i have a paper due, so naturally i'm updating this blog

i'm really good at procrastinating. its great though, because having a huge paper due makes me do a lot of other random things that i should have done long ago. examples include christmas shopping, grocery shopping, cleaning my room, and FINALLY laundering my clothes. basically anything except writing the actual paper. i rule.

so here i am in the midst of a research paper i've had all semester to write, but being the incredibly lazy student i've decided to be for the past three months, i have about five days to get my act together and write the damn thing. this leaves me stuck on the floor of my flat, knee-deep in library books and notebook paper, caffeinated tea on the ready, some 'explosions in the sky' in the background, and a sleepless night ahead. i can do it! the stupid thing isn't due until wednesday anyway. but i refuse to be writing it my last full weekend in london- a fact i still cannot, and will not wrap my brain around.

it's also so hard to concentrate on school work at a time like this because everything is so christmas-ey. i work in the middle of one of the most expensive areas of london: covent garden. everything is there to tantalize you, from all types of food you never knew you wanted, to cute shops with the most perfect gifts you never knew existed, to lit up trees and hugely awkward (yet festive?) sculpted hedges designed to look like rudolph. it's a rich person's paradise, and a poor student's worst nightmare-especially when that poor student has a near impossible time resisting random objects she knows she doesn't need and will probably never use; it's hard walking through there everyday to get to work and resisting the urge to buy every single thing i see.

must push onward. must write this paper. must have the best last weekend in england i can possibly have.

all sorts of feelings

two weeks left. two weeks left. i cannot believe its almost over, and even weirder, i'm not sure how to feel about it. my dad gave me good advice via skype today: stop thinking about how you feel, just go with it, and let it hit you when it hits you. too much to think about at once; the excitement of going home, and the sadness of leaving the place that has been my home (and a great one at that) for four months. definitely bittersweet. that word has never seemed more fitting.

madrid, among other things

went to madrid this past weekend. i'm not sure how i felt about the trip overall-it was a serious whirlwind. we left london for spain at 7am, arrived in madrid around ten, entered our hostel at two, and didn't stop moving until we left sunday morning at four thirty AM. craziness. trip included trips to the reina sofia art museum to see original paintings by salvador dali and picasso, a tour of the royal palace of madrid, a flamenco show, tapas, and lots of other sightseeing. we saw the only egyptian temple not located in egypt...random but really neat. the people aren't super friendly, and were reluctant to speak english to us. i guess what i took from the trip is to have a bit more empathy for those that cant speak my language as well as i'd wish, for now i know how difficult communicating can be. i'm glad to be back in london where the language barrier is minimal.

i must admit however that the trip as a whole was exactly the way i would imagine a trip in my twenties to be like; little money, the hostel was extremely run down, we didn't shower for four days, and sleeping happened for maybe eight hours total the entire time we were there. we described the trip as a series of unfortunate events that ended up being kind of hilariously perfect.

on friday i am venturing to austria. i cannot wait to kick back and hopefully try to relax a bit. i picture myself running through rolling hills, sipping hot chocolate, and singing about pockets full of sun.

in other news, the parents visited this past week which was so much fun. it was nice to be taken care of for a few days. being a grown-up is exhausting.

so bad at this

i had a feeling a blog would be difficult for me to keep up with-how right i was. i lack discipline...

so it has been about a month since i've updated. i'm still having a blast in london. i'm working really hard, but enjoying it immensely. i've been able to take a lot of ownership at work which has been really fulfilling, and way better than stuffing envelopes (although i must admit i do my fair share of that...the other day i stuffed 500!) i love the women i work with, and i can definitely see myself working for a nonprofit in the future. it has really opened my eyes to a lot of different career paths.

classes are still going well, although i can't help but get annoyed when i have outside work to do. i know its silly, but it just feels so awful to be stuck inside writing a paper about london instead of going out and exploring it. but for the most part, my "tutors" (as they are called here) are really good and i'm learning a lot. it is fun to be able to be surrounded by the things i am studying...for example last night I saw The Tempest for my Shakespeare class, and what better than to see an actual play by the man himself in LONDON, the place where it all happened.

i went to sweden a few weeks ago for fall break, and had a really great time. it felt a lot like new england, which was funny and unexpected. lots of foliage, beautiful trees, and for a big city (we were in stockholm) it felt extremely manageable. perhaps its because london is so intense, that anything else just pails in comparison. but that trip was great, i went with a five friends on the program and we all just had a really relaxing and fun time.

next on the list is AUSTRIA-november 19. i am still debating portugal, its fairly cheap and i really want to go somewhere a bit warmer. after that, its thanksgiving which i think i will be hanging around in london for-airfare has gotten a bit pricy, and honestly it will be nice to catch up with myself. sometimes i forget how important that is for my own sanity. after thanksgiving, its ireland, then two weeks i'm back in america. god, thats a crazy thought.

my parents are coming in a little over a week, and i cannot wait. i need some family love. it will be really neat to show them around a city i have been living in that they have no idea about.

i'm learning to knit tomorrow! the woman who runs our program offered to teach me and a few friends, and i've always wanted to so i figured now was the time! goal is to knit myself a hat. i think i can i think i can....

birthday!

it's my birthday in london. so far it has been thrilling: i got stuck in the elevator going down to the tube this morning, and at work i graphed data on excel and learned MAIL MERGE! happy birthday to meeeee! no but really, it has already been a lovely day. got a nice banoffee (banana and toffee flavors...DELISH) cake from the women in my office, totally surprised, and a very thoughtful card, and i am getting ready to go out to dinner. tonight i will be going out with friends to the shoreditch area of london, where dubstep and crazy electronic music is played until the wee hours of the morning. all i want to do is D-A-N-C-E!

in other news, work and classes are going really well. thanks to my amazing internship i have already seen five west-end shows in the past six days (all for free...i'm such a lucky duck):

-five guys named moe
-deathtrap
-sister act
-a disappearing number
-yes, prime minister

i've also booked myself four trips so far, including stockholm sweden for october break, ireland to see some amazing countryside in december, palma de mallorca spain, and greece for thanksgiving! trying to soak up as much of london as i can, as its already going by way too quickly.

more updates to come! off to get ready for a feast and some fun!

one week down

my first week in england has drawn to a close, and i must admit i am exhausted! london is a very fast-paced city, and as much as i enjoy the hustle and bustle of city life, i am absolutely worn out by the end of the day.

this week included a good amount of sightseeing (trafalgar square, walks along the thames, visits to camden town and cambridge, big ben, and other wonderfully touristy things), and partying. the nightlife here is a ton of fun, and discovering different pubs and clubs has been very exciting for me and my flatmates. so far our favorites are roadhouse, a fifty's inspired diner-esque bar with karaoke on monday nights, and o'neills, a really fun pub/dance club.

tomorrow i start classes and work...dun dun dun! it will be a long day, with class from 10-1 and my internship from 2-6, but i'm very much looking forward to a little bit of routine added back into my life. i'll be taking three classes at birkbeck college on monday, tuesday, and wednesday, and then working my internship full days on thursdays and fridays (and half days on mondays).

today was a bit of a homesick day for me, but i had been bracing myself for the "weepies" (as our den mother over here in england affectionately calls it), all week. all i can say is thank goodness for skype, which has allowed me to feel a bit more connected to my friends and family in the states. oh, and a trip to mcdonalds today helped a bit too :)

war horse

last night i saw one of the most amazing plays i've ever seen in my life. it's called war horse, and it was incredible. we saw it at the new london theatre, which was a five minute walk from our flats. here is a little blurb about it from the national theatre's website:

"War Horse is a thrilling and spectacular production based on the celebrated novel by Michael Morpurgo. The First World War is the backdrop for this tale of bravery, loyalty, and the extraordinary bond between a young recruit and his horse. Actors, working with astonishing life-sized puppets by the internationally renowned Handspring Puppet Company, take audiences on an unforgettable journey through history."

i still can't believe i'm here. pinching myself everyday.