After two incredible months abroad, we finally returned home.  Sadly, the summer of a lifetime drew to a close after nine of the best weeks of our lives.  Being abroad for such a long period of time allowed us to experience not just the tourist attractions, but the true British way of life.  This program gave us the opportunity to work and study with Londoners while still having free time to travel and get to know European life.

By far, the most influential aspect of this trip was the work experience.  My internship gave me the opportunity to thrive in all aspects of digital and print media advertising.  I was given assignments in copywriting, competitive analyses, and everything in between.  Other Creative truly opened a world of possibility for my career as I met numerous influential advertisers while gaining invaluable experience.

Prior to our trip beginning, taking courses was not a part of an ideal internship program.  After studying with our two incredible professors for the duration of our trip, that changed entirely.  The British Writers and British Life and Culture classes changed the way that I view the UK and opened my eyes to an entirely new way of thinking.  International classroom experience was an integral part of this program, and proved to be one of the most beneficial components.

One of the most exciting aspects of this trip was the opportunity for international travel.  While I may not have traveled as much as some other students in our trip did, my weekend in Paris made that all ok.  After meeting up with a few friends from high school, we traveled the city and saw virtually everything in Paris over a three day period.  We were able to see the Louvre, climb the Eiffel Tower, and eat all the french food we wanted.  While it was sad to spend the last weekend of the summer outside of London, this weekend ended up being the perfect end of the trip.

I wouldn’t change a thing about this experience abroad.  Working, studying, and traveling abroad gave us the opportunity to truly become Londoners.  We ate at pubs and rode the Tube.  During the Olympic Games, we cheered on Team GB as much as Team USA.  We didn’t just work and study in London, we lived there.

Bizarre Dishes of Hong Kong

Towards the end of my internship I felt that one of my co-workers hobbies was to see how many types of food I would be willing to try. I turned nothing down taking advantage of every opportunity.  Some dishes were of course better than others.

Chicken Feet

I cannot remember the number of times people would love to watch me eat chicken feet even knowing I had tried it before. They loved to take pictures of me eating them. Matter where we went or how it was prepared I never like the chicken feet. They just seemed boney and fatty the two things I am not a fan of.

Cow Stomach

Cow stomach was another lunch favorite. It was very chewy. However, it was not bad at all. I would never go out of my way to eat it though. Fish stomach was another item that occasionally showed up.

Seafood.

The seafood in Hong Kong is amazing. Being surrounded by water really makes the presence of seafood very popular in cuisine.  You easily can visit nearby fishing villages and eat fresh fish. My only trouble was actually knowing how to eat the seafood. The fish or crab often comes served as it was living. It is overwhelming sometimes to have a fish eye staring back at you wondering how to I go about eating this.

Preserved Egg

Another item that showed up on the lunch menu was preserved egg. It was served with half of the shell still on it. It was insanely salty I couldn’t even take more than one bit.

Sure all the touristy spots are great adventures to be had. However, I had the most fun on the small adventures, the everyday tasks I needed to accomplish. Ordinary things become extraordinary   when interpreted through a different culture. Once such task that stood out was grocery shopping.

In the states the first thing you would do is jump into your car. In, Hong Kong cars are a serious luxury because of limited space. Walking makes you feel a part of the city. It throws you right into the action rather than, navigating it in a car.

The next thing you encounter is the size. No Wal-Mart’s in downtown Hong Kong. Grocery stores are nowhere near the size they are in the United States.  The two markets I shopped at had everything and could fit inside the frozen section of a typical us grocery store. Instead of shopping carts they had carts that held the shopping baskets you carry. It rained quite a bit so everywhere you went had plastic dispensers to keep your umbrella from dripping.

Hong Kong is such an international place. That is easily seen reflected through its food. Markets often had little flags for each product indicating its origin. It was great being able to try food from all over the world. It was so much just to walk down the aisles not knowing what items are and just buying stuff to try.

Another great aspect of Hong Kong is the outdoor markets. They consist of several roads of street vendors. They sell everything you could possible think of.  With the language barrier bargaining is done passing back and forth a calculator. As a tourist they will always try to overcharge you.

Hong Kong is a gigantic city and it can feel overwhelming trying to get around as a foreigner. However, the public transportation system there is so clean fast and efficient it makes getting around easy. It is even efficient with huge crowds traveling at once during rush hour.  In addition, there was always at least a couple modes of travel to get to your destination.

1. MTR

This is the subway system that goes all throughout Hong Kong. It was what I used every day to go everywhere. It was stopped once per sub city area. From the stop there was multiple exits that placed you right where you needed to be. To ride the MTR we used cards called octopus cards. These cards are magnetically used to enter and exit station. You simply put your wallet or purse on to the pad, it blinked you walked through and on your way no tickets to worry about. You then simply just refilled your card at the machines. During rush hour people stood with white gloves and push people into the train, packed in like sardines. Even though it gets super crowded the air conditioning made it nice.

1. Bus

The buses were also very cheap and quick. They were a little nicer because you could get closer to your exact building without walking and you had your own seat. The buses were similar to tour buses that go across country in the United States often with TV’s.  Little more complicated than the MTR.

1. Trolly

Slow and smelly but it get you there. It is almost free transportation that has a fun feel. However, the truth of the matter is lower income, lower hygiene standards ride it. In addition, it is really slow method because of lots of stops. I recommend riding on top all throughout the city you get all the view without having to walk and its almost free.

1. Cab

Cabs are really cheap in Hong Kong you can take it almost anywhere for 10 bucks US. Often times they do not speak English. Best way to have a card with the Chinese address written on it to show the cab driver. All major landmarks and spots they will know in English. Often try to overcharge in touristy spots like leaving airport and Mecau.

1. Boat

Being an island, you can take a boat almost anywhere you need to go as well, often used to go to places across the bay or local islands.

The highlight of the Olympics for me was attending the Women’s Gold Soccer match.  Chris Romney’s dad, Bob, purchased two tickets for Chris to the event.  He invited me to the game, and this is when the night started.  Growing up in Los Angeles, which has a rich Olympic history most notably the 1984 games, laid the foundation for my dream to support the red, white, and blue in the highest fashion.  After gearing up in my finest USA clothing, we were on our way to Wembley Stadium.

After an hour tube ride to the stadium, we crossed the platform with the other tens of thousands of fans hoping to cheer on their team.  For everyone that wasn’t rooting for USA, the Japanese fans, well lets just say I did not associate with them much.  We showed up to the game about ten minutes late, and hoping that we didn’t miss any of the action.  Not only did we see the first glorious goal, USA netted the first one as we were walking down the stairs to our prime seats.  The stadium turned into uproar as all the American fans chanted U.S.A., while the Japan fans could not believe the changing tide.  The women’s US team never looked back, and secured the victory for the motherland.  This game reminded me of the Nationalistic pride that is so strong within the US, and the feeling I had at this championship moment is going to remain with me forever.

Last week I took a short trip up north to Cambridge. I have to say Cambridge is one of my favorite places in the UK.

Cambridge is small town, but it is the home to the University of Cambridge. Cambridge, as the name suggests, used to be just a bridge in a swamp to a military camp. After a number of Oxford scholars moved here and founded the University of Cambridge, the village expanded over the years. There are a large amount of historical buildings in Cambridge.

We went punting on the River Cam. Cambridge almost felt a little like Venice to me because it also has the Bridge of Sighs, which is the bridge Cambridge students have to cross every time to take finals. The air was very clean and fresh in Cambridge. The specific nature and culture in Cambridge has helped a lot of artists and scholars find their inspirations, Xu Zhimo was one of them. I was lucky to find a stone in King’s College that has his best-known lines engraved.

One thing I found out about UK is that people there read a lot. You normally would not see people in the states read. I do not like reading, and I only read when I have to. But UK people love reading. They read on the bus, tube, and coffee shops. Sometimes you find people reading on a bench anywhere. The most strange reader I found was this random guy reading a book at the Queen’s garden in the WIndsor Castle.

On the other side of things, in between the events I got to escape to Dublin with a few of the flatmates, which was overall a really great trip and good closing to our time in London. Dublin is exactly like people say, very nice to look out with very festive people. It’s somewhere i’d definitely stay for a while if given the opportunity. The Cliffs of Moher were probably the highlight of the trip, capped by a great tour to the cliffs themselves, it was pretty insane being able to stand on the edge of a 700 foot trip ( and run along it, scaring the crap out of Anita) and look out on the atlantic ocean. Tom and I agreed that it was somewhere we could definitely just sit for a while and reflect, and it definitely wont be the last time i visit the cliffs.

Work also wrapped up a bit early since my bosses were eager to avoid the rush of the olympics and decided to take their summer holidays as the games started. Looking back on work, it was a varied experience and definitely not what i expected but one that I think I gained a lot from. Having the breadth of responsibilities that i did at London Sports Trust, provided me with some experience in a lot of different facets of a business. And i can honestly say my goal of getting a more global business perspective was achieved.

Last but not least, the best part of this experience was far and away the people that were part of it with me. We meshed as a group better than I could ever have imagined and i’m happy to say these are people i consider close friends now and without them the whole trip wouldn’t have been nearly as fun.

And now back to Arthur.

I was able to get tickets to the Men’s Springboard Diving Final of the Olympics.  It was so incredible being in the aquatics center with everyone who was there to watch the event.  The whole stadium was completely filled will people from across the world and it made it that much more exciting.  I had been trying for so long to get tickets to get into the Olympic Park and I wasn’t having any luck getting the tickets.  I would stay on the website to get tickets for hours at a time and still was not able to get any tickets.  One of my family friends who is a ticket broker happened to be in London at the same time and was able to help me to get tickets.  He called me on my last Tuesday and told me that he had tickets for me.  Naturally, I was so excited immediately told him that I would love to that the tickets.  I was thrilled when I knew I was going to be able to see the Olympic Park and everything inside of it.  I went with one of my friends on the trip and we wandered throughout the whole park.  We even got to see the largest McDonald’s in the world, which was really cool to see.

It is so weird being back in the United States after spending so much time in London.  The first night I was time, I was watching TV with my family and we were watching the Olympics in London.  It was crazy seeing the city on TV knowing that I was no longer there anymore.  It was such a weird feeling knowing that I had just been in the exact spot two days before they were showing it, and then I was watching it from across the world.  Even though I had the most amazing summer of my life, it was definitely one of the best summers as well.  I made so many memories and friends that I will have for the rest of my life and I am so thankful that I was able to be a part of this amazing journey.

The final week inLondonwas bitter sweet. I was exhausted from the entire summer and was ready to go home. However, there were still plenty of activities that I had planned once classes ended. I was able to go to a couple Olympic events, and before that I went toBarcelonafor a couple of days with mostly everyone in my flat.

Like most places I went during the summer there was a heat wave rolling through and it was extremely hot. It was miserable to try and sleep because the room was so hot and sticky and all the old buildings don’t have air conditioning. Other than that the beach and sun was a great break from the rain, clouds, and colder weather that was really consistent inLondon.

The Olympics were also a once in a Life time opportunity. I was able to see the semi- final soccer game withMexicoplayingJapanand then I went to a quarterfinal hand ball match. The soccer game was amazing and one of my favorite memories of the summer. However, I was disappointed with the hand ball match. I was hyped up about it when Drew bought the tickets, because I thought it would be a fast paced game with lots of goals. I was disappointed to find out that the game stopped almost every two minutes to wipe sweat off the floor.