I know, I know I have been MIA

Since my wonderful SB2k10 entry (SPRING BREAK 2010 for you slow people) a lot of things have happened. I have entered the working world. I do the tube commute (which is often too crowded) and often feel like I get back too late to actually do anything after work, and go to bed earlier than a tired Judy and Tom. I know, crazy right?

On Thurs and Fri I go to my internship at Gatehouse Group, which is a communications company and a events planning company. I attend a lot of client meetings which is good for formal interview experience and get to attend some pretty cool events through GASP. I like the Gatehouse environment because it is very personal and laid back. All of the associates have had experience in many different industries and I try to learn the most that I can from them. The focus of Gatehouse is internal communications and I am learning how integral communications can be to the function of a company. I think that the experience I am getting in this field will prepare me for future leadership/managerial positions

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I intern at HSBC in the Global Transaction Banking group doing internal communications type stuff. It is really interesting and I am learning a lot from the team that I work with. It is a team of 5 people on a floor of 200. When I get to work, I need to check in with a guide, reception, and then be picked up from floor 25 to go to floor 28. There are upwards of 40 floors in the building, many of them are similar. I just got a temporary key card today so I am hoping that it is set up by Thursday. Checking in everyday and waiting to be retrieved can be annoying. Also, if I leave my floor I can not get back in. This can be problematic with I meet with other members of the HSBC staff. Despite the size, I am really enjoying the experience that I am getting from working there. The building stuff will come in time.

It is a huge contrast between the five person office at Gatehouse and the 3000 person office at HSBC. I like my project at HSBC better because it involves more self-motivated tasks versus observation and intern tasks at Gatehouse.

Enough work, MORE PLAY. This weekend my roomates and I went to DUBLIN. We rented an apartment on the outskirts of the city. We went to an awesome viking museum, the Dublin Castle, and all the other major sites. Ireland has been hit really hard by the depression and it was evident there. A lot of the festivities from the St. Patricks Day festival were toned down and the city could be depressing at times. I went to the Guinness Storehouse as well, which had a cool museum and demonstration that was very interactive.

Otherwise, not much is new. I have been to a couple cool events for my internship so far and tomorrow I am having lunch with some Irish people for St. Patrick's day. I am trying to wear neutral colors so as not to offend anyone with any orange or look like a looney tune dressed in all green.

There is an adorable white bulldog who lives around the corner from me. I imagine that her name is Lulu but I do not know for sure. Every morning when I walk to the tube she is out on her stairs (she lives in a basement apartment on a side street) and I come and pet her and give her a good ear rubbing. It makes me really miss Penny :( But she is adorable and its nice to have some contact with a bully after so many years of doglessness.

Next weekend, I want to go on a planned day trip through BU to Bath and Avery. I am hoping we get tickets for it on time. I am also planning Easter break and debating what I should do after the program in terms of traveling. Otherwise, not much is going on here. I am an old geyser and it is 1145 so I am hitting the hay. Pop me an e-mail, I want to hear about your lives as well! Love and miss you all!

xoxo

Brookie

Pictures from Spring Break

The FC Barcelona Stadium

Sammy and me in Madrid

Sammy and me at FC Barcelona

Final Score at the game

Sammy and Logan in front of a statue in the Park

February Update: Finals, Madrid, Barcelona, and Internship

SO it has been a while since I have updated this. It has been a crazy two weeks. I got back from Barcelona at about 2 this morning and had class from 9-1 adding to my sleep deprivation.

The last time I blogged was a week before finals. I had two finals immediately after my paper and coursework were due so it was a stressful weekend. I finished my last final on Tuesday and went out to celebrate at a small chinese food restaurant with some friends. We flew out Wednesday morning on RyanAir from Stansted, one of the airports about an hour out of the city. We flew directly into Madrid and navigated the metro towards our hotel, Hotel Opera. It was right near Plaza del Sol and the Royal Opera. Once we dropped off our luggage, we went exploring looking for a small tapas restaurant. We bought a metro pass when we were on our way but it ended up not being worth it because the city was small enough that we could walk from sight to sight. Logan's room mate Dori is studying in Madrid and she met up with us for chocolate and churros Each of us had lists of different attractions in the city so we made our way through them and then headed back to the hotel for a siesta. Unfortunately, we were all exhausted from traveling and our Siesta ended up being about four hours. When we woke up it was around midnight and by the time we went looking for dinner many restaurants were closing. We picked up some snacks and went back to the hotel to sleep for the rest of the night.

Thursday we started with breakfast at the hotel and went to finish off our list of sites to tour. We made it to the Caixa Forum, the free modern art museum; toured the Royal Palace; and went to El Prado (The Spanish Louvre). After tea and cake at El Prado, we finished off our touring by walking back through the Plazas en route to the hotel. After another siesta, we got ready to go out for dinner and meet up with friends who are studying in Madrid.

On Friday morning, we had an early flight to Barcelona. Once we got to Barcelona and met up with the friends that we were staying with, we dropped off our bags at their apartment and went out in search of lunch. Barcelona's weather was beautful! We toured without our coats and it was sunny for once. We went to el Segrada Familia, a church for all religions, and walked to Park Guell to see Gaudi's work. Afterwards, we took the metro to Las Ramblas and had lunch before getting on the metro towards the FC Barcelona game. We scalped tickets and were able to sit (very high up) all together while enjoying the atmosphere at the game. They won 4-0 and there was quite a crowd. After the game we returned to my friend's apartment for dinner and got ready for the rest of the night. On Sunday, we slept in late and woke up and went to lunch almost immediately. After lunch, we walked around Las Ramblas again, had gelato, and headed back to our friends' apartment to pack for the airport.

Spain was beautiful but it was frustrating to not be able to understand what was going on. Luckily, one of our friends in Barcelona was fluent so we had no problem there. I would like to go back to Barcelona when it is warmer out. We didn't make it to the beach and I would like to spend more time there. It was also interesting how much slower the pace was there than in London. Siesta was definitely a tradition I could incorporate into my daily schedule.

I can't believe that our Spring Break is already over. I just started a new class today and Wednesday will be the first day of my internship with Gatehouse Communications. I am nervous to start but excited for the opportunity. I am excited but nervous to start the daily commute and enter into the work world (real world)

Anyways, I will follow up with pictures soon. Miss you all!

ONE MONTH!

I cannot believe that I have already been here for an entire month. This weekend was my first weekend not traveling and I had a blast and took it easy. It is also the first weekend where I have had a lot of work to do in terms of papers and coursework. I have econ coursework due Tuesday, a paper due Wednesday, and an internet project(easy as pie) due Friday.

This week I went to see avenue Q in the theatre district and got some authentic chinese food in Chinatown after. Avenue Q was hilarious and I loved it! The next night was my friend Sam's 21st o we went to a cute Italian place near us that had the best garlic bread and bruschetta. Afterwards, we went out for the typical celebrations.

Thursday night we went to The Comedy Store for a night of stand up comedy. It is where Robin Williams started his career. It was really funny and pretty inexpensive. I had a great time!

On Friday, I did homework at Starbucks and then went shopping in Oxford Circus, which was CRAZY! It was so crowded and there are a lot of stores there but I only ended up buying a few headbands at HM.

Saturday was a really big day for Rugby matches and brits flooded the streets dressed up as all sorts of crazy things. Some people were dressed up as Kiwis (For NZ) others as smurfs (face paint and all) and bumble bees, nerds, doctors, sheep, basically everything.

Today, I am finishing up my paper and coursework. I am already half way done with the paper and 2/5 through the coursework. Unlike my older brothers, I do not like to have to work on assignments the night before they are due. We will see how that works out here. Luckily I am done with class at 1 tomorrow so I will have plenty of time to finish it.

Love and miss you all!

Arc de Triomphe

On the second floor of the eiffel tower with Logan

At the comedy store- group pic

My roommates and I

At Avenue Q with Nicole, Annelise, and Sam

Picture Update!!

The Maypole in Munich!

Katya and I at lunch in Munich!

A look at the cab after a typical trip to Sainsbury's, our local grocery store:

The German version of Attention: Chat Lunatique:

My friends and I at dinner for my birthday:

TRAVEL WEEKEND DEUX: PARIS!!!

This weekend I took the Eurostar to Paris with my friend Logan to meet up with our friends Samantha and Alex. We stayed in a very petite hotel in the 17th arrondissement. Our neighborhood was cute and had a street market every morning. On Thursday night, we got into Paris around 6pm and spent some time searching out our hotel. It was on a small side street and even some of the locals didn't know the street by name. After checking in, we set out down the small windy streets for a restaurant for dinner. We ended up back in the main square of Villiers and ate at one of the small bistros there. After dinner we went exploring and discovered a Creperie not far from our hotel. There, Logan tried her first crepe. They were delicious! We headed back early and mapped out our plans for the rest of the weekend.

On Saturday, we woke up early, had breakfast at the hotel, and jouneyed on the metro to meet up with Sam and Alex at the Arc de Triomphe. There, we hopped aboard a Red Bus and took it for an entire loop through all the major areas of the city. We hadn't planned on doing this originally, however, it was downpouring and we were not ready to do the walking tours in the rain. It was 24 euros for two days and we could get on and off as much as we wanted. Our first real stop was the Louvre. There, we got in for free (yay being between 18-24 and a RESIDENT of the EU) and paid the six euro for the audio guide. We spent a few hours walking through the italian paintings (La Jaconde, Da Vinci, Michaelangelo) and wondered down to the Egyptian exhibit to look at the mummys and everything. During our tour, we stopped at the cafe there for some overpriced sandwiches and a look at the tuilleries (it was still raining so the big window view had to do) before continuing in the museum. After the Louvre, we hopped back on the bus and went to L'Opera, or more importantly, Les Galleries Lafayette. Although the fashion was tempting and there was a massive sale, we made our way up to the food hall for some gelato and chinese food. At this point it was already close to five and we all decided to part ways and join back up for dinner around 10pm.

For dinner, we went to Tokyo Eat, a modern restaurant that Sam's concierge had recommended. It had a very modern feel to it and was in a big warehouse. The menu was overpriced. I had scallops and risotto at 25 euro plus the wine so my total was 32 euro. They had said this was a fusion of French and Japanese food but to me it was just plain overpriced. The atmosphere was different though and it looked out at the Eiffel Tour, which glittered every hour on the hour past sundown so all in all it was ok.

After dinner we decided that we wanted to experience some of Paris Nightlife. However, the line at the club near the restaurant, "Duplex" was extrememly long so we decided to go to a local bistro near the arc de tiomphe and have dessert instead. My crepes were delicious and our waiter was quite the comedian. After dessert, Logan and I hopped a cab back to the hotel. We had to fit in some beauty sleep for our adventures on Saturday.

Saturday, we slept through the hotel breakfast so we journeyed out into the street market in search of pain du chocolat and some tea. The vendors had great produce, meats, and baked goods so it was difficult to get moving and on the metro quickly because there were so many different little stands in which we could dilly dally. Sam decided to go to the Montmarte section of the city, but we chose to wait two and a half hours in the frigid windy snow to take the cable car up the Tour d'Eiffel. It was just as cold up there but we got some great pictures as the weather decided to clear up. Afterwards, we went for some lunch and decided to do some serious shopping at les printemps. The style here is for small over the shoulder bags. We found a couple at longchamp that were reasonably priced. However, we decided to save the Euros and got some more gelato instead before walking back through the crowds and completing our circuit on the big red sightseeing bus. By the time we returned to our hotel it was 8pm, just in time for a nap. However, both of us were starting to get sick and we decided to nap untl 1030pm, go out for some crepes for dinner, and take it easy the rest of the night before our 730 departure the next morning.

All in all, the eurostar made the trip very easy and convenient. We were only 15 minutes away by metro from the station both in Paris and London. When we got back to the dorm today I took the opportunity to go for a run and get some groceries. My rommates and I all had tacos for dinner and as soon as I post this, I will have to start doing some of that thing called HW because exams are coming up soon. We are still trying to plan our midsemestester break. We originally wanted to go skiing but none of us have any gear. Now we are looking into resorts in Morroco or atleast somewhere where there is sun. The bleak london mist is a little depressing at times. Anywho, please e-mail me I would like to hear about all y'all too!

Miss and love you!!!
Brookie

My Birthday, Munich, and Upcoming Events

I wrote this in Germany on Friday night:

Disclaimer: The y and z are switched on these keyboards.


We had a very early start this morning when the cab arrived at 450 am to take us to London Stansted. We got pretty cheap flights on easyjet but the trade off was that we were flying out of stansted instead of heathrow. By the time the seven of us split the cab it was onlz 11 pounds per person each way. When we got to Munich we realized that none of us knew how to speak German and we were a little bit confused on how to get to our hostel but once we spoke to the information desk we got it all sorted out. The trains here are very efficient and we are onlz a couple stops away from Meinplatz, the center of Munich. We split passes on the rail so all of the train travel this weekend was only 12 euro per person, including the train to and from the airport.

Today during the day we walked around the Meinplatz and climbed St. Peters to get a great (and cheap view of the city) we also got lunch at one of the delicious little cafes. We were even mistaken for being Bavarian by one of the girls in the bathroom. After lunch we spent some time walking around the central area. We also had a verz american experience of sprinting through the square to hear the kuckoo clock go off at 5pm only to find out that its only at 5 during the summer. We also went to dinner in a small restaurant off the main alley with all german menus. Our waitress was very nice and she desribed every item as best she could. She also showed us some more places to visit and gave us a free round of small german beers for our trip and my birthday.

When we got home from dinner, we took it easy because all of us were exhausted. We woke up saturday and went to an open air market for breakfast before going on a 3 hour walking tour of the city. We cut out of the tour early for some traditional bavarian food. Afterwards, we caught a train to go see Dachau, as it is very close to the metro stop.

That evening we had a traditional bavarian meal at a brewery across the street from our hostel and headed to Hofbrauhous, the most famous beer house. Our tour guide told us that it used to be men only and there were no latrines, so it could get pretty stinky in there. Luckily, the plumbing was up to par and the pretzels were delicious.

Since I have been back I have done the usual grocery shopping and dropped off some clothes to be laundered (15 pounds per time eeek :/) I have to remember that this is actually school so I tried to go to the library today at the local college and do some work so that I am prepared for a presentation of Friday and exams in a few weeks.

We have started to plan spring break and I think my friends and I are going to try and rent a ski house in the alps for the five days. My friend Tessa from Germany might even meet us there. We are working it out now to try and book it as soon as possible. We just don't really know any of the mountains so email me if you have any recommendations. We also aren't sure if we can rent EVERYTHING so we are researching it.

Upcoming travel adventures include Paris next weekend and Dublin on March 12. For the weekends in between, I think I am going to try and see some of the UK while I have a chance. I am also going to an Econ play tomorrow night and Avenue Q on Feb 1st so it should be a packed couple of weeks.

I hope everything is great stateside!

Miss you lots,
Brookie