March 13th-March 14th

March 13th

After going out Wednesday through Saturday with visiting friends, I decided to stay in last night and catch my breath. I went to bed early in preparation of another week of my internship.

Work today flew by. I had meetings and calls all day with my boss, account managers throughout Citi's global offices, and clients in order to introduce our product to more people and increase the pipeline. Before I knew it, it was time to leave. I met up with Will and Drew, we had some dinner and hung out until it was time to go out. Since Monday night is student night at the Tiger Tiger club in Piccadilly, Chris and I were going to take Will and Drew and meet some of our friends there. When we showed up, the line to get in was around the block. Not wanting to wait for hours, we left and went to a club nearby called Mahiki.

At first, I was bummed that we couldn't go where we wanted to. In the end, I was thrilled. Mahiki ended up being an awesome place. It was tropical themed, smelled like coconuts, and is frequented by Prince Harry. Since the prince is known to show up, it was full of hot British girls my age looking to become a Princess. Finally, I found a place with more British people than Americans! Like everywhere else in Europe, the club played almost exclusively American music from 5-10 years ago, so the dance floor was popping. Overall, the night ended up being one of my favorite nights abroad. But I ended up staying out way later than I planned, which is going to kill my productivity tomorrow.


March 14th

Well, I was right. Literally dead at my desk at work. I had four coffees before 10:30am, and my heart was racing. But tomorrow, Will and Drew head off to Madrid so in order to round out their trip, we ended up going out again tonight. As soon as I got home from work, I napped for a few hours so that I would be able to function. We headed headed back to Sports (on Will and Drew request), an almost entirely American bar with cheap drinks on tuesday nights. Here, I met Natalie and her younger brother, as well as Justin, his friend Jordan, and one of my camp friends from when I was younger. It ended up being really fun, but I didn't end up going to bed until 3:30am, which means waking up at 7am tomorrow is going to be a struggle. I'm really hoping I don't get addicted to coffee this semester...

March 9th-March 11th

March 9th

Today my friend Teddy came in town from Paris. His train got in at 2:30pm (14:30 in Europe), so he walked around London for a few hours until Chris and I got off work. When I got back, he came over. The three of us caught up for a bit, showered, and then went to the Coach and Horses pub on the corner so Teddy could eat dinner. After grabbing some pints, we swung by Pierce’s apartment to meet him and Joe. We hung out, then went to a few more pubs. The first pub had a rooftop bar which was nice since it was pretty warm out. Finally, we ended up going back to the Rocket and sat at a table. This 44 year old British guy ended up sitting down with us, drunk as a skunk, and was swapping stories and giving us what he called ‘American History 101’. We were there until closing time, but overall a fun, relaxing night.

March 10th

My friends Will and Drew from Wash U were expected to get in to King’s Cross around 1:00pm. Since we wanted to wait to do anything touristy until they got in town, Chris and I got our hair cut. Teddy stopped by the British Museum to snap some pictures and when we finished, the two of them went back to our apartment and I met Will and Drew at the train.

After spending some time catching up, the five of us walked around London. We covered alot of ground and looped our way from Tower of London, to Tower Bridge, to London Bridge, stopping by Borough Market to eat, continuing to the River Thames Bankside, and crossing the Millennium Bridge to St. Paul’s Cathedral before returning home. Walking around took a lot out of us, so we took a quick two hour nap before getting ready to go out. Tonight, we were going to Ministry of Sound, one of the major clubs in London with a Saturday Student Night. The club ended up being really fun. By 3:00am, we decided to head back. Instead of going home, we grabbed some late-night Kebabs at Mix Grill near our place. Probably a bad decision. By the time we went to bed, it was around 4-4:30am.

March 11^th

Waking up at 6:45am on a little over two hours of sleep, we got ready to take the train to Manchester to see the Manchester United Football Club. We got on the tube and went to the Euston Square, instead of Euston, causing us to have to backtrack and sprint through the station to barely make it on the train in time. Running at a dead sprint on two hours of sleep after a late night of drinking should be an Olympic sport.

By the time we got to the train, we were huffing and puffing. The train to Manchester (England’s 3^rd largest city) was around 2.5 hours long. I slept the entire way; I wish someone took pictures of the positions I was sleeping in because I’m pretty sure my body was just as contorted as someone who jumped out of an airplane without a parachute and hit the ground. When I woke up, my back hurt so much I could barely stand up.

When we got near the stadium, it was an awesome sight. It looked like the Red Sea (except no water, just crazy soccer hooligans dressed in all red) mobbing the area around the stadium. Imagine a mixture of Mardi Gras and the area around Wrigley before a game. It was awesome, and helped build even more excitement before the game. We got to the stadium and were greeted by a member of the back office, who took us in a private gate. Here, we got to go through the tunnels of the stadium and onto the pitch just a few hours before kickoff. The grass was like a putting green, it was so slick and smooth. Such a cool experience and a beautiful 80,000 person stadium.

After snapping a few pictures, Manchester United’s Chief Operating Office spoke to us, gave us the history of the team and the stadium, and explained the business behind such a successful football club. When he finished speaking, we ate lunch in the stadium and then had to exit. Since Manchester’s stadium will be hosting events during the Olympics, they had a test run for security and everyone was searched more intensely than usual. We finally got to our seats and relaxed until kickoff.

The game was awesome. Manchester United is one of the best teams in Europe, and they dominated the game. The fans chanted and sang throughout the game. My favorite chant, I’m sure you can see why was...

"U-N-I-T-E-D, United are the team for me

with a nick nack paddy wack give the dog a bone; 

why don't City F*** off home"

After a great game, we left and took the tram to the middle of the city in Manchester. We were so tired, we just got some dinner before taking the train home. I again slept the entire way. When we finally got back to the apartment, I pretty much just called it a night. I have to rest up for the week to come. But I’m dreading waking up early for work tomorrow, but you know me, just taking care of business as usual.

Will at Platform 9 and 3/4

Drew at Platform 9 and 3/4

Drew, Teddy, Will, Chris, and I at 9 and 3/4

Drew, Teddy, Will, Chris, and I at 9 and 3/4

HMS Belfast

London Bridge

Chris, Drew, Will, Teddy and I at St. Paul's Cathedral

Teams Dugouts

Teddy on the Pitch (He's a pitcher, not a catcher)

Teddy, Chris, and I on the field

What a bunch of bloody tossers

March 7th

Today I had to stay late at work. But unlike previous days, I chose to do this as I was leaving directly from work to go to the West Ham United football match. For those of you who have seen the movie "Green Street Hooligans", West Ham is the team that the movie is based off of. They are known to have the craziest fans. My boss invited me to come with him, his brother, another guy from work, and his college roommate. I was the only American tagging along with some diehard British fans. Since I had to leave from work, I had to wear my suit.

We ended up leaving the office around 5:30pm and headed down to one of the pubs right near Citigroup. Here, we met the other guys and started drinking some pints. To be honest, when we first got to the pub I was a little out of my element. Here I was, with guys about ten years older than me, all diehard fans and talking about teams and players I had never heard of. After being introduced to the group as the American Intern, I couldn't help but laugh inside at what my boss's friends must have thought of dragging me along with them. But after a little, everyone loosened up and I felt right at home. We started talking about American sports and culture and then the differences in British culture. By the end of it, we were all making fun of each other. I tried my British accent on for size and mocked them with some slang. They did the same in American accents, which are hysterical to hear. Based on hearing them, I know I sound like an idiot when I speak English English.

 We left for tube around 7 so we could make the opening kickoff at 7:45. When we got off the tube, we had to walk a few blocks on Green Street to the game. Even just walking to the stadium was an experience. Everyone was decked out in baby blue and red and singing West Ham Songs. To give you some insight, here are the lyrics for their main song "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles"

I'm forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air
They fly so high, nearly reach the sky
And like my dreams they fade and die

Fortune's always hiding,
I've looked everywhere
I'm forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air
United! (clap hands) united! (clap hands)


I know, what a girlie song. But it's really cool hearing it in person. There were also a ton of hamburger vendors that littered the streets. It kind of felt like a tailgate, except for soccer. I was excited when we finally got to our seats. The whole stadium was chanting songs and cheering West Ham on, except for the one visitors section in the corner. 

Just sitting there was pretty funny and shocking for me. To start, there weren't many kids or families at the game. Second, there are no vendors that walk through the aisles, and you're not allowed to bring food and drinks into the stadium. Lastly, no one, I mean no one, gets up from their seat during play. If you have to get a drink or go to the bathroom, you simply wait until the half is over.

During halftime, everyone joins an enormous queue for the loo and beer stands. You have to pound your drink in the short break before going back to your seat. The actual game was somewhat sloppy with no much action, but just watching and listening to the fans was quite the experience. To start, I've always pictured Brits as proper and polite. As soon as I listened to the fans, my perception changed. They were a bunch of bloody wankers and tossers (literally my new favorite words). West Ham went down 1-0, but ended up scoring towards the end of the game to pull out the draw.

When we left the stadium and got back to the tube, the lines were so long that we went to another pub (a dodgey local pub). This place was packed with West Ham supporters who continued to drink after the game. We grabbed a few more pints before finally heading back to the tube. To sum up, I had an awesome night. It was a great experience and I'm glad I went with local fans because it made it so much better. Can't wait to go to another game, and now I'm really looking forward to Manchester United this weekend.

March 6th

Tonight I met up with four of my New Trier friends and a few others who are studying in London (Justin, Eric, Sarah, and Natalie) at a pub in a central location. We went to the Globe, which is on Baker Street. To those of you who are unfamiliar, Baker Street is where Sherlock Holmes lives in the stories. We walked in to a completely packed pub, with tons of people watching various football games and yelling at the TV. Pretty cool to see how into it people get.

We found a table upstairs and started swapping stories over some pints. When the girls got up to go to the bathroom, Sara couldn't find her purse. She hung it on the back of her chair, and without any of us noticing, someone swiped it. We all felt terrible for her, she had to cancel her credit cards and everything. This put a huge damper on the night, and she had to go home to get everything sorted out.

Once Sara left, the rest of us decided to go to another bar. We went to Sports Cafe which is in Piccadilly Circus. On Tuesday nights, this bar is known to be populated with tons of Americans. They have beer pong and other drinking games. We went and ended up meeting tons of people studying here for the semester. One Brit actually came up to me and asked me if he was in the right country, that how American the bar was. AMUUUURICA BABY!

March 5th

I'm really excited for the next few weeks. Tomorrow I'm meeting up with some friends for drinks. On Wednesday I'm going to my first European Football (Soccer) Match with my boss and some of his friends. And then this weekend, three of my friends (Teddy Altepeter from Paris, and Will Small/Drew Sexton from the States) are coming to visit London. I can't wait to see these guys.

On Sunday, we're all going to the Manchester United Football Match. Its a few hour train ride from London and since the owners of Manchester United went to Wash U, we're going for free. I think we'll get to go on the field. Then I'm taking a few days off work next week and going to Madrid. Should be an awesome few weeks!

But because I have so much going on, tonight I needed to be productive. I got in a long workout and then got some work done on my research paper. The paper is pretty miserable, and its impossible to concentrate. Oh well, at least I have awhile to get it done. That's all for now, but expect a ton of content soon.

March 3rd

So after two failed attempts to go and walk through Westminster Abbey (The last tour is at 1:30pm), Chris, Josh, and I decided to finally go. Let me preface this post by saying that I’ve seen a ton of historical things in Europe and plenty of architecture, but Westminster Abbey might be one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. In my opinion, the outside is pretty ugly, but the inside is filled with centuries of history. Westminster Abbey is packed and at capacity with coffins, memorials, and statues. Some of the famous people buried there include Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, dozens of Kings and Queens, Geoffrey Chaucer, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and countless more.

The cathedral is separated into various chapels with the most intimate details on the walls, ceilings, doors, altars, etc. In one area, you can see the damaged caused from the bombings in WW2. As we walked around, the Westminster Abbey boys quire was there and singing. There were some really young boys in the quire, but they were unreal. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take pictures inside the Abbey, which is unfortunate because it was magnificent.

After Westminster, we took the tube to Piccadilly Circus, which is like the Times Square of London. I’ve been here quite a few times because a lot of the good clubs are here. But today we walked around some of the stores and shops.  There is an M&M store in London, and since it’s my favorite candy I had to walk through. It was jam packed with people and hard to resist all the candy, but I’m glad we went. There were life-size statues of M&M’s in various poses and mimicking historical sites and scenes in London. See the pictures below for some examples…

In the end, we actually walked through Chinatown and Chris and I ate at an all you can eat Chinese buffet. The restaurant owners didn’t realize who they were dealing with when they decided to make an all you can eat buffet. We returned for countless plates, but the food was nowhere near as good as Little Lans. Just thinking about the Cashew Chicken is making my mouth water.

Inside a courtyard at Westminster Abbey

View of Parliament from inside the Abbey

Chris, Josh and I in the courtyard of Westminster. Is that heavenly light?

Statue of Winston Churchill near Parliament

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus

Since Peanut M&M's are my favorite, I had to get a picture with the yellow M&M.

The M&M's on Abbey Road

March 2nd

It's officially been two months since I've been in London. I can't believe how many things i've done and seen in only two months, but it feels like I've been here forever. Today marked the end of my first month at Citigroup. Each week, the job is getting better and better. I finally got some of the data I needed from various departments in order to do my long term project, and now that I have it I was able to be extremely productive.

After work, I went for a long run. It was pretty nice out, so instead of running on the treadmill, I took to the streets. The run was filled with the famous London scenery and many of the sights I've written about previously. The time seemed to fly by and I ended up covering a pretty good part of the city. Definitely something I'm going to do again. The only two bad parts were having to weave through a the bustling city, and making sure to cross the streets and look right before left.