Do You Hear the Jonas Sing?

This week went by really fast after coming home from Paris. Monday and Tuesday night I passed out as soon as I hit the pillow I was so tired!

Tuesday night we were all so excited to go see Les Mis! After work we all met and went to the Theatre. The show was completely sold out and we saw several people try and buy tickets and get turned down. We walked up to our seats and were so excited.

Les Mis has been my favorite musical since I first saw it when I was younger. Tuesday was the first time I had seen it when I could really really understood the story. The show was amazing and seeing it made me fall in love with it all over again.



It was obvious that a lot of girls were there just for Nick Jonas, but also a good amount of people had never heard of Nick. He was really cute in the show and every time he sang the four of us couldn't help but smile. After the show we went to the stage door to attempt to see him, along with a hundred or so other people. We got some good looks and he actually looked at me in the eyes when I told him I'd seen him before in Dallas! I felt really lame but I was also really excited to be so close! We were also able to see the actors who played Javert, Eponine, and Cosette up close.

The rest of the week flew by at work. I had a lot to do most of the time which was good but this week I also moved to my real desk, which is far away from the other girls in my department. But I am close to the other interns so that works out. I'm still really liking everything and getting better at talking on the phone to British people.

We leave for Dublin tomorrow and I'm so excited! It will be nice to hear English again and be in a more relaxed atmosphere than Paris!

cb

OK, I've got three choices for you...

This weekend was the roommates' first real trip. We packed our bags, printed our tickets and were ready to go Friday morning.

After arriving at the train station, we took a detour to platform 9 and 3/4 for all the Harry Potter fans.




Picture-taking proved entertaining, but we were ready to get on the train! As soon as we crossed into the Eurostar area, everyone was speaking French and the station was very very nice. The train ride was a breeze, and it's actually only under the channel for about 20 minutes. When we came out of the tunnel, we didn't even realize we were in France! Since the sun sets so late here, we were able to see some beautiful French countryside on the way to Paris. When we got off the train, we were immediately overwhelmed. The station was very hot and crowded and our goal was to simply get metro tickets and get to the hotel. This proved very difficult though, because all of the ticket offices and shops were closed at 8:30 on a Friday so our chances of finding someone who spoke English went down very quickly. We attempted to buy metro tickets through a kiosk but they only take Euro coins or a European credit card. At this point we seriously contemplated taking a cab for about 40 minutes, but finally we found an extremely nice man to help us at a change bureau who exchanged our Euro cash for coins. The metro experience is quite different than the London underground. The stations are confusing, very hot and covered with trash, graffiti, and homeless people. We got on our train but since we didn't understand the announcement in French, it went the opposite direction! We realized this and got off and took a cab from a few stations away to our hotel.

As soon as we walked in, looking exhausted, sweaty and American, the hotel manager immediately said "Corrigan!" to which we all began laughing of course. Great English, and so helpful we were relieved. The rooms were perfect-quaint but comfortable with great AC and beds and it was just 10 minutes from the Eiffel Tower. No complaints. Molly and I had set an itinerary so we could do everything possible so we ventured right into it. We got the cheapest wine we could at a shop across the street, and when he heard we were from Texas he declared "Cowboys!" In some shops in Paris, wine is literally cheaper than bottled water.

We headed down to the Eiffel Tower which was beautiful. It was very surreal to be somewhere that Americans are so familiar with and have seen so many photos of. We got some popcorn and relaxed with our wine on the lawn of the Eiffel Tower and stared at its' sparkly glory. Every hour, there is a light show too so that was gorgeous. We met some interesting people on the lawn, including a group of boys backpacking from Mexico who were in love with Two and a half Men and couldn't understand why it wasn't our favorite show! After a long evening of travelling, we walked back to hotel.





Saturday morning we woke up to pouring rain. I was so glad I brought my rain boots and jacket! We grabbed a long breakfast to try and wait out the rain. Our first taste of French food was delicious. Croissants, fresh bread, and some of the best coffee I'd ever had! We braved the rain and headed back to the tower to grab a river cruise on the Seine. Of course, we were four of the total of 10 people on this cruise due to the rain but I'm so glad we did it. The cruise travels along the river and a tour guide recording tells you everything about what you see.



Thanks to the cruise, we knew about everything we saw that weekend and had better bearings of the city. As the cruise pulled back in, the sun started to come out! We grabbed a quick lunch and headed off to the Louvre!


We were a bit nervous to see the size of the line but it was bearable. It took about half an hour to go through the different lines and get our tickets. I can definitely say that the Louvre is one of the most overwhelming places I've ever been to. There is no way to prepare enough even with a map of every famous piece of art. And there is no way to prepare your feet for the amount of walking it takes to see everything. On our river cruise we learned that if you went to the Louvre and spent one minute in front of each piece of art, it would take you four months to see everything!

We saw all the "biggies" including Mona Lisa, Venus De Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace, Psyche and Cupid, Raft of Medusa and more. My memories of the Art History and Greek and Roman Mythology classes I took were definitely coming back! I definitely would want to come back whenever I am in Paris next.





We walked to Notre Dame which is on a small island from there and couldn't believe that the line was longer for that than the Louvre! The inside of the church was amazing and the epitome of Gothic architecture. We were all a little put off because the church itself is free, but if you wanted to pray there, they wanted you to pay 2-5 Euros to get a candle. They also had a long line for the confessional. We opted not to head into the famous towers because we knew the view from the Eiffel Tower would be better, and the line was again extremely long!




One of Molly and Rachel's friends had given us directions to a restaurant for dinner in the Latin Quarter so we decided to go ahead and try and find it. The area is very cool with lots of shops and restaurants, it's easy to see why it is the most popular area for students. Although we followed the directions to the best of our ability, we're not even sure if we ate at the correct restaurant. Nonetheless, our dinner was delicious! I tried Escargot for my first dish, Duck for my second, and for dessert I had cheese, because I hadn't had any yet in Paris!It was all really good however I don't think I would eat the snails again...something just weirds me out about thinking about snails in the woods etc.



After getting ready back at the hotel, the four of us met up with Molly's Boss from her internship and her friend at Bound Bar on the Champs-Elysses. The bar itself was beautiful and trendy. Although the drinks were very expensive, they were the best cocktails I think I have ever had! We stayed there at our table for a few hours, then ventured out for somewhere to dance. Eventually we ended up at L'Aventure which seemed like a fun place. Somehow, this club's drinks were more expensive than Bound, but the place was packed so we figured we were lucky to get in. The crowd was very young and we were definitely the only Americans there. I think the best part was that at some point a sax player came out and started playing with the DJ. He was so amazing and it was hilarious at the same time. Worn out by this time, we attempted to get McDonalds to celebrate the 4th of July, but we were unsuccessful.

Bound:


L'Aventure:


With only a few hours sleep, we woke up to begin our last day in Paris. We again went to the tower, only now to climb it. I had an amazing chocolate croissant for breakfast as we waited in line forever. It was much scarier than I imagined going up the lift to the top, but the view was worth the money, the height, and the fear. We took our pictures then just enjoyed looking at Paris from above. I walked to the other side to see more views, and suddenly I was watching someone propose! I backed away and watched, it was so sweet to see her be so surprised and happy. I offered to take some pictures of the couple afterwards.







We continued our day by heading towards the Musee d'Orsay, the home to the world's most famous impressionist art. We grabbed lunch at an amazing restaurant where the weather was so beautiful we had to sit outside! While eating we saw a huge 4th of July motorcycle parade go by and we cheered for America. I had a sandwich with the most amazing bread and had some of Molly's quiche, which is big for me if you know my former disgust with eggs. Luckily for us, on the first Sunday of each month the museums are free! The museum used to be a train station so it is very open and you can even tell where the train platforms used to be. There were so many beautiful things to see between the Monets, Manets, Van Goghs, and Degas' it was a lot to take in. The Orsay was not as overwhelming as the Louvre thankfully and it was so much fun to see everything that I'd studied in class.

From there, we went back towards to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs to shop and see them in the daylight. By now, it was so hot outside I had a sunburn! We walked along the Champs and were shocked how crowded the street was. We stopped at Laduree, famous for their brightly colored macaroons. We each got some and they were amazing! After shopping for a while, we headed back to the hotel and grab our bags and leave!





On the train back, we forgot that we had booked Leisure class tickets so we were happily surprised when we were given free drinks and a dinner menu when boarding. They had been the only seats left so it was a fun treat after a busy weekend.

The weekend was amazing but I don't think I would ever live or stay in Paris besides a vacation. The tourist attractions are famous for a reason, but not knowing French proved very difficult and we experienced a lot of Anti-Americanism, maybe because we were just four girls but we felt it in lots of places. I enjoyed the weekend so much and now I am exhausted! This week will be our 4th week of internships and tomorrow we're going to see Les Mis!

Summer halfway over?!

As I finish my 3rd week of work, it really is hard to believe that my trip to London is halfway over! My roommates and I realized how short the summer really is last week when we took a look at a calendar and compared it with everything we want to do. I feel like so far we have been making the most of our trip, and I hope we continue to do so!

This week at work I did a variety of things. One of my favorites was attending a Marketing Induction meeting for new employees. We learned that although we spend the majority of time at MEC focusing on our clients' brands, MEC has its own brand that we need to recognise (UK spelling) and have a true knowledge of. We also watched several case study videos that you can see on MEC's website here.

I continued working on a presentation for Sony Ericsson, but have moved on to a newer product, the Experia 10 Mini, targeted mostly towards girls. I also worked on checking Chanel bookings and a new pitch for Danone (Activia). This week we got a new intern and I was actually able to give her some advice which was a strange feeling for me as I have been here only 3 weeks. I'm really enjoying my time here and learning so much about Media Buying and everything that comes with it.

On Tuesday, Molly, Kelsie, and I ventured to Wimbledon after work! It was suprisingly far away from where we live, so it was a little bit of trek on the tube, but we made it ok. After 5pm the tickets to the grounds go down in price, and the tickets for matches that were previously sold go up for resale for only £5! We bought tickets for a match in court one, a men's doubles game but due to the strict tennis restrictions (no hot or smelly food, lids required on drinks including beer, and no entering during a set) we couldn't go into the game right away. We decided to wander around and get the famous strawberries and cream and check out the shop. By the time we got back to the match, it was over. A bit frustrating, but we saw about 2 minutes of tennis! I was just happy to be there. The grounds are so beautiful and I'd love to go again some other time and see a full match! Afterwards we grabbed some beers at our local pub and headed home after a very long day.

Yesterday I finally managed to get comfortable shoes, because somehow every pair of shoes I brought hurts my feet. I figured since we will be walking nonstop in Paris, it would be worth it. I also finally got my International Student card which helps out when stores/museums have student discounts, and employees have no idea what Kansas is.

Tonight is the Eclipse premiere here in London and I'm still unsure if I want to have a go at it. The red carpet walk begins at 6pm so I would make it, but I've read that people were lined up since last night for a spot to see the stars! Either way, I hope to see the movie soon, as it comes out July 9th here.

This weekend we are taking our first big trip to Paris! I'm so excited and am sure I'll have so much to blog about afterwards. We are taking the Eurostar which goes through the chunnel. We have our whole weekend mapped out so hopefully we can avoid the rainy weather and enjoy the weekend!

Au Revoir!

English vs. British English

In the three weeks I've been in London, I have caught on to much of the language so far from English known as British English.

Spelling differences:
Rumour, Labour, Colour...etc.
Organise, Organisation etc...
Jewellery
Ageing

**Update: Paedophile. Makes the word even more gross

Dates:
5/6/2010 is June 5th 2010, not May 6th. Confusing when typing dates into Excel or other programs.

British Terminology I've Learned:
Dodgy = sketchy, bad
WAGs = Wives and Girlfriends...Victoria Beckham is the 'Queen of the WAGs.'
Rubbish or Litter = trash
Top Up = Reload, or refill, or just simply get more. Best used for referring to phones or your pass for the tube.
Uni = University/College
Fit = Good looking, hot
Give Way = Yield. Commonly seen on street signs
Hayfever = Allergies. Apparently also used in America but I was unaware of that.


Phone Calls:
Instead of How are you? as a common greeting, you usually hear 'Are you Alright?' This is a little weird because at first it makes you feel like you look sick or bad.

To end a phone call, everyone raises the pitch of their voice and says Cheers, Bye! Very excitedly.


The company I work for, Media Edge, is usually pronounced 'Medieredge' which always sounds a bit like Meteor to me.


Need to go the bathroom? It is quite difficult to ask. Not very many people actually say Loo, so the easiest thing to say is Toilet, however crude that may be.

That's all for now, I'll probably add more when I remember them.

Consider Yourself...

hey there! As always our weekends are packed full of activities so here's a run down of how we fared this time!

Thursday night we ventured out to O'Neill's again, and to meet up with Molly and some of her coworkers. After getting slightly lost, we found our mostly American fave bar. This time the third floor was open and we saw some really great live music! Molly and I left fairly early (2am...) and had a cab drop us off 2 blocks away from home, because that's where Burger King is.

Molly and I


Friday morning we started with our wonderful seminars from EUSA, this time the subject was culture, or as they would say it in a British accent- cultcha! After the session we headed over to Barbican to the Museum of London. We also peeked in Molly's internship to say hi since it was so close. The Museum of London was not my favorite, but they had a lot of really interesting artifacts and exhibits. I think my favorites were the sections about the plague and the great fire of London.

All day we couldn't contain our excitement for seeing Oliver that night! We decided to go to Chinatown for dinner, since it is near most of the big theatres. It was really hard to pick a restaurant because they all look good, and we had no recommendations to go off of. Finally we chose one and it was delicious! Afterwards we got ice cream (My 2nd ice cream of the day) and headed to the theatre. It's obvious how much the British love Oliver seeing the amount of people and especially children at the Theatre. Although our seats recommended "must lean forward" we could see easily and we didn't have too many nosebleeds. The show was amazing, and all the kids in the show were adorable. We were lucky to see two broadway vets, Russ Abbot and Kerry Ellis in the show as well! The four of us sang our way back home and hung out with some friends in our building for a while before heading to bed.


Chinatown


Oliver Stage


Unfortunately we had to wake up very early Saturday for KU's day trip to Stonehenge and Bath...but it was worth it. After a two hour bus ride we arrived in Bath, an amazingly beautiful city. We began the day with the tour of The Roman Baths which was incredible. I loved seeing the history behind these baths, and imagining who would have been there so many years ago. We spent the afternoon strolling around and eating lunch.

In Bath



We hopped back on the bus and headed towards Stonehenge, about an hour away. It is literally in the middle of nowhere but you can't miss it, especially with hundreds of cars and buses around the area. Immediately we all joked that there is no way humans made it, because it is just so big and the wheel wasn't even invented yet! It was really cool to see a sight that is so popular worldwide. Although we felt extremely touristy, it was fun to see and I'm glad we got to see it.

Stonehenge!


After arriving back home, Rachel, Kelsie, and I met up with some other EUSA students from Chapman near their housing, and watched the US match at the Big Chill House. However disappointing, we had fun watching it there. Exhausted from Stonehenge, we went back home and relaxed.

Sunday was so much fun, because Kelsie and I went to the Hard Rock Calling music festival in Hyde Park! Thanks to a certain family member, I got two free tickets and guest passes to the festival. Kelsie and I checked out the festival grounds and squeezed our way to the front for the first acts. First up was More Than Me, a group from NY that we hadn't heard of but really enjoyed.




Second was Josh! Although I've seen him many times in the States, it was really fun to see him again and in London.




We stayed up in front for some of Elvis Costello's set as well.





After that, we wanted to check out more of the festival so we wandered around, checked out shops and the food venues. We went back into the Guest Area where there was a flat screen and watched some of the England Match. Coincidentally, Josh was there too so we were able to talk and take some pictures together.




Kelsie and I chilled out in the Guest Area for a while and laid out in the sun during Crowded House's set. We grabbed some burgers and set up camp for Paul McCartney. We decided to sit further out, rather than try and squeeze our way through the die hard fans. We caught the end of Crosby, Stills and Nash which was awesome too. Finally Paul McCartney came on and it was amazing! Although I wasn't familiar with some of his music, he played a ton of Beatles faves (All My Lovin, Ob La Di Ob La Da, Let it Be, Something, Live and Let Die, Blackbird, Back in the USSR, A Day in the Life, Eleanor Rigby, Day Tripper, Lady Madonna and More!). He also dedicated some songs to George, John, Linda and his family.



He Ended with Hey Jude which was amazing and the crowd loved it! Kelsie and I returned home absolutely covered in dirt and just general nastiness considering it was the hottest day yet in 2010 in London.

This week I'll continue work and hopefully do some fun stuff during the week like check out Wimbeldon or other London hot spots. This weekend is our first real trip, to Paris!

cb

"F!%#*G Yanks" -And other phrases heard at work..

Just a quick update on my second week of work!

It's been really great as I get more used to the different programs and clients and I'm really enjoying it. This week I did a variety of things but mostly with Chanel and Sony Ericsson. My favorite thing this week was today actually when I went to a presentation where anyone from the company could present something they had done that month. Some members of my team presented a campaign for Sony Ericsson where augmented reality was the main form of sponsored advertising. It was cool to learn how they put it together and the amazing results they got. We also heard about a new Google technology that MEC used before any other agency, and last about how packaging your pitch and campaign can make all the difference.


Things I've learned at work so far:
1) Keyboard are very different. And some keyboards that are labeled British are actually American!
2) Tea all day every day. 5 cups or more
3) All kinds of foul language are work appropriate. All the 'bad' words you can think of, I heard at work this week.
4) World Cup rules all. I got off work 5 hours early when England had a game during the day
5) Media Buying is fun. I really love learning about it and I can tell everyone at MEC loves their job and is really committed to their clients.

This weekend we will be busy with the Museum of London, Seeing Oliver, maybe Chinatown for dinner, Stonehenge/Bath, lots of pub crawling etc I'm sure, and Sunday Kelsie and I are going to the Hard Rock Calling Music Festival!

Can't wait for this weekend!

cb

21 at last!

Well what a weekend! Friday, we got to skip our weekly seminar for an "at-home" version. I got my first birthday gifts from David and from my parents (thank you!). We went for froyo for lunch, delicious and so worth the calories. The museum of the day was the Imperial War Museum. It was really interesting, we definitely could go back and spend more time there. We checked out the main floor with the huge tanks, planes, bombs etc. We wanted to get away from the million school children there, so we went into the Children of the War exhibition. This was especially cool because in America, we learn what happened in England during WWII, but not in very much detail. I really enjoyed seeing this side of things. Last, we went through the brand new Holocaust Exhibit which was kind of a downer start to the birthday weekend.

Inside the Museum


Afterwards, we headed back to The Gloucester Arms for the US World Cup game and then the England Game. We met a ton of Americans there...first a group from the University of Arizona then another group who had just graduated from school in California. After the disappointing games, we decided to check out the Ministry of Sound with our new friends.


Watching the Games


New American Friends!


The Ministry of Sound was so crazy and fun. There are tons of rooms and different areas and lots of DJs. The main room, The Box even has a warning that said "Caution Excessive Sound Levels." We had so much fun and even though we were out late, it was worth it. We even attempted to take the Night Bus home, which was a disaster. After getting home in the wee hours, we slept almost all day.

Caution!



Great Night...


After waking up at 2pm, we wanted to do SOMETHING fulfilling on Saturday. We ventured out to the Tower of London with our friends from Bryant. Also, while we were there, the Tower Bridge went up! It was really cool to see. Here are some pics!


With the Guards



Video of the Bridge


Feeling adventurous, we went to Brick Lane for dinner, for world famous Indian Food. Immediately we were harrassed by different restaurant owners trying to get us to come to their place. We settled on City Spice, which turned out to be delicious. One catch- I ate a forkful of veggies without looking, and downed a fresh green chili pepper. I honestly thought I was going to throw up on the table. I survived, and we had a relaxing Saturday night to recover from Friday and prepare for the birthday festivities!

Delish...




Now for the birthday! I woke up to a wonderful brunch from my lovely roomies! It was complete with nutella stuffed french toast, fruit salad, and mimosas!

Yum!




We headed off to the Church! for a lovely Sunday bday! This was a crazy place! Only open Sundays noon to four...and there is a "show" each week. We were lucky enough to see the end which involved a lovely female dancer and some hilarious drinking games onstage. The last part of the show was a girl's dance and all the girls get up on stage, including Rachel and I!

On stage


The View from the stage


It was so much fun and I got lots of free drinks being the birthday girl! My roomies helped me out getting me water and finding poor bar-goers to buy me drinks. I ended the afternoon covered in sharpie and paint on my face that said 21! I scrubbed it all off later!

This week we'll continue working and this weekend is Stonehenge, Bath, perhaps seeing a musical, and going to the Hard Rock Calling Music Festival!

cb