Week 6: 20/06/10 - 26/06/10

20/06/10 - Today was a rather restful day. It wasn't terribly cold, so after we checked out of the hostel we headed down to the beach. Michelle, Lauren and I fell asleep on the beach but after a while, we needed food. The Brighton pier lacks food that isn't fried, so we had to venture out of a pub and try to find some sort of fresh food. Amazingly, we found a grill not too far away. I never wanted healthy food so much in my life before. The salad bar never looked so good. After a much needed lunch, we met up with the guys at the bus stop, trying to get an earlier bus home. Unfortunately, the bus driver decided to be dumb and not let us on the not full bus. Very lame. Instead, the girls and I headed back to the beach because the sun finally came out and fell asleep again until dinner. At the restaurant we went to, we watched rugby league (which is different from rugby union) and met a Queen's guard who was part of the machine-gun brigade or something. He showed us a picture of himself in full dress and I remembered seeing a group dressed the same way during the parade. Very cool to meet one in real life though! Lauren informed me later that there was a list of the Top 10 bad-asses that you don't know about and the Queen's guards are one of them. Who knew? Needless to say, I'm not sure I want to get my picture by one anymore.

21/06/10 - I got to cover another event today for AP and it was about how the London 2012 Organising Committee announced it's theme for the Open Weekend at the end of July. It marks the count down until the actual Olympics with different events and challenges all over the country for people to participate in. They partnered with Parkour UK, a group that is hard to explain. I'd suggest going to this website to get an idea. I got to talk to the chair of LOCOG and an executive from BP. Pretty intimidating, but it was cool none the less. Before the event even began though, I started talking to some of the press officers that were working for LOCOG. Then, it came to me. I could totally do that. In fact, I want to do that. I would describe the moment like an epiphany. It's not a feeling that I could describe. The sensation is pretty crazy, but after experiencing it, I felt terrified. I know nothing about public relations. Lets just say that my head was reeling with questions to throw at my roommates when I met up with them later in the day. After rushing back from the event, I wrote up my notes and basically had to leave for class. We were meeting at VML, an advertising agency and then were going to go to The Bush House where BBC is. Considering my "epiphany" I was excited to see some strategic communications (which is the major that incorporates public relations in the journalism school) in action. I was mesmerized, mostly by the free gifts, but also the cool factor that the office had. It was a very hip place. I was looking forward to the BBC though, because I had seen one newsroom before, and considering the fact that I just started thinking about switching, I looked at it as a way to reinstate the feeling that broadcast was for me. The tour was disappointing though unfortunately. I learned a lot about being a correspondent in countries that don't have protection for journalists, but I saw no newsroom action, something that I was looking for.

22/06/10 - I didn't go to work today. No, I didn't skip. I didn't lie and say I was sick. I asked for it off. Why? Why a Tuesday? Because it's Wimbledon. One of the first days of Wimbledon. Not only did I get to go with Becky and her friend, but we got to experience an event that basically makes England famous during the summer. Everyone in the sporting world, tennis fan or not, knows about Wimbledon. I mean, the Williams sisters have faced each other around four times in the finals at Wimbledon. That's where Nadal beat Federer to become number 1 in the world. Stuff happens at Wimbledon, every year.

Being the tennis guru that I am (just kidding folks, I actually thought before this that it was one of the most boring sports to watch, thus, didn't pay attention at all) I thought that it would only be natural to go. The only natural thing that happened was the sunburn that I got. Unnatural is normal at Wimbledon. I saw serves go more than 120 mph. That's fast when you're feet away from the person serving. On the court just a hop, skip and a jump away was Serena Williams, and then Nadal. No big deal. The strawberries and cream... also unnaturally good. The queue to get tickets, very unnatural. It was like people were trying to get tickets to a huge football (American) game in the States, people camped out. For tennis?! One more thing that was unnatural about Wimbledon that I've seen: John Isner's three day, eleven hour match. It happened the day after I went, but even I can understand the significance of that feat. Unfortunately, he didn't make it past the second round (who would when there was no skin on their toes because of blisters?).

Needless to say, Wimbledon was an awesome thing to experience, especially because I'm pretty sure I won't go back. I've experienced it. I came, I queued, and I conquered.

23/06/10 - It was painful to go to work today. And it was all because of what happened at Wimbledon. Literally, I blame it on that. I couldn't sleep because I got burnt so badly. It was a burn on top of a healing burn, which was on top of another healing burn. I'm going to be peeling for weeks. It hurt to bend my elbows to work on the computer! Why??? But, I suffered through with the knowledge that later tonight, I'm going to the musical: Les Miserables with my flatmates. What also kept me going was the USA game versus Algeria. At the time, the people working in the department were British, therefore, we watched the England game on the two big screen TV's in the office. Not fair! So, I was shunned to my computer that has no sound, watching it live, but it was really choppy. I was giving my co-workers my own commentary, and I'm pretty sure they thought I was ridiculous. If you've seen me at soccer matches, you'd know why. When Landon Donovan finally scored in the 92nd minute, I literally jumped out of my seat and yelled "YES!!!!" Simultaneous to my scream, my co-workers grabbed their heads and said "NOOOO!" England won, but because the US won, we won the group and they had to face Germany. I then preceeded to do a happy dance and they watched the replay :) That was the highlight of my internship, so I'll move on to later in the day.

I was meeting up with my flatmates in Piccadilly Circus. Why of all places we decided to meet up there is beyond me. To put it into perspective, it's basically the Times Square of London, but a circle, so it doesn't end. But, we found each other, and we headed to get drinks and so I could get changed before the show.

Les Mis is my favorite musical, hands down. I've probably seen it a ton of times (none on Broadway unfortunately, but now I basically have to) and have loved every second of it. What was especially exciting about this performance though was a special guest is playing Marius. Yes, that's right, the Jo-Bros have infiltrated the musical stage. Actually, Nick Jonas, who was playing Marius, started his career play Gavroche on Broadway. I was nervous, if anyone has heard the Jonas Brothers and Les Mis, you'd know why. But I was amazed. He was a little too quiet, but it fit his role. And he was just a really good singer, so props to you tween pop sensation.

I just love that musical so much, and it didn't disappoint. It's definitely up there on my list of highlights of the trip, mainly because that musical is my all time favorite.

24/06/10 - I had another event to go to today, this was a round table with Mark Cavendish. "Cav" as the Brits call him is arguably the best sprinter in cycling. He talked about the very big crash in the Tour de Suisse that people blame on him to what he's looking at for the Tour de France in a few weeks. It was cool being so close to an athlete of that caliber, and I got a great breakfast out of it as well. When I got back to work, I whipped up a story and headed to the Churchill War Rooms for class. I love WWII history, so this was a huge thing, especially because the British love Churchill and WWII is arguably the turning point for British power in the world. But they put their love for Churchill is a huge. I've never seen so much pride put into one person. We have a couple of big heroes: Lincoln, FDR, JFK, etc. They put all of their stake into Churchill. It's a little over kill, but still cool to see his entire life (and death, they showed a video of his funeral) and his contributions to the war effort.

25/06/10 - Because I went to Wimbledon on Tuesday, I offered to work on Friday, my usual day off. It'd definitely a different atmosphere on Fridays. It's very relaxed (I didn't think that was possible) but everyone's tired from the week, so there isn't a lot of chit-chat. One thing that they do have on Fridays that I never knew about (and it's a good thing that I don't normally work on Fridays) is "treats." Someone, probably a gnome of some sort, brings in a sorts of goodies to eat. I had a delicious cookie, and it was a great afternoon pick-me-up.

26/06/10 - In preparation for USA's game against Ghana, Meg and I went to Hyde Park. We walked by the Serpentine and spontaneously, we decided to go paddle-boating for an hour. It was really funny watching the people struggle with row boats. And we're pretty sure we saw a naked man laying out by the lap swim area. As Meg said, you'll never be bored at Hyde Park.

Sports Cafe was our destination for the game because we would be surrounded by fellow Americans. Wearing our American flag as my scarf, we headed about two and a half hours early to make sure we got a table. Thank goodness we did, because a lot of people were depending on us for getting a table.

We all know how the game ended up going, but the atmosphere at Sports Cafe was cool to experience, even though we lost. I was extremely angry (Meg thought I was going to punch someone, or her because she was sitting next to me) but looking back it was fun to see among fellow fans.

Because of the result, I was extremely emotionally spent and was not in the mood to stay out longer. I had a lot of emotion that I needed to let out, so I contemplated a run, but it was really late, so I decided against it. I'm just glad that we got as far and I think it was a great team that took us there.

'Til next week.

Week 5: 13/06/10 - 19/06/10

13/06/10 - Road trip! Off to Oxford where great minds come together in halls that inspired the set directors of Harry Potter. It was a fairly early morning, but because my entire flat decided to go along with another person from our group, it was nice to be able to depend on each other to stay awake. We should have known that it was going to be an interesting day when we got to Paddington train station and there was no specific place to meet up with the rest of the group. Paddington isn't a small station either. It's got the Tube station and the overground train station. It looks like what you would see in Harry Potter almost.

But anyway, about fifteen minutes late, our tour guide shows up without having bought our tickets for the train already. So it makes perfect sense to have about 20 college students up early in the morning to catch a train run through the train station only to miss the train and to blame it on the students. Am I missing something? We had to find a new platform for the new train and of course it was basically packed so we couldn't sit by anyone we knew or like. Becky ended up across the aisle from me sitting next to her twin. Same coat, same purse, enough said.

After a fairly quick train ride, we arrived in Oxford at the train station. I wasn't impressed because there were no buildings that remotely resembled the ones I saw in pictures. Thankfully, my qualms were squashed when we took a short walk to the main street. I think it was the main street. Looking back, I'm not to sure. All I know is that the beautiful buildings were there and very few cars were on the street. We saw the cross that was made from brick in the street a martyr was killed. We made our way down the street and around the different colleges in Oxford University. Random fact: there are 39 colleges in Oxford. Each offer the same educational opportunities. Needless to say while we explored their different "campuses" (I'm not sure how else to describe them) I found my new home. Tuition is 3,000 pounds a year and housing is 4,000 which includes food, a maid service, a single room, ... need I go on? I'm serious about the new school. Mom, if you're reading this, I may actually decided to go to grad school.

Throughout the colleges we saw everything that was brought into Hogwarts. I was in Harry Potter nerd heaven. We saw/walked up the stair case from the first movie where the first years walked up to meet Professor McGonagall. It was awesome. There was so much history with the University and the colleges and so many famous people went there to study. It was pretty inspiring.

14/06/10 - Half day at the internship! Lots of fun still and I'm learning a lot. Today in class we presented out projects that we made about Camden. It was interesting to see what everyone decided to take pictures of.

15/06/10 - Today I was up at 2:00 a.m. to go to the BBC to watch the morning show newscast. I wasn't tired when I got up, probably because it was so early in the morning, but I didn't stay that way. I went with two people from my group and my professor, which was really fun to experience. It was pretty intimidating. The newsroom itself could have fit all of Mizzou's different newsrooms in it. The anchor (my professor compared him to Matt Lauer... the BBC anchor was much better) was so great. He took us around, answered our questions and introduced us to a lot of different people working there. The whole thing was pretty indescribable. I learned so much about journalism and the BBC in general while there, and everyone was really nice! Work was a little difficult because I had already been up for about eight hours. It wasn't as bad as I anticipated, I was probably a little more on edge than normal, but I never felt sleepy!

16/06/10 - Internship was great, once again. It has never failed to impress me with the different stories that come through the wire and what I learn on a daily basis.

17/06/10 - Horse racing never looked so good. Today, my roommate Becky and I went to the Royal Ascot. Some compare it to the Kentucky Derby. I would hardly say it equals anything like that because I don't think the attendance of the Kentucky Derby includes royals. It was a beautiful day to spend relaxing by the race track, and I couldn't wait, even though I know nothing about horse racing. Is it really that hard to understand? It didn't matter, because I just wanted to experience it all. The tradition at such an event is to wear a fabulous hat, even if you are in the cheap seats (like us). I borrowed the biggest flower headband that my friend owned and Becky had a fantastic hat that she got from Harrods. We were flying high. Making our way to the train was half the fun. We got looks, who wouldn't at 8:00 in the morning wearing big hats and nice dresses, but we also got, "are you going to the Ascot?" Yes, yes we are.

Sunny and beautiful, the day couldn't have been more perfect. Deciding to really get into the racing spirit, we tried our hands at a little betting. Our strategy? The coolest name of the horse, from the US, or coolest jockey uniform. Amazingly enough, our strategy proved sound and we made it out just ahead of what we put in! It was fun being able to cheer for something so you weren't just staring at the horses going by. Needless to say, winning bets or not, it was a brilliant day. Being surrounded by people in crazy hats that come from all over the world was a cultural experience in itself. Becky and I ran into two Aussies and we hung out for most of the day. It was fun talking to them and getting to know their culture while experiencing the British and their finest. The British definitely know how to party, and when they're drunk and sunburned, it can get a little crazy. Lets just say the stiff upper lip is long gone.

Returning to the florescent lighting of the tube station, Becky and I realized that we came home with a little more then we bargained for. As my other roommate put it, "I left a human and came back a crustacean." We were burnt to a crisp. It was painful and we had some seriously awkward burn/ hopefully will turn into a tan lines. But, we couldn't focus on that. We were still riding high at our amazing time at the Royal Ascot. We got looks on the way back as well, but it could have easily been from our burns. But because of the stares and questions, we met a guy who went to school in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. Small world. All in all, a great day.

18/06/10 - Today I got to sleep in a bit, but I had some work to do. The game was on at 3:00 p.m. so I needed to be home by then, but I had to prepare to go to Brighton for the weekend. Brighton is a coastal town with beaches and is apparently like the San Fran of England. Except the beach is a rock beach. I'm not sure I'm going to understand it, but we shall see! Our bus left at 5:00, so the seven of us met at a pub near the station to watch the game. We met another American who was on a European tour and just got off of a 22 hour bus ride from Germany. Ew. He was nice, so he joined us watching the game. Frustration wouldn't properly describe how I felt about that game, but I was focused on getting everyone to the bus on time. Thankfully, after tearing people away from the television, we made it. And the bus was a half an hour late. We could have watched the end of the game. Oh well.

We made our way on the coach to Brighton and just talked the entire way. It was pretty gloomy out, but when we got there, we had to explore. We found our hostel first and put on proper clothing for the night and headed out. Brighton is a really cool city and it was going to be a great weekend.

19/06/10 - In an attempt to try and use the beach, Michelle, Lauren and I headed to the beach with a blanket and ready to soak up the sun. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of sun to be had, and we basically froze. We slept, but when we woke up, we were freezing. It wasn't the greatest plan in the world, but eventually a storm was coming in so we decided to walk and get a sweatshirt or something to keep us warm on the pier. After, we went into town. There wasn't much to see, a lot of shops and some cool architecture, but it was nice to keep warm by walking around. The guys were finding places where they wanted to go, so we got ready and met up with them for the night.

Until next week.

Week 4: 06/06/10 - 12/06/10

06/06/10 - Not much happened today. We were all lazy, but apparently the people of Edgware Road did not share our sentiments. After a quick "breakfast" at around 3:00 p.m. we were relaxing in our living room, catching up on what not when we heard a low rumble. Not the usual subway rumble that you hear everytime you enter an old building, definitely a rareity in a place like London, but one that can be experienced if you look out for the opportunity. Anyway, it sounded like voices and lots of them. As the rumble became more coherent, it didn't sound like English. Once you are on Edgware Road, you'd see why it wouldn't sound like English, but those who won't get that opportunity, if you haven't heard me say it before, it's like the Little Middle East of London. Not that I'm opposed, but most inhabitants in our area don't have convos in English. Anyway, the march slowly made it's way past our flat, we could see everything from our window. There were signs and people with megaphones yelling some sort of protest against someone. It was intense, and in Muslim form, all of the men were at the front of the line and the women were at the back. Definitely the first of many marches that I'm sure I'll see while in London where protests are stopped because they don't look pretty and kill the grass. (See stories about the protest infront of Westminster and Parliament. The members didn't want the protest to be there when the Queen opened Parliament because they didn't think she should see it. With Prince Charles as her son and World War Two at the beginning of her rein, I think she's seen worse. Just saying.)

07/06/10 - Half day at the internship, and I get to go to another event! This time, it's about the science behind the World Cup as it's going to be starting on Friday! Anyway, after walking by The Ritz to the venue, I got to meet with the person who helped design the actual ball, a doctor who discussed injuries that were sustained during football matches (there are 2.7 injuries per World Cup football match), a scientist who discussed the affects of altitude, and another scientist who discussed the art of penalty kicks. The latter was interesting because apparently England has a difficult time with succeeding in shoot-outs. After quizzing all of the panel members and getting back to the office, I was told to start writing an article about the science behind a penalty kick. This would be my second article so far, but I didn't think much of it. Needless to say, I found it on ESPN.com, the New York Times website and on Yahoo! News. I was pretty excited, needless to say. Later that day, the rest of my class came to visit AP and got a tour of the newsroom. I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed it, because people kept telling me that "this is so cool," and "you're so lucky." Yes, yes I am lucky!

08-09/06/10 - After an exciting day yesterday with very little being able to top it, both Tuesday and Wednesday at the internship was just like any other day. I'm still learning a TON about the Associated Press and news in general, and I'm really getting a hand of the digest that I'm basically in charge of. It's cool to say that I'm in charge of something that is important (I think) to the AP. I mean, it's AP, so anything helpful is pretty darn sweet. On Wednesday, I was pretty excited to get done with work, because I signed up with some of my classmates to go on the Jack the Ripper tour. I was intrigued because a) nobody knows who he is, b) he's an infamous killer of prostitutes, and c) I love watching Law and Order: SVU and it sounded like a case that Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson would be all over like white on rice. I was right. I think that I've seen an episode of SVU that was basically like Jack the Ripper in a nutshell... oh wait, that's like all of them. But anyway, I thought it was interesting because East London is still kind of a shady place and that's where good ole' Jack haunted. We started near the wall that seperated East from West and travelled our way to a few of the places that the women were found at (dead, just in case anyone was wondering). It wasn't a typical walking tour because Jack didn't kill in the same area, and nobody knows who he is. They have ideas based on the speed he killed some of his victims (a surgeon) and they had three suspects, but it's one of London's greatest mysteries. Oh, and just to get a good look at his work, here's his last victim's picture. Please excuse the grain-y-ness because they didn't have a Canon camera like this one that's linked.

10/06/10 - Half day of work and class. At work, I basically realized that I was at the epi-center of all things news. It kind of blew my mind a little. Same-ole' same-ole' at the Associated Press sports desk.

11/06/10 - WORLD CUP!!! WORLD CUP!!! WORLD CUP!!! WORLD CUP!!! The World Cup began today. There was a big screen at Trafalgar's Square to watch the opening ceremonies, but I didn't go because I was getting a much needed manicure and pedicure. It's barely a month into the summer and my feet were looking heinous on a good day. I never knew a city could be so hard on someone's feet until now. I don't mind feet that much, but I truly felt bad for the women who had to deal with mine. I'm getting a shiver down my spine just thinking about it. I don't think they looked this badly though. Sitting in the massage chair, feeling like the Queen, I actually thought of the her. It's her birthday this weekend (tomorrow!) and everyone in our flat wants to go to the parade. A lot of our group is out of town, but I would NEVER miss it for the world! And then, BONUS! it's the USA v. England football game :) I'm very excited!

12/06/10 - Up we go into the wild blue yonder that is the sky for the Queen's "birthday" celebration! Birthday is in quotes because her actual birthday is earlier in the year (I've heard from multiple sources multiple dates, so who really knows) but it's always celebrated at the beginning of June. Very few people outside the UK know this, and so, in what should have been proper form, Hilary Clinton sent a birthday letter on the Queen's real birthday to Effie. Oops, major royal party foul. But I don't see why this was a celebration, because it's not like Effie is one to party hard in celebration of anything. She's rarely seen smiling for Christ's sake. But none the less, the British do what they do best, stick to tradition. And so, without fail, all pomp and circumstance was brought out. I've never seen so many red coats and was extremely tempted to yell that the British were coming (by land of course). Alas, I didn't have a latern to light, so I didn't follow through on my wish. What I did do was take around... 250 pictures. I was beaten to a Canon camera pulp by my good old roomie Becky. Her total for the entire weekend (Oxford trip included) was just under 700. Major burn. I selected my favorite 132 to post of facebook. The whole event took around four hours, but it was four hours of amazingness. There were lots and lots of guards that you can distinguish by the very small feather in their very big hat. But we had an amazing place on the barricade. When the Queen went past (notice the lack of a toothy grin), we were about 20 feet away. Before her, Prince William went by. I might have squealed... maybe. There was an amazing fly over that had around 20 planes total. After the celebration, we went to Harrods for a while and then went back to the flat to get ready for the game. Meara, Julianna, and I ended up going to a pub down the street called the Duke of York. In proudly sporting our red, white, and blue regalia, we walked in and were show stopping. Literally. Everyone stopped talking and straight up stared. Walking by one of the tables, I smiled and said hi. The bloke who was staring at me said "Well this is going to be interesting." After some of the awkwardness settled (and by some I mean very little, it was more of just the initial shock, then it was just... still shock) we got drinks and headed up stairs. Turns out all of the Americans were shunned to the second floor to watch the game. We all freaked out a bit when they scored. We also freaked out when one of the owners brought us free hot dogs. We were all freaking out a bit that night.

'Til next week.

Week 3: 30/05/10 - 05/06/10

30/05/10 - Seven of us decided that we wanted to go to St. Paul's for service. I wanted to see the inside of the cathedral, but I didn't want to pay to get in, so going to a service for free was a great option. Before the service, we went to a pub that Adam knew about for a full English breakfast. It had an egg, tomato, chips, Canadian bacon, sausage, mushrooms, and baked beans. I split it with Meg and so it was plenty of food, but a weird combination for breakfast. It was time to go, so we headed to St. Paul's which was just a block away. When we got in, it was truly amazing. The Cathedral was so intricate and huge. It was really incredible to see and experience, even though I'm not Protestant. I took pictures after the service, which I didn't know that you weren't supposed to do, but oh well! Meg and I went to meet Meara, Becky, and Julianna at Harrod's after we left the church. When we got into the megastore, I was in shock. It was a beautiful sight to see. One of the escalator shafts was decorated in a Eygptian theme and it was so intriguing. The clothes and other material items were another thing entirely. We played with one of the puppies in the animal part of the store. After our awesome discovery, we headed to Kensington Palace to meet Julianna (she wasn't able to meet us at Harrod's) for tea at the Orangery. It was in a building just outside of the Palace, and I felt like I was in Pride and Prejudice. We all felt very posh. Even though it was expensive, the tea and food were fantastic. I had chocolate tea with finger sandwiches, a scone, and two small desserts. It was amazing! I'm definitely going back with my family when they come.

31/05/10 - Today was a Bank Holiday, so we didn't have class and I didn't have to go into work. One of my flatmates knew of a curry festival that was ending and had a tasting, so we went to Brick Lane to check it out. It was a very different part of town, but it was cool to see, even though we missed the tasting. We went to an Indian resturaunt that was going to give us 25% off our meal. About an hour and a half later, we knew why. It was apparently very "busy" on the other floor so that's why it took so long to get our food. The curry I had wasn't very good, but by that time I was hungry and just wanted something. They then messed up one of our side orders, so they didn't charge the one that they got right, and we did get the 25% they promised. And it wasn't busy at all on the other level. In fact, I think there was only one table full.

01/06/10 - First day of June, and another full day at the Associated Press. I've been getting the hang of the list of all the stories that are being posted, so it's taken less and less time for me to do it. It wasn't a very exciting day, but that's okay because I wasn't feeling that well.

02/06/10 - Another full day at the internship! I was able to help out with phone calls for stories and the digest. There were a lot of interesting stories that I got to read, so that was cool.

03/06/10 - A half day at the Associated Press, and then to a field class for British Life and Culture. We were talking about Imperial London, and we met at Trafalger's Square. We learned about Nelson's Column, which was dedicated to Nelson, who defeated the French, but died in the winning battle. We took the tube to Hyde Park and walked through it. Unfortunately, we didn't see any of the sites in Hyde Park. We went to the Prince Albert statue and saw all of the places that he helped create. It would have been more interesting, but we had all already seen all of these sites and it was a lot of walking.

04/06/10 - I met up with Erin today to do a little shopping on Oxford Street but also to get our tickets to Paris! I was really excited, but then it was going to be over 300 pounds, and Paris is just not worth that to me if I was only going to be there for two days. I was really sad, but we went to Platform 9 3/4 and that helped! We went to get their bags at the hostel and then come back to the flat and just relax.

Week 2: 23/05/10 - 29/05/10

23/05/10 - We had a slow start today, and didn't get out until 3, I think. But Becky and I were able to go to Hyde Park, which I hadn't been able to see yet. I was pretty excited, because Becky knew about a cafe on the Serpetine that was cool. Walking through the park to the cafe was awesome. It was such a nice day, and it was cool to see all of the people enjoying the day. I was able to discover a lot of the park and relax. I actually fell asleep while reading!

24/05/10 - My first day at my internship and my first day of classes. I got my first assignment for Wednesday, and I'll be covering the torch relay that'll happen before the Olympics! I'm really nervous, but pretty excited. Class was nice because our professor combined the two and talked about what we'd be doing and stuff like that.

25/05/10 - First full day at the internship. It was interesting because I've been trying to learn all of the different aspects of what they do at the Associate Press. They use a system that I've never heard of before, and there is a lot that goes into it. I'm also starting to learn how to create a list of all of the stories for the day. Hopefully I'll be able to pick it up quickly.

26/05/10 - Today is the day! It's the very first assingment I've gotten with the Associated Press. I went straight to the event because it started only a little bit after I would have to go to the office. I was really nervous that I wouldn't be able to find the place, but I just followed some of the reporters. I actually met an Olympic reporter from the Daily Telegraph. She was incredibly nice and I was really exciting when she started to talk about plans that she had for covering the Olympics and it sounds really interesting and I really want to get involved. The event was really cool. There was a gymnastics event that ended with the gymnests forming a torch. I was able to interview the Sports and Olympics Minister and the head of the organizing committee, so the big-wigs of the Olympics!

When I got back to the office, it was just after 1:00, so I wrote it and had my supervisor edit it. One of my co-workers was surprised how fast I was able to write it, but that's the Missouri method for you! Here's a link to the article that was in Yahoo News. But it was also online at USA Today's website.

27/05/10 - I had a half day at work today, and it was the first day of our British Life and Culture class. The class sounds interesting, but we will see. There is a lot of work that our teacher is expecting of us. And we found out that the weekend that almost everyone is traveling, is the Friday that we're sheduled to visit Parliament. We weren't happy with the fact that no one told us before that class to not schedule anything on that Friday because they knew this before we got to London. Our teacher said that she'll try to see if there's a different time we can go, but Parliament tells us when we can come. I'm sad, because that would be really cool to see, but all we can hope for is that we can go a different time.

28/05/10 - Michelle and I went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard. It was incredibly crowded with tourists, but we were able to get a decent view because we befriended some British people that were there. I thought that it was really cool, and the guard's band played Sweet Caroline, the theme to Jurassic Park, and I'm a Believer. There wasn't much to the ceremony, so I can see why people think that it's overrated, but it'd something that you have to do while in London. After the ceremony, we wandered around. It was fun because we found the Sherlock Holmes pub where we had spotted dick and chips. Spotted dick is like a raisin cake with pudding. It's interesting and I'm glad that I tried something very British, but I'm not going to have it again. After our snack, we walked along the river towards Parliament and Big Ben. It was cool to see them up close a personal and see different angles on them. We went on the bridge near both sites, so that was cool to see too.

29/05/10 - It was rather raining today, so our flat decided it would be a good museum day. We decided on the Tate Modern. I'm not big into modern art, but I thought it would still be cool to see. When we were trying to find it, we ran across the Borough Market. It had tons of fresh food that we were able to try. There were so many different stalls with delicious looking food. After wandering our way through the market, we went to the Tate. Modern art is definitely different, but I enjoyed the photographs that it displayed. It was very interesting to see.

'Til next week.