Week 4: Settling In & Travels

So my time in London has been a month so far and while our stay seems to be going very fast, at the same time the day we arrived feels like several months before. Growing accustomed to various cultural differences here was a lot smoother than I thought it would be such as little television, drinking more tea than coffee, public transportation, and looking at the other side of the road for traffic. There are obvious several more cultural differences here but those are just a few that really stick out in my mind. London is a very busy city with so many different little shops and markets and there always seems to be something to do. It is hard to describe but the city seems more crammed together than I originally thought. This can be good when trying to get to places but at the same time irritating when you are used to having more open space around you.

Besides cultural differences, I have also been getting used to working at a children’s charity called The Children’s Society as part of their marketing team. I was a little worried at first but my supervisor has done a really good job of getting me integrated into the team. The girls who sit near me are quite lovely although I’ll be moving desks next week since the woman whose desk I was at the past month or so was on her honeymoon and returns next week. The office is nice and open so everyone gets to chat with each other and makes it easier to get to meet other people. Today my supervisor was in York on business so I was on my own for the most part. My co-workers have been very good about helping me out when I do not understand something such as “summarize this brief” or “is that with VAT or without?” Yesterday I trained with some other co-workers on how to use our webpage system since I will be working

with the New Media team who mainly works with the website for the charity. I feel a thousand times more comfortable with my co-workers than I did the first week or so. I’ve gotten used to all the sweets that go with tea and some of the bizarre or different kinds of biscuits they serve at our weekly meetings. Right now we are planning the next team night out (marketing team bonding experience) and this will either be wine tasting or dog racing (I’d prefer the wine tasting).

I will be going to visit Oxford this weekend but last weekend we were up in Edinburgh, Scotland. The area was so beautiful and our trip to the Highlands was amazing. Despite our crazy bus driver who gave half the bus motion sickness while driving around the curvy roads at top speed, we got to see Loch Ness (no Nessie sightings) and several other beautiful spots. The people were very friendly and the haggis was alright. Rather mushy meatloaf with a side of potatoes and turnips. Lots of plaid, bagpipes, and kilts! The Scottish are very proud people and take a lot of pride in their history and loyalty to their country. Even in our Highlands tour our guide told us all kinds of stories from hundreds of years ago that people still remember today and will not put past them (i.e., the treachery of the Campbell clan selling them out to the English and therefore anyone with the surname of Campbell is not allowed to stay in that area overnight). We also saw Hamish, the saved highland cow, or ‘hairy coo’ in Scottish. He was very friendly but I’m thinking it was a cheap ploy to get people to feed him. Watching the sunset in the highlands was even more beautiful as our day ended on the bus…lots of time on the bus listening to either Scottish music or our guide giving us the history of the land area. We saw where Mary Queen of Scots was held for several years by Elizabeth I, where Rob Roy lived and fought, and where William Wallace fought as well. We also saw some wonderful paintings at the National Gallery the day we left as well as watched some bagpipers play for the public. Altogether a lovely trip and I would love to return one day!

Until next time,

Lauren