Catching Up...
It's been a couple of days since my last post so I guess I have quite a bit to catch up on. On Friday we had our last venue visit in the UK. We met with the BBC's director for African and Middle Eastern news and got a chance to talk with him about his job and the BBC's role in the UK in general. The BBC is different from other television stations in the UK in that it is not funded by advertising but by a mandatory licensing fee that every TV owner pays. This way, the station doesn't have commercials and really is indebted to its viewers, not its advertisers. It's somewhat like PBS in the states, except for that everyone in the UK must pay the fee. Anyway talking with him was really fascinating. He had a lot to say and as most of our presenters have been, was extremely open with the kinds of things he shared with us.
On Friday night our group was thrown a "welcome party" by a former USC student who has lived in London for the past 30 years. We all dressed up and headed out to Chelsea to her beautiful home. Luckily, it wasn't raining so we got to enjoy a nice evening in her garden. It was such a nice change to be out of the city and since guests included many of the people whose businesses we had gone to visit, it was a great opportunity to talk with people in the industry in a more laid back setting. I spent a long time talking with one of the managing editors for the Daily Mirror about his experience in journalism. He had also brought along some of his newer employees so it was cool to get a chance to people at all stages of their careers. We were all so thankful that Jane (the hostess) opened her home to us!
Saturday was a free day for us!! Yay! So after breakfast my roommates and I headed out to Camden Town. Camden is an enormous outdoor market where they sell cheap clothes, jewelry, accessories and of course food. Although it was raining, it was great to explore all the booths (although I restrained myself and didn't buy anything). The market is cool in that it isn't all in one place. The entire little town is in market-style so you can really wander around for hours. The shops and the people the town attracts reminded me a bit of Venice Beach...lots of piercing parlors and souvenir shops. After we got tired of shopping we headed to the National Gallery. The gallery is a fantastic art museum located in Trafalgar Square. It houses many pieces from Monet, Van Gogh, Da Vinci and many many more. My favorites were probably Monet's waterlilies or Van Gogh's sunflowers. So beautiful!
Last night was really fun because I was able to meet up with one of my friends from SC, Natasha. She is here in London with her mom for a couple days before they head off on a European cruise (fun!) and so she came to spend a night with me. :-) We went out to a club near here which was really fun! Everything is sooo expensive here though. But luckily we didn't have to buy our drinks because some nice guys took care of that for us. Haha. Anyway the night was great. At the club, I also got to meet up with another friend from SC, Kristin, so it was really cool to get to hang out with people from SC here in London!
Today we've pretty much been taking a day to relax. I think we're all a little burnt out from all the endless sightseeing and venue visits so it's nice to take a day just to hang out in London. Kind of feels like I live here. :-) We went to brunch at a cute cafe in the area and have just been catching up on sleep, reading, emails, etc. We go to Paris on Tuesday so I'm trying to give myself a little break from the tourist thing before we get to a new city! I'm so excited for Paris! One of my roommates here spent the last semester studying there so she plans to show us all the cheap places to eat, tour, etc. Although the euro exchange rate isn't great, it's still going to be better than the pound...soo expensive!
Anyway on a happier note it's not raining today so I think I may go take advantage of that fact and grab a cup of coffee or tea. How British of me :-)
On Friday night our group was thrown a "welcome party" by a former USC student who has lived in London for the past 30 years. We all dressed up and headed out to Chelsea to her beautiful home. Luckily, it wasn't raining so we got to enjoy a nice evening in her garden. It was such a nice change to be out of the city and since guests included many of the people whose businesses we had gone to visit, it was a great opportunity to talk with people in the industry in a more laid back setting. I spent a long time talking with one of the managing editors for the Daily Mirror about his experience in journalism. He had also brought along some of his newer employees so it was cool to get a chance to people at all stages of their careers. We were all so thankful that Jane (the hostess) opened her home to us!
Saturday was a free day for us!! Yay! So after breakfast my roommates and I headed out to Camden Town. Camden is an enormous outdoor market where they sell cheap clothes, jewelry, accessories and of course food. Although it was raining, it was great to explore all the booths (although I restrained myself and didn't buy anything). The market is cool in that it isn't all in one place. The entire little town is in market-style so you can really wander around for hours. The shops and the people the town attracts reminded me a bit of Venice Beach...lots of piercing parlors and souvenir shops. After we got tired of shopping we headed to the National Gallery. The gallery is a fantastic art museum located in Trafalgar Square. It houses many pieces from Monet, Van Gogh, Da Vinci and many many more. My favorites were probably Monet's waterlilies or Van Gogh's sunflowers. So beautiful!
Last night was really fun because I was able to meet up with one of my friends from SC, Natasha. She is here in London with her mom for a couple days before they head off on a European cruise (fun!) and so she came to spend a night with me. :-) We went out to a club near here which was really fun! Everything is sooo expensive here though. But luckily we didn't have to buy our drinks because some nice guys took care of that for us. Haha. Anyway the night was great. At the club, I also got to meet up with another friend from SC, Kristin, so it was really cool to get to hang out with people from SC here in London!
Today we've pretty much been taking a day to relax. I think we're all a little burnt out from all the endless sightseeing and venue visits so it's nice to take a day just to hang out in London. Kind of feels like I live here. :-) We went to brunch at a cute cafe in the area and have just been catching up on sleep, reading, emails, etc. We go to Paris on Tuesday so I'm trying to give myself a little break from the tourist thing before we get to a new city! I'm so excited for Paris! One of my roommates here spent the last semester studying there so she plans to show us all the cheap places to eat, tour, etc. Although the euro exchange rate isn't great, it's still going to be better than the pound...soo expensive!
Anyway on a happier note it's not raining today so I think I may go take advantage of that fact and grab a cup of coffee or tea. How British of me :-)
posted by Carly at 8:48 AM
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