Work Ethic

So after some complaints that I wasn't posting enough on this blog I figured I'd enlighten everyone to the English work ethic. To start off the word "late" does not exist in the English work place. This is due to what they call the "unreliable transportation" such as the tube and the bus system. Honestly the tube and bus system is much more efficient and easier to get around compared to Chicago or any other city in the States. The only problem with the tube is when you are in a city 7,556,900 people and a good majority of them are commuting the same way you are, things can get a bit packed and you may have to wait for the train or two. Other than that the Brits are just whinging (British word of the day for everyone). But back to my point since your morning routine can vary day to day depending upon the density of people in the tube system when you're travelling you might stroll into work at 8:45 or 9:45. The funny thing is that you will still receive the same reaction whether at both times which is an enthusiatic "Morning!" followed by "Would you like a cup of tea?" This attitude works out great for me because it seems that I can leave my flat at 8:20 am and arrive at 9:00am or if I am running slightly late and leave at 8:22 am I end up finally getting into the office at 9:30am. I still haven't figured out why those extra two minutes means an extra five thousand people are at the tube stations. Regardless of when I show up though it seems I'm always the first one there, except for my boss who sometimes gets there before me.
The second quirk about the British workplace is that there is a constant conversation going, and when I say constant I mean constant. There is never silence in the office which is fine by me! Also breaks are very frequent in the British workplace, you never work more than two hours at a time it seems like. I was given the job of going through my company's database and cleaning up some of the records and updating others and was given these instructions: "Rob I know this job might be a bit boring and tedious so please don't work on it for more than an hour at a time!" He wasn't kidding either an hour later he came by and said "Rob please take a break I imagine you're falling asleep!" This brings me to the next interesting little thing about the Brits, they never expect things to be done fast.
When my co-worker came to make sure I was gonna take a break I told him I was nearly done and his response was "Bloody hell that was quick! Brilliant, well cheers!" I have no clue why but anytime I finish something they always make a comment similar to that so I'm starting to think they drag projects out just to give them something to do haha. I'm not going to lie I could get use to this work ethic too seeing as how I wrote and posted this during a break at my work =).
If you guys want to know something about London or anything specific about what I'm doing leave a comment or just ask Marg and she can pass it along and I can write something up about it! Since some people cough cough Jay aren't satisfied with the frequency of the posts!!
Cheers until next time!

London Life

So I realize it's been a while since the last post and that's because not much has happened! We've mainly just been going around to the local sights. We went to London Bridge, Tower Bridge, St. Paul's, and Millennium Bridge. I stopped by Harrod's to buy some presents for people back home also we went on a tour of Stamford Bridge home to Chelsea football club. It was a pretty cool stadium. We got to go down into the home and away locker rooms and even go out right next to the pitch! Our tour guide gave us some interesting tid bits about the visitors locker room. Apparently Chelsea had a sports psychologist come in and redesign the locker room. Things like putting the small lockers for personal items underneath the benches so that the players would have to bend down to put away their stuff and could possibly pull a hamstring or tweak something before the game. Also putting in soft lighting creating a calm atmosphere so they players are more subdued when they go out. The best one was that they put the whiteboard on the wall that the door opens up on and put a sign on the door saying the door has to be left open for safety reasons. Basically this meant a right handed coach would have to stand behind the door to draw on the whiteboard and talk from behind it. Sort of funny but cheap tricks to help give them a slight edge =).
On a slightly different note I've booked travel plans to go to Rome and Dublin with Paris still being worked out! But for now that is all I have so until next time cheerio!

Peterborough

Well I just had a very interesting weekend... I had to go up to Peterborough to experience the "British family culture". Hope everyone has a while to read cause you'll need it for this one... Let the story begin:
So to start off we first got our assignments during orientation and were told that "the most responsible student has been chosen as the group co-ordinator". This basically means this is the student who will check everyone in and have the tickets. Originally I thought this was a bad idea seeing as how there was not going to be anyone from the program there to supervise roughly 30 kids getting on a train at King's Cross, but they're the experts. Fast forward til last Friday at 4:45pm (London time) when my flatmate and I arrived at King's Cross early just to make sure we didn't miss anyone. We were supposed to meet at the station at 5:30pm and be on the platform by 5:45pm with our luggage. So during our wait I got hungry and got Burgerking (had a little taste for America). After eating my food I walked around to look for more students and the person that had the tickets but didn't see anyone (it was 5:15pm at this point). At about 5:30pm and another stroll around the suggested "meeting area" we found the other people from our building and stood with them. After waiting another 15 minutes our train finally came up on the board with the platform number so we all scurried to the platform still not having found the "most responsible student" with the tickets. We decided the best option would be to stand at the entrance of the platform and look for the other students because they would have to pass us to get onto the train. One fact I forgot to mention is our train leaves at 6:03pm and while waiting on the platform it was 5:50pm and still no students. So I decided to walk the entire platform looking for this student with the tickets but no luck. Finally 6:00pm rolls around and still no mass of students has walked by us so we decide to call the emergency number they told us to call if we missed our train (side note they didn't provide the actual number luckily one kid in our group had it on him). After someone talked to Arcadia for 5 minutes and the train left without us we found out the following information: The students we were looking for called Arcadia 15 minutes before we called them saying "we're on the train but we're missing 7 kids so I'll wait on the train for them", we must now purchase our own tickets for another train to Peterborough, and we will not be refunded for this purchase. Following this call there was several others back and forth trying to figure out what to do, eventually we took it upon ourselves to just go ask the ticket booth for 7 tickets on the next train that stops in Peterborough instead of waiting for Arcadia to sort things out. We got our tickets then waited a little til our platform was announced then boarded. The trip took about an hour and I mostly slept the entire time, best part is they never checked the tickets... We could have boarded the other train and still made it to Peterborough perfectly fine.
Upon arrival in Peterborough we were met by the local coordinator who works for the company that arranged the homestay's (not the university I'm studying abroad with). She took us to a hotel directly across from the train station where the parents of the homestay's were waiting for us, and the rest of the students that came earlier. After being introduced and handed off to the parents I find out what happened with the other group of students at the station. Apparently "the most responsible student" had no clue he was doing and just jumped on a train that was headed to Peterborough but not the one Arcadia set up for us. Instead this one was a train that left 20 minutes before the scheduled one did. He also thought it was not necessary to look for or wait for the 7 kids he was missing until the last whistle went off for the train. After I found that out I just laughed and instead started talking to the local coordinator who was driving me and the two other guys that were staying with me to our homestay. This is when I found out that our original host family had the flu or something so we were now staying with someone else. After about a 10 minute drive and arriving at the house I find out that our hosts are a 70 year old Italian couple that have lived in England for 43 years. Cherry on top to this learning British family culture trip is they spoke broken English...
At this point of the trip I decided to make the best of it since I couldn't do anything to change it and don't get me wrong our hosts were extremely nice! She cooked us a full Italian dinner which the appetizer was a full bowl of pasta followed by a plate of chicken with practically a loaf of bread on each of our plates. Then after all this potatoes and more chicken. After dinner we sat in there living room talking and getting to know each other while watching Last Samurai. Once the movie ended we went to bed which were basically like gel and I fell asleep instantly.
The next morning we were woken up by hammering and drilling, apparently their roof is leaking and they were getting it fixed that morning. So after the three of us showered we go into the kitchen to see a meal consisting of toast, toast, oh and toast with melted cheese on it. We all take a seat and start eating while she starts cooking eggs. Needless to say it was a delicious and filling meal. Once we finished breakfast they drove us into town, dropped us off and told us to call them when we were ready to be picked up (she pointed out a couple of places to see and asked us previously if it would be okay to drop us off to let us do our own thing, so we were okay with this lol). The three of us checked out the local cathedral which has apparently been burnt down and moved about 3 times each (I posted pictures on facebook if anyone wants to see). After this we basically just walked around stopped in shops and then ended up in a sports bar and watched football. After we got picked up and got back to the house waiting for us was an authentic Italian dinner. Each one of us had a plate with justvand this isn't an exaggeration, the entire plate was filled with a piece of lasagna. On a side plate we had a salad, potatoes, and of course bread. Now most people, including myself, would think that's the entire meal but nope after all that she goes over to the oven and pull out a pan with pieces of pork. She grabs all of our plates and puts a piece on it then puts more potatoes on the plate as well. To make this dinner even better during conversation we find out that the couple makes their own wine, with grapes from Italy! So she offered us some with dinner and of course we accepted! It was absolutely DELICIOUS!!! She was very generous with refilling our glasses as well which I loved. After feeling like I just gained about 3,000 pounds we went to meet up with our friends (who were also staying in Peterborough) at a local pub. After having a drink at the pub we went to see what nightlife was like in Peterborough and not too surprisingly it wasn't much haha. We decided to get a cab back instead of making our hosts come get us and after some chit chat with them, they went to sleep and we watched a TV show on one of the other guys' laptop.
The next morning was a similar breakfast to that of Saturday's which afterwards she took us down to the local park and just talked for a while. When we got back it was another Italian lunch. The three of us (the other 2 guys and I) decided our hosts day basically revolved around meals, which wasn't too far of a stretch for an Italian. When we finished lunch (which she kept calling dinner) we went upstairs packed and then they took us back to the train station where I got to watch some of the first half of Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur (in other words the team I support versus the team Jay supports). This train ride back went a lot smoother since the local coordinator helped supervise things. Luckily I got back in time to not only see platform 9 and 3/4 but also got to see the majority of the Bears game!! All in all it was a fun trip which might not have introduced me to British family culture but it did let me see Italian family culture!
If you made it this far I'm a little bit impressed and hope the read was worth your while!! Until next post, bye!!

Lights....Camera...... Wait I'm in a movie??

So I actually got to do non busy work at work on Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday I got to put together a proposal that people on the St. Patrick's Day Event committee will hand our to drink companies to ask for donated drinks for the event. Basically I got to put something together asking for free alcohol. Then Thursday I tagged along with one of the girls in the office up to Haringey Irish Culture & Community Center in Tottenham(Picture is just for you Jay!!! Saw the stadium from the train but didn't have time to stop by and check it out). My company is putting together a movie about The Forgotten Irish that they can put on at events. Anyways this place is for the elderly Irish in the local community to come and hang out, get food and be social. One benefit was that I got free lunch out of going. What they didn't tell me is that they would be doing the filming at lunch time..... So yep now I'm in the short movie eating my Irish stew, potatoes, and veggies while talking to some of the Irish folks.
On to different topics I probably won't be posting til Monday or so because I have to go to Peterborough this weekend for homestay and actually leave in a couple of hours. So check back in next week I'm sure I'll have some good stories!!

Oh you actually do stuff when you study abroad?

So Sunday after all of us waking up around 1:00pm (it was a really long night for us all) we decided to go to the Natural History Museum. we saw the Charles Darwin exhibit showing the evolution of man and then a whole bunch of different animal evolution and genetic make up. Fact of the day I learned (Textbook wise) whales evolved from a land based animal which would swim out into bodies of water to get food..... interesting fact. Other fact that I learned which is more cultural British parents let their kids run around and touch everything. I remember when I was a kid I'd have to either hold onto the stroller or hold onto someone's hand but these British parents were just like "Sure go wherever just stay within eye sight" Of course to the kids this means run around everywhere weaving in and out of everyone that is trying to walk around the museum.On top of that they were making sound effects and yelling. I didn't mind it too much but could tell others around me were getting agitated. Funniest part was that this kid (which reminded me a lot of myself.... boundless energy) eventually ran straight into a plexiglass wall that he didn't know was there. We were walking through the dinosaur exhibit and the last bit is through a darkened room where you had to weave back and forth sort of like an S around all the different displays. Only the displays were lit up which was the only lighting in the room (enough to see where you were going). Well there was a model dinosaur guarding it's eggs or something that had about a 4 ft high plexiglass wall around it and the kid naturally wanted to run up and play on it and ran straight into the wall and fell straight back. Other than that we saw mammals, sea life, a giant sequoia tree trunk which was probably 3 times as tall as me (in diameter). All in all it was a good trip and best part free to get in.

On a completely separate note Monday some had to begin their internship/classes all I did was sat around and went grocery shopping. Today was my first day of work and classes. Work was fine cause I got to leave at 1 pm cause so I could go to class also the boss was in Ireland, so it was me and 2 other co-workers. All I had to do was go through their database and through their even files and familiarize myself with the company. Then I got to watch an hour and a half long video that the company made that said what they did and for who and a whole background story (actually pretty good video). For those who don't know I'm working for The Ireland Fund of Great Britain which is a not-for-profit charity organization that raises money to help support the impoverished Irish elderly. These people moved to england in the 60's and 70's in look of work because there were no jobs in England. It was calculated that around 3 million euro's were sent each year from those working in England to their families back in Ireland. The workers were mistreated and hated back in those day and due to the poor living/working conditions coupled with low pay they never could escape poverty. They are now retirement age and are no longer able to work and support themselves so the Ireland Fund helps put them in assisted living and helping them live a healthier life.

Class was a normal class nothing too exciting there. Well I gotta get up early tomorrow for more work so I'm going to go watch a football game (soccer) then go to sleep. Until next time!

Tourists

Today was the first day that I felt like an actual tourist while here in London. We decided to go down to Westminster and see the houses of Parliament, Big Ben, The Eye, Westminster Abby and even Abraham Lincoln! Yes yes there is a statue of Abraham Lincoln just past Westminster Abbey on the side of a street random but he's there. We of course found an old phone booth and took pictures in them just to up hold the American tourist stereotype! We were going to go see Buckingham Palace but by the time we were about to head out it was starting to get dark......at 3:30p.m. Also I took pictures of the sun coming out just to prove that there is sunshine in London I know many find that hard to believe but I have tangible proof now. Look later for pictures to be posted. We'll probably go on more tourist adventures tomorrow so check in then to see where I went!

Orientation.... Orientation.... oh hey MORE orientation!!!

So for some reason this entire week we have orientation..... starting Tuesday at 10am going til about 5 or 6 then Wednesday the same, then Thursday (aka today) there were 2 seminars we were supposed to go to but I got to skip them since I had an interview and I would arrive halfway through the 2nd seminar anyways. While you would think orientation would be fun and get you excited to be here this is what I learned instead. Don't use minicabs you'll get raped and killed, don't ride the nightbus you'll get raped and killed, don't walk alone past 7 you'll get raped, don't act like a tourist you'll get raped/pick pocketed, don't get on packed tubes you'll get pick pocketed, don't travel anywhere like France, Ireland basically anywhere outside of what the tube can reach cause you're here to study and if you go to these places you'll get raped, don't leave drinks anywhere you'll get raped. Oh and to preface all of this they said "London is actually one of the safest countries, there's not murders like the States, it's mainly petty theft like pick pocketing." Now what we found funny out of all this is that these things are the same in any other major city. Our orientation was basically common sense talks, obviously we won't get in a cab when someone walks up to us saying hey need a ride? or carry 500 pounds on us, or not keep our hands in our pockets to deter pick pocketing, and obviously we won't leave our drinks just sitting around.

Basically their aim was to make sure everyone knew how to be logical which got really really boring and they repeated themselves about 20 times. All that said..... London is amazing! It really is one of the safest places, people are extremely nice and helpful, there are more cameras than people in the city! It is ridiculous every street is monitored, every nook and cranny in the tube stations is watched, cameras are everywhere and have probably 5 different angles on any one spot! And we found out from our RA that the nightbus is perfectly fine, it's just drunk people on it, not like that's something college kids aren't used to.

So in order to have some fun after every depressing day we've had we decided to go out and see some pubs/bars, they're literally like Starbucks, there's on on every corner. We headed to Piccadilly Circus the other night and visited a couple and only got carded once. They don't card or even have bouncers like it the states. Every pub is a comfy little place with booths, tables, couches and a small selection of beers. Biggest kick we've had so far is that things like Budweiser, Coors, and Miller are considered imports here. One thing I have noticed is that the Brits don't do large groups like the US. We've gone in with 6 people and just received stares and every table is meant for 2-3 people. But the other night we found an American bar called Sports that has ESPN America and showed the OSU game although it kicked off at 2 am our time a little late for us lol. This weekend I think we're heading out to Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, Parliament and all those tourist sights so look forward to those posts!! 

Free Bags

Little flight tracker on my personal tv that kept me entertained

So just to clarify the first post was mainly Pat taking the opportunity to boost his own ego = ). Anyways the airport was a fun experience the guy checking the bags had to enter roughly 10 codes to try to charge me for a second bag so he got frustrated and said "Screw it I'm letting you go if American Airlines can't figure out a easier way of doing this then I'll let you go and everyone else go" So I wasn't complaining I got 2 free bags to fly to London! The flight was pretty sweet had a personal tv, dinner, and breakfast. Also the only people in my row were me (in the window seat) and another guy on the aisle so plenty of legroom. Even with all that room I only manage about 45 mins of sleep so that was fun..... Upon landing I had to fill out my white landing card and go through customs and border control. UK apparently believes in the honor system for customs, I went through the hall that said nothing to declare and no personnel were in there..... sooo I guess I coulda had something to declare but still walked right by haha. Other than that I had to go wait on my luggage then take a train to transfer terminals and go meet up with the Arcadia staff in a different terminal (meaning I had to go up a arrivals ramp that went on for probably 2 miles with 2 bags and tons of people going the opposite way....geniuses!). Once there we waited til everyone's flight came in then we loaded up buses and headed to our respective flats (that's apartments for those in the US). My flat is really nice and modern we think it just got renovated this past summer it has 4 rooms, one is the RA's (lucky us) the rest has 2 guys per (except for 1 room but that story is coming later). Then there's a kitchen and a living room with leather couches, each bedroom has a shower and toilet, save one whose bathroom is right outside there door but needs to use one of the other showers....odd. Kitchen is fully equipped, pots, pans, bowls, glasses, utensils it's nice then here's a fun fact the washer machine is in the kitchen... more of a fun fact it's the dryer as well!! It brings a new meaning to the washer/dryer combo. Well that about wraps it up for this post I have more on orientation later but now I have to go get ready for my interview with my internship so until later, BYE!

London Bound

A big thank you to my brother, Pat, who generously took his valuable time and set up this fantastic blog for me.  I am currently in the process of packing for my flight this afternoon and am excited for my departure.

I have a lot of different piles of things I need to take scattered throughout my room.  Pat thinks I will forget the pile with my passport and scarf...he is probably right.

My dad is intensely folding my dress shirts and precisely weighing my bags.  They came in just under the limit!  I think it is officially "GO" time.

When I arrive in London I will be periodically checking in on the blog and writing about my experiences and the gradual increase of tooth decay (I hear the longer you are in Europe, the worse your teeth get).

Talk to you soon!  I'm leaving for the airport!