The Journey's End

Early Saturday morning I woke up and headed to the Victoria Coach station. I had purchased a ticket for the 8 am coach to London Heathrow Airport. When my coach arrived I was very sad to leave. As I made my last journey driving through the city, it was hard to see all the buildings pass me by. When the coach reached Heathrow, I was dropped off at the coach station. After walking around a bit and reading a few signs, I finally found the lift to take me to the Express Train to reach my appropriate terminal. By this point I was rather exhausted from hauling my suitcase and two over-sized, overweight carry-on bags. I wanted nothing more than to hire a personal assistant to save me the hassle of hauling my junk, but I carried on about my business all by myself. It was just after 9 am when I arrived at the Delta ticket counter, but much to my dismay there was already an insanely long line. I printed my boarding pass from the self-check in kiosk and unfortunately still had to wait in line to drop off my bag. After waiting for about 30 minutes, what seemed like hours, I made my way to security. Like usual, the scanner beeped when I walked through and I had to undergo the embarrassing wand check. I'm not sure whether its my jewelry or bad luck, but I can't seem to pass through a metal detector without sounding the alarm. Little did I know, sounding the buzzer was soon going to feel like a minute problem. As I waited by the conveyor belt for my items to come through the tunnel, a woman came and stood next to me to wait for her items. Not a minute later both bags and the bin with my laptop came out of the tunnel. I immediately began to grab my items and my not-so-friendly neighbor lady grabbed my laptop. I could not believe my eyes and quickly put my bags down to take my computer from the woman. At the same time as I began to loudly say, "Umm excuse me THAT IS MINE," the security officer came over to the woman to inform her that some of her items had not properly passed the security inspection. Luckily, my less than desirable neighbor lady let go of my laptop and walked away with the security officer. I hate to jump to conclusions, maybe the woman thought the computer belonged to her travel partner, her son, but I was not about to wait around for the woman to realize her mistake. I was nervous that this incident would set the tone for the rest of the day's events. Luckily, as soon as I boarded my flight everything seemed to get better. The most exciting event of the day happened shortly after I sat down on the plane. As Katie and I sat next to the right wing minding our own business, a flight attendant approached us with a very interesting opportunity. He quickly asked us if the two of us would like to see the cockpit. We eagerly said yes and headed to the front of the plane. When we arrived at the cockpit the flight attendant introduced us to all three pilots and let us step inside. The pilots couldn't have been more friendly and were eager to tell us all about the space. They let each of us sit in the front seat and take a picture wearing the captain's hat. It was a really awesome experience getting to see a space that not many are allowed in. I still do not know what provoked the flight attendant to approach Katie and me, but whatever it was I am glad that he did. The remainder of the flight to Atlanta was uneventful but relaxing. Arriving at Atlanta and going through customs went quite smoothly as well. As the time grew near for my flight to leave for St. Louis, the departure time began to be pushed back later and later. After a delay of over an hour my flight finally left for St. Louis. I was able to take a short snooze on the flight before landing in St. Louis around midnight.

Since my arrival back in the States, I have enjoyed a few things that I have not had during the last three weeks. Air conditioning, a dishwasher and strong water pressure in the shower are just a few things that I missed. That being said, I survived just fine in London without these details and didn't really even know that I missed them until I was exposed to them again. During the last three days I have been trying to adjust to the six hour time difference, spend time with my family and give myself some time to unwind and reflect on the last three weeks. Being home makes me realize even more the great time that I had in London and makes me even more eager to head back.

AM

The Best End to the Most Wonderful Trip

Sadly, today was my last in London. I knew that I wanted to make the most of today, so I woke up early to do so. First on today's agenda was the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. Because I am practically neighbors with the Queen, I was able to take a nice stroll down to the palace this morning. As I waited for the changing of the guards, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I figured that there would be a lot of men in red coats with big furry hats, but I didn't know much else. Before too long, I began to hear music and soon saw some guards appear. They came in playing music and all marching together. It was quite a sight to see rows and rows of guards doing exactly the same thing. As the show progressed more and more guards appeared. Horses even made appearances from time to time. Toward the end of the show two guards wearing slightly more prestigious outfits came walking directly at me. I was so excited because I was thinking that I would be able to get good pictures of the guards. As they got closer I realized that one guard was quite young and looked friendly. The two men stopped walking when they were about 10 feet away from me and began to ask how my day was going. I started to converse with the guard and told him that I liked his fuzzy hat. He told me that it was a bit hot, but had been wearing it since 1812 when they defeated the French. I was so tickled to have had the privilege of talking to one of the guards. I know that most people try to get the guards to laugh or something and this guard just walked up and started talking. I was lucky enough to capture this whole thing on video, but unfortunately it was too long to post. I will be happy to share the video with everyone when I return home. To end this wonderful day, Katie and I had planned a nice dinner on the River Thames. I made reservations earlier in the week for the seventh floor of the Tate Modern art museum. This museum sits right on the river and the view from the restaurant is unbelievable. I had been looking forward to this meal for quite some time now. Katie and I tried not to eat out much at all during the last three weeks so that we could splurge on a nice dinner tonight. It was a bit strange heading to dinner knowing that it was the last time I was going to ride the Tube for over a month. The last Tube ride was eventful at least. There was a track fire on one of the outlying tracks which caused trains to back up. Luckily, we had left plenty of time and we made it to the Tate on time. We were seated next to the wall of windows showcasing the River Thames and the beautiful city of London. We couldn't have picked a better place to eat for our last night here. For dinner there was a special that included an entree and a dessert. I selected the steak and pommes frites for my entree and a chocolate marquise for dessert. It was so nice to have someone else cook a meal for me. I love to cook and have enjoyed cooking for myself the last three weeks, but it was nice to get a break. It was also the first time I had eaten beef since I arrived in London and it was definitely a good choice. After dinner, I walked back across the Millennium Bridge toward the bus stop. I could not help but to take a few last minute photos of the gorgeous city. As I waited for the bus, I was thinking about how much I love this city and what an amazing time I have had. London really feels like home now and I could totally love living here in the future. Knowing that I will be back to England in a short seven weeks makes me very happy, but I still am not ready to leave. I have never enjoyed a trip as much as this or not been ready to head home at the end. This trip has definitely been far different from others that I have taken. I have learned so much about myself about how I handle different situations, adjust to a new culture and even about landmarks and businesses. Even though I was only in London for three weeks, I know that I saw and did as much as I possibly could have done. I cannot wait to return to this country in August because I know the amazing experiences will only continue to grow and broaden. Thanks for following me. Check back throughout the next week. :)

AM

Advertising and Brighton

I had been looking forward to this day for quite some time now. I knew that I was going to Euro RSCG London, which is one of the top five advertising agencies in the United Kingdom. With my major being public relations I also have a great interest in advertising. When I arrived at Euro I was met with an impressive array of pastries, fruit and coffee. As the group began to enjoy breakfast, we were all introduced to Mr. Russ Lidstone, CEO. During Mr. Lidstone's presentation he told us about some of Euro RSCG's clients which include the companies Evian, Chivas Regal, Dulux and Reckitt Benkieser to name a few. I must admit this is quite an impressive portfolio to have and I knew at that point that this was going to be an awesome day. Mr. Lidstone continued to share with the group the vision of Euro RSCG London. He stated the vision is to "get clients through the door to talk to them". Quite confident in the capabilities of EURO, Mr. Lidstone shared his belief that if a client comes through the door Euro RSCG will be able to gain the business. I was very impressed to find out the active role that Euro RSCG plays in the community. Mr. Lidstone shared the efforts that Euro had made to aid the Copenhagen Climate Crisis and I was pleased to see an ad agency taking such an active role to help those in need. Little did I know, this was only a small portion of the community work that Euro RSCG does, but I'll share more about that later. After Mr. Lidstone's presentation, Ms. Rebecca Moody, Senior Planner, gave a presentation on the importance and the process of strategic planning. Ms. Moody shared that there are two clear roles in planning, the brand and the channel. She said that it is very important to define a compelling idea and to determine the reactions the consumer will have at various steps of using the product being advertised. Ms. Moody shared that the best way to understand people and effectively plan is to be a good people watcher. She told us that being in tune with those around us and observing others can really pay off in the long run. The next presenter, Ms. Devanshi Asher, Account Director, shared a second way in which Euro RSCG is reaching out to the community. The program that Ms. Asher has been working on is called Green Britain Day. This day is associated with EDF Energy and its push for sustainable energy. Green Britain Day is all about making people more aware of energy consumption and working to use it more wisely. Some very clever ads have been created to publicize this day, but instead of just putting up ads about the day, Euro created five phases to create a successful campaign. Phase one was to "tease the day" which included a commercial with the company and the date of Green Britain Day. Phase two was "launch the day" which consisted of a :60 TV commercial made of 100% recycled video footage showcasing what the day was about. Phase three was "showcase the action" which was the call to action for the community to make "greener" choices. Phase four was "celebrate the day" which included activities around England for people to participate in. The fifth and final phase was "maintain relationships". Euro RSCG realized that to have this successful campaign continue, the relationships created must be maintained and new ones created. I thought this was a great way for a the agency to get involved with the community and I also thought the ads were great too. The next presentation was given by Mr. Mick Mahoney, Executive Creative Director. During this time the group was divided into two and each given the task of coming up with a creative commercial idea for Chivas Regal. The information given to us was the the commercial needed to be about having a designated driver. Each group did a great job of developing a couple of ideas to fit the required mold. I am proud to say that my group's idea was the favorite. :) After playing around with commercial ideas, it was time to meet the next presenters. Ms. Jess Tarpey, Account Manager and Mr. Ken Mulligan, Account Director, came in to share the amazing story of the Dulux project. Dulux is one of the top name brand paint companies here in the UK. Glidden paint in the US is actually owned by Dulux. Getting the business from Dulux was a very important job for Euro RSCG because it is such a popular and recognized company in the UK. For the last six months the people at Euro RSCG have been working on the "Let's Color" campaign. This is an absolutely phenomenal campaign that sends people and gathers volunteers to go around to different countries in areas of low socieoeconomic conditions and paint bright colors on the buildings to liven up the cities. These bright colors are used because color makes such an impact on the mood of an individual. It is thought that if color can be brought into a dark gray place that would otherwise be quite undesirable, then those living in the area will enjoy themselves much more. I provided the ad that was created from this project. I think that it is an awesome ad that shows how much a little bit of hard work can do. To wrap up the wonderful trip to Euro RSCG, we were served a delicious lunch spread. My visit to the agency was far more than enjoyable, it was amazing and thought provoking. It was so refreshing to see a company so focused on helping out the community. A company that has this much involvement in helping people is definitely the type of company that I would like to work for in the future. I am so glad that this visit was saved for the end because it was a wonderful grand finale.

Fast forwarding a few hours....

To make my London journey complete I decided to take a train down to Brighton, England. I knew that Brighton had a beach on the Atlantic ocean but that was about all I knew. When I was on the train I didn't know what to expect, but I was so excited to see the ocean. The town turned out to be very cute with tall hills and winding roads. Brighton reminded me of a coastal town from the U.S. with a cute boardwalk and a variety of shops. I made my way to the beach and enjoyed the breeze for a few hours. It was the perfect relaxing way to end my journey in the busy town of London. The beach in Brighton was different from any beach I have ever visited, it was a pebble beach. Surprisingly, these rocks were quite comfortable to lay on. It was almost like getting a free back =massage by laying on the rocks. I couldn't go to the beach and not put my toes in the water, but I knew it was going to be quite cold. The ocean felt like a giant glass of ice water washing up on my toes. Some people were actually swimming in the ocean, but I was not brave enough to do so. After spending some time on the beach, I explored the town, grabbed a sandwich and headed back to the station to grab my train. It was such a fun journey to the beach and I was sad to see it come to an end. Brighton will definitely be a place that I will visit again. :)

AM