Most over used new phrase: Do you take student discounts?

Hello Everyone!
Sorry... it has been quite a while since I was last able to post! I will really try to work harder on more timely blog updates. It was officially the FIRST day of school today! As a class we were able to do some really fun & special activities.

 Being a student I am no longer working & the lack of an income is quite challenging in general.  Of course adjusting to living in one of the most expensive cities in the world is coming as quite a shock! The #1 thing i have noticed here is how expensive transportation is. I have about a 40 minute commute to school each morning & apparently for young professionals that is pretty minimum. I take an above ground train to Waterloo and then transfer to the underground (like metro) for about 5 stops to central London. My first few days for a mid morning arrival to school i purchased a return train ticket and metro card & this ended up being roughly 19 GBP which equals about $30!!! Imagine, just to GET to school!

The insane conversion rate has forced me to make some serious life style changes fast. My previous three favorite activities in the states recently were probably shopping, eating, and drinking.  So I have had to be creative & find other things to do. One of the amazing things about being a student is that lots of places seem to give discounts! The subway & train system luckily give 30% off to students & an even greater discount if you purchase tickets monthly!

I found a pretty good website: http://www.studentbeans.com/ that i keep checking as well!

One of my favorite activities now that i am in England is, of course, to sight see! This city is so so OLD compared to the states. My class went on a bus tour & here are some highlights:


View of the business school from the bus:

Picture of  Tudor House in central London, it survived the Great Fire which broke out in 1666!

typical photos from london! you really HAVE to see them in person because it is really much more moving in real life!

Sorry, this post going to be short as well but I keep getting interrupted!!!

I miss everyone & I am excited so many of you are starting blogs as well :)

"If you get sick... you will fail, if you take a vacation during exam time...you will fail, you will cry, you will definitely get lost, and..... this will be one of the BEST years of your life"

Whew! The past week has been super busy!!
My "course" is marketing communications which is called "MAMC" for short. The first two weeks we have an induction. Loads of different people from the University have been coming to speak to us.  The title of this blog are the most important messages that stayed with me from the Dean's speech on friday morning. It is going to be very hard & lots of work! After I finish posting this I will be off to complete my first HOMEWORK (ugh) assignment. There are about 70 people in my class & everyone is from different parts of the world. I have met people from India, Greece, Italy, Iran, China, Japan, Russia and Canada! I am the ONLY American! I hope I can represent the country well. Anyways, out of the 70 people there are only SIX guys. I cannot decide if they are really lucky or unlucky haha! Right now, they all sit together & are really quiet.

  The location of the Business school is really FABULOUS. It is right across the street from the tube station & in central London. Across the street are tons of little cafes & coffee places & pubs as well as a huge tourist attraction Madam Tussands ----> http://www.madametussauds.com/London/

The subway here makes DC's look tiny. It is huge & is like a maze. There are so many different lines and you have to walk in circles.

Anyways, I have tons to do. I'll write more later!

"You like potato and I like potahto, You like tomato and I like tomahto"

http://www.uwsu.com/

Really exciting link!!! Spot anything odd?
So far I had to think twice about:
freshers = freshman
queing = lining up
fortnight= 2 weeks
bully off= ???? 

"Crabcakes and Football. That's what Maryland does!"

     I am leaving for England TOMORROW!!! I cannot believe it! The past weeks have really flown by.  I was lucky enough to have had THREE amazing goodbye parties. First was happy hour with my co-workers at Tommy Joes in Bethesda (amazing specials, check out at http://www.tommyjoes.com), lovely home-made italian (my fav!!) dinner at Kathy & Joanne's, and a wild night in DC with my favs!  It was difficult to say good bye to everyone & I will really miss each of my friends and co-workers next year. Thanks to everyone at Bozzuto for the wonderful experiences, I will never forget what I have learned. I made great friends from work & am so fortunate to have gotten the chance to know both co-workers & residents! I am sorry I was not able to see to say goodbye in person to everyone but, I'll be back before you know it!

      The main activity that I focused on my last week was selling my furniture.  I'm really proud of myself that I managed to sell EVERYTHING! I am actually sitting in a completely empty apartment except for my air mattress. Normally, I would be watching TV (especially the MTV award show) but this is a good time to catch up on my blog. Currently, everything I own can fit into my 2 suitcases and teeny 5" by 5" storage unit!! It is actually very liberating.

      Selling everything was a little challenging. My first idea was to hang signs in the lobby of my building, local dry cleaners & grocery store.  I was a little surprised that NO one called! It IS 2010 so the best source was.... craigslist. Overall, I had a good experience & each person I spoke to was very nice. My bed is now in Hyattsville with couple from New Orleans, my vanity now belongs to a 5 year old from Kentucky, my couches are now in Arlington with a couple expecting a baby in about  3 weeks, the TV stand moved right down the road on Grosvenor Place, and my desk is in Georgetown with a young professional.  My only advice is to be PREPARED for a massive amount of emails & phone calls! As soon as you sell something get online & delete the ad. Also, creating specific ads for each individual piece of furniture (I.E. red couch)  was much more effective than a broader title (I.E. "living room furniture with information about each piece in the ad). It is a little more time consuming but worth it. THIS made me laugh & is def true!!

 I really made an effort to do AMERICAN activities these past couple of months! Somehighlights were:

 Becky, Carly, Erika, Tara & I all went to WASHINGTON NATIONALS game!!

Dalia had an AMAZING crab feast!

Katelyn, Erica,  Christina, Tara, Carly and I attended pre-season games at FedEx Field!!

Of course, the last part of my evening today was spent with (ONE of) my fav military men Adam & his friends at Buffalo Wild Wings in rockville!  i LOVED watching the REDSKINS BEAT the cowboys!!!



 yummy beer & wings!

Mariska Hargitay Reads "Oh! The Places You'll Go!"

"Oh, the Places You'll Go! "

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..."
— Dr. Seuss 


            First of all, I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to read my blog! Blogging is definitely  harder than I thought it would be.  Basic issues are that I am an awful speller, (this does NOT automatically insert the correct word &  only unhelpfully underlines the word that I have attempted to spell) and I cannot figure out how to indent my sentences using the "tab" button. I apologize in advance because I KNOW this & following entries might make people cringe due to grammar issues or spelling. Also, I accidentally use run on sentences constantly. Sorry, sorry, sorry. 


       According to Wikipedia, "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" sells over 300,000 copies annually and is mostly given to graduates. I am sure many of you are very familiar with a collection of Dr. Seuss books. I had a copy of this one when I was little, have listened to numerous speeches alluding to the inspiring messages, and, if pressed, could probably even quote a line or two. While beginning to pack for my trip I found a tee shirt in my closet with pictures of the various pastel and neon characters from the book decorating it.


Up until tonight, I haven't really thought about this story. Now that I am unemployed (as of today) and 25 (instead of 5), I can relate to the yellow protagonist more than ever. When I decided to pursue my M.A. I was hoping to further my education and career (obviously). But I made the decision to study out of the country to "Un-slump" myself & maybe to get out of the "Waiting Place".  I have grown up in the DC area and graduated from a college about 2 hours away. It seems an odd time for me to want to leave  (especally since Bravo/MTV have decided to shoot reality TV shows right under my nose) but I want to go to as many places as I can and be out of my comfort zone. 


        In my blog  I would like to share with all of you a small portion of my new experiences and challenges  during my *big* move & living in the UK. 



So far challenges have been :
1. choosing a school  2. getting into the school 3. obtaining my visa <----- #3 was by far the MOST difficult & stressful portion of these experiences. Imagine something like a week long trip to the MVA trying to make you have the correct documents, and pictures which prove you are who you are & being rejected each time! The directions really are very confusing.




However, even worse than the first 3 steps is:
PACKING!!!!!


stay tuned because I will be experimenting with spacebags tomorrow.


see the following site for more details:


"https://www.spacebag.com/?mid=547753&a=56067&s=quigo