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

I Think I'm from London Now

I have been in London for just under three weeks now and I can honestly say it feels like home. I am very confident that I could get myself anywhere in the city that I could possibly want to go. With my Oyster card in hand, the Tube and bus systems are a playground waiting for me to explore. I no longer go to the Tube station and study the map figuring out how to get to certain places because I have memorized the majority of the routes that I frequent. To show just how savvy I have become with the London mass transit system, I headed to the train station early this morning. When I arrived at London Victoria station, I was seeking train tickets to Brighton, England for Thursday July 1. I walked up to the counter discussed what I needed to purchase, and I will be boarding a train to the beach tomorrow afternoon. I am quite proud of this accomplishment because I would have no idea how to go about doing something like this at home. I haven't the slightest clue how public transportation works at home, but I know how London's does and I think it is fabulous. Out of all the things that I could possibly do in London to feel like a local, my absolute favorite is having picnics at a park. Today I enjoyed my third picnic in a third park. My park of choice today was St. James's Park, which sits just in front of Buckingham Palace. Before making my journey to the park, I headed to the local Sainsbury's (grocery store) to pick up my picnic contents. For today's picnic, the meal consisted of a variety of dunkers and dips, fruit, "veg", and scrumptious cupcakes. After purchasing all of my picnic goodies and taking the Tube to St. James's Park, I found a nice shady spot under some big beautiful trees. Directly in front of me was a large pond with beautiful flowers surrounding it. After enjoying my lunch, I laid in the grass for a few hours enjoying my surroundings in the lively park. I eventually decided to head over to Buckingham Palace and take some photos of my dream house. This palace is quite large and always surrounded by visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of the queen, or a prince in my case. :) Instead of jumping on the Tube back to Sloane Square, my home stop, I decided to venture back to my flat on foot. I decided that a real native would know how to navigate the streets just as well as the Tube and that is just what I did. After playing native all day, I decided to put my tourist hat back on for the evening. My Travel and Tourism class had planned to go to the London Eye this evening and I was quite excited. The Eye is similar to a Ferris wheel, but on a much larger scale. About 20 or so people can fit in each cage on the Eye. As it rotates its way around it provides breathtaking views of London. Situated right on the River Thames, the view of Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster Abbey are incredible. Visiting a tourist attraction such as the Eye would not be complete without visiting some sort of souvenir shop. To fulfill this requirement, Dr. Barb, Angel, Katie and I went into an arcade-type place in search of coffee. After getting coffee and tea, the real tourist actions began. Katie and I spotted a photo booth and practically leaped at the opportunity. We had been looking for a photo booth all over London, so this was a great find. The remainder of my evening has been spent as a native again doing dishes, having a snack and spending too much time Tweeting and Facebooking. Just wait and see what is in store for tomorrow.

AM :)

Oxford and Fuller's

I began my day visiting the amazing Oxford Street once again. This street is home to some of the most amazing shopping that it simply cannot be tackled in one visit. As I walked toward Primark, my final destination, I was bombarded by a quirky employee from Foot Locker named Eliab. He was so enthusiastic and excited to learn where I was from. In attempt to gain foot traffic in the store, this guy was working hard to make potential customers laugh. He did his best southern American accent after realizing we were neither German nor Australian and finally convinced us to look at some shoes. We did not by anything, but it was a fun experience nonetheless. After the funny little time at Foot Locker, I continued down Oxford and finally reached Primark. This is quite a grand store that stands two stories high and takes up almost an entire block. Today was my first trip to Primark, but I had heard from many that it was definitely a place to visit. After walking around for a while and picking up a few things, I began to relate this store to stores in the U.S. The grand Primark reminds me of a cross between Forever 21 and H & M. The price of the clothes and accessories was similar to that of Forever, while the quality was more like H & M. I loved my trip to Primark and now realize why the store is always a zoo. After a morning of exploring Oxford Street, it was time to head back to Johnson House to meet my European Business class. Today for class we went to Fuller's Brewery for a tour. I was anxious to see what a London Brewery tour would be like as opposed to an Anheuser Busch tour. Because today was quite toasty, I was hoping that the tour would be inside. As it turned out, the tour was inside but was warmer than being outside. Certain parts of the brewing process require very high temperatures and because there are very few air conditioned places, the heat from the brewing heated up all of the buildings. I soon found out the Fuller's brews 250,000 pints of beer per day which made me understand why the buildings were so hot. If I boiled that much water I think my kitchen would be a bit warm too. Fuller's brews beer five days a week, but continues to ferment and age beer 24/7. I was a bit shocked as the small size of the brewery and how old the brewery seemed. With only the Anheuser Busch tour to compare it to, Fuller's was no where near as technology savvy, big or as modern as AB. It was still a very interesting brewery to visit because some of the old technology that is no longer in use is still available for viewing. After the tour, the guides gave out samples of several of the beers. Two of the brews that Fuller's are known for here in London are London Pride and Honey Dew. I sampled both beers and have to say the Honey Dew was my favorite of the two with a light sweet taste. I think that the class really enjoyed this visit and I know that Dr. Lewington had a fun time too. Talk to you all tomorrow!

AM

P.S. Sorry for the delay in this post. I had to save it last night before I could post it and I never got a chance to post it after that.

Tower and Tourism

It was another warm one today in London, but that didn't stop my great adventures. To begin my day, I headed to the Tower of London. Until just a few days ago I thought that the Tower of London was just that, a tower. I thought that it was just an attraction that you could walk to the top of, see a nice view and be on your way. I couldn't have been more wrong. The Tower of London is grand magnificent castle, a fortress if you will. I was overwhelmed by the size of the tower and could not wait to tour it. Because I didn't know what the Tower of London looked like that also meant that I had no idea what it had been used for. As I toured around the castle like structure, I quickly learned the mass amounts of torture attributed to the place. Back in the days of Henry VII, this fortress was used as a sort of penitentiary for those who disrupted society for reasons such as business problems, unfaithful marriages and disagreeing with authority. Many of the inmates were religious leaders being punished for spreading their beliefs. In one of the towers there were carvings on the wall symbolizing the Catholicism. These carvings were obviously done by the priests and religious leaders that had been imprisoned. Several torturous tools were on display that were used to harm and even kill the inmates. Many of the prisoners were beheaded, especially women that had not been faithful to their husbands. It was a bit eerie to be in a place where such horrible things had taken place, but it was cool nonetheless. After the Tower of London, I headed to the Visit Britain Tourism Office. I got to meet with Ms. Patricia Yates, the Director of Strategy and Communications for Visit Britain. During the meeting I learned all about the 2012 Olympics tourism preparations, see some of the advertising materials about Britain and just learn some tricks of the trade. I really enjoyed Ms. Yates advice about seeking a field that you enjoy. She originally started out in physics and is now working in tourism, which is what she truly loves to do. I really enjoyed this meeting and it affirmed even more how much I love my field of study. Today was a wonderful day. :)

The Heat Wave

To begin my day, I headed to Starbucks to work on some school work. After enjoying a delicious breakfast and a bout of people watching, I headed out. The plan for today was to head to Greenwich for a nice time of relaxation. I was very excited to go to Greenwich and see the status of Olympic Village and enjoy the scenery. I exited the Tube at Canary Wharf to take the scenic route to Greenwich. Before the Millennium, this part of London underwent a massive redevelopment and is now the home to some major financial companies. Walking through the wharf was so pretty and very quite. It was nice to get a little break from the hustle and bustle of the city. This part of London is very open and modern, which is far different from the city. After seeing the large buildings I continued on to a cute piece of art standing in the center of a round about. This art was quite different from any other piece that I had ever seen. At first glance the structure is a bit overwhelming, but eventually I realized that it was fake and only meant to be cute. I have provided an image of this art and as you can see it is a tree made out of stoplights. I was confused at first trying to determine which light the cars would follow, but then I realized that it wasn't real. When I finally arrived in Greenwich, it was time for lunch. I have been wanting to try the famous Pizza Express since I arrived in London and today was the day to make that happen. The pizza I ordered was quite interesting in that the center of the pizza was salad instead of dough. I really enjoyed the pizza because it was the best of both worlds. You can see how unique this pie was from the picture to the right. After lunch I walked through the Greenwich market. This market was different from others in that the items were handmade and there was also a lot of ethnic food being prepared and sold. I wasn't as big of a fan as the Greenwich Market, but I think it was because it was totally different from what I was expecting. Having visited Portobello Market twice, I was thinking it would be similar to that. I made my way to the observatory on the Prime Meridian Line after the market. The climb up to the observatory was quite a challenge, but it was totally worth it. The view at the top of the hill was unbelievable and showcased the beauty of London. While at the top of the hill I stood in two hemispheres at once on the Prime Meridian Line. I can now say I have successfully mastered being in two places at once. :) After leaving the observatory, I walked down toward the River Thames to enjoy the nice breeze. As I made my way down the stairs to what I thought was the river wharf I suddenly found myself in a tunnel that was about 45 degrees. I continued to walk through the long tunnel thinking that I was being led down to the wharf. When I finally reached the other side and took the lift up, I realized that I wasn't exactly at the wharf. The tunnel had led me under the Thames which was why it was so cold. It was really awesome that a tunnel had been built under the river and even more exciting that I found it by accident. Sitting on the other side of the river was nice because it was very peaceful and pretty. I wish I could say that I have had a relaxing evening, but it was quite hot today and I don't have air conditioning in my flat. I am hoping for a cooler day tomorrow. Cheers!

AM