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!