With so many of our lovely WIB girls abroad, we would like to keep you all updated on their exciting adventures! Every Tuesday we will be highlighting a new girl in our blog and other social media outlets. Stay tuned for more!
Cheers from London! I'm here taking on London with classes, participating in a internship with Astrid and Miyu (www.astridandmiyu.com), and traveling to as many places as my calendar allows. Many good friends are also spending this semester abroad, so I hope to spend time exploring with them across Europe. It's been about three weeks and I've settled in very nicely. I absolutely love this place.
This is still a bit surreal, but the more familiar I get, the more happy I become. I love this place. I’ve finished unpacking, figured out how to get the shower temp down from scalding-skin-off-hot (!!!), and already have an Oyster card with my picture on it. The city is so busy, the cars drive so fast and so close to each other, I thought I was going to die in the cab on the way to my building. Not to mention, the number one caution our advisors have for us is to be careful crossing the street. Forget pick-pocketers and muggers and dippers and draggers, the real danger is the lightning-speed traffic.
My room is really not as small as everyone warned; it is cozy, but the beds are comfy and there’s just enough space for everything I have.
The people! Strangers here are more friendly than some acquaintances I have back home. Our group of 100 students does draw attention, so its no wonder why locals ask where we’re from or strike up a conversation. Everyone wants to share the name of their favorite pub, or help give directions. I haven’t met a person with ulterior motives, the Brits are just indescribably kind.
My roommate Claire and I have made it our goal to take walking tours of different areas anytime we have a break, and thanks to her “50 Walking Tours of London” card set, we have a lot to get through. Today’s tour was the Knightsbridge area of London, and after spending lunch and the afternoon browsing through Harrod’s, we made our way through the Embassy square and Harvey Nichol’s. (The evening was not finished until we stopped for red velvet cupcakes and cappuccinos. If only every day was this glamorous)
This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit Rome with fellow Wibber Abbey Ostmeyer and a few other friends, and it was not only the most tiring weekend I've had yet, but also the most beautiful. Every alley isn't really an alley, its a cobblestone side street filled with restaurants, cafes, and boutiques. I can imagine one spending months here just walking around. We woke up at dawn (not kidding) every day in order to see everything Rome had to offer, and we even made it to the Vatican for the Sistine Chapel and the crowd for Sunday Mass. Unfortunately, my three semesters of Italian at IU failed me, as I only remembered a few phrases and random, unhelpful words (I knew what cow was the entire time, why cow?) I'm very happy to be back in London, though, and as we were getting ready to head to the airport on Sunday evening, I found myself calling London 'home.'
Again, I promise I am taking classes (which are each two and a half hours once a week, yikes), and I've begun my internship with Astrid and Miyu as well! This company is very, very cool. I've been put in charge of some of the marketing efforts such as twitter, pinterest, and contacting local bloggers who can promote us. I'm very happy to be falling into a routine; I feel more like a resident and less like a tourist (although I foolishly keep thinking I won't need my umbrella some days only to find that it will rain, again).
It's so hard to put three and a half weeks into just one blog post, as I feel like I've been here for months already. I'll continue to post as the semester goes on, and if you want to read some more about trips I've done or other places I've been, head over to rubesabroad.wordpress.com!
Cheers! xx
Rubes
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