The University of Blog

At 9 a.m. on my way to work each morning, my pace quickens. I join the busy shuffle as soon as I get off at Victoria. My posture is a bit straighter, and I take some powerful strides as everyone around me rushes to get to work on time. After entering the doors of the crystal palace then my floor, I then grab a sparkling water from the magic fridge and get started for the day. Today, I realised that it would be my last day of this.  Sure, I will have another job with other great people and perks, but there is nothing like joining the ranks of the London professionals. Back to Lawrence, wherever for the summer and then come August, I’ll be a student again. This will be the weirdest transition of all.

Yesterday, I stood on the Prime Meridian in Greenwich. I saw where time started and laid out in the lush grass. Greenwich was amazing. We took the ferry there and got another view of London from the Thames. Before we got on the ferry, we were waiting under the London Bridge, and I had this moment where I just thought that it would be my last view of the London Bridge for a long time to come.

Last night, I went to a club called Shunt, which is the most unique experience that I’ve ever had and was the perfect culmination of the London underground arts scene. And it doesn’t get more underground than this.  The club is in an abandoned underground station. There was a maze of tunnels with a different form of art going on in each one. We followed a lit corridor which led to a bar with seats in darkened corners around the space. What an experience. In each space, something different was going on.  As I was witnessing a mock séance, I turned to the guy next to me and asked “do you come here often?”

Only in London.

It’s that time. That time where I realize that I’m actually leaving. 5 days exactly. Since my last blog post, I’ve travelled to Paris and Barcelona. Both were great cities. In Paris, we nibbled on baguettes saw famous art in free museums, walked down the Champs de Ellesse and saw the Eiffel Tower at night. We drank champagne in the park at night and even made our way to Disneyland Paris (free with AirFrance tickets). I could live on wine, baguettes and cheese for  the rest of my life – if I have the background of the Eiffel tower as my backdrop.

 At the Arc de Triumph

In Spain, as well as in France, life moves more slowly. The pace is In Barcelona was certainly that way. Dinner is usually around 10. People don’t go out and party until 1 or 2 a.m. It would take forever for me to get used to it. While there, I learned how to cook Paella, ate churros and chocolate and danced in a nightclub.  The sun decided to show its face on the day that we left. No matter, we still saw some stunning Gaudi including the Sagrada Famila and Park Guell.

Barcelona on our one sunny day

The countdown has already started for when I go stateside. My leaving drinks for MSN are tonight and my last day is this Thursday.  I’ve already started packing using the effective onebag.com method of bundling. And now that the sun is showing itself in London, everyone seems happier and London seems brighter. I enjoyed laying out under the London Eye to catch some rays and hope do check out some more of London’s beautiful parks. I went to the Sunday Up market for the last time. My Ethiopian wrap was delicious as I pondered where I could ever find this type of cuisine back home.  

The pace here is so fast. I love the fact that I can find something going on any day … and it most likely it will be enjoyable. Checking out the scene in Shoreditch for example is one of my favourite late night weekend activities, and I have met some really interesting people there. The Indian curries near there on Brick lane are amazing.  

With the MSN crew

The crew at MSN has been fabulous. Last week I met Ashley Tisdale and Katie Price and Peter Andre (famous Brit couple) during a couple of interviews. I have really developed my editing and filming skills and now it is no problem to film something on the spot. My knowledge of the business has grown exponentially, and I know that I will stay in contact with these people. I have learned so much just by watching, doing and listening, but I will miss the people most of all. But… no tears: I’m going to  try and enjoy my last few days here as much as I can and know that I’m determined that I’ll be back.

It’s weird. Less than four weeks left. This weekend: Paris. Next weekend: Barcelona. Third weekend: London. Fourth weekend: leave April 26.

Noo….

I don’t want to leave. My last few weeks need to be to the max! I have yet to go to Abbey Road. I would like to go to Greenwich. Visit Tate Modern again. Meet Hugh Grant. The list goes on…

The experience at MSN has been priceless and hands down the best experience of my undergraduate career. I feel like I am a member of staff rather than an intern. I will miss my coworkers and the ability I have to contribute to brainstorming and development of our video offerings. I’ll keep in touch when I leave. Who knows, when I graduate, I could be working in London. I wouldn’t mind that at all. PS: check out my Henry the Hoover Review as well as this Bat For Lashes interview I filmed and edited.

The fact that I’m living in the center of the world is amazing. The G20 Summit is going on right now with world leaders discussing the status of the economy as well as the environment. This brought in a whole host of protestors. They stormed RBS, broke the window and everything. The photos and videos of the protests were not pleasant. I’m glad I didn’t end up going, but it was seriously cool being so close to all of it. I was out of harms way, but felt close to the issue since I was in the same city.

The tea culture is almost better than the pub culture. I have at least three teas a day. Each day we have several tea rounds at MSN complete with biscuits. Today, I had high tea for the first time. We went to the Orangery, which was located in Kensington Gardens. I had English Breakfast Tea with a scone and clotted cream and then tried both the chocolate fudge cake as well as the orangery cake. Both were divine. I felt like a British person, except for the fact that those indulging around me were predominately tourists.

There is always something going on—including swaparama parties (see above). The past weekend, we went to a really fun party. We went to wearing one thing and then every time the bell rang, we had to trade an article of clothing with someone else. I ended up with twice as much clothing as I did when I got there. Really cute things too, so it worked to my advantage. Where else can you find an event like that going on?

This is by far my favourite city (notice my British spelling).