Some ramblings

It really hit me today. I have just over two weeks left in London. The time has literally flown by, especially this last month. I feel every time I talk to someone in my program, we give each other the usual poll about our feelings, how quick it went, are we ready to leave or digging our nails into the London curbsides? For the most part it’s a mixture of both. Everyone’s going to miss London, but most are ready to leave. To go home and spread out. To not live in mice-infested flats (yes, 40 Hogarth does have a serious mice problem). To go back where the US dollar is worth something. I definitely have all these feelings too.

We had our last British Life & Culture lecture tonight, which proved to be the most entertaining one of the semester. Save the best for last, I guess. Our speaker discussed Brit pop culture, and focused a lot on British vs. American trends and customs. It’s interesting because I realized that a lot of the things I thought were so weird when I came over here I now find absolutely normal, and in fact really like it. I get the weird British humor and sarcasm for the most part. I’ll never be a fan of the soft porn topless girls they have in regularly published and distributed newspapers and magazines, but I do appreciate the kind of liberal outlook the Brits as a whole have. I say chips instead of fries without much thought. It’s all the little things that make me feel like I’m legitimately British. But I know that within two weeks of being back in the States, I’ll start saying fries again and probably switch gears and pick up a Southern accent for the summer. And this is just how it is. And I’m ok with that.

Here’s a little brief update on everything. My big project that I’d been working on all semester at my internship went off very well last Thursday. We had members of our largest client come in and listen to presentations from our company’s magazine editors, heads of media departments and leading executives. We treated them to great food and drinks and gave them opportunities to interact with some of our innovative products and services. I had my hand in almost every aspect of the project, acting as the main liaison and one of the head coordinators, so seeing it all go off smoothly was such a relief and gave me such a good feeling of accomplishment. Lillian told me today that the client’s have already given her a ton of positive feedback from the day, and our head of marketing said that the template I helped to develop will be the one we use for future client immersion days. I’ve heard we may already have a business lead as a result. So all this is just amazing affirmation that the hard work was effective.

I got the day off on Monday, so I spent the day catching up on schoolwork and other things. It was so nice for a change being in the flat when no one else was there. I finally felt like I had a little space to myself. It was amazing. Went on a brief trip to the V&A Museum so I could write a brief paper for one of my classes and spent most of the day working on my final project for my journalism class. I’m working on developing an advertising campaign proposal for a small London charity. It’s all hypothetical work, but I’m giving it to the charity to perhaps reference in the future. Plus, it’s a really good way to put together all that I’ve learned during work this semester. I’m not as concerned about the grade as I am about making it a good proposal that my client would actually consider. I’m to present it next Monday in class, so I’m working on just getting it all together at the moment. A little stressful, but I’ll be alright.

Tomorrow we’re attending the Globe Theater (where Shakespeare performed in his days). I’m probably going to make a stop at the Design Museum, which I’ve heard is fabulous, and spend the evening packing for Cannes and going to a movie screening for work. Then it’s an early morning flight to Cannes Thursday, returning Friday around noon. Should be a bit of a whirlwind, but I’m excited. I probably won’t write until my return.

Hope all is well with everyone!