MUDDY! I have a new appreciation for the conditions we consider bad back at home. They are nothing in comparison to what these people run in every year. And the worst part was that they considered it to be a pretty good day conditions wise. IT HAILED ON US DURING THE RACE!!! Not to mention the entire course was on grass so the entire course was deep mud. Oh, and just to put the cherry on top of this awesome course they decided to call it an 8k when in reality it was 8.7k. YOU CAN'T LIE ABOUT THAT MUCH OF A DISTANCE. Trust me, you felt that extra .7k. It was brutal. But it was really fun and I got covered in mud again, and this time I got to wear a proper Serpentine jersey so I didn't look like such a misfit foreigner. I didn't really run all that well but I placed about 10 or 15 places higher than I did in the last race and this one had more competition as it was the finale race of the series. So that was good to hear. I just really have a totally new perspective on what is considered good and bad conditions. I shall never complain again about mud slowing down a course because it is nothing like is here. Sunday brought another long run which was nice, a little wet but overall not too bad. I hit 60 miles again this week, so I am happy about that. Which brings me to this past week...

This past week brought a lot of work and preparation for finals week which is about to commence. I had a presentation in my social welfare issues class on alcoholism in the UK which could have gone a lot better, boo. Same thing with my presentation in british life and culture. But the good news is that I nailed my most recent paper for my media in Britain class, success. Easily the most important and exciting part of last week was my interview for my internship on Thursday morning. I got all dressed up in my Mad Men inspired formal wear, not my full suit though which was disappointing I wanted to break out the entire ensemble. The interview went really well. The office was incredible and the opportunity seems like it is going to be incredible. The layout of the office was overall very open and community based. There were clusters of tables and desks that made up the different departments of the ad agency such as the tech/code writing section, the account planners and most importantly (or at least where I'm hoping to work) the creative team. The entire opportunity sounds like it is going to be amazing but exhausting as I was informed that I would be working a full day 9-6 and probably staying later than 6 on multiple days. So I'm really getting the full experience! But I am overjoyed to start, I really can't wait to get working on some real projects and test my skills against the big boys!

On Thursday night I got some new tempo running shoes (I don't know if anyone cares) and had a killer workout in them that night at the Serpentine practice. So there is already some good karma put in those shoes so lets hope it continues! Friday night brought a very interesting night to say the least. My friend Sarah was going to a concert for her music class and invited me to tag along. It was a Dub-Step concert and for those of you at home who don't know what this is, which is probably all of you, it is essentially electro beats blasted at obnoxiously loud levels that make the hairs on your body stand up. They provide just enough of a rythem to move to but not enough to really dance too. So a lot of bobbing around and jamming occurred. It was kind of weird, kind of fun, I guess I'm indifferent about the entire situation. But it was in literally an old warehouse converted into a club in a random section of London. It was very interesting. But my upcoming musical excursions should be much better as I am going to two of my favorite bands concerts in the upcoming weeks. I am going to a Mumford and Sons concert on Tuesday and a Matt and Kim concert in March, and I am sure those will be amazing as both are rated as some of the best live performers to see in concert. Very exciting stuff! The rest of this weekend has brought some good time bonding over Pride and Prejudice and discovering the amazingness that is strawberry fluff + oreos. Today brought another long run which went well and I finished off another 60 mile week, success. Tonight we have been studying for our British life and culture midterm that is tomorrow. Plus its finals week here, gosh where has this semester already gone?!!!!!! I hope everything is going well wherever you may be reading this and that life is treating you well. Congrats to all my red foxes for their great performances at MAAC's and to my black bears that killed it at America Easts!!! So proud and happy for all of you and your hardwork. Take care everyone!!!