.....seriously- London.
This city is unreal. Let me share some of the adventures I've already been on.
A part from flying through a thunderstorm and dropping nearly 100 feet, the plane ride was relatively smooth. My luggage wasn't lost, and this was the first time in all of my travels that I haven't been frisked or pulled aside at the airport for a "random search". Although I must say, those full-body scanners are pretty cool. I couldn't help but think about the airport employees thinking about every single person naked as he or she went through.
Upon arrival at Heathrow, I felt like an expert at this whole international travel thing. I found the terminal we were supposed to meet at, and waited there as other interns slowly rolled up. Our school (Arcadia University) picked us up at the airport and took us to our apartments free of charge.
My. Apartment. Rules.
I share a room with 2 other girls, and by a stroke of luck, ended up with the largest room in the entire building.
There are 7 girls total on my flat, including myself. We have 2 bathrooms. This apartment is 5x better than my living arrangements in Madison.
We arrived in London around 8:00am. The plane ride was (only) 8 hours, so I watched a bunch of movies and realized we were descending to land. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much on the plane. I also had another entire day ahead of me. Poor planning? Possibly.
We've spent the past 5 days enjoying free meals, free transportation, and the effects of a British pint compared to that of an American pint. The alcoholic content is much higher here. I'm not complaining. Blonde and bitter!
Everything is expensive.
Everyone is nice.
We live in one of the most posh pockets of the city. We live in the Kensington and Chelsea Burrough of the Greater London county. Yes, we live nearly in Chelsea.
The similarities of the UK to Australia are never-ending. I've enjoyed some beer and candy that I thought I would never ever get to taste again.
Figuring out 'The Tube' in London was actually not as challenging as I had anticipated. It's unbelievably convenient, and takes you to nearly every area of London.
The buildings and the people and the sites and the London Eye and EVERYTHING is just unreal. In fact, we were on the bridge near the London eye, when we were photo-bombed by a group of French men all wearing orange reflector vests and drinking from a bottle of Jager (there are no open intoxicant laws here: People walk around drinking all the time!)
The fackin' French.
Internship
... is perfect for me. I'm working at the "Collingham Family and Childcare Centre"- a 15 minute walk from my apartment in Redcliffe Gardens. I met the director, Paul, on Friday during my 'interview'. It wasn't an interview. He said it was just a quick meeting to see whether or not I thought the centre was a good fit for me.
.... it's perfect.
He let me choose which days I wanted to intern (we're required 3 days/week- Naturally I chose Mon-Wed for traveling reasons). He also told me that the kids in the centre range from ages 7-13, and have all experienced some severe emotional trauma in their lives. Their disorders range from Anorexia to Autism, to severe Psychosis.
Paul also informed me that I will literally become part of the team there, and the only difference in regards to rank will be between the kids and the adults. I'm allowed to enforce the same rules as the actual employees, and I can interact with the kids as much or as little as I feel comfortable doing (of course Paul threw in that Americans are usually moreso 'outgoing" when it comes to "things like this" when compared to Brits). Pshhhh.
I start on Monday and work a typical 9:00-5:00. The first thing I will be doing upon arrival is reading the personal and medical files of every single child in the centre. This is not only frowned upon in the states, but is also grounds for arrest and could lead to some serious legal issues down the road. Which brings me to my next point-
Class
In order to complete my degree, I only need this 3-credit internship, as well as 3 more credits for a required course: Policy and Politics of the United Kingdom. The class meets once a week on Tuesday nights. The only major assignment is a (holy shit) 5,000-word paper due by the end of the term. Juuust the worst. I thought I was done with papers. I'm thinking of writing my paper on the British healthcare policies compared to that of America. It's like night and day.
Night life
Last, but most certainly not the least in any way, I bring you the night life of London.
So fetch.
The night life and pubs and watering holes are just unreal. There is a pub nearly on every corner, and I'm smitten. It's completely fine to grab (lots of) beer during lunch, as well as directly after work. Also, the night life really picks up around 9:00-10:00pm. This is fabulous, for people like me that like to sleep. It was brought to our attention shortly before leaving for a Friday night out that there are more than 300 languages spoken all over the United Kingdom. Sometimes these language barriers cause embarrassment.
DOH!
The partying really never stops. Especially when there's football. (Get Swiss!)
It's only been 5 days, but I already feel like I fit in pretty well here. This is all I want- To live here, work here, and bring friends with me, and bikes. and make the roads more bike-safe. (I'm surprised I haven't been hit by a double-decker yet.)
But seriously... What gives??
Until next time....
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