Ireland -- Piper Davis

My third work of week was really slow. I read an entire book one day because they didn't have anything for me to do. I was super excited about my weekend trip to Ireland to visit my friend Sam and her boyfriend, so time went by even more slowly.

As I was standing in line to board the plane Friday night, these two girls behind me were being so loud and obnoxious (I really hope that's not how Americans come across to other people). It got to the point that everyone in line (about 100 people) were staring at them. Apparently death stares are not universally understood. It was my luck that they were in the seat behind me on the plane. I asked the flight attendant if there were any open seats in the back, and he asked how far I wanted to go. I told him "as far away as the girls behind me as possible." (I'm normally not the kind of person to do that, but it was that bad.) I somehow wound up with an entire row to myself about 10 rows back, so my flight was very nice!

David, Sam's boyfriend, picked me up from the airport and we went back to their cottage in Wicklow. Wicklow is about an hour south of Dublin. Saturday, Sam and I went horseback riding in the mountains. That afternoon, we all went to Glendalough. This is probably the prettiest place I've been. It is the site of a very old monastery. The landscape was gorgeous! There were waterfalls, giant lakes, and green plants everywhere. 

  

Sunday, we went to the beach. It was also breathtaking. I felt like I was on a movie set the entire time I was in Ireland. David told me some really interesting facts about Ireland (He's lived there his entire life). 

1. Some Irish people actually believe in Leprechauns.

2. There are no snakes.

3. Undergraduate education is free as long as you pass a test.

4. Guns are illegal. Cops in Ireland don't even carry pepper spray. They only have a stick.

5. There are no poisonous spiders or poison ivy.

6. The only sharks that are on the coast are basking sharks, and they don't have teeth.

7. There are no rabies.

8. All the museums are free (to everyone, not just EU citizens). 

9. There are very few car wrecks. In order to get your license, you must know how to drive a manual and be able to pass a series of tests. In one part of the test, you have to identify various parts of the engine. You also have to take your car in every year (unless it's a new car) for it to get tested.

10. There is no cancer.

Ha, okay, so that last one is false. But you get the point--nothing in Ireland can kill you. It's basically the opposite of Australia. 

David was telling me how freaked out he was when he saw a police officer in the U.S. carrying a gun and how strange he found it that Americans talk about being in wrecks so casually. We talked about cultural differences for a long time. My favorite part was when he asked me if I had ever ridden a yellow school bus. (He has only seen them in movies). I said  he really wasn't missing out on that experience.

I had such a wonderful time. My return flight got delayed, so I didn't land in London until midnight. Although, a perk of traveling from Ireland is you don't have to go through border control! I'm hoping to go back there Easter weekend and see more of the country!

Ireland is definitely my favorite place so far. 

   

Amsterdam - Rachel Van Deventer

This past weekend I traveled to Amsterdam in The Netherlands with Piper, Jonathan, Daniel, and Amira. We left work and headed immeditaly to the airport on Friday. Our flight was actually to Eindhoven so we then had to catch a bus and a train in order to get into Amsterdam.

On the ride into the city I was jamming to my ipod and basking in the awesome city. My ancestors are mostly Dutch so I was excited to be in the country that they were from. We stayed in christian hostel in the middle of the city (and the red light district). Once arriving we walked around the city a little bit before heading to bed.

Saturday we got up and did a walking tour of the city. We even found the moving, iconic I-Amsterdam sign during our walk. The canals were absolutely beautiful and the amount of bikes in Amsterdam was outrageous. Luckily, the rain held our for us and both days were fairly nice.

That evening we went out for a nice dinner and ended up eating waffles and pancakes called poffertjes. They were delicious! (and so nice to have since london doesn't believe in waffles or pancakes). Sunday we got up and headed out of the city center in search of a windmill. We found one!

Overall, the trip was quick but very fun. I am glad that I got to go to the country of my ancestors!

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Dunnhumby! - Rachel Van Deventer

I have been interning at Dunnhumby on the commercial solutions team for 2 1/2 weeks now. I really really like it. I deal with extremely large data sets and manipulate them so I can learn from the data. I have a nice and intelligent team that is always available for me to ask questions.

My first week was very intimidating because I was told that I would need to use SAS (Statistical Analysis System) and be able to computer program. My team was busy and there were not any workshops coming up that could help me learn SAS so I stumbled through the program for a week and eventually got the basics down. I used those skills to my advantage during my second week and completed one of my three project objectives for my internship. Learning to write code was hard but interesting. I know that I will need to write code in the future and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to learn some now.

I am also working with a data collection website called Omniture. So, along with learning SAS I am also learning how to navigate a complicated data website that collects every detail about online/mobile transactions, known as clickstream. Very few people have done projects using the clickstream data so I am excited to explore a new area. Unfortunately, this also means that none of my co-workers can really help me with Omniture. I am motivated to figure things out on my own though so that I can help my team understand clickstream data better and provide them with useful insights.

So far I have completed a project about what categories of products in Tesco are most popularly purchased online versus in stores. I am also wrapping up a project that details the usage of different devices throughout the day and throughout the week. I will finish up my internship by working on a project that has customers using multiple channels in order to make purchases from Tesco.

I am very interested in the work that I am doing and I know that I am on the right career path. The position is challenging but also gives me creative flexibility with my assignments. I am very excited to be working for Dunnhumby in London and I cannot wait to learn more each day.

A Taste of the Adult Life - Lauren Steele

Well hello everyone! I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted and I apologize. Between all the traveling we’ve been doing and the start of our internships, I haven’t had time to do much at all. So let me catch you up on what’s been happening lately. We spent spring break and mini break traveling to Rome, Florence, Pisa, Barcelona, Madrid, Salzburg, and Munich. We had the spring break of a lifetime and I’ll never forget it. Needless to say, I feel very well traveled now. If you asked me to pick a favorite city, I would probably be between Rome, Florence, and Barcelona. I was absolutely captivated by the blue skies of Italy and the beautiful beaches of Spain.

            Two weeks ago, we began our internships. I’m interning at Maxus Global, one of the world’s fastest growing media agencies. Maxus does marketing for several high-profile clients, one of which is L’Oreal. On our first day, I was placed on the L’Oreal Paris team. This means that I will spend my six weeks at Maxus working with the Paris team. Since L’Oreal is a new client, I have the opportunity to see the initial marketing strategies come to life. I’ve already marked my calendar for July so I can look up the advertisement I’ve watched them create for UK television. So far, I’ve been able to participate in research, strategizing, and marketing. Working 9 to 5 has definitely given me a better understanding of what it’s like to be an adult. I’ve learned a ridiculous amount during these past two weeks and I know I’ll learn so much more in the weeks to come.

            Even though our internships are incredible, I’m now painfully aware that time is passing. We only have four weeks of our internships left to complete and one final week in London once we’re finished. Not an hour passes when I don’t think about the clock ticking. I find myself filled with a sense of "carpe diem"- an urgent desire to live every moment to the fullest. We’re doing as much as we can in the little time that we have left. I know that soon I’ll be back in the United States and even though I can’t wait to see my family and friends, I’ll miss London terribly. This has truly been the experience of a lifetime and I look forward to making more memories during our last few weeks.

            I’ve realized that having a real job means going to bed before midnight or being exhausted the next day, so I’m going to bed. Goodnight!  

The Italian countryside

I tried and failed to kick the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Barcelona

Just another glorious day in London

My main ladies. We took this picture in Salzburg and we're 99% sure it ended up on the picture wall.

The Real World... - Sarah Hudson

So I guess you can only count internships as semi-real world, but work is work - especially when it goes 9-5 every day.

I work at Fortnum & Mason in the fashion department with the jewelry buyers. My tasks differ on a daily basis, but one of the things I do daily is look at the stock from a report the distribution center sends us and change what is in- and out-of-stock on the computer system. I send an email to all the department heads who need to order more or not order as much to let them know. That email is always slightly terrifying to send. I'm always afraid I messed up. My face gets all hot and prickly when I see an email come in because I assume it will be someone telling me how bad of a job I did. On the contrary, it is more of appreciation for doing something that apparently helps them tremendously. Some of the people have even come introduced themselves to me! Also, they told me to stop being so formal in my emails. Whoops. I now call everyone by their first names. It took a while to get there, but I got it.

I work with two other interns, one from here in England and the other from Scotland. They are both really fun and nice and have helped me a lot! They ask me a lot about America and the trends and traditions there. We had a whole conversation at lunch about biscuits (our biscuits, not cookies). They were baffled by the fact that we have chicken biscuits. They also laughed at the way I hold my fork when I eat and tried to tell me the difference between fries and French fries. I said it's all the same, just call them fries. And one of them has started calling me Sazzy. I have no idea where it came from, but having a nickname means they like me, so I am fine with it. She comes up to my desk a lot and says, "Hey Sazzy, how's it goin'?" in her Scottish accent. It makes me giggle.

Some of us went to the distribution center in Ely on Friday, and Monday I am spending the day in the basement warehouse at the store to see the similarities and differences between how things are done. I had orientation to the store last week as well. We ate so much food (One of the restaurants prepared like 20 samples for us all to try. I ate them all.), learned about the history, and took a tour of the store. Probably my fourth tour. I can (maybe) point you in the direction you need to go because of all the tours.

They give interns free lunch, and it is delicious! It is also American-sized portions, so I take a little box to bring half of it home in. Another thing they laugh at. Oh well, free dinner too. They also bring up cake from the floor that hasn't been sold and sell it for 10 pence whereas customers get it for 40 pounds. Yikes.

Overall, I am enjoying Fortnum pretty well! It is a massive business that has a lot of history and tradition. It is way more laid back than I thought it would be, and the people are really nice and willing to answer any questions I have. Which is a lot. I am anxious as to what this week will bring!

Cheers,

--Sarah

Week 1 of Internships--Piper Davis

I work for a Redkite PR, a public relations firm that promotes brands, restaurants, people, etc. They work with lifestyles: mainly food and drink.

My first week of internships drastically improved over the course of the week. My coworkers are amazing. I work with four women: Shelley, Jessica, Sarah, and Hannah.  I spent Monday feeling confused and unhelpful. The first day was stressful, but they were very kind and accommodating.  I had to make tons of phone calls and do "clippings." Jessica basically taught me everything. The day seemed to go by very slowly, and I had no clue what I was doing. 

The next two days went well. Tuesday I spent do mailing and coverage reports on the Roux family. Albert Roux and his son, Michel Roux Jr, are both very accomplished chefs. My job is to write a short summary on every article that is printed about them. Needless to say, that takes some time. On Wednesday, Jessica and I got to package Maison Blanc easter cupcakes to send to various people. They were so adorable! I really wanted to eat one, but there were no extras.

Thursday I had a lot of coverage to do on Michel Roux Jr because he left the BBC TV show MasterChef (similiar to Top Chef in America). I hope one day I can meet one of the Rouxs. They seem like very interesting people. Thursday was very sunny, so I got to go outside and walk around for 30 minutes. It was great! When I came back, Shelley told me to call about twenty 5-star hotels in central London and get the names of their head concierges. It's awesome Redkite works with such high-class people and businesses.

Friday was fun! Jessica's birthday is Sunday, so we all went out for lunch. Shelley (Jessica's mom/my boss) insisted on paying for mine. That was very sweet of her. When we got back from lunch, I had to do more coverage reports and mailing. I would call my first week of internships a success, although I'm missing home a lot. 

Chocolates and Excel Worksheets- Wayne Taylor

These past two weeks have been a crazy time of traveling around Europe and also starting my internship.

I recently went on mini-break to Munich, Germany and Zurich, Switzerland. I never really thought about going to Germany, however, I am glad that I did so. Germany was a city of many sausages, but, also, it contained great beauty. The guys and I went to the German castle built in the the  1800s ( The Beauty and the Beast castle was modeled after it), It was on a very high mountain and it even snowed while we were there.

However, the most heavy part of the trip was visiting the Dachu concentration camp. It was the first concentration camp that others were modeled to be like. This experience inspired me to continue to treat everyone with dignity and respect. It was hard to fathom the pain and the state of mind prisoners went through during that time. The place was reminiscent of terror and fear, but the church and the memorials now located there helped to show that humanity must not forget the past, and  it is our responsibility to make the future better.
                                         

Zurich, Switzerland was the next destination. Zurich was filled with amazing chocolates and amazing views.I do not even like chocolate, but Swiss chocolate is different. It is actually good. The people were kind and the museums were free. However, my budget realized that Zurich was a massive banking center. Speaking of budgets, it is possible to stick to one. The key is to set realistic expectations for a trip (things like not designating just $1 for food) and to practice self control. I definitely didn't live like a rich man on my trips, but I was able to enjoy the major things in the city.
                 


















My internship at Citit started this past Monday. I am in the Supply Chain Finance division. It is a really interesting division, because Citi acts as the "middle man" between the buyer and the seller. I work from 9-5, and the best part is that I get free hot chocolate anytime I want it. Besides the food, I work heavily with excel sheets in order to plot, interpret, and present data to both the company and clients. I have my own desk ( with two monitors... yeah, I have it like that) and a phone. I'm thoroughly enjoying helping my team with their data collection, and I get to experience global business first hand.

Well, that is my life, I know everyone is interested. My birthday is tomorrow, so I guess I should start thinking what I want to do.

Cheers!

Berlin and Prague Mini Break - Jonathan Edwards

It was just a few weeks ago that I traveled for my Spring Break, but since then I have completed an entire Management course and now have just returned from another trip to Berlin and Prague. This trip was only five days but I enjoyed it so much it felt like much longer. I traveled with my roommate Daniel and three of the girls Rachel, Piper, and Sarah Hudson. I had high hopes for this trip and I was not let down.

                                                            Berlin, Germany

We left London around 4am on Saturday and that got us to Berlin before noon. My first impression of Berlin was not that great. The subway was dirty, graffiti everywhere, and there were no people around. The only good thing about the subway was that there were no turnstiles or guards to enforce tickets so we just jumped on like all the other people. The actual city center was much better than my initial view. Central Berlin is full of history and life.

We arrived at our hostel in Mitte, the historic center of Berlin, and then went out to explore. We found that even in the city center there were still almost no people. Where had they gone? A city with supposedly 3 million residents and I could hear the drop of a pen. Sadly, this made Berlin a bit boring. There were no restaurants or pubs with a wow factor or traditional German feel. What was worse is that when we tried to leave Mitte and explore other areas it turned sketchy very quick!

Really Berlin was quite boring, except for the wonderful city tour. A free 2.5 hour historical tour of the city is what saved the whole trip. Our guide was young and enthusiastic. We covered pre-WWII, Nazi WWII, and Communist Berlin. This tour left me with many new interesting facts.

Interesting Fact #1   The bunker where Hitler killed himself is now a parking lot
Interesting Fact #2  The general public did not know Hitler was dead until 1970 which lead to many
                                 conspiracies as to what actually happened.
Interesting Fact #3   Hitler announced at his birthday party that he was going to commit suicide
                                  (what  a downer)
Interesting Fact #4   The Berlin wall actually was built overnight but it started as a wire fence

Berlin was not exactly what I was hoping for, but I am very glad I went and saw the history.

                                                Memorial to the victims of the Holocaust

                                    Parking lot above bunker where Hitler committed suicide

                          Below this sandbox is where the door to Hitler's bunker would have been

                                                                        Berlin Wall

Berlin Parliament - Has a large glass dome at the top to show the Berlin government is transparent

                                                            Prague, Czech Republic

Prague was everything I had hoped for and then some. Prague was left alone during WWII so it has the largest collection of architecture throughout time. Prague also has a long history full of stories both true and myth. But before we got to enjoy Prague we ended up in a little trouble. After two days of riding the Berlin subway for free we decided to do the same thing in Prague. This was an awful choice. Upon exiting the subway, only 20 minutes after we arrived, we were greeted by a ticket inspector demanding to see our tickets. I believe he picked us simply because we are American and therefore cooler than he, but we also had large backpacks on and looked like tourists so that could be it. Because we did not actually have the tickets we had to pay the equivalent of $40 each.

After the whole subway fiasco, the remainder of the trip went smoothly. We took a great history tour of Prague and found out the the only working Astrological clock in the world is found in Prague. I was able to see all the classic sights such as the Charles Bridge and the Jewish Quarter. Additionally, the carnival was in town! We had no idea that it would be there but it brought great food and music to the city center. The food, shopping, and nightlife were all amazing as well.

The second night we were in Prague we found the Ice Pub. This is exactly what it sounds like, a pub made out of ice where absolutely everything inside also made of ice. It was so cold inside you can only stay for 20 minutes, but it was one of the best places I have ever been to. Certainly makes for a great story.

                                The cathedral in the background took two centuries to complete

                                                                  Prague town center

 

                                                              The Astrological Clock

                                                          Me and Daniel sitting on an ice couch

                                                                  My throne of ice

This mini-break trip was a fantastic experience that I had the pleasure to share with some wonderful people. I would love to go back sometime and cannot wait for my next journey with these people. So here's to the next journey, may it be equally as entertaining as this one!

Thank God I Keep a Journal- Weeks 5-10- Katrina Laemmerhirt

Sorry for the MIA blog posts! They weren't kidding when they said you would be busy all day, everyday..

BUT lucky for you I have kept a journal everything I've done! At lot has happened in 5 weeks though so prepare yourself

Week 5:
These weeks were filled with our endless exploration of London and copious amount of statistics homework. How we managed sleep in there I'm not sure. Dr. Mee took us to a lot of places we probably never would have visited. We visited Dunhumby data collection agency, Lloyds of London insurance company, and Oxford University. It was really interesting seeing how companies here operate compared to the US. It was surprising to hear about the amount of psychology and arts and humanities majors that are now working at these prestigious businesses. Besides being nerdy about studying business operations, we've been doing the usually, getting tea and getting lost trying to find the grocery store.

Oxford University 

Lloyd's of London

Week 6:
ITS ALMOST SPRING BREAK! 12 of us have planned a trip to Rome, Florence, and Pisa in Italy and Barcelona and Madrid in Spain. This week of anticipation is defiantly going to get me through the rest of statistics. Like always, on our down time we've been exploring the city. This week we found a couple really cute thrift stores. On February 2nd it was Chinese New Year! All the girls in our flat woke up early and went to the parade. All of Chinatown was decorated in hanging lanterns and flags. Then we made the decision that it would be a great idea to splurge on Chinese food in Chinatown on Chinese new year.. it was a great idea. That same night was the Superbowl so we all squeezed together in our flat with chips and oreos and watched the (really bad) game. Before spring break we made one more outing to Greenwich which was right by the water. It was such a nice day and you could see the entire view of the city of London. There was also a spot where you could stand in-between the east and west hemisphere. Some other random adventures of the week were that we went to the top of The Shard which is the tallest building in Europe and found a wall in the streets where people wrote everything they want to do before they die.

View from the Shard

Greenwich

Week 7: SPRING BREAK…look at my post above this for spring break adventures

Week 8-10:
I thought I could type it all in the post but by battery is 7% so stay tuned! I promise it will be relatively soon


Thanks for reading!
And sorry to the fam that I haven't written on here in 5 weeks.. hehe

-Katrina Laemmerhirt

Berlin and Prague - Rachel van Deventer

On March 1st I headed to Berlin, Germany with Piper, Sarah, Jonathan, and Daniel. We arrived in Germany and headed to our hostel in the area of Mitte. We wandered around the city and did some shopping. Sunday morning we did a walking tour through downtown Berlin. We learned a lot about the history of Berlin during the war and got to see the Berlin wall. Later that day we went into the "Tall Stick and Ball" which was the tallest building in Germany. The city was not very busy and there did not seem like much was going on. It was nice that we did not have to pay to ride the subway  the whole time that we were in Berlin.

On Monday we took a bus to Prague, Czech Republic. After getting on the tube to head to our hostel, we were slapped with a $40 fine each for riding the tube without tickets. I guess we deserved it a little though. Prague was beautiful! There was a festival going on so the town was buzzing! The first night there we all went on a fun pub crawl. Tuesday we had a delicious lunch and went on a walking tour. That evening we headed to an Ice Pub that was cold but a fun experience! Wednesday we just strolled through the city and enjoyed the beautiful buildings and atmosphere of Prague. I am back in London now and start my Dunnhumby internship on Monday!

Mini Break--Piper Davis

So not only did we get a 10 day Spring Break, but we got a 5 day Mini Break after our Management class ended. But before I talk about the trip, I want to share my experience of Management with Lane (and Julie!).

The class was not only fun, but also very eye-opening into the world of business. The concepts we learned in the morning could clearly be seen in our afternoon visits to markets, department stores, Ernst & Young, and the City of London Corporation. Of course, my favorite site visit was Harrod’s. This is the absolute largest store (and most expensive) I have ever seen.

Lane and Julie are so sweet. They invited us over to their flat several times for spaghetti, popcorn, and pizza. I wish they were still here!

On to Mini Break—Berlin was our first destination. We walked out of the subway station in front of our hostel and were greeted with complete silence. There was no one on the streets and hardly any cars. Okay, so maybe we were in a dead area? Nope. Everywhere we went, the streets were clear of cars and few people were walking around. I can’t say that I didn’t mind this (especially after walking on Oxford Street in London), but it was unexpected.

We finally found the usual tourists around the Brandenburg Gate and Berlin Wall. It was amazing to learn to about the Holocaust and the division between East and West Germany. We stood in the very spot where Hitler committed suicide (now a parking lot) and also where his body was burned (now a children’s playground).One night, we went up in the Fernsehturm Berlin, which is basically Berlin’s space needle. The view was incredible.

We took a bus to Prague on Monday. On the way, the bus stopped in a German city called Dresden. It was beautiful, and I really want to go visit it someday. It took four hours to get to Prague, so I slept most of the way. We all got money out of an ATM after we arrived. The smallest denomination was 2000 korunas. This is the equivalent to about $100 (Czech money is very inflated). Anyway, we walk down into the subway station, and we notice there is no place to insert paper money into the ticket machine (which is all we had). We walked over to the booth, but no one was there. We watched people for a few minutes, and all of them were just walking through without a ticket. So when in the Czech Republic, do as they do.

Bad idea. We transfer lines and then get off at our stop. A man sees our backpacks (obviously tourists) and asks for our tickets. Of course he didn’t stop anyone else. We tried to tell him that we didn’t know how to pay, where to get change, etc. He didn’t care and fined us about $40 each. Welcome to Prague.

Thankfully that was the only bad part of the trip. Our hostel was very close to the Charles Bridge, which was gorgeous. There were so many shops, restaurants, clubs, and beautiful buildings in this city. It might be my favorite city I’ve visited so far.

We got back late last night, and this week we have advising appointments with Andrew. Monday is the first day of my internship with Red Kite PR. I’m super excited, but also very nervous. Naturally, I didn’t bring my black slacks with me on the trip (instead I brought 5 pairs of pajama pants..). So off to Oxford Street for shopping!