Terra Incognita

wedding and home pros
*I have a big desk with a computer and can use the Internet for free during my lunch break.
*From the 27th floor of the IPC Media tower, I can look out of the window next to my desk and see the Thames, Big Ben and the London Eye.
*The eight women in the office are all really nice and I'm on a first-name basis with the editor already.
*I got a piece of wedding cake for a snack today.
*I get to work on a Mac G4 like my Jack back home.
*I get to know "real" Brits who can answer my every question about London, etc.
*It'll look good on a resume.

wedding and home cons
*I do the most menial office work, like sorting mail, typing lists, filing travel brochures, calling florists. It's almost like I'm back at Business Services at MU . . . but I get paid there.
*They haven't even asked me what I want to do in magazines, so I don't think they have any idea that I want to design. If it stays like this for the semester, it's hardly worth putting on a resume except to say I worked at an IPC Media magazine.
*I have to work 10-6 everyday except Wednesdays, leaving very little time to explore London. (Wednesdays are our programme excursions.)
*That means I have to work Fridays and can't take off for a three-day weekend holiday like the students taking classes. (They don't have any classes on Fridays.)
*I have to answer the phone and can't understand British English when it's garbled by the telephone.
P.S. Funny story: Monday I was calling a florist and accidentally introduced myself, "Hi this is Erica from the Colum- I mean from Wedding and Home Magazine." Oops!

weekend overview
Friday, Ellen and I went to the Tate Modern, a modern art museum. It was really interesting. We only got through the first floor. Good thing it's free, we'll be able to go back!
Saturday morning we went to the Portobello Market in Notting Hill. It's just like the movie with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. We found the travel bookshop where Hugh worked in the movie. It was amusing how many teenaged and college aged girls were there, as if Hugh was going to ring them up at the cash register. (OK, so we were guilty of being those girls as well.) From one of the outdoor stalls, Ellen and I each bought a matted copy of an old Vogue cover. It's a London edition of Vogue and shows a lady in the rain on the cover. It's great; I love it. I feel part of the magazine industry.
Saturday was Mary Pat's 21st birthday. We celebrated by getting dressed up and going to Harrod's for high tea. We felt so posh. I stole a napkin, a sugar pack and the Twinnings string from my tea for my scrapbook. (The Queen orders her tea from Twinnings.)
Neil Dwyer from Mizzou came to visit some of us fellow Tigers this weekend. He's studying at Edinburgh this semester and came down with a group from his programme. It was fun to hang out with him and his friend John. We now have a floor to sleep on when we go visit Edinburgh. (I got an email from Holly Wray today. She's studying in Spain and says we can have her floor as well. Cheap accommodations, sounds good to me!)
Saturday night we ended up at a gay club. It was great. I now know where I can go dancing without slimy Italians getting in my way. The guys were good sports about it. Girls, I'll let you in on a little secret we learned: if you want a short-term boyfriend, take a straight guy to a gay bar. He'll want your protection. There were four of us girls and four guys; it evened out quite nicely!

tales of canterbury and dover
For our weekly programme excursion, we travelled about an hour and a half outside London to Dover Castle and the Canterbury Cathedral. Once again, absolutely beautiful weather. It didn't rain until we got on the bus to come back to the city. The White Cliffs of Dover were lovely and from the castle's keep tower, we could actually see the coast of France! It was really neat to walk through Canterbury Cathedral as well. The town of Canterbury was so fun and quaint!

coming attractions
We booked our Spring break trip today. Ellen Meg and I are going to Italy and Greece. We'll hit Rome, Florence, Venice and Athens in eight days. I can't wait!
Saturday, Protz gets into London. I'm meeting her in Harrow, the suburb where she's going to school and I'm going to attempt to help her beat jet lag. It's going to be great to catch up!

observations
* "Cheers!" is said all the time and means everything from hello to good-bye to thanks to sorry to excuse me, and more.
* The road markings are about as decipherable as hieroglyphics.
* Even though I can't understand the Brits, I'm picking up a bit of an accent, especially when saying phone numbers.
* Washing up liquid = dish soap and laundry detergent.
* There's a Starbucks on every other corner. Literally. There's one in the IPC Media tower.
* I am beginning to sleep despite the trains . . . or maybe I'm just going to bed after the trains stop running.
* The British don't take vacations, they take holidays . . . and most people take the entire month of August off.
* There are now five couples on our programme.