T minus four days...

So.  This is weird.  I'm sitting here writing one of my last blog possts from London, and it's a little unreal!  Part of me feels like I've been here forever, but another part of me feels like I just got here!

It's been a busy past few weeks.  I finished up my internship at MEC!  My final project for the placement was creating my own presentation on the mobile market and where it is heading, and then presenting it to my coworkers in the press department.  I had complete free range with how I wanted to approach the project and what angle I wanted to take, which was a really great opportunity, but super stressful at the same time!  I talked about how mobile sites and smartphone apps are becoming more popular ways of digitally reading newspapers and magazines, and the current crossover figures between print newspaper and online newspaper readers.  I also spoke about how the tablet apps, like those for the iPad, seem to be the focus of much of the creative work and media hype, even though the percentage of UK consumers who are tablet owners is still vastly less than the percentage of those who are smartphone owners.  My coworkers really liked my presentation, and told me they were impressed by the points I made and how I approached the topic.  They even asked me to email them the presentation and my notes so they could refer to it in their future work!

My last day was really great-- after my mobile presentation my coworkers gave me a going-away present, a gift card to Selfridges (one of the UK's biggest department stores)!  It was so sweet of them to think of me, and I brought them all a tin of Cadbury Roses as my thank you gift to them.  Chocolate goes over well with any crowd, no doubt.  They also wrote me the nicest card and each wrote a message to thank me for me hard work!  It was a great experience working with MEC, and I really am going to miss it.  My supervisors told me to contact them if I ever need a reference... Aaaand I may or may not have also gotten recruited for a real job at the company if I'm ever back in London.  I mean, *I'd* call that a good day, I don't know about you. :)

My roommates and I took our last two trips, to Barcelona and Portugal!  Barcelona was busy, but beautiful.  I love Gaudi's architecture, and I'd seen the city before on a trip with my high school but it was just amazing to be back.  We saw a soccer game while we were there, and had such a great time!  It was great to experience that part of the culture in person.  Portugal was a nice, relaxing holiday for us girls.  We left for Lisbon literally a day after we got home from Barcelona, so we took it easy on this trip.  Let me tell you, it was nice to sleep late, enjoy the homemade crepes made fresh by the hostel's adorable housekeeper for breakfast, and wander around in beautiful 60 degree weather.  We still saw so much of the city, but did it at a nice and easy pace.

After my class this past Monday I headed down to Oxford Street (New Yorkers-- think 5th Avenue), and had a shopping afternoon.  I also went into Primark-- crazy crowded, clothes in piles on tables everywhere, employees using brooms to sweep up abandoned hangers off the floor... aaand my new favorite place.  Seriously, I left there with two nice sweaters and two hats, for £17!  I'm usually not a big shopper, but even I couldn't walk away from deals like those!

On another note, one thing I wish I'd done more of this semester is more of these... just general blog posts about day-to-day life.  I guess I was feeling nervous that people might not be interested in my typical Tuesday nights, and that a post about weekend travels might be more interesting.  I'm happy that I posted about my travels, because I learned so much in each city and saw things I never thought I'd ever see.  But I guess I have to keep in mind that the little things, like a presentation at work or a Monday afternoon shopping trip, can be interesting as well.  I guess it's all in the way you look at it.

I only have a few more days to live it up here in London town before heading home!  I'm trying to check things off my bucket list as quickly as I can, and I'm doing alright!  My roommates and I have reservations for high tea tomorrow afternoon at the Aldwych Hotel (pinkies up!), so it'll be nice to have a lovely English afternoon together before we part ways.  I'm also going to see if I can make it to Covent Garden and Abbey Road before leaving.  Oh, and yeah, I oughta pack, as well.  Thaaat might be important.

But for now, it's time to stop procrastinating, finish my paper, and study for my final.  Why is there always something better to do than schoolwork?

A Thoughtful Thanksgiving Abroad

Thanksgiving has come and gone!  If I were in the U.S., I'm sure I would have spent the day visiting with family, enjoying delicious home-cooked dishes, watching football, and baking Thanksgiving-themed desserts with my sisters.  However, since Thanksgiving isn't a holiday in London, I spent my day a little differently than normal.

I was still able to celebrate !  My coworkers at MEC took me out for a lunch of pie and mash, and my floormates and I cooked a big dinner and had a family meal (no turkey, but lots of pasta!  Hey, we're college kids, what do you expect?)  The meal was great, and so many people made homemade dishes that it felt like a real Thanksgiving. 

Don't get me wrong, I was still pining for home on Thanksgiving!  Being away really made me think of all the things I am thankful for, and how much I'm looking forward to returning to many of these things in just a few weeks time... Oh, and I'd be thankful if you followed the jump to read more. :)

Munich Musings

My roommates and I spent this past weekend in Munich, Germany.  I think it has been the most moving experience I have had this semester-- we learned about and experienced so much of the city's history and culture in just two days.  It is such a beautiful city with such a tumultous history, but being there in person let me see firsthand things that I never have, and know I never would have, gotten out of books...

Powers Invasion ~ my parents come to London!

It's been a family affair this week-- my mom and dad flew to jolly old Londontown to visit me!  We had a great time, and did so much in just five days!  If you remember my post from when my older sister came to visit me in London, you may already know that we Powerses have a great time whenever, and wherever, we're together... so being all together in London of all places just couldn't be better.  And we had a great time!  Follow the jump and see what we got up to!

Belgian Waffles and Bicycles! ~ Brussels and Amsterdam

This past weekend my roommate Jen and I lived some truly wise words, 
taken from one of the most classic, inspired pieces of film of our 
generation... Up.

Adventures are out there!

With that in mind, we ventured off to Brussels and Amsterdam for the 
weekend!

 

(Intern)ational Experiences!

After my fall break sojourn to Florence, I started the second part of my BU study abroad progam-- my internship!

Through the BU and EUSA placement program, I interviewed and was hired for an internship position with MEC Global, a media planning and buying company.  The company has offices in a number of different areas, (including New York!) and I would be working in the press department of MEC's London headquarters.

Before I started with MEC, I honestly didn't know much about media planning and buying.  I knew I wanted to experience marketing and advertising, since my last internship in New York with SNY focused more on the actual post-production and editing of media (in SNY's case, the media was sports television programming).  It's an entirely new experience for me, so I've just been trying to learn all I can.

Media planning and buying has a number of different sub-areas that I've been learning about.  One of MEC's jobs is to act as a middleman agent between advertisers and, in the press field, major newspapers and publications in London (such as the Sun, Metro, and Times).  Advertisers who want ad space in the papers seek out MEC as an agent, and we negotiate rates with publications and book the clients' ad space.

I've also been exposed to more creative areas of MEC, as well.  On my first day of work I sat in on a brainstorming meeting with my coworkers, and observed and listened as they tossed around ideas for how to promote a new organic sweetener.  It was really interesting to see the start of the creative process, and how the ideas and concepts really start flowing just in these small sit-downs.

I really get along well with the people I've been working with.  There are eight other people on the press team, and I sit at a big desk with five of them.  Somebody is always making a joke or playing music, and the
British sense of humor is definitely something else!  It took a few days to start getting used to the more sarcastic, quick wit of my coworkers, but it never fails to make me laugh-- and it's absolutely part of the culture!

Overall conclusion: so far so good!  I hope it stays that way this semester; MEC seems like a good place to learn more about the industry from a UK standpoint.  And worst comes to worst, I can say I got to work in an office whose kitchen actually had boiling water on tap for constant tea-making.  It's the little things in life...

Fall Break in Florence!

So last time we chatted, my sister and I had just spent a lovely weekend together!  And the *spectacular* grand finale of the festivities, I will remind you... two final exams and a final paper.  Oof.  That's a kicker.

But have no fear!  I have to say, I showed those finals who was boss. :-D  Since I really enjoyed taking the classes and learning about marketing for the first time completely and advertising from a UK point of view, I feel I retained a lot of the information, making the finals easier to handle.

After finals, BU gives the Internship Program students a fall break before we start our work placements.  So with no classes from Wednesday through Sunday...

I was off to Italy!

It's a jolly holiday with Tara! ~ my sister comes to London!

This Megan was "as lucky as lucky could be" this past weekend... my older sister came to visit me in London over her long Columbus weekend!  We've been excited for this trip since she booked her flights last April (we Powers girls like to plan ahead), especially since we had so much fun the last time we were abroad together in the summer of 2006 with our high school (we visited Spain, France, and England).  I feel like I really caught the travel bug that summer, no doubt thanks to her.  We grew so much closer exploring those beautiful cities together, and it was great to have the time right before she left for college.  A group of Tara's high school friends also took that trip, and she always made me feel so included even though they were all a few years older than me.  We shared so many laughs and memories on that trip, and it's one that I will never forget.

I couldn't believe Tara's visit was finally here.  It was so great to have a face from home around for a few days, to just talk and explore together, know what the other one was thinking-- no matter where we get together, it always feels like home.  We had such an amazing weekend, and I was sad to have to say goodbye until December, but we'll have a great reunion over my winter break (and yes, we've already started planning all the fun adventures we'll have.  We are planners, we'll admit it!)

But first... for the fun adventures we had this weekend! 

One month later

I can't believe I've been here an entire month so far.  In some respects it seems like I just got here, but then in others, it feels like I've been here forever...

Cead mile falte! ~ A Dublin Weekend

So, what does one do with a nice long weekend, a fellow free roommate, and a body full of Irish blood?

Why, one goes to Dublin, of course.

Roadtrips with Roommates

"The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round..."

Story of my life these past two weekends.  Not kidding.

The roomies and I signed up for a triad of weekend day trips earlier this month, spanning over two weekends, and we were really looking forward to them!  I personally was really excited to have the chance to see the surrounding areas of England.  While I love that I have the chance to visit other countries while I'm here, it was really important to me to see more of the whole country that I'm living in, as well.

Piccadilly and Princesses!

Weekend adventures are great.  Weekend adventures with your new roommates, who you get along with really well and have a lot in common, and only on day 5 in London?  Even better.

The way the Internship Program is structured, I take two classes from Monday-Thursday, one class session a day, for four hours each.  Oh yeah, you read that right.  I'm a champion.  The reason the classes are so long is because we're basically taking a semester's worth of material in five weeks, before moving on to our internships.  Everything has to be condensed to basically fit within ten or so class meetings.  But on the bright side, those marathon classes meeeean... free Fridays!

For those of you at Fordham who have ever had Wednesdays off from class, I know you know that soul-liberating feeling you get on Tuesday after classes end, when you realize you can make plans for that evening, sleep late the next day, and take a much-needed mid-week break from academic life the next day.  It's the best part of the week!

My London roommates and I echoed these feelings on Thursday night, and decided to venture out the next day for some sightseeing in Piccadilly Circus.  Come and see what adventures we got up to!

A Week of Wandering!

So you know those good ol' days of college orientation?  The ice breakers, the walking tours, the academic lectures, the standard "What'syourname-whereareyoufrom-what'syourmajor" questions you get asked a million times?

Add cloudy/rainy skies, wet socks, and jet lag.  Stir until utterly exhausted.  And you have my week!

Haha, but in all honesty, as tiring as this week has been it's also been pretty great too.  Follow the jump and see what I've been up to!

Cheerio from London!

So it's about 8 pm London time, and I've lost track of how many hours I've been awake.  My conception of what mealtime I should be on is gone (after an airplane dinner served at 9 pm New York time... then breakfast four hours later at 7 am London time//1 am NY time, I knew I was done for).  My internal clock is ringing and roaring like it's nobody's business.  But on the positive side... I'M IN LONDON.

Wow.  That's the only word I can grasp right now.  WOW.  I honestly can't believe I made it here.  This past summer flew by, especially these last few weeks being home.  My family and I took a vacation to Florida at the end of July/beginning of August, and after that time just seemed to speed up.  It's been a whirlwind three weeks since then!  Last minute errands, visiting family and friends, and endless packing (I'm not kidding.  I was still up at 2am on Friday night, before a Saturday flight, having a minor meltdown that I wouldn't be able to fit everything I needed.  Not a pretty sight.  Let's not even mention the tear-jerking family goodbyes the next afternoon).  Before I knew it, it was Saturday evening and I was sitting on the plane.  Aaand I may or may not have cried as the plane took off and I left my beautiful New York behind.

Let me rephrase... I honestly can't believe I made it here in one piece.

The flight was alright, minimal on the screaming children, but very turbulent.  I'm not good at sleeping on planes anyway, so this made it particularly unnerving (I think I dozed for about an hour).  But Delta in-flight entertainment is a lifesaver (Just Go With It?  New favorite movie.  Oh, Jen Aniston, you get me every time).  And I had a direct flight from JFK, which saved me even more headaches from having to worry about connections and my luggage finding its way and whatnot.  I did sit across from perhaps the most patient guy in the entire world.  His seatmate was talking his ear off the entire time, constantly rummaging through her stuff for something or another, and literally climbing over and around him to reach behind her seat (we were the last row in the section) to find things she dropped.  And I'm sure all he wanted to do was read his Andre Agassi memoir and get some sleep to get back on U.K. time (oh, did I mention he was a Brit?  A red-headed Brit?  Yes, I've already met one of the Weasleys.  Be jealous), but he was seriously one of the nicest people I've ever seen.  Never rolled his eyes or huffed or complained even once.  He even held her dinner tray full of garbage while she put up her tray and dove into the abyss of the underside of the seat in front of her.  That's a good chap, right there!

We landed around 7:30 am London time, and by the time I found my luggage and got to my flat it was around 9 am.  Boston University has three main buildings for its London study abroad housing; I'm staying in The Crofton.  It's actually a restored hotel, so it's really nice and modern on the inside.  I'm in a triple on the ground floor, so my roommates and I have our own bathroom, and we share a kitchen with a few other rooms on the floor.  Not too shabby, eh?

At this point, nerves/adrenaline had kicked in and it didn't really occur to me that my body thought it was 4 am, so I did some unpacking and met my roommates, Sarah and Jennifer (both of whom are AWESOME, by the way.  We get along really well so far, and I'm really happy about my living arrangement), as they arrived.  We had a few orientation lectures that morning and afternoon, including a walking tour of the residential area of South Kensington where we're living.  And of course, it rained on us during the tour!  Because it's not like we get to gradually adjust to London weather or anything.  That's overrated.  Later that evening we walked around Gloucester Road a little bit, a really cute little side street with cafes and shops, and picked up some dinner from Partridges, a little grocery store with a prepared foods section (no one felt like venturing into cooking on the first night.  Or food shopping.).

I Skyped with the family for a little while about an hour ago, but they could tell I was just exhausted and really out of it.  So now it's almost 8:30, and I'm finally going to go to bed.  I don't care that my bedtime is that of a little old lady.  At this point, I think this may be the highlight of my day.  So long, jet lag-- nice knowing you!

Cheers!