Thames Party Cruise and Murder Mystery Tour

Saturday we had another long day of classes as part of our Teambuilding session. I thought it was pretty interesting, but I was thirsty most of the time since they weren't very consistent with providing us water. Here are some pictures of Old Sessions House and the surrounding area:




That night I got together with a lot of other Mountbatten interns to celebrate the birthdays of two of the other hispanic girls from Texas. We got to ride on a party cruise called the Thames Princess down the Thames (pronounced Tems) River from 8pm to midnight. We started at the Westminster Pier, where we had an excellent view of the moon near the London Eye.

We then cruised down the Thames towards Tower Bridge and turned around shortly after. We had stopped for a while because apparently someone from one of the hen parties (bachlorette party) fell down the stairs and hit her head badly. Paramedics had to board the boat to take care of her. Other than that, the music was pretty good and we had a lot of fun dancing. I loved seeing the sites at night and I can't wait to actually visit them during the day.

Remember that my team had won a free tour because we won the treasure hunt last weekend? Well, one of the guys, Tai, and I went ahead and did the Murder and Mystery in Smithfield tour. No one else showed up, so we got a personal tour, which was really nice. We learned a lot about the area, including what park has a mass grave where they used to dump the bodies of the black plague victims (some of which they think were buried alive). We also learned that Cock Street is the only place in London where prostitution was legal because it was licensed by a bishop, who made money off of it. We also saw the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (aka St. Sepulchre-without-Newgate, for short, although it doesn't make sense because there was no St. Sepulchre), where knights used to pray and make vows of chastity and poverty before leaving on journeys. Although none of the guidebooks would say this, our guide's educated guess as to why they would come to this church to do make their vows was because it was conveniently down the street from Cock Street, where they could spend some of their money on prostitutes before making these vows. The church's other claim to fame is that it is where Captain John Smith is buried. He was the first Governor of the state of Virginia and had bought Pocahontas with him back to England so that they could marry.

It was a really interesting tour and I was glad to have had a personal guide. Afterward, Tai and I had some good, cheap vietnamese food (he is Vietnamese) since we were both starving! I am still getting used to the size difference of the servings here compared to American portions. It is signicantly less, but that turns out to be better because I can actually finish the portion without being overly full.

Sorry the pictures aren't the best, but it was hard to take pictures at night from the back of a moving boat in the wind.

Teambuilding Weekend I

Today we got to take the day off work for an all-day Teambuilding Session. It was really interesting and touched upon some of the things that I have covered in some of my MBA classes. It was in a really cool building called the Old Sessions House, which is apparently where people used to be hanged and quartered and all that good stuff. I will try to get some pictures tomorrow. Meanwhile, you can view pictures on their website: http://www.sessionshouse.com/picture.html.

I think a lot of the interns are starting to take these classes more seriously because I think they were all there, but several of them still showed up pretty late. We had some professors from Henley Management College (#2 full-time MBA in the UK) speak to us about team building. We got to do several exercises to learn more about ourselves, such as Myers-Briggs (I am an INFP, which apparently only 1% of the population is, according to one source). I also learned that being introverted doesn't mean that you are shy or not outgoing. It just means that you get energy from yourself instead of feeding off of other people's energy. That is why after a long day I prefer to go home and recharge instead of going out to drink. I am glad that I am getting a better understanding of myself because I just thought that I was getting old!

I also learned that in a team setting, I am a Team Worker, which means that sometimes I am more concerned about the harmony in the team that on the task itself. I was like that at my last job, not that I didn't care about my job, but I also really cared about my co-workers and how they were doing and I knew a lot about their lives. These kinds of things really are important to me because you have to like the people you work with (well, I guess you don't have to, but I really prefer it because it makes work more enjoyable). I also had strong scores in "Plant", which makes me a source of original ideas in a team, and "Monitor/Evaluator", which means I analyze. The professor said that I had some good scores. :)

So, today was payday for all of us interns. I am happy to have some money, but sad that it is not nearly as much as the interns who got here on time got. Their paychecks were about 861 pounds, whereas mine is more along the line of 340. I don't know how the equivelent of 340 dollars is going to last me for a whole month!

Well, since we got paid, I went out with some new friends to celebrate one of their birthdays. We just ended up going to a Pizza Express, which is actually a pretty nice restaurant, especially for a chain! The food turned out to be really good as well. On the way home we saw some kind of bike parade. No idea what it was about, but they had music and a police escort. Well, I have got to get to bed. Have another long day of class tomorrow and then I'm going on a boat cruise on the River Thames for another girl's birthday at night.

What am I doing here?

During the orientation, one of the girls mentioned that she isn't really liking London. She was one of the other Latinas that I had met. Talking to her made me start to wonder what I am doing here: I really don't like having roommates (especially younger ones), I am living off of a very small stipend in one of the most expensive cities in the world (actually, I think it is the first or second most expensive city in the world), and I really don't like the cold weather. I'm trying to remember why I decided to do this...

I guess I like the job okay. It is off to a slow and boring start, but I think it promises to get better.

Orientation

We finally had our Mountbatten Orientation last night. Most of us knew a lot of it already since we had been here for a while (a week and a half, in my case). They talked about what to expect at work, which I already knew since I had been there for a while.

Some of the different British work customs I have learned are:
- The birthday person is supposed to bring in food for his/her coworkers on his/her birthday.
- Everyone is very prompt. They do things on time to show that they have respect for another person's time. Much different than Latin America/Miami time. I'm going to have a hard time with this one. :)
- Pink and purple ties and shirts are very "in" for guys.

Another topic was the NHS (National Health Service), which I also already experienced firsthand because they had us register for a GP (General Practitioner) ASAP. A person's healthcare is centered around a GP, and each GP only takes clients from the area surrounding their practice. There are only certain times that clinics will accept applications for new patients.

My NHS experience: The clinic by my flat will only accept patients between 4-6 on Tuesdays and Thursdays (and a 2-hour slot during the morning as well, but I couldn't make that because of work). So I got off work early on a Tuesday to go in and it only took about 5 minutes to confirm that I lived in the GP's area and to fill out a quick medical form. They gave me a cup to pee in and bring with me for my appointment in November and I was off.

Another thing that we discussed in orientation was safety and travel.

They also talked about the Certificate that we are earning. We learned that they will deduct money from our stipend if we miss any of the classes (which isn't a problem for me since I actually look forward to the classes).

After orientation I stopped at Marks & Spencers, the department/grocery store, that was nearby. It was a little more expensive than the regular grocery stores, but I think the other ones were closed.

I bought stuff to make breakfast tacos. I have been craving them. I made one tonight and it was great! Okay, it wasn't actually that good since I realized that I didn't have salt or olive oil to cook the potatoes with, but I really missed eating them. When I come back to visit, I will be eating breakfast tacos every day!

London Showers

I experience my first London shower today. It was basically drizzling when I left the apartment, but once I got a little ways down the street, it started raining harder. Since my shoes were getting sopping wet, I decided to hope on one of the busses since I had a couple of pounds left on my Oyster card. Boy, am I glad I did that because shortly after I hopped on, it started pouring! Plus, it was quite windy as well. The bus dropped me off pretty close to work, but my legs and shoes got soaked during that time and my umbrella almost flipped inside out a couple of times. I wish I could afford to get one of those really nice umbrellas that are supposed to be wind-proof like one of the couples that I went to Ireland with bought. I'll put that on my Christmas list! :)

Someone today mentioned that winter will be coming in soon. It makes me wonder what this is now. It is cold enough for me already! I don't think I'm prepared for the winter at all. I have to get my mom to send me more of my winter stuff. I'm going to have to lose weight to fit into most of it though. I'll start working out at the gym once I get some money to pay for the membership.

Oh, also, I lost my debit card, which means I have no access to cash. I am going to borrow some money from Mountbatten and then pay them back later because I probably won't receive my new debit card until next week and I won't get paid until Friday. :(

Camden Market

I found the most dangerous place for me in London--Camden Market. There are stalls and stalls of clothes and bags galore (both new and vintage) and you can haggle, even though the prices are pretty reasonable already. I think that this is the official Camden market below, but there are also blocks and blocks of stores selling cheap wares and other market areas with lots of food places on the other side of the canal.



I was finally able to buy one of the scarves that I wanted for 2 pounds (the cheapest I saw them for has been 3 pounds). There was also a vegetarian restaurant where I bought a veggie burger for lunch. The "weiners" were tiny and it was in a roll instead of a hot dog bun.

Some of the other restaurants that I saw later on had mexican, cuban, and all sorts of asian and indian food. I have to go back there just to eat! Here's several more pictures of the Camden market area.





Another reason I went to the area was to go to the Fresh & Wild, which is owned by Whole Foods, since the only WF in London is pretty far away. It was great to finally find fake deli slices and fake cheese. I was so excited!!! The weird thing is that it is hard to find veggie burgers here. All they had at the F&W was nut burgers (which are actually really tasty) and all I have seen at the grocery story by my house are portabello burgers. Oh, I wish the WF was closer.

On Anon

I finally got to go to a British nightclub and, just as I expected, it wasn't really any different than an American one. The club we went to was called On Anon and it is located in the Piccadilly Circus area (where we were a few days ago). We had rushed to get there before 10PM because it was free until then, but 10 pounds ($20USD) after that.

Some of the girls had started drinking before they left their flat and they convinced me to split a 4 pack of Strombo ciders on my way there because it was cheaper than buying drinks there, and I agree since I am sure that I could not get a drink for 1 pound there. It was quite strange drinking in the subway on the way there, but apparently that is pretty normal because I have seen plenty of other people doing it. For those of you wondering, no, I did not get drunk. That was all I had. I got the cider to enjoy it and I didn't even finish it by the time we got to the club.

The club was 5 floors and each floor had a different theme to the music (lounge, rock, electronic, etc.). It was pretty fun, but it was so hot in there! It was about 65 degrees farenheit outside, but it was seriously about 95 degrees inside. I felt gross. I left early with another girl so that we could ride the subway before it closed at midnight and took a shower as soon as I got home.

All in all, I had a good time, but I think I'm getting too old for this.

British History Lesson

Saturday morning was the first of our classes towards the Cambridge accredited Certificate in International Business. It was on British History and some of the kids in the program really did not take it seriously. It is so strange to be around younger people again. It is like being in college again. Many of the kids came in late, some were still hungover and still smelled like alcohol, they all congregated in the back of the room, and they left a huge mess at the concession area, whereas I went to bed early so that I could be bright and awake for class and I sat in the front of the room so that I could see the slides and hear the speaker. I thought it was a really interesting class and I feel bad that people were falling asleep right in front of him.

After a couple of hours, we were divided into groups and sent out to do a treasure hunt, but people in our group were mingling with another group and they all started dilly-dallying around this great food market called Boroughs Market (which we learned has been featured in several movies, such as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Bridget Jones' Diary). So, we all got separated and one guy (Tai) and I went off to go and figure out all the answers ourselves. Shhh...we sort of cheated though because we went to an internet cafe to find all the answers on the sheet instead of running around. Really, though, I think we learned a lot more this way and I don't think there was any way to get all the answers by running all over the area. Plus, I plan on going to all these places anyways. Once I get some money I want to start taking some tours. Well, our group ended up winning the competition thanks to Tai and I answering the most questions and our whole group won a free London bus tour and a murder and mystery in London tour! I am very excited! Maybe I will do them next weekend.

Some interesting facts:
- London was originally founded by the Romans. Any towns ending in "-chester" were most likely founded by the Romans.
- Towns founded by the Saxons end in "-ton".
- The Great Fire of 1666 was started by a baker who forgot to turn off his oven one night and it took 3 days to burn 3/4 of the city to the ground. Surprisingly, only 7 people died. After that, wooden structures were banned from being built, but the Globe Theater got special permission since it is all made out of wood.

The unfortunate thing was that at the end of the class, they handed out an assignment. I have about 2 weeks to write a 1000 - 1500 page essay on my choice of 6 different topics regarding British history. I think I'll get on it tomorrow. I'm going to try not to procrastinate this time.

Well, I got to meet a lot more interns and some were really cool. I found out that there are 3 or 4 Texans in the program and they are all Latinas as well. The one I met and that I happen to work on the same floor with is from Del Rio. I guess Mexicans really are getting around! :)

End of Week 1 in London

Well, as of 8:05am today, I have officially been in London for a week. It is hard to believe and I am still so incredibly tired. I don't think it is from the jet lag. I think it is because of all the excitement, yet somehow all of the other Mountbatten kids still have the energy to go out tonight, which makes me feel incredibly old! I know I'm in London and I should go out, but you know, I have a whole year for that. Plus, I actually want to go out with people more my age that I have more in common with...

...although, I did have fun last night when I went out with some of the interns. After work, my flatmate Tabitha and I got ready and took the Undergroud to meet some other Mountbatten Interns at the Sports Cafe in Piccadilly Circus. I definitely have to go back there (not to the Sports place, but to the Piccadilly area). It was really cool (although very touristy). It was the Times Square of London. We watched a little rugby at the sports bar (I hope to one day learn the rules) and then walked to the Oxford area to find a club that had hip-hop karaoke. Unfortunately, the place was PACKED, so my flatmate Danille's friend, who has been living in London for a while, suggested we go to a bar called the Market Place. It was actually really cool and Tabitha and I each had delicious portabello mushroom burgers. I even tried a really good African cider called Sahara Dry. The place had good food, good music, good cider, and we ended up talking to some blokes that thought I was 21. Pretty funny, huh?

What I've realized is that 21-year-olds in Britain seem to be pretty mature. Much more mature than most 21-year-old Americans. The girl who is training me on a couple of things at work is 21 and she is very mature for her age. I was impressed. Why are Americans so immature then? Is it because our drinking age is 21?

So, although the roommate and "peer" situation is not ideal, I think I will like my job. My manager's manager has even told me that she hopes I like it and wants to keep it interesting for me so that I will work for UBS when the year is over. I don't know, I'm not sure if I can forsee a future in investment banking for myself, but maybe I can if they send me somewhere cool! I also really like the part of town I live in. It is so nice to be able to walk to work (although I probably won't be saying that or doing that in the full-blown winter!).

Here's a picture of where I work:

UBS has 5 buildings total in that complex (I think). It is huge! I will find out more when I get an Intern Induction on Monday.
In the center is a circular area that alternates between a small rugby field and an ice skating rink, depending on the weather. Right now it is set up for rugby and my building is the one with the big glass dome in the background.

Alright, I've got to get to bed soon. I've got a class on British History in the morning. Later!

First day of work

Last night I went to a little intern mixer and got to meet some of the other Mountbatten Interns. They were all very cool, but all still younger than me. The gathering was in a cute part of London called Bayswater/Notting Hill. They were all cute little Victorian Townhome type things. Then we headed back to our bourough and ate at a place called the Angel. The food was reasonably priced and they had a lot of veggie options. I made sure to head home around 10:30 since I had my first day of work the next day.

I started work today as a Regulatory Controls Business Analyst with UBS. Another intern, Laurie, who also works at UBS walked with me. It is about a mile. I wore sneakers (aka trainers) with my suit for the walk there and then changed into my heels when I got there. Believe it or not, I actually got there on time. My boss is really nice and the girl who was training me was really nice as well. The only problem is that the job is too easy. It's just reports and stuff. The title may sounds fancy, but the work isn't. I will talk to my manager later to see if she can give me more challenging stuff. I think I can something a little more challenging since I am getting my MBA and all. The good part is that we get free tea (and not just black, but several herbal varieties and fair trade as well) and coffee (not the plain American stuff, but the stuff with foam). Also, they told me that tomorrow will be free fruit Wednesday and on Friday we can wear jeans--yippee! So I pretty much spent $70 on a suit to only wear it today. :(

I ate lunch with the girl who was training me at the cafe across the hall. She is from Sierra Leone and is very mature for a 21-year-old. So, the cafe actually had pre-packaged veggie sausage and sprout sandwiches, if you can believe it! There wasn't enough "soysage" in it, but it is still better than just having the ham/cheese or turkey/cheese option.

I got off work a little early so that I could register for a General Practitioner (GP). You have to choose one by your residence and they only have certain hours that you can do so. It only took 5 minutes to register and the earliest appointment I could get was in November. Oh, and she gave me a pee cup to bring to my appointment. I sure hope I don't lose it before November. I still don't understand the British health system and there sure are a lot of rules.

Sorry, no pics today. I have been busy running around like crazy and trying not to get lost. Well, my other two roommates should be moving in soon and I have to get ready for bed, so I will try to write more tomorrow.

Settling in

I have definitely realized that it is going to be hard to live off of 615 pounds a month. It really is a bad time for Americans in London regarding the exchange rate. Although the exchange rate is 2:1, the actual cost of things is about 1:1. For example, a London guidebook I was looking at was 11.99 pounds, which is about $24US, but the book also had the price for US customers on the back, which was about $12US. I will really have to work on a budget.

I finally took some pictures of the outside of my apartment building. It is very nice and modern looking from the outside, whereas other interns have housing in little old townhomes (which I think I would have preferred, except that they are pretty much in the "suburbs").



So, today has been a pretty laid back day. First, my roomate and I went to meet one of her friends who actually works nearby our flat. She was only able to walk with us for about an hour because she was on her work break, but she walked around one of the street markets with us and the grocery store. We discussed some of the differences between America and Britain since she had lived in the U.S. before. Luckily, the grocery store had soy milk (but not chocolate soy milk) and soy yogurt. The Brit said that I pronounced it strange, so I tried to pronounce it the way she did, but I just couldn't. They actually spell it with and 'h' and say it one too (yoghurt). Strangely, the didn't have grape jelly, so we got something that looked close enough, called damson. I think I will be living off PB&J and ramen for now.

Then we walked back home and Jesika wanted to take a nap and then hang out with another friend (she already knows a lot people here). I wanted to buy a guide book of London and I didn't want to nap because I need to get to bed early tonight. We have to be at the Mountbatten office around 9 tomorrow morning. So I went on my own to buy a cell phone from the Carphone Warehouse and a couple of books from Borders. I got the Veggie and Organic London guidebook and the book Fun for a Fiver or Less in London. I found a Wagamama in the same area, which is a restaurant that was recommended to me by my former co-worker Sybil and another American living in London that we had met last night at the Thai Buffet restaurant. I will have to check it out later. Then I stopped at the gym on the way home to check out the rates. It's not too bad, until you translate it to US dollars (36 pounds=about 72 US dollars). Jesika's friend Van said that we had to stop doing that because we will just feel really poor.

A little bit about what I have learned so far:

I live in Central East London in an area called Islington. Since it is in the main city area, things are more expensive here (great!). :P

London is separated into zones, which are concentric circles around the center of the city, with Zone 1 being the "bullseye".

Postal codes are VERY IMPORTANT in London, sometimes more so than the address. For example, mine is EC1V 8AE. All I know is that the EC1V tells you that I am in the East Central Head District of London and 8AE tell you that I am in Sector 8, Unit AE, whatever all that means.

This is down the main street by my house:

Our day at Portabello Market

Today was pretty fun. We slept in a bit and then went to check out Portabello Market in Notting Hill. It is a really great market that is divided into different sections along Portobello Road, such as antiques, clothes, fruits and vegetables.

They also have one of the best exchange rates there, which my roommate took advantage of. I didn't buy anything except for for some hangers and towels for the flat at Woolworths, which is sort of the Target/Wal-Mart of London.

I am starting to get the hang of the subway system. We have been using an Oyster card, which is a refillable card, to ride the subway for now, since I can't decide if I want to buy a monthly pass. I can't decide whether I will ride the subway or walk to work every day. I have been told that it is a 30 minute walk to work. I'll try it the first day because I really need to save money.



On the way back, my roommate wanted to stop and eat at a thai buffet restaurant that had take out for 4 pounds (about 8 US dollars), which is actually a bargain. Most places cost at least 5-8 pounds for a meal (10-16 dollars). Eating out in London is EXPENSIVE, so I am going to stop by the grocery store tomorrow. Luckily, the small market under our apartment building had soy milk, cereal, tea, soy pudding, and ramen (which I have a feeling I will be eating a lot of here). Even the ramen here is expensive (0.23 pounds = about 50 cents each--they are usually 5/$1 at HEB). I have a feeling that I will be living off that and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a while). :(

Anyways, the good news was that the place ended up being vegan. All the "meat" dishes were made up of TVP (textured vegetable protein) and abalone tofu, and all but one that I tried was really good. The curry was excellent! My roommate and her friend that was showing us around were really disappointed, but I was so happy. I have a feeling that I will be going there as often as I can afford to.

BTW, Sarah, I think you will really appreciate this picture. Did you know that Smart was making cute little sports cars now?

Cheers from Merry Old England!

I have finally arrived in London! Pip pip, cheerio! :)

It was nice to have my cousin Tina and sister Sarah help me finish up my packing on Thursday morning. Then, my mom, my sisters, and Roman took me to the airport on time in the afternoon. They also helped me do some reallocation of my stuff from one suitcase to another since one of them was over the 50 pound limit. After much rearranging, we got it to weigh exactly 50 lbs! Both flights were on time as well and luckily I got a window seat on the long 9 hour flight from DFW to London Gatwick, but of couse, they did not get my vegan meal right. Fortunately I had called in advance and knew that, so I took food to eat on the flight with me. I got to watch "Some Like it Hot" and some British mystery movie on the flight. When I arrived in Gatwick, the passport control line was a mess and very long. It took me about an hour to get through and my legs and back were hurting from carrying my big old backpack. After I grabbed my bags and walked out of customs, I saw the programme's representative, Alice, standing there with a Mountbatten sign with my name on it. It was nice to be picked up. We rode the train from the airport and then got to take one of the cute little black London taxis. I will take a picture of one later.

We rode to the office since my flat was not ready yet. She took me to get breakfast and I got to meet my roommate, Jesika, from Boston. Since our flat was still not ready, they sent us on an errand to open a bank account at Lloyd's Bank. We had to find our way around on the tube and got lost a little. The tube was really fun and they actually do say "Mind the Gap". :)




Jesika is not shy to ask for directions, so we got to talk to a lot of Londoners. I don't think I am ever going to get over the accent here. It is so cute!

Once we got to the flat, we settled in and met some other interns, a couple of which work at UBS too. Everyone is really nice. We are still waiting for our other 2 roommates to come in on Monday. Hopefully they are nice. Still have not met another Texan or hispanic.

Wel, it is about 1:30am here and although it is Friday night, Jesika and I are not going out. I want to wake up tomorrow for a jog and then run errands and take pictures, so I should get to bed soon. I am still pretty tired because of jet lag and kinda sickly from the plane. I will post more pics later.

It's so hard to say goodbye

This weekend was so great. I had several going away parties, which made me realize that I know such great people here and I really will miss them all (and their pets!). :) I am not really a party person, so these small, intimate get-together parties have really been great.

Okay, I should stop reminiscing and start packing. Is 16 pairs of shoes too much?

Still in disbelief

I don't think I still fully understand that I will be moving to another country across the Atlantic Ocean in a couple of days where I will not know anyone and will have to share a room with a stranger. As much as I am hating the Texas heat right now, I am dreading the coldness and wetness of London (70 degrees farenheit is cold to me!).

At least I started packing today (coats and shoes). I think need one more coat because I still don't have a really, really warm one.

To learn more about the program that is taking me to London, here is the website:
http://www.mountbatten.org/mipweb2.nsf/pages/index_ldn_00