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We are down to our final weekend in London! Now that school and work is over we’ve all had the chance to catch up on sleep and have some down time to ourselves. 

Looking back on the trip, there is not one thing I would have changed. Although I wasn’t very fond of my internship, I am glad that I got to work with the people at Neville McCarthy and get the experience of working in another country. Going into PR was an option for me after I graduate. However, it’s still very hard to tell at this point if I will actually like it. Industry is so much different that school and thats why it’s important to have internships. In only 12 days, I realized it may not be the career for me. I have been considering transferring after I get my associates degree at FIT and going into interior design/architecture. This definitely helped me sway my decision to do so. I’ll just have to see what this next year at FIT brings for me. 

The memories I have made are unforgettable, and I will always carry them with me. Although we were tired and always on the go, we managed to have an amazing time together. From family dinners, to nights out, site visits, and other adventures, we always managed to make the most out of our time here.

I really hope that I continue to stay in contact with some of the girls I've met on this trip. Everyone here has their own unique personality that I’ve genuinely enjoyed getting to know in this past month. I know everyone will end up doing amazing things in their lives/careers and I look forward to hearing about them.  

Although I am not particularly looking forward to my 8 hour plane ride home, along with another hour long flight back upstate, I am SO excited to finally be coming home! I can’t wait to be reunited with my boyfriend, my family, and my pets. I’ll take a little bit of time to get re-adjusted to the time change and then I'll go back to work for the summer. 

And just like that, my time here and London has come to an end. I’ll continue to be thankful for this opportunity, and I’ll miss London like crazy. 

✌🏻

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The Final Week - Continued

Thursday may have been one of my favorite days on this trip. We went to the Victoria and Albert Museum and saw the Balenciaga exhibit. I am not really into fashion, and therefore don't really know much about it (and I go to FIT...I should probably be ashamed) so going to this exhibit was really interesting for me. I am aware of Balenciaga as a brand, however I didn’t know anything about the history of it. I learned that Balenciaga was a Spanish designer who loved to experiment with shape in a time where it was a bit controversial in fashion. His pieces, such as his bubble skirts, are odd in shape but also quite feminine. He was an interesting and unique designer overall and I loved spending my time in the exhibit. We had an unlimited amount of time in the museum, so I took my time to look around and appreciate the art. I also took a look at a jewelry exhibit, which had jewelry dating back to 500 AC (I think it was that old....my memory is bad so don’t quote me on that) Regardless, it was really really old and pretty amazing to look at. 

All exhibitions aside, the museum itself was stunning. The interior was so detailed and beautiful. Upon walking in, you see a huge glass-blown sculpture hanging from the ceiling. The museum cafe was designed to reflect the tastes of the Victorian era. The atmosphere was completed with the lovely sound of a man playing the piano. It was the perfect place to enjoy afternoon tea and a treat. You also had the option to take your tea or food outside where the courtyard is. It is enclosed in a square and surrounded by the museum walls. There is a large pond in the middle, along with grass and other chairs and tables to sit at. Colorful flowers and vines lined the edge of the building. 

It was pretty late by the time I returned from the museum. I had my London family dinner at 6, so I had about an hour to get ready. We went to Cafe Laville, where we enjoyed a buffet-style meal together - all 25 of us. The restaurant is located directly on the canal. It was nice out, so they had the doors open on the canal side. The open and airy space made for an enjoyable dinner. Although I will say that Prof Johnson’s food on our Wednesday evening family dinners was about 1,000x better. 

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The Final Week

A lot of us in the group are pretty burnt out at this point. But that’s not stopping us from enjoying our final week in London.

The time has really flown by - we've already been here a whole month. It’s so bittersweet to be returning home so soon.

On Monday, we had a class trip to the British Library and Museum, which would’ve been great if we had more time to look around. By the time we got to the museum, I had to choose between staying there to look around or getting food. Naturally I chose food or else I would've been rather hangry (hungry + angry) for our afternoon trip to the Wall Street Journal. However, if I ever come back to London it’ll be on my list of things to do because that museum looked stunning on the inside. 

On Tuesday I took a day off from work. I was feeling sick, and super tired. I got the chance to bring my MacBook to the Apple Store to get fixed, Thankfully, they covered everything under warranty. Other than that I pretty much bummed around all day and slept a lot. Later in the evening I went with Alina to have a small picnic in the park near Picadilly Station. It was a beautiful day and I wanted to get some fresh air. You know how much I love the parks here.

My last day of work was on Wednesday, and it was bittersweet. This week at my internship, my colleagues called Claire and I into the conference room to join the rest of the team for some tea and cake. We exchanged thank you cards and they gave us small goodie-bags filled with cosmetic products from CEW. I wasn’t expecting them to do that for us, given we were only there for 12 days total. But they really made us feel appreciated there. Everyone at work is so casual with one another. Their group dynamic is really interesting. At the small going-away gathering they continued joking around with each other and talking like you would talk to your friends. 

After everyone got done work on Wednesday, we went to the Warrington to celebrate. We didn’t stay out too late though because we had school in the morning. Thursday turned out to be a really great day. 

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Alright, buckle up. This is about to be a rough post. 

It all started when I arrived at Central Station in Amsterdam on Sunday. It was 5 pm, and my flight was at 7:35 pm. I bought my train ticket to the airport from a lady at the booth. She told me what platform and train to take. I get on the train. Wait a few stops like she instructed. Got off very confused because I was in the middle of nowhere. Turns out, the airport was in the complete other direction about 40 minutes away. Mind you, there was about an hour until my flight at this point. 

So I talk to this Dutch guy who didn’t look sketchy. My phone wasn’t working, so I asked him to call me a cab. At this point, I would pay ANYTHING to get to this airport. I get in the cab, and he tells me he doesn’t accept card, only cash. On top of this, he barely spoke English. So I had to hop on a train, which I had to wait about 10 minutes for. I waited two stops, then transferred to another train that would get me directly to the airport. At this point, I was frantically asking people if I was going the right way and simultaneously bringing out my inner New Yorker by shoving through crowds of people. On top of all of this, it was about 85 degrees and sunny outside. So I get to the airport, cut people in line at security, and sprint, I’m telling you....SPRINT to my gate. Let’s just say I felt really bad for whoever I was sitting next to on the flight because I was so incredibly sweaty. Anyway, yes I made my flight. I happened to make it 10 minutes before departure and was the last person to board. Woohoo! I did it!

Yeah, I wish it was that simple. Let’s just think about the possible things that could go wrong while travelling. Train delays? Extremely long lines at customs? Packed trains? Yep. It all happened after that flight. 

I got off of the flight and arrived at Luton Airport, which is an hour away from London. There were a ton of planes that all landed within the same 15 minute window due to delays. So the customs line went all the way down the hallway. Thankfully I met a Canadian girl there who was really nice. So we complained together and it made things slightly less painful.

I finally got through customs, just to go outside to take a shuttle bus to the train station. The line was extremely long for this shuttle. So I had to wait in line once again. I get to the train station, and my train is delayed. I wait once again until it finally arrives. I shoved myself on that train despite how packed it was. I stood with my luggage for about a half hour until finally getting off to take the tube. I take three different trains to get back to the house. And I am FINALLY home. I can’t believe what I had been through that day. I was both miserable and proud that I actually made it through that absolute mess. 

So clearly I am not getting to these blogs posts until now, Monday. So clearly my procrastination habits did not help me in this situation. However in my defense, I write everything down in my journal before I type it up and submit it. And I had all intentions of doing so when I got back. But after that chaos, I went straight to sleep when I got back.

So here I am, Monday night after a long day of school trips, about to write these blog posts. I went home right after the WSJ visit so I could finish them. I open my brand new Macbook Pro that I got two months ago, only to find that the screen and half of the touchbar will no longer work. The screen is black, and there is a small chip in the lower left hand corner of the screen. I left my laptop in the flat over the weekend safely away in its case. I was using it right before I left. So i have no idea what happened. All I have to blame at this point is my incredibly bad luck. Thank god Caroline is letting me borrow her laptop for the time being. 

So that was my Sunday and Monday in a nutshell. I’m just hoping for some good luck to be sent my way at some point. 

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Hmmm, my weekend. I’ll dedicate this post to the positive aspects of my weekend. But be prepared for the following post, because its about to be stressful.

I travelled to Amsterdam this past weekend to visit my Aunt and Uncle and their two kids. It has been almost a year since I have seen them last, so I was so excited to see them and catch up. It wasn’t my first time in Amsterdam so I knew most cultural aspects of the country as well as the way around the city. It truly is one of my favorite cities. Although I could never live there because of the language barrier. Anyway, I got there late Friday night. I shared a room with my 5 year old cousin, he was so excited to see me. I slept on a very comfortable mattress with a down comforter. I was like...Wow....Is this luxury? Because after sleeping on what seems like a prison mattress for these past few weeks, it sure felt like it. 

My Uncle had booked a spa appointment as a birthday present for my aunt and I on Saturday. I was not expecting anything like that, it was so nice of him. We arrived at 10 am, and ended up staying until 3:30 pm. It was my first time going to a spa. it was amazing. It was half indoor and half outdoor, with a large pool in the middle also going indoors and outdoors. There were several different saunas, hot tubs, and hot baths. Some were with dry heat, humid heat, some were cold, and others had different aromatherapy. I also got an hour long massage. I really needed it after the busy week I had previously. 

Later that night, we met a few of their friends to go out to dinner. We spent hours there. The food was served in four courses, and all of it was so delicious. The portions were quite small but I was still full by the end of it. After that, we biked to a bar and spent the rest of the night there. We got home at around 3 am. I love how biking is the main form of transportation in Amsterdam. I felt like I got a lot of exercise over this weekend. 

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Work has been a little more involved these past couple of weeks. I am so glad that my last full week is over!  I think overall I have found that office jobs may not be for me. Of course it would be different for every company, so I might try to get another internship next semester. Regardless, this job has given me valuable experience, especially since I see myself moving overseas to work. I’m happy that I have plenty of time to figure out what I would like to do career-wise. I want to finish my associates at FIT and possibly transfer to another school for interior design/architecture. Who knows if I’ll really do it, but its on my list as of now. I think I would do better doing something a little hands-on and creative. I’m really relieved that this is my last week. 

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Wednesday afternoon was GORGEOUS out! The sun was shining, there was a nice refreshing breeze, and it was 70 degrees. Claire and I always utilize the park next to work during our lunch break. Since it was so gorgeous out, we came up with the brilliant idea of ordering Franco Manca online and having it be ready to pick up by the start of our break. We left work, picked up our pizza, and headed to the park to relax and enjoy some delicious pizza. If you know me, you know how much I love laying in the park and relaxing. I could do it all day on nice days. The parks here in London are amazing. I’m going to miss it a lot when I go back to New York City. 

After we were done at the park, we returned to work. The afternoons usually drag on. It’s pretty much the same things everyday. Lots of excel sheets. Sometimes I cover the front desk for my office manager. I’ll answer phone calls and work from her desk. That I don’t really mind because it gives me a change of scenery throughout the day. 

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I kicked off this week early by going to one of my favorite spots - King’s Cross - with Pakesha and Chelsea right after work. What began as a relaxing day with snacks and wine in the park along the canal, turned into kind of an unexpected late night. Chelsea and I went to the bathroom, and came back to the park to find that Pakesha made friends. So we started to talk to this group of three British guys. It was nice because they weren’t being creepy or trying to flirt like most guys would. We were all just having friendly conversation together and enjoying each others company. At one point they were trying to teach us how to speak with a proper British accent. It didn’t work out well. We also were telling them about the party scene in The States and we taught them how to shotgun beers. It was actually hilarious and quite entertaining. (we weren’t participating in the shotgunning, as it was a work night). It was really cool talking to people from here in a nonprofessional way. It’s much different than talking with colleagues or poeple from Anglo. We decided we needed to head back, so we hopped on the subway. On the bakerloo line, we stopped at Baker Street and all of a sudden there was an announcement saying that the train was done running for the night. We had to get out and catch a bus back home. We got home a little late, but it was well worth the fun times and memories. It was a great way to spend a Tuesday evening. 

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Here are a couple of my favorite looks from the show. I really appreciated how diverse the runway was. Clothing was represented on so many different skin tones, and all of the models were striking. It was such a wonderful experience!

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London Fashion Week - Men’s

Tuesday came along and it was time to go back to work. I started off by doing more excel sheets for press contacts for clients. I had to add in clients that had not been added the first time around. The list was up-to-date and new, so if it had been done correctly the first time I wouldn’t have had to spend hours going through 500+ contacts and adding new ones from a database that they use. I finally finished on Wednesday morning and was then assigned to write an article for New & Lingwood about men’s wedding fashion. It was nice to be doing something a little more interactive and hands-on. I also got to attend a John Smedley show for London Men’s Fashion Week. It was at an outdoor venue on Jermyn Street. Thankfully, the fickle London weather cooperated with us and we were able to enjoy a beautiful sunny day outside. There were two shows that were exclusive to the press, and two shows for the public. Everything ran so smoothly. Claire and I were responsible for helping with seating, passing out program sheets, and other smaller tasks. After the show, I went with my colleagues to a nearby pub for a drink. I stayed and chatted for about an hour and came back to my flat to take a well-deserved three hour nap. Can you tell how much I value sleeping?

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London Fam!

The weeks keep dragging on and I keep getting behind on sleep. Usually after class or work, I’ll go home and relax or take a nap. Last Sunday I actually went to sleep at 8:30 pm and it was the best feeling getting almost 12 hours of sleep. I really needed it. But when I’m not trying to catch up on sleep, I promise I have fun. On Monday, we had about 10 other people to our flat to hang out and talk. We shared lots of laughs together. Every day is like a new bonding experience with these girls. I try to hang out with everyone at some point. No one is tied to a specific group which is awesome. So it’s not uncommon to go to lunch or other activities with a new mix of people. It’s so strange how I didn’t know any of these girls up until I got here and I feel like I have gotten to know each one of them tremendously. The London family is real!

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I got these Korean kimchi rice balls at a food truck during London Fashion Week. They were amazing and made a great meal for lunch.

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Shopping!

London has been so great to me these past two weeks. I’m loving it more and more everyday, and it’s even more enjoyable with the group of students that I am spending my time with. The one thing I will complain about is the food here. I have had two meals that were mediocre at best. The rest has not been good at all. So it’s the end of week two and I have decided to give up on going out to eat. Other than that, London has been treating me so well. Our weeks have been going by surprisingly slow, and I’m not complaining. 

I have taken note of the prices of cosmetics, toiletries, and feminine products here. A box of 20 tampons is only around 2 pounds. I bought makeup wipes and they were only 1 pound and 50 pence. Shampoo, conditioner, and body wash is also very inexpensive. When I buy cosmetics in the states, they are so expensive. Tampons are 5-8 dollars, makeup wipes are 6-7, and shampoo and conditioner is around 5 and up. I think it has to do with our consumer driven society. We are more savvy about finding good prices, however we still overpay a lot for basic products.

As a obsessive Target shopper, I was pretty much in heaven the first time I went to Primark. It has been one of my favorite places to shop. You can buy literally everything there so if you need to get something cheap it’s the best place to go. I’ve gotten some things for our flat there because it’s so cheap and I won’t mind throwing it out at the end of the month. I also love Boots, which is pretty much equivalent to CVS or Walgreens in the states.

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Saturday, June 3rd - My 20th Birthday

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London Week 1: Part 3

For my final post this week, I’d like to jump right into the fun category. My birthday weekend! On Saturday, June 3rd, I turned 20! I was super tired on Saturday morning and I was just going to bum around until the night came. However, I decided to go to Covent Garden with Kristen for a chill day of exploring and shopping. I ended up buying a new perfume (treat yo-self) and also buying some gifts for my family. It was my favorite part of London I have been to so far. I had a great day.

Night time came around and we decided to go out for my birthday. We had a group of 7 ready to celebrate. Unfortunately, right before we were about to leave, we got the news of a suspected terrorist attack. It wasn’t anywhere near where we were going, so we decided to go through with our plans. News kept coming in that there were stabbings and gunshots as well. We decided to go home and hang out together instead.

I find that the people of London were a bit shaken up during that night because no one knew much of what was going on. There were sounds of sirens and helicopters all night. The subway wasn’t stopping at certain points. Everything was a bit chaotic. I find that today things are settled again and people are going about their days. It seems like Trump is more outraged than the people of London.

Before all of this happened, I had my first in-class session on Friday. It consisted of two guest speakers. John Owen spoke to us about his career in journalism. I personally am not interested in pursuing a career in journalism, however I value its importance and it was interesting listening to his journey, The second lecturer was Christine Johnson, who is a media consultant. She spoke to us about her 25 year career in PR. Her lecture was more involved, which I really liked. I am also interested in a career in PR so it was great to hear about her experience with it here in the U.K.

By the end of this week, work was beginning to be more routine. Claire and I began doing newspaper reviews starting on Wednesday. From now on, every morning we will have to search news headlines and write any down that mention our clients or any relevant content. We both did small tasks around the office such as organize magazines, update a contact list, pack and ship items, and make Tesco runs. I am hoping that we will be able to get a little more involved next week.

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FIT London 2017 at Hampton Court Palace 

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London Week 1: Part 2

I was anxious to begin my first day of work because I had no idea what the job would entail. Thankfully, Claire and I were interning at the same company. It made things more comfortable to know someone else in the office. We both really didn’t know what to expect. However everyone was super kind and helpful. We made sure to stay busy all day and ask if there was anything we could do when things weren’t so busy.

Regardless of our busy schedule, we have managed to squeeze some time in for some adventuring. I’ve grown so much closer to everyone in the group. Everyone has their own unique personality and I love getting to know them. The “London Family” is beginning to feel very real. Chelsea and I enjoyed some wine and cheese at Kings Cross on Thursday. We spent a few hours just talking. Everything here is very relaxed and casual. I love the atmosphere.

Class has been much more different than I expected. On Friday, we went to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. On Monday, we went to Hampton Court Palace. Both places were beautiful. Buckingham Palace was a little too busy for me though. I find that I have a better time doing less touristy things. However, overall it was a great experience and I am glad we did it.