Debt Panic

This past weekend took a major toll on my bank account. I spent close to a total of eight hours on Saturday and Sunday booking weekend get-aways across Europe. On the schedule thus far: Bordeaux, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin and Scotland. Having to arrange airfares, hotels/hostels and trains for each destination made the number in my bank account drastically drop. I had to keep reminding myself that it doesn't matter, so long as I am seeing everything I can– I know it will be worth it! I am still hoping to make it to Berlin, Prauge and possibly Barcelona, but am going to have to wait to book those trips because the tickets are quite pricey.

Unfortunately, the last time I was in Europe I only got to go to Italy for a few hours, so I have decided that once I finish classes (April 13th), I am going to take a week and travel across the boot-shaped country and hit all the best spots: Venice, Florence, Rome and Naples! It's somewhat pathetic, but in all honestly I think I am most excited for the food. The food here in London is just not doing it for me (with the exception of the local bakeries with fresh, pain au chocolates!).

After numerous hours on our computers in a Starbucks cafe, Maddy and I decided to get out and do something. We had not yet been to the Tower Bridge, and although it was cold, it was well worth seeing at night. 

Tower Bridge of London

Maddy and I

This used to be a ship port. Notice the tall, arched ceiling. 

The "London Bridge is Falling Down" bridge. 

All in all, it was a uneventful but relaxing few days. Just what I needed to prepare myself for my upcoming weekend in Bordeaux, France. 

Stay tuned for some beautiful pictures!

Much love, 

Katie 

Friday fun days

Yesterday I was thinking to myself how this situation was possible: I have been here for almost two weeks, and STILL have not been to Harrods??!!! For those of you who don't know, Harrods is the biggest and most popular store in London. They have everything. Clothes, shoes, handbags, furniture, cars, make-up, lights, animals (yes, real ones), electronics, an ice cream shop, a fresh market with every food item you can imagine, wedding gowns, a Harry Potter exhibit, a library, a Princess Diana memorial and lots and LOTS of chocolate. With all of that, how could I have not managed to make it over there yet?

Since I had the day off from classes, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to make my way over to the historic landmark that has been one of the most popular sights to see in London for centuries!

Harrods covers around one million square feet!

Finding my way around the store was extremely difficult. I found it to have a very odd shape and the directions on the map to not be very helpful. As much as I loved the experience, I would probably never go there to shop. It is a VERY high-end store and I think the cheapest thing I found was a 7 GBP keychain.

My 15 GBP hot fudge sunday at Harrods. Couldn't pass it up! 

Rather than spend our money at Harrods, we decided to head over to Oxford Street again to press our luck at a store called PRIMARK. We were told by a British friend of ours that this is the place all the girls shop because it is so cheap. I found that to be incredibly true.

All of this for only 33 GBP

The store was ridiculous. My guess was that there was well over 300 people shopping– but keep in mind, this place is no Harrods. The store only has two levels, and people were literally shoving me into different directions while I was looking for a purse. It was madness.

It was an extremely long day of shopping and walking all over London, so I wasn't happy when our tube got delayed for about 45 minutes in the station. A teacher had warned me about the tubes getting stopped, but I didn't realize it would happen to one of the tubes I was riding on. It couldn't have come at a worse time either. I was exhausted, cranky, and starving. When I finally arrived back home I went out to dinner at a Thai restaurant with a few friends and then called it a night. It was another perfect day in London! 

Tomorrow I am thinking about going to the library at school to see if I can rent a few books for my classes. With days like these its easy to forget I came here for school! Maybe I should start making that more of a priority?

Lots of Love, 

Katie 

First week of classes

My first few days of classes did not go as well as I hoped they would.

I was actually looking forward to taking classes here, as I think I had mentioned before. Unlike in the U.S., the students at university in the United Kingdom don't have to take "gen. eds" as we call them, which include any class that has nothing to do with your major. My school, City University, is known for its business and journalism programs, and they offer journalism classes that seem much more interesting than the classes at Marquette. I am enrolled in History of journalism, British media, visual journalism, editorial production and historic London. All of them seemed pretty interesting, and I'm sure they would be if I had a clue as to what was going on in the classes...

On Monday I had my history of journalism class, and as soon as I walked in the door the professor started lecturing. There were no introductions, no syllabus, no books...just a teacher picking up where he had left off. After confirming the room number to make sure I didn't walk into the wrong room, I discovered that this class had already met the semester before. In fact, all my classes this week– with the exception of one– have been in session since the previous semester, which for full-time students, began in the beginning of January. I was livid! How could nobody warn me about this? How am I supposed to pick up and learn what all the other students in the class have already gone over with no reading list or previous knowledge of the subject? It seemed very strange to me, and still does. My plan is to just finish up the week, email my teachers, and see how things work out.

Even though I was extremely discouraged after my first two days, I was excited to go to my historic London class today! Many of the friends I have met here are in this class, along with the other Marquette students studying at City. The class is comprised of walking around London and learning everything about the city's history. Today we were in a classroom getting to know each other and learning about the various rulers who have either brought great triumph or great tragedy to Britain, but next week we are meeting at Monument ! I think this class is going to be a lot of fun...I'm excited!

My weekend starts tomorrow after my two sessions of editorial production. After my bad experiences on Monday and Tuesday, I do not have high expectations for the class, but maybe I will be surprised. At least I have a workout class to look forward to!

I believe that is all for now! I have a lot of "homework" to do tonight...booked my flights for Bordeaux and Paris but I still have Berlin, Amsterdam, Dublin, Scotland, and Rome to add to the list. I'm going to have to do a lot of studying to find the best prices – tough life I have, right?

Cheers!
- Katie

England's finest

I spent my last weekend of my winter break soaking up every bit of English history I could! Saturday we got a late start on our trip to tour the British Museum, but still managed to squeeze in some time to shop on the very popular, Oxford Street. Then today, Maddy and I took a trip with Premium Coach Tours and traveled outside of London to see the Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and the city of Bath.

Most all of the museums in London seem to have free admission to the public. I didn't realize how nice that was until I remembered I spent $25.00 for a ticket to the Chicago Shed Aquarium this summer – what a joke. 

The Rosetta Stone

But of course the British Museum had more to offer than that big rock that helped us to translate hieroglyphics. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day: 

The outside of the British Museum

The "Great Court" of the British Museum

The 2012 Summer Olympic Gold Medals 

Thought this was a beautiful picture. This is engraved in the floor of the Great Court. 

Maddy posing as a Godess

Tons of Mummies! 

We probably spent a good two hours walking through the museum. It was gigantic! We tried to make our way over to Piccadilly Circle for some shops, but never found our way so instead we shopped along Oxford Street. I was told that Oxford Street is a popular place for young people to shop because they have stores that are more affordable. I found this to be very true! I thought everything was a good deal at H&M that night and went a little crazy. 

...But c'mon how could I have passed up this infinity scarf?

My new black scarf certainly got good use today as I was traveling outside of the city. Although we suffered some minor problems (such as almost not making our bus, getting lost and having to spend 14 pounds on a taxi, and my name not being on the list for a seat on the tour), our 12-hour excursion to the Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath turned out to be an amazing trip. I especially enjoyed walking around the city of bath. It was like a little Italy.

Windsor Castle.
(Where the Queen entertains and lives most weekends)

FREEZING waiting outside waiting for the castle tours to start.

A tower of the castle surrounded by gardens.

Little disappointed he wasn't in the classic red & black suit. 

Stonehenge !

Maddy and I infront of Stonehenge. 

Still a mystery as to how these got there. 

The beautiful city of Bath.

Inside this building are the actual Roman baths. 

a park in Bath

I would like to think I took full advantage of my last weekend of not having to worry about school work. I have officially been here for one week now and all I can say is that I feel so fortunate that I am living in such an incredible city and traveling to so many beautiful places. I get to experience something new every single day...it is exhilarating! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

It's almost 2 a.m. here now though, and I have a big week ahead of me (first day of class tomorrow) so I better try and get some rest.

Hope all is well back in the States! Love and Miss you.

<3 Katie

Making London my home.

After a very late night last night, I rolled out of bed this afternoon feeling refreshed and...hydrated, shall we say. I was ready to do what I had been trying to find time to do all week– SHOP! Unfortunately, it wasn't the kind of shopping I would have liked to be doing, but it was necessary.

Here at City University, there are no meal plans for the students. Instead, the dorms are equipped with kitchens in which you share with your flatmates. My kitchen is as you can imagine, disgusting, so for the past few days I have been trying to avoid cooking my own meals. But seeing as that I have already blown through 200 UK pounds in five days, I thought it was time to by myself some groceries. Sainsbury's is a local shopping market that I have found the majority of people from Islington must go to because it is always packed with people. It is located about a six minute walk from my building, but of course I made the mistake of wearing a brand new pair of high-heeled boots to the market, and by the time I got home that twelve minute walk had damaged my feet with multiple blisters. Not a part of the fun trip I had planned! On the bright side, I was able to grab some great deals so I wouldn't have to resort to eating out as much. First meal: Bow tie pasta sauteed in a garlic vodka sauce...

Simple. Quick. Delicious.

Before coming home with the groceries I went to multiple stores, including Marks & Spencer, to try and find sheets, but they were nowhere to be found! I later discovered that here in London, they do not use sheets! They put a tiny cover over the mattress and then cover themselves with a duvet cover. I found this concept very odd. How is it we did not adapt to that style of bedding, or, how did they not adapt to using sheets after all this time? Even though I thought it was strange, I was still desperate for some comfort, so I found myself a duvet.

I have to say, it makes my room much more cozy. What do you think?

Before:

After:

When I returned from a stressful – but successful – three hours of shopping, I finished off my evening by  popping a squat in front of my computer screen to watch the newest episode of One tree Hill and eat my bow tie pasta, and for the first time I realized that I was going to get by just fine in my new home.

City University Orientation

January 18th and 19th:

For the past two days, I have been busy attending my orientation for school. We have had to wake up at 10 a.m. the past two morning which has been rough considering we go out every night and my sleep schedule is still messed up from the time change! But surprisingly, orientation has been rather enjoyable. I specifically enjoyed yesterday's "city tour" which was a two hour walk around the University's neighboring towns. I found a bunch of cute markets and eateries I am dying to try out...especially "Dans le Noir," meaning "in the black." It is a restaurant where you eat in complete darkness. My brother, Ben, had told me about a place like this he had gone to when he was in Prague, and I am anxious to try it myself. It sounds like an interesting experience!

On the tour, Maddy, Katie, and I were able to meet up with the rest of the students that have come from Marquette. Later that night we all went out together at a local bar and watched an English Football game. After the game had ended, I was surprised to find the bar playing Mumford, Lady Gaga, and House of Pain's "Jump Around." I didn't realize our music was so popular over here.

Today we woke up early to register for classes. The advisors at City University had told us they do not have us sign up for classes online, which we thought was a good thing, because at Marquette the online registration process is quite confusing. Once again though, we were misled and discovered that adjusting to the British education system was going to be much harder than we expected. I spent hours on the computer trying to figure out what time my classes are at and how they could fit in my schedule. If I did my "timetable" correctly, I am taking five classes Monday afternoon through Thursday. The classes here run longer, but each class is only one day a week– sounds great, right? I am anxious to get started, and learn all about British journalism!

I guess that is all for now! Now that I finally have internet (the IT service lost my form to activate my account), I will try to post every day!

Miss you all.

Cheers!

Westminster

January 17th:

Considering the length of the last post, I will try to make this one quick!

On our second day, we wanted to go see some of London's most famous sights. We had the entire day open, so we took out our maps and headed on a little adventure to Westminster.

The London Eye. 

BIG BEN !

Maddy and I sitting in front of the House of Parliament. 

Back of Westminster Abbey

Bridge over the River Thames.

Red Double Decker Bus :) 

Didn't realize there would be one of these every ten steps!

This one is for you, Mother!

Yes, this IS the place Kate and William kissed in front of the entire World. 

Katie, Katie & Maddy

Buckingham Palace fountain. 

Me infront of Buckingham Palace. 

Just an old and beautiful building across from Parliament. 

The River Thames. 

Luckily we were able to get to know two guys that are also going to our university, Bob and Fred. They accompanied us on our trip to Westminster, and later that night we went out with them and some other study abroad students and full-time British students to a fun bar in town! While out and about in london I have learned that...
- Everyone uses the tube
- There is no turkey on any sandwiches – very disappointing.
- Coins here are worth a LOT more than coins back at home. You can't just throw them around!
- Everyone walks everywhere.
- Fish and Chips is on every restaurant's menu.
- Going out on the weekdays is normal. Going out on the weekends is not.
- And looking RIGHT is much more important than looking LEFT when crossing the road – I found out the hard way. I almost got hit by a big red bus!


Hope everyone enjoyed the photos...there are more photos and posts to come!