Work Continues...

just a quick note for today bc it's getting late.

i really enjoyed work today. basically i just really enjoy marianne a lot (the one from alabama), and it seems she really enjoys having me there. i'm officially helping out the product development department but she steals me whenever she can. today i had a valuable experience which she noted could be put on a resume. brom, i'd probably need your help to word this one well. but i got to sit in on a discussion between her and the international marketing lady - it was really by coincidence that it was my major but i might mention what a valuable coincidence that might be for the future. who knows. but anyways, marianne's the head design person (forgot her real title) and she and karen (int'l mkt) are designing a new logo for the company as well as placement of it on business cards and letterheads. and i got to throw in my "valuable" input. basically i sat there soaking it all in and they'd turn to me every now and then and ask my opinion on something. i felt so important. :) and i got to listen in on the phone conversation between them and the ceo (who's german and spends half her time there) as they discussed the designs they came up with. and on top of the logo, they're redesigning their website which i got to throw in a few more random comments for as well. aren't i special! :)

later marianne taught me how to check samples. basically licensees send in the design for a product which we have to check meticulously to make sure everything is done according to the standards the licensors give us. we send back our notes. then they create a sample product which they send to us and we subsequently check for the same things. i spent half the day going through pink panther products looking at all the details like coloring, legal writing on the sew-in tags, proper placement of the TM, etc. i don't know if i'll ever be able to look at a pink panther product the same way again! but all these samples are pretty much up for grabs once they're done with them. too bad it's nothing i want yet. :)

and i watched england beat the US in soccer this evening in a pub. it was a good game and England really outplayed the US. but still... it's sad to see them lose.

Church/Bank Holiday/First Day of Work

i'm a few days behind. i have way to much recording of events going on in my life. it takes up way too much time. but here goes highlights:

Church
i didn't know what time church started. i only knew the address bc it was listed in the packet of papers we were given in the list of places of worship. i figured the earliest it would start was at 9, so i planned for that. turns out i guessed right. i didn't know any details whatsoever about the singles ward. this was the family ward.

the church was just a section of a bigger building, so it was thinner but 3 stories high. the chapel and gym are actually parallel to each other. so the rows of the overflow, still in the gym, were actually angled to face the podium.

people still give the exact same testimonies over here. for some reason that amused me enough at the time for me to write it down.

and get this - the mass majority of the people i heard at church were American! the bishop is. so is the sunday school teacher i had. and so are almost all the people who gave answers during the lesson. i was rather disappointed. in priesthood all the visitors stood and introduced themselves. literally 9/10 of the room were visitors and all from america - maybe a couple from canada. a good chunk of that was byu students here for a couple weeks for something.

i found out that the singles ward met at 2:30, so i went back to church again at 2:30. :) it's a good sized singles ward here! again i think about 1/3 of the people were visitors - mostly american, otherwise canadian. and probably half of the regulars were americans/canadians. i actually overheard a girl's thick southern drawl so i went up and talked to her. she's from texas and is working here. the sunday school teacher was a hoot! she was the jolliest lady and had a thick lower-class british accent. then the priesthood lesson was given by a guy who used the recent soccer game as a symbol for his lesson.

i was kind of annoyed that no locals ever befriended me. i can understand it bc there were so many visitors but it just wasn't what i hoped. it wasn't like back home when a ysa visitor comes to the ward and everyone wants to talk to them bc they're new. so i never got to chat with any real locals. the only people who came up to me were a few american visitors. get this: one guy came up to me bc he recognized me from the b-ham stake! he's in another ward there. another guy who actually went to both wards just like me is here starting a 6-week internship through a different program. he's kind of older though, but still single. it looks like no one else in my program is mormon. :( speaking of which, it never takes long for everyone around me to learn i am mormon. interesting how that always works out.

Bank Holiday
monday was a bank holiday. and as tradition holds, when the banks close companies can't function so they close too. i don't know the significance of the holiday other than it's called a bank holiday. i think it's just coincidence that i falls on the same day as our memorial day.

did more sightseeing. it was rainy so we went to a museum. i also ate my first "traditional english breakfast". i had about the same reaction as i did to fish and chips. a lot of hype for a large lack of taste. traditional english breakfast = eggs + bacon + tomatoes + hash browns + sausage + baked beans. give or take one or two items, but the beans are always there.

in the evening i went to my first show here - Avenue Q. i don't remember the last time i laughed that hard! that was probably the funniest show i have seen in a long time. if anyone gets the chance to see it, it's got my recommendation.


First Day of Work
i went to work today. i met marianne who showed me around the office and everything. she's actually from birmingham, al and she was really excited to have another alabamian there with her. i'm SO glad she's there. she's really really happy and helpful. just the kind of personality i need to have around. i was actually in her office for like an hour in the afternoon just chatting. so get this... not only is she from alabama but she used to do theatre! she actually got a degree in voice, training to be an opera singer. but she got nodes on her vocal chords which basically restricts you from doing any regular singing. so we had a lot to chat about. and we actually got onto the topic of what my plans are after i graduate. i mentioned i'd love to find a job in london. she was really supportive about the idea and suggested i keep a look-out for openings in that company around that time. she said that the problems i'll have are getting a work visa and everything that entails. basically i have to get a sponsorship to work in the uk which sounds complicated enough as it is and i've barely looked into it. and this company won't do sponsorships bc of the huge hassel. apparently the company would have to prove that the job could not be filled by any uk citizen (basically impossible) plus mounds of paperwork on their part that they don't want to do. so it is possible but it would be really really hard. she gave me hope though with this program that she said a few of her friends did - http://www.bunac.org/usa/workinbritain/eligibility.aspx i'll have to do some more research on the subject. but that's more than i expected to get on my first day!

so all did all day was data entry - put information from business cards into outlook. then i was taking pictures one-by-one of the ton of shirts that were sent to us for one company. i'm working in the product development department and this was a way to get all the products from that licensee on the computer to look at simply. or something like that. i'm actually working with 2 girls younger than me and another one in her late 20's. i think about 2/3 of the whole company were women. and a couple of the guys, i question their sexual preference. and it's so diverse within the english language. in my department is one girl from south africa. there's already a couple americans there. there's a few there from australia. all we need is a canadian and we're set! so the work day had highs and lows. plus, first days are always annoyingly awkward... basically in anything. it'll be nice when i'm actually in the swing of things.

Tour/Eurovision

Tour

for all those who wanted, we got to go on a bit of a tour around london. we had a tour guide who was great and had some great stories for us. even though she took us to a couple of sights i had already been to, i learned so much having her there. tour guides really make a difference in enjoying a place. for example... they've really made security super tough at buckingham palace. apparently in 1982, a guy actually climbed over the front gate, walked right past the guards, wandered around the palace untouched for 3+ hours, found the queen's bedroom, and sat on her bed until she woke up. then he asked her for marriage advice bc he and his wife were having trouble. basically this guy was "looney" and put in a mental institution. also, there's a statue of queen victoria in front of the palace that someone actually climbed up and chiselled the nose off of. so they had to replace the nose and you can see the different shades of stone. of course, i never would've noticed if she hadn't pointed it out.

queen victoria is the stone image facing the camera

the current guards for the day are malaysian bc the royal army is apparently stretched thin with fighting going on in afghanistan and iraq. and apparently it's quite an honor to be allowed to guard the queen and promotes goodwill between countries, etc etc.

st. paul's cathedral (2nd largest dome in the world - it's huge!)

globe theatre!
tower bridge

tower bridge - do you see the smile? it really made my day. :)

i don't know what this sign was all about but it really amused me

Eurovision

i don't know if any of y'all have heard of eurovision, but apparently it's a really big deal in europe! i think there were 25 competitors across europe - one representing each country. and they perform a song in a really elaborate performance that makes american idol look like a streetside performance. at the end of all the performances, all of the european countries have 15 minutes to call in their votes, but you can't vote for the country you're in. then they make a big deal about a host in each country listing their country's top 10, and those countries are awarded points accordingly. 43 countries voted. at the end of all that they announce the winner, which is obvious bc we've watched the scores being tallied country by country. russia surprisingly won, ukraine was second, and greece third. and since russia won, they host the show next year (it only happens once every year). i watched it with a few friends in the cafe here but i was surrounded by greeks! and they were all about some eurovision!! they were rooting their country on quite enthusiastically. it was exciting. :) i was actually rooting for latvia bc i liked their performance/song, but ukraine and greece did well also. i wasn't a big fan of russia's but they did have an ice skater dancing around the singer on a really small oval. that was very original and i give them points for that alone.

Museum/Hanging Out

today was the first day i got to sleep in since i've been here. and now i'm back on my normal schedule from back home. :) i know, i know... it'll all change when i start working, etc, etc.


Art Museum
a few of us went to an art museum on trafalgar square. it was really good. apparently from the 1200's to like the 1700's the painters only painted baby Jesus sucking on Mary's breast. there were so many of that exact same scene. that or baby Jesus blessing baby John the Baptist who's carrying a giant cross or something about him being on the cross. it all got quite repetitive after a while. oh, and i saw a few of john's head after it was cut off. past the 1700's is when it extended to outdoor scenes and random people. but by then we were all wore out and moving through quicker. but it was a really nice museum and we saw a few good classics.

this is a good view of trafalgar square from the steps of the museum

Hanging Out
came back home and passed out for a couple hours. apparently everyone around me happened to do the same thing. and the sun doesn't set here until about 9:00 so even when it's late it still feels early. when we woke a few of us hung out in the cafe. i won in foosball, lost in pool.


i guess i didn't do as much today as i have on other days, but it felt nice to take it a little easier. my feet have been KILLING me! they haven't had much chance to rest. there's too much walking to do around here. :)

i liked the architecture here... except for the modern looking store on the bottom

Guard Changing/Museums/Big Chill

if i can successfully finish this post, then i will finally be caught up as today is thursday.


Changing of the Guards

this was something i'm glad i went to but probably wouldn't make the effort to go see again. it was too crowded, even for a weekday. the only way i could see most of it is by holding my camera high, which you'll be able to tell from the pictures. it was all very ceremonial. and it even involved a military marching band. i'm not sure the type of military that replaced the old one, but it was different - different uniforms anyway. and i thought it was funny that most of the people around me were speaking in american accents.

old post

crowd
marching band
new guards

changing posts
new post

Museums

after that, we went to a couple museums. first was a museum all about the history of their military. it was really interesting to see how weapons and uniforms changed with different wars. it seems like WWI really made the biggest impact on fighting styles and such. throughout all of history it stayed pretty well consistent until that point. then we went to the natural history museum. great museum! plus it's free. :) there is so much to look at there. we spent a few hours in one of several sections and didn't even finish it. and the building is gorgeous and ornate.

The Big Chill

in the evening all of the EUSA students met at a really nice pub called The Big Chill (i don't know why). they rented out the top patio for us. and they gave us vouchers for 3 free drinks and free food was being passed around. i'm not sure what the point of it all was, but i had a lot of fun. of course, i was one of the few sober people by the end of the night, but no one was really drunk drunk yet. i was just on a sugar rush from drinking 3 lemonades. :)

Mom gave me several questions, so i'll go ahead and answer them here:

yes, everything here is getting SO much easier now that i'm getting into a routine. and i don't even have a real routine yet since i don't start working until next tuesday. but i'm really familiar with the tube now which helps a lot.

i won't come home skinnier if i keep hanging out with these people that eat so much more often than me!

all the food i buy, i buy for myself. the fridges and cabinets are completely individual with locks and everything. but i haven't seen him eat anything in yet anyway.

roommate works somewhere else. however i found out that one other guy with EUSA is going to be working at my company.

haven't seen rain yet. it's been cloudy almost non-stop. except today was sunny and beautiful. but no rain yet. *knock on wood*

don't know anything about church yet. hopefully i can find out this sunday, but i don't even know what time it starts.

Oxford/Man U

on to wed:

Oxford

4 of us went on a train to oxford. aaaaaaamazing! everything was so gorgeous there. i took over 50 pictures. the architecture is so detailed and old and just like the pictures only a lot a lot better! i can't even imagine what it would be like to study there. and the weather was great so all the pictures turned out quite nicely. :) one of the girls with us actually studied there last summer so she knew her way around well enough. so she was our tour guide for the day.

we ate lunch at a really old restaurant called The Eagle and Child. this was a place where JRR Tolkien and Lewis Carroll and others would meet and converse. they called themselves the Inklings. it was very authentic English looking. and it was there i tried fish and chips for the first time. and it's probably the last time i'll order it too. :) it tasted fine, but there just wasn't anything special at all about it. it was just fish with some very plain fries. i don't know why it gets all the hype. it only tasted good after i smothered it in ketchup.

after lunch we saw more stuff. went to christ church - which is where harry potter was filmed apparently and where a few of the golden compass shots were taken. and we saw the dining hall which looked very similar to the one in harry potter. we also went up in some tower and got to look over everything. again... aaaamazing! loved it!

Man U

we made it back in time for the Champions League final game - basically the biggest soccer game here. and it was manchester united vs chelsea. we went to a local pub 45 min early and it was already packed. i stood (with many others) for the whole game, which was being shown on a big screen. it was a great game! you couldn't ask for a closer one. i hope yall kept up with it. i was rooting for man u and was glad i did! the crowd was actually split about 50/50. there was lots of cheering and yelling. one drunk lady behind me was swearing at the other team left and right in her thick british accent. i loved it!!! i could not believe i was watching such a huge soccer game in a british pub! i had to pinch myself a few times. there wasn't much afterwards. no riots or loud cheering on the streets. after the game was over and it died down, it pretty well died down all around. i was kinda surprised about that. but i guess london is diverse enough that it doesn't affect the majority of the people like it would in chelsea. i should've gone there!

i have a new career plan. i plan on becoming a famous gardener so i can work here. that's all i want to do - just come here every day an do gardening for this place.

Christ Church

the pub for the soccer game

i decided this guy has one of the worst jobs ever.

we're up to tuesday now. let's see if we can catch this up at all. nothing is quite as exciting the day after.

i had my "interview" in the morning. I somehow managed to find the place and just in time too. it wasn't really an interview. more like and explanation of the company and my role. all over my head. we'll see what i really do come tuesday (monday's a national holiday). it looks like i'll be working with the product development team. and when i told her my major was international marketing she said she might be able to put me over with the international marketing lady for some stuff. everyone in there is a female! i never saw or heard of one male within that company... :)

all afternoon we did some more touring around london a bit. went all over liecester square. and i'll give you a cookie if you can pronounce that right. went through chinatown. there's nothing much to say about these places other than we walked all through them. we walked a lot!

in the evening we ate out. side note: everyone here seems to eat all their meals out. i seem to be the only guy who's thought of buying food at the grocery store and cooking it at home. even breakfast. they either don't eat or pick up something on the road. after dinner we went to a pub near piccadilly circus. it was a really nice place. there was a tiny lift upstairs that you can order and receive drinks from. you put your money and order in the lift, pull the rope to send it down, and the bartender puts the drinks in and sends it back up. it was worth going just for the lift. and luckily i was with another person who doesn't drink so i didn't feel like a killjoy. interesing thing though, the majority of the people in there were american - and not from our program.

chinatown

sidewalk painter

apparently the time on here is recorded from central time. not sure why.


alright, so i'll try to write all the luscious details from monday. at 10:00 in the morning we had an orientation on the other side of london that they let us figure out how to get to. luckily i was with a guy who was a lot more bold with figuring out stuff, and we managed to make it.

they gave us tons of information about everything. blah blah blah.


then they let us get in groups and sent us on a day-long scavenger hunt around the city. that was fun! we didn't really care about the points involved, but it gave us a direction to go. and we just wandered off if something else caught our interest. i joined up with 4 people from ua that i don't know and don't really know each other. turns out, though, that one guy graduated from sparkman in 04 and played soccer there. so i went through that list with him and we knew a lot of the same people. i also found out later he worked at macaroni grill with jessie waite. so anyway, we spent all day wondering around london as we casually looked for the pieces we needed to find. we walked all through hyde park which is huge and beautiful. we saw a lot of statues and memorials along the way. we even randomly ran into buckingham palace. i know that's a strange thing to do randomly but we were just wandering along a nice road and there it was. the guards weren't usual though, they looked indian and had a different uniform on. don't know what that was about. we ended the hunt by all meeting at a bar on a boat at 5:30. and guess what... i found someone else who doesn't drink! i was rather amazed. it's pretty much woven into some of the activities coming up.


my group all cooked and ate dinner together later and that's pretty much the last detail of the day.


THINGS THAT MADE MY DAY:
1. a rather small car was sputtering up a hill next to us and died. so another guy from my group and i just grabbed it and started pushing it up until he was able to get it started again. there was no asking for help or thank you's involved. it was all just kind of a matter-of-fact deal.


2. having an australian guy ask me, an american, to take his picture in front of buckingham palace.


3. seeing school kids all dressed up in uniforms lining up to get on the tube. think chronicles of narnia...

i've taken several pictures just bc i really like the architecture.

very elaborate statue of prince albert. surrounded by 8 statues, 4 of which are different animals... hence the eliphant below.

a statue of peter pan









































a WWI monument. i liked the way they bolded the names of the soldiers to make the names of the countries. interesting note, the US was not listed as one of the countries. not sure why.

they're everywhere.






















not sure what this further building is but, again, i like the architecture.
















buckingham palace. not nearly as impressive as i would've expected. the gate looked a lot nicer than the building.














big ben from the boat.
















lord nelson... interestingly, with both arms in tact.

It Begins...

at becky's persistance, i begin (drum roll) my blog. i am in london and i suppose i have a few days to cover at once. so here goes...

sat/sun - the days ran together. my planes from hsv to atl and atl to london made it safely. phew! i even got the best seat on the plane to london - right in the middle. the very middle. the kind of middle where when you really have to go to the bathroom, or at least stand up and stretch, and the two guys surrounding you are asleep, there's nothing you can do. yes... that middle.

arrived in london where i got to see my name held on a board. :) that was our chauffeur that two other girls and i went in on to take us to the residency. snazzy, i know. the drive was gooorgeous! so green! and there were sheep grazing! and all the buildings were different shapes. i don't think i saw one that looked like the same style as anything i'm used to.

at 5:00 one of the RA's gave us a short tour along our main road and explained some of the basics. it was all over my head. for speaking the same language, he was using a lot of terms i did not know.

in the evening, a bunch of others went to the pub, but i stayed in. ;) i got myself used to the residency a little bit.


my bedroom:

our floor kitchen:

the view from my bedroom:

a london sunset from my window:

i think i just realized how long it will take me to keep up this blog. i haven't even caught up to the present day yet. dang it, becky.